The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-06-20
HouD Can Second Industry
 La United Stntes Be Rated
 Non Essential These Days
Former Governor of New Jersey and Banker Calls At tention to Importance of Automobiles in Transpor-
 tation and as Promoter of Happiness

E. c. Stokes. former governor of New Jersey and president of the Mechanics National Bank of Trenton. N. J.. a member of the federal reserve system, has issued a statement regarding the present situation which confronts auto mobile dealers all over the country that will be read with great deal of interest here. Coming from a man of the standing of MT. Stokes, the statement is certain to wield a big influence in helping straighten out the tangle the automobile business is in, due to the action of the banks in re- fusing to handle automobile paper"
 Here is what the former governor of New Jersey had to say:
 'As a banker. interested in the pros perity of the country and the neces- sary maintenance and development of an industry that furnishes employ ment and wages and thus promotes the general welfare of the masses, l beg leave to call your attention to the reported action of some of the federal reserve banks in chasing automobiles as non essentials in the extension of credit.
 PROMOTES HAPPINESS
 Tt might be we'll to call the atten- tion of the banking fraternity to the importance of the automo bile, not only as factor in the necessary trans portation facilities of the country, but as a contributor to one of the largest of our industries and 3 promoter of the happiness and morals of our peo- pie.
 Tt is a mooted question whether the automobile industry stands second or third in the country. If all the parts in connection herewith are included. it ranks second. What individual banker has a right to say. therefore, that an industry which by the com mon judgment of the people of this country has attained such proportions in our industrial life is a non n-essen- tial? Burke said you cannot indict a whole people No banking fraternity or government has a right to say that an industry of such size as the auto- mobile industry based upon the needs and requirements of the public. is un- necessary and. therefore. unworthy Of credit.
 The automobile is of immense value to the nation as a promoter Of the spirit of contentment and as an effective suppressor of the spirit of unrest. No owner of an automobile, even though it be a pleasure car, who is able to enjoy it's for his family or his friends, is likely to become a bolshevist or communist. He favors the continuation of things as they are, because he has a means of happiness in his own possession and, therefore, is against any upheaval of the pres ent social order.
 BRINGS FAMILY TOGETHER
 Next to the church, there is no factor in American life that does so much for the morals Of the public as does the automobile Formerly the pleasures of life divided the family. The father had one avenue of recrea- tion, the mother another. the children another Today our roadsides are crowded with the family picnic parties who carry their lunches with them and who take their outing as a unit Any device that brings the family together as a unit in their pur- suit of pleasure is a promoter of good morals and yields a beneficent influ- ence. that makes for the good of Amer ican civilization. If every family in the land possessed an automobile family ties would be closer and many of the problems of social unrest would be happily solved. The banker who says that a device of this kind is a