Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1921-08-24

cred that Ford was "broke" and that
lif the plant ever opened up again,
they would be in new hands; that
"Mr. Ford was ready to retire"
Wall Street Learns.
Just at this junction, according to
Mr.. Ford's associates, different N.
Y. banking groups sent representa-
tives to Detroit offering loans on
different terms. According to Mr..
Ford, only one Of these representa-
tives ever discussed such an offer.
H e was the gentleman who was
shown the door. In 20 minutes Wall
Street found out very definitely
whether. Mr.. Ford needed funds
Within ten days after that meeting,
post cards went out from the office
calling 10000 men BACK to their ma
chimes. Within six weeks more the
plant was again in full operation.
Since that time, with production re-
cords smashed almost weekly, the
company's increasing sales and pro-
duction have become the marvel of
the Industrial world. On July IL,
4,461 cars were turned out in a
single day, total production for July
will be close to 100000 cars-and
still, Mr.. Ford says, production is far
behind orders.
What wrought this change?
The answer is in two words-ll-
quotation and economy.
Ford did to his business, what a
man Frustrated by ~over-eatihg and
drinking-he administered a stern
regimen of fasting and diet. He stop
ped buying. Then by turning all his
stock on hand, rough and manufac-
tured, into cash and by eliminating
every element and unit, throughout
the whole vast organization, that did
not produce, he forced his industry,
for a time, to live off its own fat.
He met his obligations, not by Dor
rowing money. and thus perpetuating
numberless extravagances that had
crept in during the war, but by de-
vising new methods Of efficiency in
buying, in distribution, in admins !
tration and accounting and by elm
mating waste.
Tell of the Storm.
The story of how Henry and Ed
sci Ford, with methods long planned
to meet the coming storm, engineer
ed their industry into a position such
that there never was a moment
when it was pressed for ready cash
for its needs, and thus, to the amaze
ment of Wall Street, turned the
corner is a kind sof 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,
Ehau1ed by traitors, onstheir way to
and from the harvest fields of his
estate. The day was hot. He was re-
luctant to talk.
"Pm thinking now of present and
FUTURE" he said. "That financing
matter is a thing Of the past-let it
stay there"
fsBut," some one suggested, "there
are. other plants, big and little,
throughout the country, that to-day
face the same problems you had;
they might be benefited by your ex-
perience."
His face frightened, then broke
into a smile, as he said:
"Now you've said something, may
be it would be worth while"
So he sent for a lot of records and
data illuminative of what was done
by the company in the ten months
just passed, and with this before him
said:
eff there's anything in my expe-
rience during the last year that will
help anybody, they can have it right
off. My father used too say TO me-:
Never buy things until you need
them; if you've got anything lying
around that you don't need, sell it,
1 used to laugh at him-but now II
know he was right. Then, too, there
are ways of meeting financial obi
cations other than borrowing money.
Increasing efficiency to get de-
creased manufacturing costs, and
thus turning waste into dollars, that's
one of them. AS a general PROPOSE
ton, the time when you need it is a
poor time to borrow money-the