The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1922-11-22


made II impossible for them to pay
their labor fair wage; that he has
encouraged men to make large In
vestments In order to furnish him
with materials, and then has suddenly
ceased to place orders with them an
left them with an idle investment
and deserted factory on their hands.
Perhaps his answer to this charge,
IL there is any truth in it. would be
that even so, they made good money
while they were going. and that he
left them better off than when he
found them; and as for the low wages
paid their men, that was not due 20
the price he set for their output, but
to poor management and production
| methods; for later he was able to
| make the thing they were making
for him at cost less than he wa
paying them, and at the same time to
| pay SIS and IS minimum wage for
| the labor that went into il.
/ have listened to many discus
sions on this point and am well aware
that there is sharp division of
opinion in regard TO it. The view
one takes of it will depend almost
entirely on what he considers fair
| in business, and ON that men are q
long way from agreement.
| Henry Ford does not gamble. L
once saw him win cents on a bet.
took 1t away from him and put
it into charity fund SO / know that
| tainted nickel is not mixed up with
the other twenty billion nickels, mose
or less. now in his possession.
| once ran him a footrace on which
we and our friends risked a small
stake. Henry won. And I may say
right here for the benefit OF others
more than so years of age and AZ
| inches in circumference that you are
| not In Mr.. Ford's class unless you
have kept In excellent physical con-
dftion.
And may add also by way OF
| finishing this story that Mr.. Ford
took the money from those who won
on this race and gave it, to. an old
gate-keeper alta railroad crossing.
But this Is aside. What started
! to say was that the Ford fortune
as fortunes go. is clean. And It has
been handled in way that has
caused neither criticism nor hatred
on the part of the working classes,
II there are any who would like to
see Mr.. Ford lose out. they are not
in the ranks of labor.
i He has been generous toward his
| employees. On this point l think l
| can speak with some authority. as
| ! was in a position to know for a
/ period of several years. During the
TINA 1 was with the company ne
i gave to his employees, in addition. to
q generous wage, more than a hun
dred mikion dollars outs Of his
| profits, all of which he could have
RETAINED as his own. and which the
average man would have put into his
| own pocket,
1t is said that his profit-sharing
| plan was crafty scheme for get
ting more work out of his men: that
it actually returned more dollars 10
| him than he gave out 1t was I'M
| questionably shrewd and profitable
stroke. To the credit of Mr.. Ford
be 1t said that he personally never
| maintained that his profit and bonus
schemes were q means for distribute
ing charity.
I have often discussed tbs Ford
| profit sharing plan before groups of
! employers of labor. Seldom, If ever,
| have done so that some man has
not risen to ask. Didn't the plan
| pay? And didn't Mr.. Ford believe
| that it would pay? Would he have
! Instituted 1t IL he had not believed it
| would bring more dollars to him."
| And the answer was, Certainly, the
| plan PAYS That is just the point /
| am trying to make. And / would
| further like to make 1t clear that the
plan is not copyrighted. Any EN-
| pioyer 10 at liberty to try it. Both
| for the sake of the employer and the
| employees. we would like to see others
| try It out"
Getting Labor Efficiency
Labor In this country is said to be
about 40 per cent efficient. II a more
| liberal grant OF the earnings of labor
| were made to labor, possibly it would
/ dro NJ 41r ~ ho .rrnu a.
! per cent to make the experiment
| profitable to both labor and capital.
| That it would do SO is. in my opinion,
| a fact that Henry Ford has proved to
| tho industrial world. A man works
best when he is working for hts
own interest. If Henry Ford from
Self-interest appeals to the self-in-
| terest in others. he is at least work
ing along and in accordance with
| laws Of human nature, and Is doing q
better, fairer and more rational thing
than II, for purely selfish purposes,
| he exploited hissworkers
Since becoming rich Henry Ford
has acquired no expensive tastes.
formed no costly habits. He makes
! no display. AS compared with the
manner in which he might live, he
| may be said to live very plainly and
! simply. He has often said to me,
Wealth does not change men. The
| possession of it does not spoil them,
| as is SO often claimed. Wealth sim
! ply reveals what there is in q man.
| 1t lifts the lid and gives what is in
| him a chance to come out. II the bad
| comes to the surface, it is because
| it was there and was only waiting
| for a chance to express itself"
He enjoys the quiet and seclusion
| Of his home and family. He first
| built home on Edison avenue. About
| the same time other men who had
| got into the automobile game and
were making far less money out of
| il than he. were building houses that
| might have been taken for the spawn
| of Rhine castles-if ever they had
spawned. / once said to him that,
| judging from appearance SO far as
homes were concerned. the Ford COM
| pany could not be making as much
money as some others.
We'll" he replied, you know II l
were going to live in hotel. would
want some one else to run it. pre-
fer home" And then after pause,
and with chuckle, he added, Il still
| like boiled potatoes with the skins
| on. and do not want man standing
back of my chair at table laughing
| up his sleeve at mo while am TAX
| ing the potatoes jackets off,"
Personal Habits Simple
He still likes what he always liked.
| His personal habits and pleasures re-
| main very much as they were in the
| days OF his obscurity. Wealth has
simply lifted the lid, and that which,
| is coming out. according to his own
y y IL =