The Chattanooga news. [volume] (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 1891-1939, 1919-08-02
FORD FORESAW
UNREST OF MEN
Prosperity of Workmen Meant
Greater Earnings for
Company.

Mount Clemens, Mich, Aug, g.
| U. n. S.)-When a verdict is rem
dered in the S1,000,000 libel suit
| Brought by Henry Ford against the
Chicago Tribune for calling him an
anarchist, the principal figure in the
long drawn-out litigation will not be
here to listen to 1t. He will be away
on his annual gypsy vacation" with
his chums Thomas A, Edison, the
inventor, and John Burroughs, the
naturalist.
Mr.. Ford, who has not been In
Mount Clemens since he left the wit
ness stand last week after a seven
days session of Interrogation, is at
his big farm in Dearborn, making
ready for the outing and, like good
agriculturist seeing to 1t that his
harvesting is being completed.
While he declined to discuss the
case with correspondent who Wis
tied him today, he seemed in high
spirits and said laughingly:
TN get the news of the verdict
wherever l may be-"
Saw Il Was Coming.
During one of his last DAYS on the
witness stand the motor manu-
| facturer was asked why he had in
creased the wages of his men to SIS
! day five years ago. His reply was:
I'VE saw it was coming"
One of his own attorneys inquired:
You mean it was coming to the
men ?"
He replied again: I'VE saw 1t was
coming"
The correspondent who talked with
him at Dearborn today had wondered
lust what Henry Ford had meant by
that curious answer, and so he asked
for an explanation.
Il meant that / saw an era COM
ing in which the worker, the pro-
ducer, would have to be given a
fairer share of the profits from what
he produced" said Mr.. Ford.
THAT was long before the war
had increased wages and put up the
cost of living. We saw that there
would be unrest, serious unrest, un
less workers were so treated that
they would be content with their
Jobs So we raised the pay and
shortened the hours Of our own men.
We believed, too, that the more
prosperous the men would become,
lIt II1OIC prosperous We "Ouiu ''NN
come. That worked out, and within
to Sc a day"
Recalling the Ford foresight which
led to the development Of the small
motor car and then the small faEm
tractor, the correspondent mentioned
the two things and asked what do
you foresee now, in an Industrial
way Mr.. Ford?"
"One of the most important things
Of the near future, | believe, will
be the more general use of one of
the greatest of our natural re-
sources" he replied.
We are allowing countless thou
sands Of horsepower to go to waste
in our rivers and streams. They
should be harnessed and their power
converted into electricity to operate
our factories, to light the cities even
to heat our homes and cook our food.
Steam power generated from coal is
expensive and inefficient in cOmpar-
ison. We ought to let our water
ways provide our power"
Mr.. Ford is constructing and pre-
pairing to construct a number of fac
tories in various parts of the country
which are to be operated entirely by
hydro electric energy.
Another thing Mr.. Ford foresees
and is constructing, is the street car
driven by internal combustion mo-
tors. This is light, tough steel We
hicle, as large as the present street
car, but more durable and easier on
the roadbed, which would, naturally,
be self-propelled and carry its own
fuel, doing away with expensive pow
erhouses and trolley wires. Besides
being used in small communities,
these cars could run on the lines of
great cities during the rush hours,
when all the electric power is being
used by the cars of the present sys-
TENS. Shortly, one of these self-pro-
PEELED cars is to be tested at Dear
born.
What else do you foresee?" the
was asked.
In general, world becoming more
mechanical every day." he said.
Work becoming pleasanter and
easier, people becoming more COM
Portable and better off, as machinery.
instead of muscle. does the telling"
How soon will this mechanical
" orld come TO pass?"
If we have peace, great strides
will be made at once" Mr. Ford re-
piled
With permanent peace such
as a league of nations will bring
about, this will be the greatest con-
structive nation in the world, and
mechanically the next ten years
should be the greatest in our his
tory. Let us have the league and
settle down TO permanent peace, and
the present generation will witness
miracles in America, the |