The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1922-08-31
FORD FACTORIES TO !
CLOSE sept EliBEn

Detroit, Mich. Aug. " 18th Indus
n try, the country over, must throw up
its hands iii surrender within d few
Il weeks if1 the rail and coal strikes con-
tinue, Henry Ford declared today ID
announcing the decision Of the Ford
Motor company to close its plants
here ard in many other cities on Sep
tember 16, because Of the fuel situa-
lion. 35. s saEs.
Mr. Ford held financial interests
y responsible for the Industrial tieup,
declaring the money barons" were
!, manipulating the n labor unions n and
! that public officials, state and nation
al were impotent id the crisis. # n
When Strikes Will End I.
The strikes; will end, he continued,
.swhen the majority Of the people are
a cold and hungry enough to resort to
drastic action" " \ y. >+.;# >+..;., :, ~ " / !.
Continuance of these disturbances
to, the economic life Of the nation is
i due simply to the "greed and avarice
of Wall Street." Mr.. Ford asserted,
adding that the interests dominated
the railroads, coal mines and public
utilities of the country" ~ {, .Ss y
s55 The deadlock in strike negotiations
indicated, he declared, the existence
Of ga plot to unload the demoralized
ard rundown railroads on the. gov
{ ernnent ait their own price and to
nu1ct the people through excessive
coal prices" ,s NJ. +. y. y %i5s j ..,| :.
One hundred and five thousand ern-
ploves of the Ford company through
out the country will be affected. In
y addition, several hundred thousand
other workers employed in industries
furnishing materials for the Ford
plants will be affected. Ford gave
these figures. .as j.,As -
p Severe Blow to Detroit 1$%S
The announcement of the shut
down was the most severe blow that
Industrial Detroit has sustained since
the industrial depression of two years
ago. It n1eans( according to Mr.. Ford,
that $4,000 men employed in the
plants Of the company here will be
without work. Thirty thousand others
now working in the various assem-
bling plants scattered throughout the
country will be thrown out of en-.
ployment. t.$'s + WI. .ss,. =. u
How long the machinery of the
Ford plants is to be stilled, will de-
pend entirely upon coal supply Of the
future, the Detroit manufacturer said.
The statement issued was the story
Of Ford's losing fight during the lass
few months to insure fuel supply
TO keep his workers at their machines.
Mr.. Ford declared he chad not the
remotest idea" when the plant could
be. reepened. 1t was announced that
the normal daily consumption Of coal
In the Ford industries were $500
tons, and although declining to state
the amount on hand at this time, Of
ficials said it would be impossible to
do more ethan keep the furnaces and
ovens warm" " -
Few to Be Retained : ~ Il
Only a comparatively small NUMBER
Of the employees will be retained dur
ing the shutdown. it was announced.
Crews sufficient to keep the furnaces
warm will be held, however. %.&+sz 4
Mr.. Ford'sf statement follows:
"a I'd aThe coal situation. has become I'M
possible. For the last several weeks
we have seen situation approa oach-7
ING that we feared would force us to
close. We greatly regret having 20
take this step. Edsel B. Ford, presi-
/ dent of the Ford Motor company, and
/ returned from our eastern trip, and
Right before last, with every possible
data and information bearing on the
subject before us, we strove until day
light, trying to find some way OUT
without closing down. ty22. vs., s<,
lss lSs ssEveryWay we turned, we We're con :,
fronted BY the situation that under
the present handling OF coal there
never would be time when we could
have enough coal 70 operate the sew
eral departments Of the plant slnul.
tane0usly. n {. l3s sy 4. :, 80 {
eve, therefore decided that Of ne
I3cessity We must close down sooner OF
later. We wish 10 keep enough coal on
hand to keep our furnaces and coke 2
ovens warm; to let them get cold.
would cause the loss OF hundreds Of.
thousands ofs dollars. AT the rate We '
are getting coal now, SepteHbe l6 g
! viii mark the time When we will nave Y 'e
only enough coal left TO keep our fur- ,ala''.
naces and ovens warm. .;,.s Ss..,,,5 &,
our reserve stock by that time Wlil 7lil3
i have been completely exhausted.
.ast night we wired 900 houses
that supply us with material 20 stop
shipment and this morning letters
/ and kilograms were sent out 70 about y
1000 more I'll I.
eve appreciate TIE great loss " Y
win mean to5 these hundreds OF sup
DIV houses, but II also will mean q
tremendous loss to us. AT present we
4 are Producing $500 cars q day and
we can sell $500 3 day. We have 70,
close down at q time when Wa are do-F
] ing y greater business than before
III our history.
Effect of. the Ford shutdown will
be felt On industry ia every part OF
the country, according 70 officials %,
] the company. The number of workers
employed by firms suppl wing the Ford
company with various parts and raw
materials, including iron and steel
was variously estimated u from asey-
eral hundred thousand 70 three mil.
41{nSt a s