Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-09-23
THE RIGHT TO o

80 e..
THE RIGHT TO CLOSE.
There has been much discussion of late of the
right to strike, and of the right to do certain things
in connection with a strike. The argument in favor
of any restriction of the strike is based almost who'll
ly on the superior right of the public to have the
service which it needs. The strike is not the only
means by which the public is incommoded. The
owner of an enterprise may choose to discontinue it
at his pleasure, and if that industry is engaged in
the production OF essentials, and is large enough
the discontinuance~ of its activities, even temporar-
lily, may inhict grave injury on the public. 1t may,
moreover, inAict incalculable injury on thousands
of employees. E
Has a man a right to close up his industry &C
cording to the within of tbf moment, or may he
properly be required to justify his action to the
This question is brought to the front in rather
impressive manner by the temporary closing of the
Ford factories during the past week. Mr.. Ford de-
clared his intention to close his plants because of in
ability to obtain coal for their operation at a price
which he considered reasonable. The plants were
closed as announced. Within a few days there was
an adjustment in the coal matter and the plants
were re-opened. . a.. ~
1t is not necessary at this time to go into the
adequacy of Mr.. Ford's reasons for closing. The
facts may Justify him completely. The point is that
for reasons which were satisfactory to the pro-
|prietor, the plants were closed, and they were not
until the conditions in prospect were sat
|lsfactory to him.
1t can scarcely be said that any particular type
of automobile is one of the necessaries OF life. The
automobile itself is as necessary as is any other
type of machinery, the grain harvester, for instance.
Grain once was harvested by hand. Grain can still be
harvested by hand. But hand methods would suf-
fee for the harvesting of only a small fraction Of
the grain that is now raised, and If, at the beginning
of harvest, it became impossible to obtain harvest
ing machinery, most of the crop would be lost. The
lh,rvec+or therefore has become necessary to mod
Iern existence. In the same way the automobile
has become necessary. If it became impossible to
obtain new cars with which to replace old ones, and
with which to meet the demands OF the expansion
that is gong on 1ncaiculaole loss
would be sustained. Discontinuance of the manu-
facture of a particular car might easily be highly
injurious from the standpoint of diminishing the
total supply. /s
The influence on workmen and their families
would, of course, be more quickly and acutely felt.
The brief closing of the Ford: plants threw out of
employment for the time being something like 1907
900 persons who had been employed directly in
those plants. 1t closed the market for the products
of a great number of other factories whose work
was directly related to the work of the Ford con-
Germ. How many thousand people were laid off on
this account is a matter Of conjecture, but it is
|probably not too much to say that the closing of the
Ford factories affected, Immediately and injuriously
half a million men.s
The question-and there is a questions not
as to the SuttlC1ency OF the reasons tor closing IN
this particular case, but as to how far the decision
in such a case may properly pc left to the judgment
of one individual. Suppose that the Ford industry
were many times its present size, SO, that it con-
sumed more coal than all the other industries to.
gether. Suppose that Ford's closing would SO di-
minish the demand for coal that it would be neces.
sary for the coal mines to close to prevent the pilnle
up of coal faster than il would be handled. The
closing of mines in that case would not deprive thu
general public of coal. But it would throw all the
miners out of employment. Mr.. Ford's opinion a.
to the proper price for coal might be offset by the
opposite opinion of the mine owners. Neither party
~iyielding a million men might be idle, and the busi
ness. which depends on the. activity Of these mer
and on their earnings, would be at a standstilE.
A few years ago it might have required som,
. strain on the imagination to conceiyetof the demon
~Ialization Of the business Of the country through til,
decision Of any one man Or any single organizes
.Igroup to close down Tor whatever reasons---good
bad or ndiferent-the permitted to ~inauenc,
them. But the fact that the decision of one manu-
l~facturer to close has actually affected, even for
few days, the lives OF. 50 many hundreds of thop
s sands Of people brings up sharply/again the ques
tion of the responsibility Of the big business maj
Y Ito society for his acts, the n1anner in which tina
!, responsibiityrii Is to be defined, and the way iii w1icl
rights af the community are to be enforced
. lCiearly there can never Be pcrnaittedxa state of IL
liars in which the abiiitysof millions to sarn thu
nibrsad depends on the decision sof AN individual
tirn the Key inAtheS door. ofS not 70 turn y. - Is
whiti may take HIM sss