The Washington herald., 1920-11-14
FACTS PROVE
NEED0F AUTO
Noted Manufactures Recalls
Gasolineless Sundays
s For Figures.
|BURDENPUT ON OTHERS
Says People Need Machine
As Time-Saver and
Mile Cutter.
BURDEN PUT ON OTHERS
BY FRANK b. ANsTED.
President Lexinston Motor Csn-

/ ny EAAnA 0s AN5 EN-
President Lexinston Motor Cora
pany.
Picture. II you can. the United
States today without the automo-
.bilel
| Picture the United States during
the war without single automo-
bile!
Picture the United States without
automobiles during the coal strike
Of last winteri
Picture a motor-car-less United
States during the railroad tie-up
due to the strike of railroad yard.
men and switchmen!
And, lastly. picture the United
States in these days Of trafic con-
gestion and hopelessly inadequate
service. without the automobilel
The Final Answer.
The picture one must inevitably
draw ought to be, 1t seems to me.
the final answer to any question
concerning the vital place the au-
tomobile has earned in plain. every
day human existence.
The automobile a nonessential?
The gasolineless Sundays of 1918
| showed something more than a tre-
mendous saving in gasoline. This
instrumentation test showed that
the 100000 cars then serving a.
600. 900 or 100000 persons in this
country were making possible q
saving of 100,o0o.o00 tons of coal a
year which would otherwise have
been burned in steam and electric
plants of the country. on steam rail-
roads and electric lines. to trans
port the thousands who usually
travel by automobile:
shows Autos Need.
| This test showed that the railroad
and electric lines, already pressed to
the limit to take care of the busi-
ness offered, would be swamped
without the automobile. The coal
strike, the strike of the railroad
men and the present demands upon
the already overburdened railroads
only served to emphasize the abso-
Lutte need of the automobile.
These situations which have con-
fronted us served more than any
thing else that has occurred to prove
beyond question, to those who think,
that the automobile is no longer a
pleasure vehicle. These tests prove
In a general way what carefully
prepared surveys now show to be
fact that the automobile during the
greater part of its time Is an instru-
ment of business with the great
majority Of car buyers.
Only Few for Pleasure.
One New York banking firm re-
Gently analyzed sales of motor cars
to 9,S6S buyers, or a sufficient num-
ber to illustrate the exact condi-
tions among the 7.750,00o owners or
automobiles in 1890.
In the 9,S6S sales analysed II was
clearly shown that to 20 per
cent of the buyers the automobile
is a business necessity. And all of
these 9.S6S buyers were purchasing
their automobiles on time payments.
or the remaining 80 per cent
only a few cars are used exclusively
for pleasure, the remainder being
! used at least a part of the time for
business. My study of conditions
convinces me that at least 30 per
cent of all automobiles are in use at
least part Of the time for strictly
business purposes.
world Moves on Wheels.
Transportation is one of the, fun
damentals of civilization and prog
ress. 1t has been truly said of the
present age that the world moves
on wheels. The automobile INDUS
try has gained its present position
| of second largest industry in the
world only because II answered a
vital need of the world.
To call the automobile a luxury
or a nonessential Is to distort the
true facts. The plain. utilitarian
mission of the automobile has put
1t where It is today. No artificial
demand could have done that. The
people want the automobile because
in business it is a time-saver. q
mile-cutter. an economic necessity.
|