Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1921-10-25
AUTO MAGNATE
TELLS HOW He
RUNS HIS own
Lighter Rolling Stock
Is One Essential to
Better Service, Claim.
Divorce Finance and
Rail Systems, Make
Roads Work, He Says.

Washington, Oct. o4-Henry Ford
writing in the current number of the
official publication Of the Chamber of
Commerce of the United States. tells
how he would run big railroad. Mr..
Ford's operation Of his own road, the
Detroit, Toledo & Ironton, has been
the subject of much discussion among
railroad men and the public.
First Of all, says NJ. Ford, he would
get rid of the individual stockholder,
whom he considers parasite. Then he
would turn to lighter rolling stock and
finally fire the useless employees, es-
pecially the lawyers"
Finance, as it applies to railroads.
says Mr.. Ford. is failure. and the
roads spend money uselessly in red
tape of all sorts, particularly in ac-
counting.
The real purpose of a railroad"
Mr. Ford writes, is to serve the
public. There is no reason why it
would be diverted from that service
and set to doing an entirely different
thlng-putting money into the pockets
OF stockholders who make no contri-
button to the roads actual operation
In the end the public pays these divi-
dends. They are tax on the whole
people.
System Of Financing
There is a possible and practicable
system Of financing railroads BY which
those contributing the money will be
in positions to aid directly to the sue
cess of the undertaking If the brake
man on railroad owns stock in it.
he has an additional inducement to
competent service. If the railroad is
success, it is due to him and his
fellow workmen and they are entitled
to the profit.
Railroads should not have to go to
banks for money. They can be other
wise financed. The first thing is to
make the railroad work. Make it pos
sible for people to use it as much as
they want to. Then there will be no
trouble about finances. The trouble is
that we start with finance and expect
finance to make the road 20. Finance
can't do that. Finance is a failure
"Of course, if such course were at |
tempted, we could expect a great out
cry for the protection Of invested cap i
Ital. 1t would be said that people |
had bought these stocks for the finan- |
cial protection of their families. their
children. Protection from what? From
the necessity of earning their living.
Better for Children
Their children would be better off /
if they had to finance themselves.
Proper financing would. of course, be
easier on new roads. On the old ones,
however, it should be possible to re-
tire the parasite. the non-contributing
stockholder and get the owpership into
the proper hands.
after removing this dividend drain.
the second step would be to remove
fhn v,hv
weight of it's rolling
stock. A freight train is several times
the weight of the load it carries, and
q passenger train is 20 times as heavy.
The cost of pulling empty trains is
needlessly large. Contrast this with the
efficiency Of the bicycle. which weighs
70 pounds and will carry n man who
weighs 200 pounds.
"On the Detroit. Toledo & Ironton.
the old types. of engine and cars will be
displaced by better types. Our patents
will guarantee the free use Of ideas.
We will never proceed against any
They will belong to the world
THE third step. m immediate step.
which should be taken in the operation
Of any great railroad system. would be
that of expediting the journey of the
freight carrier.
Shorten Delivery Time. +
''By speeding up our freight over the
part of its journey on the
D. T. & T.. we have been able to
shorten the time of its delivery by |.
periods ranging from seven to IA days.
This means that our product gets to the
people to whom we sell it from seven
10 IA days quicker than it used to- 1t
means that we carry on our books
$40. 100000 less of undelivered prod
lets than we otherwise would.
Most railroads have enough lawyers
working for them to operate them if
hey were engaged in useful work. One
# the first things is to. dispense with
he legal staff. A well managed road
reeds less Of that sort of service. The
awyers are mostly in the claims de-
,artment, (which is one Of the most
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