Evening star., 1942-01-13

to suit the display and service OF
automobiles. their use for any other
purpose would .equire extensive and
expensive renodeling," he said.
Therefore. tn. owners usually in
sist on leases running from S to 10
years at rentsls that usually pay
for them over a period Of 10 to IL
years.
In many localities. due to ex-
tremely high property values and
building restrictions. it has been
necessary for ,aany dealers to bor-
row from the banks and erect their
own buildings. which the banks usu-
ally insist be amortized over a
period of 10 years
Even though the present restric-
tions on the s,le OF new cars were
removed the profit from the sale
Of the small stock on hand would
only postpone the ultimate bank
ruptcy Of mos; dealers"
Mr.. Horner suggested that
thought be given to legislation that
would relieve dealers and landlords
Of these real estate obligations. now
that the retail auto business is be-
ing forced on. OF existence"
Unemplo rment Discussed.
The argument advanced bv Mr.
Cargile against a freezing order
for used cars was repeated by sew
eral OF the hal' dozen witnesses ap-
pearing at the opening session. D.
e. Castles of ST Louis urged that
Congress act - prevent such step,
II necessary.
Mr.. Castles discussed the unem-
ployment that the curb on the deal
ers is causing, explaining that 1t
was hitting With particular force
the middle-ag.d statesmen who have
devoted their working lives to, this
business, and now find themselves
out Of jobs and united for other
employment.
.S w. L. Mallor, Newark, N j.. urged
limited production Of passenger cars
and light trucks be continued. sug-
gesting 20 per cent of the ordinary
annual outpu;. which he explained
would keep many concerns in busi-
ness.
The necessity Of keeping dealers
going to assure adequate repair ia
cilities also vas stressed by wit
nesses, who estimated that the re-
pair work thi: year would run much
higher than usual, because more
old cars woulc be kept in service.
"Victory Car" Suggested.
Arthur Center Of Springfield,
Mass, secretary of the dealers as
sociation, sai6 he believed there had
been no detsiled study" of the sit
uation before the freezing order.
He suggested that material from
junked cars could be reclaimed and
small manufacturers could produce
q single typ small car. with no
name, to NEE, transportation needs.
Such a car, Mr.. Center said, could
be called a victory car"
Mr.. Center said $500 900 cars are
scrapped anrdally and are still in
the junk yards" On them he added,
are tons and tons OF used rubber"
which can be reclaimed.
Crowd At Session.
At the outset Of the hearing
Chairman Pa.man said the commit
tee intended ito make an honest
effort to ALLEVIATE the impact of the
blow which has fallen on this In
dustry, and which will inevitably be
felt bv other industries" as the war
effort progresses.
Mr.. Patmsn said Price Admin
strator Leon Henderson and Floyd
B. Odlurn head OF the o. p NJ con-
tract division would testify tomor-
row.
Other representatives of the deal
ers are appearing this afternoon
That the hsaring has developed m
unusual am,unt Of interest was
demonstrated by the crowd at the
opening SESSION and the enthuSi-
astic applause which greeted each
speaker as some particular point
was emphasized.
Among the spectators were many
members of he House. and at least
two Senators-Chairman Murray Of
the Senate Small Business Commit
tee and Senator Davis, Republican
Of Pennsylvania.