River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1921-08-25

Il
if the plant ever opened mp again,
they would be in new hands; .ha- Nj.
Ford was ready to retire"
Wall Street Learns
Just at this juncture, according to
Mr.. Ford's associates, different New
York banking groups sent represer. a.
tives to Detroit offering loans on diff
ferent terms. According to Mr.. Ford,
discussed such an offer. He was the
gentleman who was shown the door.
In 20 minutes Wall Street found out
very definitely whether Mr.. Ford
needed funds. Within 10 days after
that meeting. postcards went out from
the office calling 10000 men back to
their machines. Within six weeks
more the plant was again in full OPP
GRAFTON. Since that time, with pro-
duction records smashed almost week
ly, the company's increasing sales and
production have become the marvel OF
the industrial world. On July IL, 446l
cars were turned out in a singel day.
total production for July will be close
to 100000 cars-and still, Mr.. Ford
saws, production is far behind orders.
What wrought this change?
The answer is in two words
liquidation and economy.
Ford did to his business what the
doctor does to a man Frustrated by
over eating and drinking-he admin
istered stern regimen of fasting and
diet. He stopped buying. Then, by
turning all his stock on hand, rough
and manufactured, into cash and by
eliminating every element and unit,
throughout the whole vast organiza-
ton. that did not produce, he forced
his industry, for time, to live off its
own fat. He met his obligations, not
by borrowing money and thus per-
petuating numberless extravagances
that had crept in during the war, but
by devising new methods of efficien-
CIV in buving. in distribution, in adj
rinistration and accounting and by
eliminating waste.
Tells OF The Storm
The story of how Henry and Edsel
Ford, with methods long planned to
meet the coming storm, engineered
their industry into position such
that there never was moment when
it was pressed for ready cash for its
needs, and thus, to the amazement Of
Wall Street, turned the corner" is a
kind of business and industrial epic.
Out at the plant of the Dearborn
Independent, the other day, Mr.. Ford
sat, coat off, watching a never ending
procession moving along the roadway
just outside, of mowers, threshing
machines and wagons, hauled by trac-
tors, on their way to and from the
harvest fields of his estate. The day
was hot. He was reluctant to talk.
"I'm thinking now of the present
and future" he said. THAT financ-
ing matter is thing of the past
let it stay there.
"But," some enc suggested, there
are other plants, big and little,
throughout the country, that today
face the same problems you had; they
might benefit by your experience"
His face frightened, then broke
into smile. as he said
sNow you've said something. May
| be it would be worth while"
| So he went for lot of records and
| Data illuminative of what was done
| by the company in the 10 months just
| passed, and with this before him, said
IF there's anything in my eXpe-
rience during the last year that will
| help anybody, they can have it right
off. Ny father used to say to me:
Never buy things until you need
them; if you've got anything lying
around that you don't need, sell it.
/ used to laugh at hinl-but now
| knew he was right. Then, too, there
are ways of meeting financial obll-
cations other than borrowing money.
Increasing efficiency to get decreas-
/ ed manufacturing costs, and thus
turning waste into dollaTs-that's one
of them. As a general proposition. the
time when you need it is a poor time
to borrow money-the man with TIE
money can demand too high terms"
as there any one thing" / asked
Mr.. Ford, "to which YOU can aScribe
your success in mastering all your
rroblens- any basic formula or prin-
ciple that | could express in few
words"
Faith, The Solution
'.Oh, yes there is" said the manu-
facturar, sitting up in his chair. very
much interested now, and pointing
his finger in emphasis eyes there is
you'll find the central idea in the
Bible, in Hebrews, II. Faith. Faith
is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not SEEN Faith
is the thing that makes reality of
what a man hopes for. | had faith
that the country and conditions in our
industry would right themselves-and
they are doing it every day."
The manufacturer gazed out of the
window a moment. and then:
"Our difficulties" he went on, "like
those Of the great plants, were a
heritage of the war. War is not only
damnable for the lives it costs, but
also for its after effects on society,
on civilization. Every form of hum
an activity is stimulated artificially.
Drink makes a mans senses keen
er-he sees, hears and feels things
that are not real, but abnormal; he
based his actions on thoughts, ideas
and impulses that are not sound. That
is just what war does, to business and
industry. The banker, suddenly hand
ling millions where before he handled
but thousands, becomes loose and
takes chances which formerly he