The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-11-29

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 Ford than those who stood for the better things, and this in spite of the fact that for the time being he seemed heartily in favor of the hu- mane policies then in force
 Why he made familiars of men of this class was a profound mystery to those of us who saw only the other side-the nobler and better side--of
 him. In an article by Mir. w P. Will son, which appeared some time ago Tn l the Worlds Work. entitled An h. innate Study of Lloyd George there is to be found this paragraph:
 Asked why he Uloyd George) sometimes chooses such curious 1 friends he would probably answer that you can not govern mankind by idea1ists. You need scavengers to clean your streets is one of his most l interesting maxims~ Lloyd George l has always been particularly careful Ito select skillful scavengers. They are in attendance on him everywhere. l loyalty doing the dirty work of na- 1 ticnal housekeeping. He is as much amused with them as he Is with any l other menagerie. He loves the un-
 usual and grotesque. No 1 great man ever suffered fools more l gladly. And the fools know it. $. Lloyd George is the apotheosis of the common man. He has the com mon mans contempt for theory, the common mans contact with facts. Selects His Scnvengers.
 | Henry Ford is also particularly l careful to select ski1lful scavengers on occasion when he deems their 1 services necessary. They seem to l furnish him with the unusual and
 the grotesque at which he does not l frown. if he does not smile. If the work of certain clerks in the shop is not wanted, why tell them SO? | Smash their desks. That is quite l unusual, deliciously grotesque, and very amusing. A man who ventures to wear a white collar In a shop de- l serves to have his life made a bur l den. Expensive tools of skilled work men are scattered over the floors. l Foolish? Insulting? Humiliating? Not at all. It takes the conceit out
 of the man who brides himself on l his work. It prevents him getting | into a 'cozy corner, and admiring | himself over much.
 It Is curious that both Lloyd George and Henry Ford should seem l to have lost faith in their early idealism, Lloyd George having dis covered that you cannot govern an empire, and Henry Ford discovering that you cannot govern a factory by idealists. Perhaps they are right. I am simply recording the fact as an interesting one. Still, some of us will cling to the theory that men re- spond more generously to good treat ment than to harsh, that men can be
 led to do up to their fullest capacity.
 and that all are better for being led than driven.
 One Had to Go
 It became evident as time went on
 that either the men who stood for
 the better things in the organization,
 or the scavengers, must go. The
 ideals and policies announced in 1914 1915 became increasingly. difficult of
 enforcement. Rules for the handling of employees were bent and frequently broken. Then came the depression of 1920. Curtailment in production was followed by curtailment of construc- tion work The wheels stopped. So also the incoming stream of gold. Staggering obligations were ahead.
 Men were let out from necessity. That in itself merits no criticism. It was not what was done. but the nan ner in so many instances in which men were discharged.
 If there is any act in industry that should be done with the utmost con
 sideration. it is the act of discharge, especially in the time of crisis.
 It is sufficiently painful anc hu- initiating to be brought face to face
 with unemployment and all that fol- lows-loss of income. and of savings. accumulation of debts. eviction and hunger-without being kicked like dog into it.
 Discharge and reorganization are not necessarily dirty work. It is the last sort of work in the world to be placed in the hands of the industrial scavengers. Unfortunately there are employers who think otherwise. In times like the present, when there are more men than jobs. when ften men are driven in production to the point of exhaustion, the scavenger, whose delight is in the brutal meth cds that prevailed in the days of slavery. is having his day in many an industry.
 It does not require many men of this sort to destroy a company's rep
 utation for just dealing, cloud its good name and convert the good will of labor and the general public into
 silent. but effective opposition. The
 law of compensation works in ths
 handling of men in industry. as in
 N-~ xt-a Al T