Evening Star Newspaper, November 26, 1922, Page 69

BY S. S. MARQUIS, D. D. world’s richest man. next Sunday’s Star. l WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT. T is all about Heriry Ford, so far as it goes, but it is not the story of his life, not a record of events beginning with his birth .and brought down to the present hour. The Ford chronicles make - interesting reading, but they have been done in reel and rhyme and reams of prose. It yet remains to set them to music, and one of these days we may have a Ford symphony beginning with the faint flute notes of an infant’s cry, swelling into the trem- ulous tragic tones of the strings. expressive of early struggles, and bursting finally into a veritable din with crash of cymbals, roll of drums and flare of trumpets, giving a tone picture of the roar of Ford factorics and the rumble ot the chariot wheels of success, and ending—but I leave that to the musicians. Those who do not like to do that kind of thing may set down in order the events of Mr. Ford’s life—the stories of boyhood days, the struggles of early years and the achievements of later life. Per- | <onally, I am more interested in the operations of that mental ma- | chine which he carries under his hat than in all that other machin- cry of iron and steel massed under the roofs of those vast buildings in Highland Park and on the banks of the Rouge. I know of no <tudy more absorbing than-the Ford psychology, and I find myself turning to it in my leisure hours as.to a. form of pleasure and rec- reation. One finds so many things in it that are uot in th® books. I is not the life of Henry Ford, but an attempt t an interpretation of him.in a.series of brief chapters, or essays which are not strung together on any logical or chronglogical string.: I'hey are as beads loose in a box, and” them up and examine them in any. order yo I have not written with the public in mind, but-rather- be the fascinating character of the study Iw .ary to get it oat of mind in order that I might turn to other. things.: I have not worked as at a task, but as at an absorbingly interesting as well as a more or, less entertaining pastime, as one would work at a psychological puzzle such as the unusual mind and baffling per- P As a matter of fact, what follows was meant to be a brief introductory chapter to a book of another But that first chapter slipped its »Bi and with my thought and time. It seemed endowed with a | * Sort of amoebous power to divide and subdivide itself unt of a brief introductory chapter to another book, it became a little o, what follows sonality of Henry Ford present. sert. haok in itself. So there you haye what it's all about, what.it aims to be, and how it happened to be just what it is. | CHAPTER 1 [ THE FORD HALO. HAVE known Henry Ford fo twenty vears. For a time he was my parishioner, and then for a time T was his_emplove. Given freedom to create a man will reveal himself in what he produces— the painter in his picture, the sculp- or in his marble, the writer in-his hook. the musician in his composi- iion, and the mechan chine. , The Ford car is Henry Ford “one in steel—and other things. Nof a thing of art and beauty, but of utility and strength—super-strength. i JT is not only the absence of certain | power and endurance in engine and cha s upper works. With top torn. body dented, upholstery gone, fenders rat- g, and curtains flapping in the wind, you admire the old thing and speak softly and. affectionately of it. because under the little hood the én-} gine—occasionally on four, sometimes weary, expiring gasp fall to pieces} on three, frequently on two, and now and then on one—keeps rhythmically chugging along. keeps going, when by | all the laws of internal combustible things it ought to stop and with onc; and mingle with the mire its few re- maining grains of rust. But it keeps going. just as he keeps going. con- trary to all the laws of labor, com- merce and high finance. Some years ago I sat in the office of a Ford executive discusing with him a certain thing the “chief” had ordered dofie. “It's a fool thing. an impossible thing.” said the executive, “but. he has accomplished so many impossible things that I have learned to defer judgment and wait the out- come. Take the Ford engine. for ex- ample; according to all the laws of mechanics the damned thing ought not to run, but it does.” ¢ As in the Ford engine. so in Henry Ford there are things that by all the laws of ordinary and industrial life should “queer” him. put him out of the running. but he keeps going. e is an extraordinary man, a per- sonality in the sense that he is dif- ferent from other people. quite dif- ferent, for that matter, from what he is popularly supposed to be. But, however unlike the Yest of us Hengy Ford may be in some respects, he falls under the classification of or- dinary mortals in this—he is not sat- isfled with what he has and is. He is one of the richest men on earth. He is the most widely known . HENRY. FORD. IN THE FIRST. FOR Editor’s Note: This is the. first installment of a remark- able article on the life of Henry Ford, reputed to be the Another installment will appear in - with these things he is not content - | Ple. he not only has the willingne i | in_ his ma- | but somewhat ephemeral in; others that make us doubt his fitness | i | | | | | | | | |¥Ford organization would be transfer- € £ € € ¢ Motto in His Modestl € u are at liberty to take u please: egause pursuing made it neces- ther and ran away with , instead man in the industrial world. But| He has other ambifions. For exam- | but has shown a rather strong desire to assume national political responsi- bilities. And on 6ne occasion he vol- untarily took upon himself th= task ot settling the problems of a worll at war. His ability to do in ot than' the industrial sphere may commensurate with his will. but his efforts in other directions have not been such as to inspire confidznce el be | kind. “1 want me some yea o live a life”” he said to s ago when we were re- | turning from Europe after the peace | ship fiasco. “Money means nothing | to me—neither the making of it nor| | the use of it so far as I am personally concerned. I am in a peculiar posi- tion. No one can give me anything. There is nothing T want that I cannot have. But I do not want the things money can buy. I want to live a life, to make the world a little better for having lived in it. The trouble with people is that they do not think. I want to do things and say things that will make them think.” * & ¥ ¥ qualifications, but the presence of | or the field-of politics. If our gov- rnment were an absolute monarchy. a one-man affair, Henry Ford would be the logical man for the throne. As President, and he séems to have as- pirations in that direction, he would be able to give us a very economical administration, for a cabinet and Congress would be entirely superflu- ous if he were in the White House. The chances are that he would run the government. or try to do so, as he runs his industry, having had ex- | perience along no other lines. The In my opinion he could realize his supreme ambition if he were to follow the example of a good shoemaker and stick to his last, that is, to the human and production problems in industry and leave national, international and | racial problems alone. It is human | to grow weary of achievement in one | direction. Like Alexander we tear- fully long for adventures in other: worlds ‘instead of trying to bring al little nearer to perfection the little| world we have conquered. | red to Washington. That would not be so difficult-a matter as it might appear to the uninitiated. It could be accomplished in a single section of a Pullman car—with one in the upper and two in the lower berth. I agree| For many years Mr. Ford shun- with Mr. Edsion. who was recently|neq the public gaze, refused to see| reported as saying of Mr. Ford, “He|reporters, modestly begged to be| is a remarkable man in one sense. and | kept out of print. and then sud- in another he is not. I would not vote for him for President. but as a director of manufacturing or indus- trial enterprises I'd vote for him— | twice.” denly faced about, hired a publieity agent, jumped into the front page of every newspaper in the country, bought and paid for space in which he advertised what were supposed to But I doubt if the spark of political | be his own ideas (although he ad- ambition in him ever would have mitted in the Tribune trial that he| burst into flame had it been left t0|had not even read much that had itself. There are those near him.|heen put out under his own name) however, who never cease to blow land later bought a weekly publica- upon it and fan it, being themselves tion and began to run “his own ambitious to sit in the light of the page™ I think he.would rather be political fire which by charfce may be |the maker of public opinion than the kindled in this way. They seem to manufacturer of a million automo- entertain no doubt of their ability to biles a year, which dnly goes to show run any office for him from that of |that in spite of the fact that he sticks | the presidency. down. lout his tongue at history, he would But Henry Ford has left upon me |ncvertheless not object to making a the impression that his chief ambi- |little of it himself. | tion is to be known as a thinker of | This laudable ambition to serve the | an original kind. He has the not un- | world, and, to some degree, to mold common conviction among mortals|its thought, has very naturally that he has a real message for the 'aroused in men the desire to. know D *" ADJOINING "HIS OFFICE. (CAR,. WHICH HE NOW. KEEPS AS A MEMENTO IN THE ROOM 1 world. a real service to render man- | i e v AR TR iy LY ey GAZINE SECTION undy Sar, v | HINGTON; D. C; SUNDAY MORNI fing the Clay in Ford as a World Figure vPersonality of Greatfllihdustrial"Leader Studied and Déscribed—hlan Who Stands Contin- uously in Calcium Ray, Expects to Be Put Under X-Ray—Famous Manufacturer Keeps Go- ing Contrary to Accepted Laws of Labor, Commerce and High Finance—Possessor of Great Wealth, of Whom Masses Are Not Critical or ‘Envious, But to Whom They Would Willingly Intrust Greater Wealth, Says Writer—“Chop Your Own Wood and It Will Warm You Twice,” y Conducted Home. “THE BEST PICTU| more intimately this man -who val- unteers to take the part of Moses—Hhe doesn’t put it just this way—in u| world-exodus into a new era of peace and prosperity. Having made him- self a world figure, or persisting fn being reckoned as one, the world insists, and properly so, on knowing | all there is to know about him. It is the price every man must pay for aspiring to such ‘an exalted position. _“Tell ‘me now in' confidence; is Henry Ford as great a man as the people generally ‘believe him to be? Is he the brains of the organization which bears his name? 1s its suc- cess due to him, or to the men he has gathered about him? Is he any- thing more than a mechanial genius? Is it true that he cannot read and write? Is he a financier? Does he keep in touch with the details of his business? Is he a hard worker? Is he sincere, or a self-advertiser?” These are some of the questions peo- Ple keep asking you if you chance to have a fairly intimate acquaintance with Henry Ford. = 3 * Xk ¥ HE “tell-me-now-in-confidence ” phrase is significant. It means that the questioner has a lurking suspicion that the popular idol of Dearborn is not all gold. There must be some clay in his makeup. It would be a great satistaction to have a well authenticated sample of the clay. Not.1ong ago 1 delivered an address op-theé ‘Ford way of handling abor. fThe membership of tife organization to* which’ T Was “spédking’ was® com-' i posed chiefly of working men. The | president of the club_ introduced me and _ closed his remarks by saying, Now that you are no longer iu the | employ of Henry Ford, tell us the truth about him" The same.lurking suspicion. . If only the truth were told! .If only those who know him intimately would tell all they knew— well, it it did not take:the halo from his head it might, at least give it a | jocular slant. Speaking of halos, I am reminded of a row of saints which occupied the niches above the altar In a eer- tain theological seminary. They were made of marble, and each had ypon his head a halo, also of marble, and resembling nothing so much’ as a large dinner plate. Winter had a disastrous effect upon these halos. The frost cracked them and they fell off. A)sudden drop in temperature during the night meant that one or more of those blessed saints would be minus a nimbus in the morning. There are those who would like to see what effect -a frost would have on the halo of Henry Ford. They ‘want to: know the worst,, not to “have it over,” but to help “put it over.” If there be such among my readers they are going to be more or less disappointed. I was aecused not along ago by a .promi- nent labor leader of belng more re- sponsible than any other one man for creating the Ford halo. He “thought I ought to try to take it off. But why waste one's time? Once a' Bdlo iz’ oh, the ‘wearer! of it”is NG, NOVEMBER. 26, 1922. ] P P ¥ ¥ ] ¥ ¥ HENRY FORD. STANDING, AND BARNEY OLDFIELD, THE FAMOUS RACE DRIVER, IN THE “999.” the only one who can take it off. If he proves himself worthy. the halo cks; if otherwise. the halo fades of itself. terested neither in taking the Ford halo off. nor in holding it on. The truth is. as everybody knows. there is some clay in every popular For the present, T am in- us to mingle regret with our admir- 3| atton. %] On the return journey from Europc 31 above referred to I found it necessar: to make a very frank criticism of cer- tain ideas advanced by Mr. Ford. It was to tie effect that If he stuck to the things he knew and let those alone’ about which his training had not qualified him to venture an opin- jon. he would avoid placing himself in & foolish position. The criticism stuck. I have heard him refer to it many times since. The last time he mentioned the matter in my pres- ence he added, “And I have come to the conclusion that, the best friend one has is the man who tells him the truth.” T hope he’ will receive the | critical portion of these pages in the | same spirit. They are meant to help [for I would like to see that halo stick. | But as for halos—they may be left | to the biting frosts of time. History. lin spite of Mr. Ford's gibes at her will ultimately put him in the niche {in which he belongs, with or without | halo, according to his deserts. | | CHAPTER II ART OF SELF-ADVERTISING. HE ordinary mortal is content to hitch his wagon to a star. This is a sport too tame for Henry Ford. He prefers to hang on to the tail of a comet. It is less conventional, more spectacular and furnishes more . thrills. Mr. Ford loves sensations, lives in them and on them, is everlastingly creating them, jumping from one to another. And many of his =ensa- tional acts and utterances are SO clever that the world looks on with something more than amusement. In spite of the fact that he has come near making a clown of himself on more than one occasion, the audience, for the most part. continues to watch him with wonder and admiration. He has been right so many times in in- dustrial matters, done so many ad- mirable and worthwhile things, that we are inclined to forget the times he has been wrong or foolish. 1 suppose that an acrobat Wwith a net under him takes risks that he would not take if he werc looking down on the bare hard earth. In likc manner. T suppose, the fact that one has under him several hundred mil- lions to fall back on renders him more or less indifferent to a tumble. He can afford to try stunts he would otherwise hesitate to undcrtake. But whatever the reason. Henry Ford is: drawn to the limelight 2s a moth to a Washington, Grant, Foch. Lincoln Homer, Shakespeare, Michelangele \ Wagner, Charlie Chaplin, Rockefeller Morgan, Schwab, Carnegie, Edison, Fon | —pirates, outlaws. four-base hitters lx»rlxnlslucrs, soldiers, statesmen, writ ers, painters, composers, Imo ie stars | financiers, inventors—we are interestes in them, if only they are successful { And we want to know ail there is U know about the Henry Ford notchers in the field along industrial lincs. He is in th class of highly successful men, ant he shares in the intcrest which th world gives to this class as a whole But more of popular interest at taches to Mr. Ford than to any othe is among the top of achievemen man of his class. He is the mos widely known. the most talked-of and—ameng the masses—the popular man in vrivate life today and has been for the ien years How account for it 1 went to the Ford Motor Compan) with the conviction that it pays it industry in the long run to do the [ thing that is right. just and humans T left the company with that convic tion more firmly fixed in my mint than ever. This universe is one, ant .the laws in one sphere of life are not in conflict with those of another What is wrong out of business <~\ not be ri within it. There was a time when I smilec skeptically the Old Testamen ing that the reward of righi cs is milk and honey and the recompense of the God-fearing mar sheep and camels. It did no seem to me, so far as my observa tion went. to work out that way But 1 have lived long enough to ses that it does work out that way ir the end. Wealth belongs joved b always in distribution eousn is created by society, ant and is meant to be society. The tendency the direction of the re of wealth unjustly ac quired and held as an individuz possession. In the heart of ever: selfishly made and gelfishly con trolled fortune (Ixerr&n concealet amd industria be an ugly fac the seed of a social to face, but it is a fact nevertheless to. en revolution. It may borne out by the history of cen: turies. The day of reckoning may be postponed. but it comes. Dimly society is beginning to see this, an¢ slowly. but surely. the time is com ing—in fact. it is now here—wher individuals will be permitted to pos s reat wealth only on the con dition that they regard themselve: as the stewards of it. and not own ers. {dol. There is some in Henry Ford, | €andle. If he comes out slightly It pays to give all one can out ol It would be possible to write a Singed, as in the case of the peace bus nd etill keep a safe book made up entirely of adverse Ship and the Tribune trizl. he never- margin on which to continue oper | critic'sm of both himself and his theless comes gayly and boldly back atious. Decause Henry Ford has ! company. every word of which would |10 flutter around a Semitic or other done this—and it must be concedes be true, and vet the book on the candle. One cannot but marvel at that he has done it—le is about the | whole would be utterly false and |the continuance of thie public’s pa- only man in this country tqday o misleading—as false and misleading |tience, interest angd faith. great wealth of whom the mass as one of unstinted praise. i 'Phere 1s a popular interes: in Henry are not critical and eénvious and ic There are things that are lzudable | Ford which is mot difficult of explana- whom they would willingly intrus both in the man and his company, | tion. The world's chief interest is, and still greater wealth. Not only woul and there are things in both which | always has been, in successful men. It they give him Muscle Shoals. bul it is a pity are there. I shall en- | does not matter much in what field their would throw in the mines anc deavor to state the truth in a frank athievement lies, so long as they have railroads of the country. He ha: "and friendly manner. It may be achieved. Capt. Kidd, Jesse James. demonstrated something worth the that such publicity will tend to elim- inate some of the things which cause Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Sullivan. Demp- | sey, Samson, Goliah of Gath, Napoleon. consideration_of men of wealth. " MR. DOOLEY ON ATHLETICS BY FINLEY PETER DUNNE. E'RE gettin' to be th’' gr-reatest sportin’ nation in th' wurruld,” said Mr. Hennessy, who had been laboring through pages of athletic !intelligence which he could mot un- | derstand. “Oh, 80 we ar-re” | “aAn' good. ‘Tis imported fr'm th' English. | They have a sayin' over there that th' jookK iv Wellinton said first or some- body said fr him that th' battle iv Watherloo was won on th' playin’ | flelds iv Eton, that bein' a school where th' youth iv England is sint f'r idjication. Tt was not. “Th’ battle iv Watherloo was won on th' potato flelds iv Wexford an’ th’ | bog patches iv Connack. that's where | 'twas won. 44 =aid Mr. Dooley. “Th' Frrinch ar-re & good fightin' |to throw pop bottles at th' empire. but ! ority m I wondher does it do us anny! Bonnyparte in three moves. Did ye iver hear iv Grant wearin’ anny medals fr a hundhred yard dash? Did annywan iver tcll ye iv {th® vpumber iv base hits made be Abraham Lincoln. Is there anny record iv George Wash'nton doin' a turn on a thrapese or Thomas Jiffer- son gettin' th' money f'r throwin' th' hammer? I me younger da ‘twas not con- sidhered rayspictable f'r to be an athlete. An athlete was always a man that was not sthrong, enough f'r wurruk. Fractions dhruv him frm school an’ th' vagrancy laws dhruv him to base ball. We used to go out to th' ball game to see him sweat an’ * ok E % 1l i JWith tears that 1 think but she knows diff'rent. An® 1 give in “But I've won, just th' same. F1 jdown in me heart I'm sayir ““Susette, if T'were not a gentle {man that,wud scorn to smash a lady ! they ar-re grief d be but wan endin’ to thit Ifracas! Th' right to th' pint iv th {jaw. Susette.’ | LU may miver use it d’ ye mind ! We may go on livin' together an’ me {losin’ a battle ivry day f'r fitfty year ut 1 always know ‘tis there.an’ the {knowledge makes me a proud an |aughty man. 1 feel me arm as I gc {out to lock th' woodshed again, an 11 say to me: *Oh, woman, if 1 iver jcut loose that awful right! An e knows it, too. If she jdidn’t, she wudden't waste her tears { Th' sinsc of her physical infeery- es her weep. & he must weeg | people an’ a' Fr-rinchman cudden’t hit{none iv his family was ivér proad iv|or she must fight. Most anny womat |a-base-ball with a scoop shovel. Th' | Germans is -a hardy race an’' they ! thrain_on Wesphalyan ham an’ Bood- weiser an’ th’ on'y exercise they have RE EVER TAKEN OF HENRY FORD,” SAYS THE|is howlin’ at a sangerfest an' trund- AUTHOR. OF THIS ARTICLE. ’ home their wages in a cart. re we anny betther, tell me, f'r beln! th*,high tinnis experts, th' in- therprisin’ . rowsmen, th' champeen vachtéts jv th’ wurruld thin we were on'y th' champeen puddlers, milkers, ploughers, an' sewin’ machine agents? “Why is Englapd ‘losii’ her su- préemicy, Hinnissy? ‘ Because Eng- lishmen get ‘down to their jobs at iliven_a'tlock figurin’ a ‘goluf scoor on their cuffs an’ Tave at a quarther to twelve on a bicycle. ” We bate” thim because 't was th’ habit iv our joynt iv commerce f'r to be up with th’ dock an’ ‘down to th' damper “befure ‘th’ cashler. come; an' in his office all day " 1 in’ his ‘shirt sleeves an’ settin' -on’ th' safe till 'ti’' last man ] l. had Eone. “Now, If ye call up ‘Wan iv these captains iv industhree at wan o'clock iv a Saturday afthernoon,.th’ office boy-answers th' tillyphone. 'Th' Titan and blue knee breeches, batin’ a hole in a sand pite an’ cur-rsin’ th' evil fate ‘that -made him a .millyfonaire whin nature ‘{ntinded him £ a golut champgen. % “Yeean't-kéep ye'er eye on th’ ball an’ on the money at th’ same time. Ye've.got to be wan thing or another in’this. wurfuld. I niver knew a good card -player or a crack spoortsman that<eud do much iv annything_ else. “They used to tell me that Napoleon Bonyparte, th' imp'ror iv th’ Frinch, was a champeen chess player,” but Hogan says he was on’y good because annybody . that bate him might as well go down an’ be measured £'r his ball an’ chain. A rale high class chess player, without room f'r anny- thing else in his head: cud close his ' in’ put'th’ dhrinks on’ Napoleon eyes, an’ iv Commerce i out in a set v green! him except his younger brother. “A good seat on th’ bieachers. a bot- | tle handy f'r a neefaryous decision at | first base an’ a bag iv erackerjack was as far as iver T got tow'rd bein’ |a spoortin’ charkacter an' look at me |now! Ye can’t have ye'er strenth an’ use it, 1 gredge th' jpower I waste in walkin' upstairs or puttin’ on me spec: “But °tis good f'r th® women.” said iMr. Hennessy. i “Is it, faith” said Mr. Dooley. Well, iit may be, but it's no good fr th' women or th' men. 1 don't know izin’ thin to be marrid to a woman that cud give me a sthroke a shtick at goluf. "Tis goin’ to be th’ roon iv fam'ly life. 'Twill break up th’ happy home. | Suppose I'm 2 man that's downtown frm th' arly mornin’ bendin’ over a ledger an’ thryin' to to thrap a dol- lar or two to keep th' landlord fr'm th' dure. I despise athletes. I see that all th" men that have a metallic rattle whin they get on a movin' sthreet car are pounds overweight an’ wud blow up if they Jogged around th’ corner. “Well, T come home at night an’ no matther how I've been ‘here-you-d' all day, I feel in me heart that I'm the big thing there. What makes me feel that way, says ye? 'Tis th’ sinse liv physical supeeryority. “Me wife is smarter thin I am. She's had nawthin® to do all day but th' housewurruk an’ puttin’ in th’ coal an’ stydyin’ how she can make me do something I don't want to do that I\wud want to do if she didn't want me to do it. She's thrained to th® minyit In havin' her own way. Her mind’s clearer, mine bein’ full iv bills iv ladin; she can talk betther an’ more frequent; she can throw me fam’ly in me face an’ whin har-rd {put’ fo ‘ii, Ner' stafry 'eves can gleam annything that cud be more demoral- { jwud rather do battie thin cry. bu: they know it's no use. B now how is it? I zo home af night an’ I'm met at th’ dure be a female joynt. Me wife's th' cham- peen lady guluferess iv th' Ivy Leai igoluf club: th' finest oarslady on th' * k% {canal; a tinnis plaver that none can iraysist without injury. She can ride’ {a horse an’ 1 cudden't stay on a ! merry-go-round without clothespir : She can box a good Welter weight an he’s got medals £'T th’ broad jump. “Th' on'y spoorts she isn’t good at !is cookin’ an® washin". | “This large lady, a little peevish | because she's off her dhrive, meets me at th’ dure an’ begins issuin® ordhers befure 1 have me shoes off. °Tis just th* same as if I was back on th’ hoist. }She does'nt argy, she doesn't weep. | She just sa Say, you,’ an’ I'm oft lon th’ bound. 1 look her over an’ say 1 to mesilf: ‘What's th' good? 1 cudden't ecross that guard,’ an’ me reign is ended. T'm back to th’ ranks iv th' prolitory. “It won't do, Hinnissy. It's a blow at good govermint. 'T will disrupt th' | home. Our fathers was r-right. They didn’t risk their lives an’ limbs be marryin® these female Dempseys What they wanted was a lady that they'd find settin’ at home whin they arrived tired frm th' chase, that played th’ harp to thim an’ got thelr wampum away fr'm thim more ke a church fair thin 1ik2/a safe blower. “In th'next eighty or ninety years, it i meke up me mind to lave this boistherous life an’ settle down, th' lady that I'll rayquist to double me rent an’ divide me borrowin' capac. ity will wear no m:dals for athletie spoorts. * F'r, Hinnfssy, I'm afraid 1 cud not love a woman I might lose a fight o\ (Copyright, 1922)