Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-12-19
NEWSBOY TO U. S. SENATOR
is ROMANTIC LIFE STORY
OF NEWBERRY SUCCESSOR

company. I worked for Mr. Ford
till 1915. When I left him 1 was
treasurer and vice president. We
worked in perfect harmony until
our lines of authority crossed
then there was trouble"
And that's all Mayor Couzens is
saying about that-eXcept chat he
says he thinks the Ford Motor COM
pany, in which he made his fortune,
is generally admitted to be one of
the cleanest money-making enter
prises this country has ever known
"After I left Mr.. Ford" he went
on, 81 organized a bank. 1t grew
rapidly, and found it didn't interest
me greatly after the period of or
ganization. In 1916 I was asked to
run for police commissioner and 7
accepted. We had a wide-open town
with 1,400 saloons running day and
night. I promised to clean, things
up. 1 did. And the mayor added
with his cool, quizzical smile, Il be-
came-or at least l was called-the
most unpopular man in Detroit"
"Why did you go into public Of
fice?" | asked
Il wanted to keep on using my
brains," he answered simply. 81 had
all the money I wanted and more.
l never particularly wanted to make
money-it's the easiest thing in the
world to do and the stupidest thing
to have. In a public office it seem
ed to me I could still find problems
to solve"
Mayor CouZens became mayor vir-
tually because he wouldn't take d
dare. He had remarked to the man
who was mayor during his term as
police commissioner that he should
like to run for that office
you Would?" laughed his friend.
"Well, let me tell you that you're
the most unpopular man in Detroit
and you couldn't be elected to dog
catcher in this town"
"Of course when he told me |
couldn't that was inviting me to
try" grimly commented Mayor
Couzens. There were five of us
in the primaries. L won. And (
won the election
The mayors great accomplish
ment, since he took Office in 191-ha
was reelected last year-has been
to start Detroit in the business of
operating its own traction system.
Another interesting thing he did
during the hard times of 1920 was
to distribute SO 900, 900 of the public
funds in coal and other benefits to
the POOR. He challenged the coun-
ell to say he was misappropriatlng
or misusing this money and offered
to make it up out of his own private
fortune if the verdict was against
him. His private philanthropies ara
numerous and huge; one of the most
recent is a pledge of S5,000,000 for
a childrens hospital to give free
treatment to the crippled children
Of Michigan.
[ asked the mayor-senator, as a
final question, what principles he
had followed in administering his
public Offices.
81 use business-like methods" he
said. And l try not to get away
from the viewpoint of everyday peo-
pie. When a man becomes rich, his
besetting tendency is to associate
only with the rich and to forget
how the common man feels. I've
tried not to forget. l don't mean
that I've specialized in gestures
of cheap, demogOgic popularity. But
I've made an effort to see the prob
lens of life as the everyday man
and woman sees than. It's their
ideas that I've tried to carry into
office"
And let us all hope the new sena-
tor from Michigan can carry those
ideas into the senate chamber.