Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-07-12
TODD SAYS HIS MEN
WORK with HIM
Master Shipbuilder, Formerly OF
Wilmington. PHILOSOPHERS
on Labor.

Philadelphia can claim some share II II
William H. Todd, one OF the worio
master shipbuilders, the man VINO re-
Gently gave away $l,Oo,oOo IN stock .'
his employees. says the ihhaoeiph'
Evening Ledger. ;. az; .;.,.
shrilling his 'ux-trees WITH poyisi
vim that the years developer INTO .n'
masterful vigor OF planner and eNeeul'VS
Thcn he was a train butcher, sell
mo nagayincs. fruit candy and cigars on
prnnsylyania Railroad trains between
this city and Baltimore.
Now he is president of the Todd ship,
yards CORPORATION, controlling yards and
drvdocks on the eastern and western
coasts with more than $4,000 men on MS
payrolls.
SAYS MEN WORK WITH HIM.
When he gave $l,0o0oOO IN stock 70
his employees last week he SIMPLY was
putting into practice philosophy growing
from long association with WORKERS;
Todd saws his men don { work Tor
HIM. They work with him.
The master shipbuilder laughed when
asked il philanthropy prompted nm 10
give away Sl.oo0,OO0.
coming 10 them, because they had earned
i because. | promised it TO them, he
said II didn Z really give IT away at that:
Mere all working together. We all did
prctty good work for the last four years
and / simply was giving the gang ! work
with n spht on what we made.
Nr. Todd, whose vast yards are Tree
from labor trouble. insists his attitude
towards labor Is purely one OF common
sense. :.
LOYALTY Of labor? You can't buy
that with a million times q million. In
ccntive 20 increased efficiency? There
not a big man in our outfit who was
not lifted out Of tho ranks by his own
effort. Philanthropy? Workmen don
want philanthropy. They want iair
deal all around.
No TINE FOR sHIRKrNG EMrLoYE.
The former newsboy has little time for
the employer who gets into hole OF his
own making and then runs TO his work
men to bc helped out He has equally as
httle time for the shlrking employe.
There's the workman who says he
cant work more than six hours day,
no explained, "and when he gets the slx
hours complains that six hours pay Is
not enough TO live on. Why doesn he
work longer, them am working more
hours dav now than ! ever did.
Mr.. Todd emphasized working and
saving as the cardinal rule OF success.
Some part Of every ones earnings, ne
said. should be saved, even If only fifty
cents q week
Is for the high cost Of living, Mr.
Todd has his own views on that. tie
believes the cost plus system OF letting
war contracts was largely responsible.
That cost-plus plan was no good for
ANYBODY, he asserted. Il never took
one unless il was forced onuS. We built
nine sweepcrs during the war on lump
sum basis and We turned out nine sweep
ers To the other fellows one right along
Cost-plu is simply an inducement 10 lay
back, pile up construction costs and add
YOUR profit by percentage. It's hAely
to make contractor and workman alike
lose sclf-respect."
MIDDLE CLASS HAS BEEN HIT.
MIR Todd insists that something must
be done for the middle class of Amer
ica population the white collar class.
neither capitalists nor laborers.
Il nlcSs some one watches out, he
warned, there will be an uprising OF the
middle people in this country. They are
the ones whose interests have not been
considered. The big fellow and the work
msn may be able 70 fight it out, but the
people who are not in the capitalist class
nor vet laborers have rights, too. The
American people are not fools
Mr.. Todd, a son OF James and Sarah
+. Todd, was born in Wilmington. Del,
November p, 1864. His father had been
3 Phladelphian. He was married in 1889
to Miss Mary Emma Babcock, OF Viii
mlngton.