Evening star., 1922-01-29
BY THOMAS r. MARSHALL,
Former Vice President Of the
United States.

Former Vice President OF the
United States.
N the years following the ad-
vent of the automobile it was
a moot question whether
Henry Ford was the greatest
benefactor OF his age or the
greatest enemy of private morals
in America, AS a country lawyer,
tried the first damage suit in
Indiana growing out of an auto
mobile accident. My client was
wholly without fault. He was
stuck by the jury. The damages
he had to pay were large.
The invention was regarded by
agricultural Indiana as a con-
kill all the chickens. dry up all
the cows, mutilate all the pigs
upon her sacred soil. The average
farmer felt about it much as the
Georgia Cracker" felt about the
first locomotive that penetrated
the hill districts of his state.
Asked by another Cracker" what
he thought it was. he said he
didn't know, but he was inclined
to believe it was that blamed pro-
tective tariff that they talked SO
much about. The farmers of In
diana strung barbed wire across
the roads after night. There was
guerilla warfare between the
agriculturalists and the city mo-
torists.
Then along came Mr.. Ford with
his inexpensive and serviceable
car. The farmer realized that it
was speedier than his team of
horses and far cheaper. Becoming
himself the owner of a machine,
he lost his bitterness toward other
owners. even toward the man with
a larger one. The man of the
town and the man of the country
again became friends. Thus Mr.;
Ford spelled friendship and good
will among the people. while
building up fortune for himself.
But the first Ford had to be
cranked in order to be started and
for long time the atmosphere
was sulphurous because of the
language used by Presbyterian
elders and Baptist deacons max
ing ready to attend divine service
uncertain whether Ford was a
greater benefactor to the Amer
ican people than he was de-
stroyer of their private morals.
The attachment Of the self-start-
er to the Ford, which finally re-
moved all incentive to profanity.
is typical of modern American life.
1t is no longer necessary to have a
crank in order to start some
thing. Indeed we are unwilling
to wait for cranks to set us going.
That man has not risen to the
rights. privileges and opportunities
of a present-day American who is
not himself a self-starter.
/ sometimes wonder at the aw-
fulness of life if all the things
that are started were pursued to
their logical conclusions. Chaos
would seem as order in compari-
son with what might exist if
everything that gets a-going had
gasoline >enough to carry it along
life's highways. But the right
and privilege of starting some
thing is a safety valve: they en-
able us to get rid of our super
fluous energy and unless carried
too far do our neighbors no harm.
! am led to the making of these
observations by a feeling that 1
would like to start something
myself. l do not propose, however
to carry my invention far. 1t
would be warned off the highways
by the first motor cop.
have said nothing about the
procedure at Washington beyond
expressing and re-expressing
hope that out of it would come
something for the good of the
world. l learned as a boy not to
keep a dog and do my own bark
ing 1t has been sufficient for me
to be satisfied with the honesty
and ability of the man who was
working for me, to let him do the
work in his own way. So with
reference to the Washington con-
ference have expressed no
opinion as to the things that were
going on. had confidence in the
missioners. I had hope that IN
serving America they were serving
the world.
There is no phrase that so ap-
peals to the American people as
public opinion" yet there are but
= few things about which there is
any sort of public opinion in
America today. There are, of
course, great, undisputed, histori-
cal facts with reference to govern
ment and there are principles
about which there is really gen.
uine, although divided, public opin-
ion as to which principles should
rule in American life. But in the