The Llano colonist. [volume] (Llano, Calif.) 191?-1937, 1922-06-03
THE IMPORTANCE or THE
FIRST STEP NOW


(By Henry Ford IN Dearborn Indep'nt)
A man is never so certain to Be right
Jas when he stands on principles, and
he never has 50 many chances to be
wrong as when he goes III for person
alities. The descent to details, except
in the thing next to be done, is always
fraught with danger. The thing pro
posed to be done is either good or not
good for the immediate place or task.
When we go farther than that We are
in danger Of entering the realm Of UNI
truth.
It is very significant that most Of the
impeding disagreements among the
people have nothing TO do with the
thing Immediately at hand. but with
future extensions Of theory OF a pro-
gram which no one knows will Be the
best theory or program when future
tasks are reached.
10 take an illustration: There were
probably never so many minds exer-
cised about our money system as there
are to-day. Judging from the mail Of
one office, there are tens Of thousands
OF people in this country who have dis
covered that system which once serv-
ed as an aid has now become an OBJ
stacle. In the most unexpected places
there is exhibited an amount Of zeal
and labor on this problem which cannot
but mean great good to the country at.
large.
One characteristic. however. is quite
prominent in all this work: the minds
thus exercised have run ahead Of the
actualities and have spun out Of logic
and imagination scores and hundreds
Of complete theories and systems which
look forward to thousand years Of
practice With few exceptions, each.
laborer in this field has spun his own
system which he is ready to put into
operation, tomorrow morning, if given.
the opportunity.
Now, when most Of these proposed
systems leave the facts Of today and
soar into the long future, they take diff
ferent tracks. They begin their work
almost at the same point, but diverge
as they extend it. Then they fall to
arguing with each other, because the
far-future phases of their schemes do
not agree. No one of them knows what
the future condition is to be, not one
of them knows whether his system will
meet the needs Of the changed future,
they only think SO; that is, they only
imagine so, and because their imagin-
ations differ, they are separated into
opposing camps and the public comes
to regard them as cranks who cannot
understand each other.
Our duty is not to prophesy but to
do the next thing which stands to Be
done. If this were our rule, action
would take the place Of theorizing.
Action is the judgment bar of all the
DRY, anyway. Suppose there are one
thousand steps to be taken before we
reach the condition desired; does any
one assume that he is able to say what
Step No. 1917 will be? But we may
know what Step No. /, or even Num-
bers 2 and 3 should be.
Society has no wings by which to fly
at one flight from the present deepen
ing tangle Of things to the desired i'm
provement which we are sure is COM
ing. Society can only cut steps in the
stony Mountain side and mount higher
by sheer effort. To see where the next
step Of the ascent can be cut, and rig
idly to bend ourselves TO hew it out
that men may mount by one step more.
is the duty laid upon The Men Who
See. And, having cut that step, the
place for the next step will be appar-
emf.
Alexander Del Mar. founder Of The