The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-06-20
Ls the Motor Car An Essential Product?

, front was a big element in the fina result af hostilities.
 | When our government entered the
 world war the automobile manufac- ! turer was the first to offer his plant 1 his organization and all he had to as
 sist in prosecuting to a victorious de- l cision our entree to the battle against | the Hun. Production of cars waa | stopped entirely by some and greatly l curtailed by all and at great loss to | those interested in the industry and | if our equipment had not been allow ed l to reach the proportion 1t had I am | afraid we would have had a much more l difficult time than we did have in ! equipping our men for service Let's l not forget that. Me may need this l giant industry another day for pur- poses other than building cars | There is another feature of grave im- l portance that bobs up prominently in the condition brought about at the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank in refusing to re- discount paper taken in deferred pay ments on automobiles. This feature is
 one that does the very one thing that we | all should be trying our uttermost to
 avoid, and that is it adds to the pres ent social unrest The man of means is sufficiently able to pay cash for his car and the man who is being hit right be- ! tween the eyes and the man who is being | denied entirely is the sturdy chap whose | income is sufficient to float a loan large | enough to purchase automobile. but who has not the cash Tn other words the federal reserve banks action works a hardship on the great American mid : dle class and does not touch the higher ups who do not need help. This is an | important feature, the importance of which cannot be overlooked.
 PEOPLE DEPENDENT l ic faaf fttra |,
 which is worthy of considerable consid-
 eration, and that is the huge army of l people dependent upon the automobile Q
 industry for food and clothing. There is
 not the shortage of labor that some peo- l pie make a cry about. There is, 1t is | true, msdirection or mismanaged re- sumption of labor to after-war condi- l tions If one thinks that there is a | shortage of labor one has only to make l all investigation and learn the number of
 ex-service men now out of employment. l With the automobile industry, the sec- | ond largest industry in the United States, and with thousands upon thousands of men, women and children dependent upon it for food, shelter and clothing, one can
 well imagine the national calamity that would ensue if Mir Wellborn's policy | were to become universal.
 l This is no time to experiment or play with fundamental laws. This is no time ',
 conservative and thorough decisions ar rived at only after most careful sur- vey and consideration of all clements in | volved.
 OPPORTUNITY ABROAD
 Those who are fully acquainted with all
 angles of the automobile industry know that this is the one time in our history that the United States has an opportunity to capture the worlds market in this field. Instead of hindering this great n- dustry, of which we should be very proud, the government should do all in it's power to encourage larger production so that foreign demand could be taken ad- vantage of, thereby establishing a for eign trade of great magnitude which
 would remain with us for all time to come.
 The only sure and wise method to use in lowering prices of commodities and es- | sentials is not to strike at production, but to refuse credit to those men who are hoarding for the purpose of keeping prices up. If these men are unable tc borrow money they will be forced to con~ vert their merchandise into cash and the result will be lower prices and diminish ing of a number of alleged shortages.
 In conclusion: The automobile is not