Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-30
RemOdeling for Prosperity

mant in old neighborhoods, we need
only glance around the country at what
already has been done in certain cities
by large-scale renovation. I have in
mind particularly the rejuvenation Of
quaint old Georgetown, in the City of
Washington; of Washington Square and
Sutton Place. in New York; Of the
sunny slope of Beacon Hill, in Boston
Georgetown is the oldest part of the
Capital City. 10 was thriving commu-
| nifty before the first Congress selected
the banks of the Potomac for the new
Federal City. 1t was the fashionable
part Of the city through most Of the
slip back. Old families sought the sub
urbs. Georgetown was In danger of
becoming q district Of cheap tenements,
but conditions suddenly reversed them
selves and as transportation difficulties
| multiplied, the trend from suburb to
city set In. Georgetown has come back
| az a residential section and by judicious
! renovation the district has added new
millions Of taxable property to the total
valuation Of Washington.
Examples for Cities Cited.
The stories Of Washington Square, of
Sutton Place and of Beacon Hill are
somewhat similar. Why can we not do
the same thing in other cities and even
In the small towns, making homes more
habitAble for people who are thoroughly
able to pay the cost if some one but
shows them the way?
Right at the start we may anticipate
the objections Of many persons who
honestly believe that we have already
gone too far in the matter o. INSTALL
rnent buying. They hold to an old
fashioned theory. which is not without
some merit, that we should not attempt
to buy that which we cannot afford.
During our business troubles of 1921
these same persons held that an excess
OF installnent buying was responsible
and that the defiation would cure US of
bad habit. Time has demonstrated
that they were wrong then, Just as
most of the critics Of the installment
plan have been since it was first intro
6uced into our economic life more than
q century ago.
The test Of this plan, as with almost
every other plan in the world, is that
it shall be employed with due regard to
prudence. am bold enough to state
that over q long period of years the
American distributor and the American
purchaser have exercised this prudence.
otherwise the plan would not have
grown nom the sales Of few pieces
OF furniture 'on lease" In 1907 until to-
day, when It Il conservatively estimated
that the installment paper In circula-
ing $5,000,000,0o0.
InStallment Buying Upheld.
DR.. Z. R. A. seligman, Mcvickar pro-
feseor OF economics at Columbia Uni.
versity, has produced monumental
work on the economics of installment
buying, and while he does not minimize
the risks Of the plan, he reaches the
mature conclusion that it has contrib
q 81 49,
ership in the industrial affairs of the
world. Employed flrSt by single New
YORK furniture firm, 1t began to receive
general application with the invention
OF the sewing machine and In due time
extended TO pianos and to books. It
encountered vigorous opposition in the
DAY OF our grandfathers, who held rig
idly to the theory that a man should
save his money first and then do his
buying; 1t must not be forgotten that IA
those days even real estate MORTGAGES
were not quite respectable.
we nave altered our opinions very
materially on mortgages since those
days, ana, fortunately, we have altered
our opinions on installment buying.
Had we not done SO. very much doubt
that the manufacture of automobiles
would be today our leading industry.
For without the familiar finance cor.
poration which has developed the In.
stallment plan to its highest efficiency
the automobile makers could never
have clogged the highways Of our land
With from twenty-five to thirty million
AUTOMOBILES. The finance corporation
solved the major problem of risk by
distributing it around, just as our big
insurance companies solved that prob
lem. And when the risk was thus
distributed the agent In the city or
In the small town could make full Use
OF high-powered craftsmanship.
Basis Of Business Mems Confidence.
The confidence Of American business
IN nStRllment buying il based on o
clear understanding Of q fundamental
motive IN human nature. It is human
nature for o man to want the COM
forts Of life. Outside the home itself,
the automobile has been to many men
the most perfect example of human
aspiration. It was a utility: it was q
source Of health and recreation: it en-
abled Us TO spread out and become
acquainted with our country. The man
who took his place behind the steering
wheel Of his own automobile experi-
enced anew the Joy Of childhood when
he propelled his first velocipede before
his envtous playmates. And when he
could enjoy all this while still paying
for 1t he had the incentive to work a
| little harder, to save little more each
week. and to be ever on the alert for
an opportunity to advance himself, and
thus accumulate more and more of the
! good things of life.
Although the historian tells us that
the idea came originally from Paris,
where an enterprising firm had sold
articles of furniture on the installment
plan In the closing decades of the
| eighteenth century, we have a right
to feel that 1t Is q typically American.
or New World. institution. AS to its
permanency, we can seek no better
test than 10 ask the manufacturer,
| the merchant, the distributing agent,
whether he would prefer to 60 back
TO the old days when that slightly ir-
reverent motto, I'm God we trust: all
| others cash" was a familiar object
near the money drawer In most martS
of trade. My guess is that the average
business man who employs the install
ment plan greatly prefers the dozens
of sales he now makes TO the one which
he could make under the cash-in-hand
system.