CENSUS OF BUSINESS : 1939 SALES-FINANCE COMPANIES and BANKS' HOLDINGS OF RETAIL INSTALLMENT PAPER U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE BUREAU OF THE CENSUS Business-FRED A. GOSNELL, Chief Statistician. WILLIAM A. RUFF, Assistant Chief Statistician. Distribution Economist-John Guernsey. Retail Trade-James O. Reid. Wholesale Trade-John Albright. Service Businesses-Ralph C. Janoschka. Construction Industry-Isaac Q. Lord. Current Statistical Service-E. J. Engquist, Jr. Agriculture-Zellmer R. PETTET, Chief Statistician. Cotton and Oils-HARVEY J. ZIMMERMAN, Chief Statistician. General Information, Records, and Religious Statistics—TIMOTHY F. MURPHY, Chief Statistician. Geography-CLARENCE E. BATSCHELET, Geographer. Machine Tabulation—GEORGE B. WETZEL, Chief. Manufactures-THOMAS J. FITZGERALD, Chief Statistician. Mines and Quarries-OSCAR E. KIESSLING, Chief Statistician. National Defense Compilations-HOWARD H. MCCLURE, Executive Assistant to the Director. Population-LEON E. TRUESDELL, Chief Statistician. Printing and Publications-EDWARD R. GRAY, Chief. State and Local Government—CHESTER E. RIGHTOR, Chief Statistician. Statistical Research-CALVERT L. DEDRICK, Chief Statistician. Territorial, Insular, and Foreign Statistics-LEVERNE BEALES, Chief Statistician. Vital Statistics-HALBERT L. DUNN, Chief Statistician. Field Canvass—HOWARD S. Drew, Gerald RYAN, EMMONS K. ELLSWORTH. Public Relations-RoscoE E. WRIGHT, FRANK R. WILSON. II LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, BUREAU OF THE CENSUS, Washington, D. C., September 23, 1940. SIR: I transmit herewith the first Census report on sales-finance companies, based upon their business operations during the year 1939. The report relates to the financing of retail sales to the consumer on the installment plan, by sales-finance companies and banks. The facts were collected in 1940 by a mail canvass of all known sales-finance companies and others known to handle retail installment paper, supplemented by personal canvass by field agents of the Bureau of the Census. Reports from banks handling retail installment paper were obtained by a special schedule incorporated in the regular bank call report through the cooperation of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. These statistics were collected and compiled under the supervision of Fred A. Gosnell, Chief Statistician for Business, and W. A. Ruff, Assistant Chief Statistician, and the report was prepared by John Guernsey, Distribution Economist of the Census Bureau, assisted by Teresa Cullen. Other subjects covered by the Census of Business on which reports will follow are retail trade, wholesale trade, the distribution of manufacturers' sales through the primary channels of distribution, construction, service businesses, hotels and tourist camps or courts, theaters and other places of amusement, and power laundries and dry cleaning. Hon. JESSE H. JONES, Secretary of Commerce. WILLIAM LANE AUSTIN, III |