National news. (Chicago, Ill.) 1915-19??, 1916-01-08
Henry Ford's
Messa9e to Labor

in bloom and the soft California sun
light lay over the dazzle Of color low
ingly. No one who saw il will ever
forget the glory of that lowered ter
race that was in front of the Inside
Inn. Men and women passed and re-
passed. They even stopped and
starred at Henry Ford. He saw none
of it, save the beauty of the flowers,
the glory of the day and the stead
fastness Of his own purposes.
There is book called the Bible"
he said slowly. In il are some fun
damantal. truths, there is. As ye
SOW, ye shall reap ] believe that.
II is sound business. And then there
is whatsoever ye would, that men
should do to you. do ye even so TO
them That is still more sound bust
ness. And somewhere We read that
the 'Laborer is worthy Of his hire"
Again his eyes twinkled with
quaint humor. Maybe that is what
your capitalist means when he says
am shrewd business man. he said.
ITO my mind there is still another
way of looking at il. Men who are
happy and have time for decent play.
produce real results. A man should
laugh and sing and read and mix with
his brothers when the days work is
over. Worry causes more heart
breaks. more insanity, more suicides,
more broken homes, thsn anything
else. Unequal and low wages is the
cause Of about all the worry In this
country. II follows that the suicide,
the insanity and the others are the
logical sequence"
That's true" said /, but the re-
lief. the cure"
Said Henry Ford then, THE world
must learn that labor is the keystone
of civilization. Working men. work
ing women. must realize that labor
is something righteous, something
God given. Let more boys and girls
take to trades. but let them know as
well the books and pictures and music
of life. have never been able TO
understand why man who works
should not love these things, why he
should not understand them. Labor
can do much to bring about these bet,
terments. Organized labor can. II
you stop To think about il. For ex-
ample, no child should leave school
before he is sixteen. has had fair tech
nical training. and has completed at
least one high school year. II in the
ranks of organized labor there were
UNITY OF PURPOSE instead Of
simple ORGANIZATION. this one
great advance IN civilization could h.
brought about within year And
there would be no necessity for reduc-
ing the wages of those who were not
able to 20 To school either. A DAYS
WORN Is worth Ia the employer a
THE III SI<ESS. II the wage scale
j. lowered anywhere. II should be- at
the top where II purchases luxuries
AMI uot al the bottom. where II buys
necessities The day Is coming when
employers must see that, any pros
perits Which IL built upon njustiees.
Is not true prosperity.
LIFE WILL STRIKE 4 BALANCE
SOMEWHERE
The result IL inevitable because the
law of balance Is ineseapable. The re
sponsible FOR labor conditions Is up
to each individual. TIE MORE
GENTLY FORTUNE DEALS WITH
HIM. THE GREATER HIS RI
SPONSiBIllTY. In unenightened
countries. some Of the unusual aud in
possible economics. which Ne. by ouf
indifference largely. foster IN this
country. might b. allowable, Whs the
United States tolerates second Glars
citizenship. when clean. wholesome.
Intelligent. honest citizens mght
govern, i "A mystery. The change in
the social status a. We'll as IN the
general conditions prevailing among
the people Who work with their hands,
j. no longer matter of charity or
patronage or kindness. IL is a mat
ter which vitality concerns this gov
ernment. as exemplihed in the people.
The people are the government They
stand for the Peace of absolute power
or they stand for the cowardiee Of
war. brought about by fear"
And it Is so simple When one
thinks about IL. Working IsnPI arf
a large majority Of this nations pop
lation. let them UNITE upon an,
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