The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-01-13
WHY FORD
 GIVES MILLIONS
His Profit Sharing Plan Is Bas-
 ed on Good will.

pl0yS SU,OUU Men HI HIS Hdc-
 tories-Detroiters Delight to
 Tell of His Eccentricities.
 A slim active little man, with con : templative eyes and grayish aaar. mas been lodging in and out of the Hote Trairuaout the last day or two, trying to avoid the hordes of job-seekers' nrornotors. and cranks who have drtv-5 en the clerks at the information oesk fo f,e verge of distraction You xrou1d never think in looking at nm mat he is the man who is said to have the third largest income in ac- t,sal cash in the world, that he rose from ar. ordinary mechanic to pc the rnost-ta1 1ked-of automobile manuIac- ftrrer of his tines employing So,OOo -1e,,- and that his methods have rad fcallv influenced the automoDlleapu pusl- ness
 rnis little man with the alert man ner Of a boy, is Henry Ford, the crea- tor of the Ford autonopile, wuo assL Sase trffed the indus trial world this eeA bv announcing Ia prodt-shari1lg plan a for the employess of his several sdtrIer- ent plants. which involves the 5It d1st IT II. : button of s10. .008 in cash a. year. Ford accompanied this announce ,,,e-s+ vritI "a. statement that hereaf ter fine minimum wagef ins his Factories would be s5 a day.; this rule ,applylngs even to the boys who sweep the Hoors and run errands- He could saIely al al ' cause the net profit of hls business this past year is estiInafeds to have been SIS, ,O0e.00o It va $. S1S. 900, coo the year before and there IS every reason to suppose that there val pc a similar increase in earnings sdn- @ ,. ls to be generous is willing 10 take tne trouble Ford doesn't care for money as money though He says, him nseif, that -the $10.Ooo.oo0 year which ne will divide among his employees Viii be more than amply returned to h1m in the shape of goodwill Some peo- pIe may have thought that remark pretence- In the automobile world few disgruntIed manufacturers have been heard to remark that the Ford announcement was simply the opening move in a plot to draw the best grade of labor from other plants to the Ford establishment at Detroit But you have only to talk with Detrolters to ret the reverse of this opinion They think a good deal of Henry Ford in Detroit. even though they do take keen delight in retailing stories of his ec- centric ways and his unusual busi- ness methods
 HIS HOME AND FARM.
 They know, for instance. that Ford 8 claim thai he mas no p1Il1Cu4dA -eloO for money outside of providing him. self and his small family with the ne cessities of life, is perfectly true. They know that Ford's home on his zO0O-acre farm, just outside the city limits is a simple bungalow, and that no power on earth could. induce hirn and his wife to put up with more than two servants-notwiths thstanding the fact that their income runs into the mil Hons. in cold cash. mark you They know that Ford spurns the more ex- pensfve makes of automobile. He makes the Ford, and the Ford is good enough for him.
 Another whimsy of Ford's, along this line, is his antipathy to investments. He has never bought a bond a share of stock. save in his own com pany, and he controls 55 per cent. of this, a total issue of $2,0OO,000, paying minimum dividends of 500 per cent. He has SIS, 1000 600 in cash deposited in several banks in Detroit; and he has them all frightened for fear in mo- ment Of absent-min mindedness-such as he has occasiona1lyZhe might draw cheek for five or ten millions on one or other of them No bank in the country could produce a million in cash ofr-hand- To scrape such a sum together, without closing the doors, it would be necessary to call upon tMe treasury of the United States. The Detroit banks which carry Ford's per sona1 accounts have an agreement among themselves, whereby, in case he should wish to draw suddenly from any one bank of the group, the others would come to that banks assistance and provide additional cash from their funds
 People have vainly argued with Ford to put at least sonde of his profits 1n investments that would pay an ade- ouate percentage. But his answer to this is-
 DOESN'T CARE FOR MONEY.
 ..What do I want with more moneyi shall never use what I have. very likely"
 Another time he told an inquirer that money meant nothing to him be cause he had mo one to leave it to. 7 And for a moment people wondered il he had quarre11ed with his only son EdseI, a boy of nineteen, who is the apple of his fathers eye.
 But the truth of the matter is that Henry Ford knows he need feel him. self under no obligations to provide for Edsel in the future. Young Ford Is perfectly capable of looking after himself He is a quiet, hard-workinE youngster, with a desk in his father. office at the Detroit plant, and he i. as familiar with every branch of the business as any of the officers of tht company Like his father, Edse Ford will be able to make his owr way, and will never have to rely upor a legacy to see him through life.
 It is typical of the elder Ford thar he should train his son along sucI lines Self-independence and ability to work are the foundation stones oi his own career.
 Like many mechanical geninses Ford is notoriously careless in hand ling money. Recently he had the en- tire bookkeeping staff of the Fora company at their wits end. trying tc run down a shortage of $75,000 in the accounts. Adding machines, exper accountants, and other resources weTt fr vain T1ufi1 if UaS discovered tha1