The daily morning oasis., 1919-08-19
WORLD WATCHING
YOUR DECISION /
Ford Counsel Tells Jury They Sit
in Most Serious Case of
a Generation.
ARGUMENTS ARE COMPLETED
Counsel Complete rInaI Remarks
and Judge Prepares His List
of instructions.


of Instructions.
Mt. Clemens, Mich, August 12.-
Three months from day that the Ford
Tribune 100000 libel case opened
| in this city, the long addresses of coun-
sci closed. The final word was said
to the jury for and against Henry
Ford and court adjourned for a day to
| give Judge Tucker an opportunity to
| arrange his charge. Elliott G. Steven
| son. chief counsel for the Chicago
Tribune opened the final days session
with the closing argument.
For the defendant, he laid principal
stress on the Ignorance" of Henry
Ford. He proclaimed that Mr.. Ford
was so ignorant that he did not know
he was an anarchist and that his
idealism was a part of this ignorance
From this point the attorney branched
out and attacked Ford witnesses and
their recital of the Ford war work
He belittled the tremendous labors of
the Ford organization in behalf of the
government and called them a choice
between doing war work and doing
nothing. Finally Mr.. Ford's philan-
throphic work was attacked. Andrew
Carnegie died yesterday" said the
lawyer, "the papers say he gave away
$3.50, 100000. Why, compared with
that record Henry Ford is piker."
During the course of his remarks Mr..
Stevenson complained to the jury that
when Judge Murphy speaks for Mr.
Ford his remarks are called eloquence,
but that when he himself speaks his
efforts are dubbed vehemence. The
final argument for Mr.. Ford was made
by Alfred Lucking, senior counsel for
the plaintiff.
Every seat in the courtroom was
crowded and every foot of standing
space occupied when Mr.. Lucking
rose to address the jury.
"The whole world in the next war
will be swept by the fire Of universal
destruction unless the last war shall
have shown the value of high court
of the nations" said Attorney Lucking
in extolling the court and jury sys-
tenn for the settlement Of private dis
putes as he opened his remarks "This
is not a crossroads lawsuit, as one
of the gentlemen on the other side
has said, the world is watching all
that is done here, but mostly waiting
for what you shall do. Great ques.
tions are on trial here great principles
and great ideals. Not in your time
or mine has jury of citizens been
charged with so serious . duty as
devolves upon you. One of the ques-
tions growing out of the case of the
Tribune's conception Of tn, freedom
of the press; we claim that it is not
the freedom of the presg that is on
trial here but the unbridled license
of the press. Has any newspaper the
right irresponsibly and relentlessly to
attack the character of private citi-
zens? The Chicago Tribune not only
called Henry Ford an anarchist and
then wrote an editorial in an attempt
to prove what it said, but 1t placed
it's editor on the stand to say that he
meant what he wrote-that Henry
Ford is an anarchist 1 wish it were
possible for this jury to go under
Henry Ford's personal guidance,
through Henry Ford's vast enter.
prises and listen to him a he ex-
pounds their mysteries. Ignorance?
One day down in Washington he heard
the naval experts of America and
Great Britain lamenting the impossi-
bility of getting boats to carry the
delicate detectors by which enemy
submarines could be located and des-
troyed. Henry Ford listened to them
for half an hour and right there and
then vision arose in his mind. He
saw certain swamp turLed into a
ship yard. He saw an entirely new
method of making ships. He saw a
new record of production. All this he
saw in every detail, as if it were in
actual operation, and in an incredibly
short time that shipbuilding plant was
at work. This ignorant man dreamed
it. Have his traducers ever dreamed
so greatly? Do any of us know as
much as that Ignorant" man? The
Chicago Tribune looks over Henry
Ford's great industries It looks into
his constantly increasing wage scale
1t looks into his wonderful work for
the education Of men who have missed
their chance. It looks into the trade
school, where boys are educated and
trained who would otherwise go to
the human scrap heap. It looks into
all his great services to humanity and
then 1t asks you to stop all this. 1t
asks you to brand him so that he will
not be able to hold up his head in his
own community. Are you going to say
that this man is unfit to associate
with other human beings because his
heart was sick of war, because he
seeks an order Of society which will
forever prevent the slaughter. of the
worlds young meL?'. Is 1t crime
to wish to prevent bloodshed? Would
not you wipe war and the responsibility
of war from the earth If you could
And would you expect your fellowmen
to require you by branding you as
an anarchist? If Henry Ford is an
anarchist, so was every signer of the