The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-04-18

New York, April 17.-(speciaL,- Col. Charles Elliot Warren, who IS vice president of the Irving Natonsi hank and who during the war serNe" under General Crowder of the ora nance department where he ulspurSeu large amounts of money, is doubly onaIified to give judgment upon ex- isting commercial, industrial ana Fl naneial conditions. For as vice presl- dent of one of the largest banks or New York. which has been or con snicuous service in aiding in the H. nancing of our foreign trade, Colonei Warren has been brought into inu- mate touch with the credit situatioh and the various features or our m ternational trade. His service Tn the ordnance department in which ne was responsible for the handling of funds the ae,preeate of which was millions also qualified him for an opinion upon present day conditions. Therefore when he says as he did day or two ago when speaking to the Automobile Club of America, that business con fidence is surely gaining and althonsn there is still some hesitancy. never, theless the industries and the busi- ness of the country are slowly ana cautiously feeling their way forward
  turn to fairly normal conditions dur ing the present year, his opinion IS well worth needing. In fact he put into a brief sentence the thought now in the minds of so many of our lead ing men in industry and in finance. For he says that the automobile in- dustry may be taken as fairly illus trative of the change which has taken place within few months from de- pression to confidence and improve ment
 The public does not realize the enormity of this industry or the vital relation which it bears to finance. But if it be reported that in the United States there are registered nearly 9.200 900 passenger cars and trucks then it will be all the easier to obtain some understanding of the relation which this industry bears to our national business life.
 Before the end of this year, no doubt as many as 1o,oooooO motor cars will be registered and used in the United States At least 100000 cars are needed to make good the annual elimi- nation and wearing out of motor cars. For the average life of the autom mobila is only five and one-half years. We hear much of the industrial depres- sion in 1920, and yet in that year 2,25O,000 new automobiles were pro- duced.
 PUBLIC AND THE AUTOMOBILE
 It was the support given by the pub lie in 1920 which made it possible for the automobile industry to pass through the period of depression with out much difficulty. Before the peak of restriction in credits was reached the automobile dealers relied, accord- ing to Colonel Warren, upon local banks, and they were justified in that reliance. But after the curta ilment Of bank credit. it was necessary to turn to other methods of nancing the pro- duction and the marketing of the auto mobile There were several automo- bile finance corporations organized and so trong was the demand for aid that the number of these corporations was increased until now no are oper- ating in the United States. Some of these are purely local some are state wide and few national. The financ- ing accomplished by these corporations makes it clear that al least 50 per cent Of all the automobiles now marketed were sold upon some form of deferred payment or installment payments. This means that notes given for auto mobiles or what is called automobils paper are now placed in the same class with any other commercial paper Strangely enough, we did in 1920 import some cars, but not more than 1,O00 On the other hand, we sold to people III other lands and sent to them nearly 900 automobiles. In fact, the export of automobiles for 1920 was often re- ferred to as perhaps the most sgnifi- cant of all of the products made by the American industry which were marketed in other lands. These American-made machines are now seen upon the high ways of Europe, of China. of British In- dia, of Australia, of South Africa. South America and are especially noticeable upon the highways of Cuba.
 WHAT THE VALUE WAS The money value of the cars which we sold to people of other lands in 1920 was S2l2.o00,ooo So great was the increase the marketing of American automobiles In other lands in 1920 that about s200. .O0J,- oOO represents that increase gained in eight years.
 The automobile industry contributed last year in the way of taxes to the fed- eral government a little over $253, 900 900. Thirty-one million dollars was paid for registration fees and $100 .n00, ,000 represents the freight charge collected by the rail roads of the United States from the au- | tomobile manufacturers. The iipkeep was probably not far from $500. 0.0o0Q00.
 From 1912 to April. 1921. there were pro- duced in the United States almost ex- actly 100000 cars, and of this produc- tion, 621 % were exported. The industry employees 3Oo00O skilled artisans. Its col | lateral relation to other industries is il- lustrated by the fact that approximately 34 900. 900 automobile tires were manufac-