The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-22
VOICE UT PEOPLE. SHOULD ? RE VAIL
 SAYS AUTO WIZARD.
Talks On Birds, Prohibition And Peace In One Of His
 Rare Interviews
By DIR. EDGAR DEWITT JONES


 are clear, his color healthful, his disposition serene. Sitting there at ease in his office, hls legs crossed, his hands clasped over enc knee--a favorito pGsture-he looked at peace with himself and all men. The most talkcd-of man In the world, the man whose name is moro nearly a house. hold name than any other of his gen eration. Is as plain as the car that wears his name. Fuss and feathers are not for him. Pomp and cere- mGny would bore him dreadfully. The light gray business suit he wore became him as 1 imagine no formal clothes could do. He impressed me as a trifls shy at first, a little re- served and diffident, like the old fashioned girl about whom we used to read about, but seldom see. Sit ting there within a few feet of MT. Ford, and observing the play of his features. the glance of his eye, and the irregular cadence of his sen tenoes, thought 1 detected at times the flavGr of Mark Twains drollery, something of Lincoln's homely wis dom. and a suggestion of Frank Ba- oon's smile in the role of "Lightnin Bill Jones'"
 An ost-of-Deor Man.
 Mir. Ford is a bird lover and Dear born is . birds paradise. Our con versation began with birds, and be- fore 1t ended we were on the sub ject Cf birds again. Many dis tinguished men have been bird lovers; Roosevelt, for a notable in stance; John Burroughs for an other. Then there Is Earl Grey of T-oH Cfy- Gn vocal woods Is always a high adven- ture. And was 1t not the Emperor Maximilian, he of the ill-starred Mexican mission, who sent an order for a thousand nightingales to be sent from Europe to make music about the famed palace of Chapulte- pee? Henry Ford Is as far removed from royalty and the tinseled trap pings of court ceremonies as any man who breathes. Yet he too has i'm ported song birds from Europe. and of the species common to Ireland, all are to be found on or about his Dearborn estate.
 Early In the morning of the day visited him. he had gone on horse back over certain sections of his farm to learn whether the birds were through nesting before he sent workmen into that vicinity to cut down the hay and do other things lik ely to disturb their domestic peace. One of MT. Ford's favorites Of the bird world is the bobolink, that merry songster who goes by at least two other names in the southland. Mir Ford remarked that the bobo- links life was accurately described by the figure eight; that he winters in Patagonia, summers in Pennsyl- vania and other states of the union, returning again early In the autumn On his southward flight. Did I re- call certain lines of Logan, which had been applied to the bobolink, he inquired. I did not. So he quoted the lines for mo with relish. and feelingly.
 Sweet bird. they bower Is ever
 green,
 Thy sky Is ever clear;
 Thou hast no sorrow in thy song, No winter In thy year."
 liked the verse so well, had him repeat 1t that I might write 1t down. Bird lovers everywhere will be in terested tC know that MT. Ford re- Eards the plaintive love notes of the field sparrow as the most beautiful of any songster that frequents this part of the country.
 
 No Peril In "Bisv Colleges.
 One of the first questions I asked MT. Ford related to the big colleges and universities. l recalled read ing somewhere of New York man who died recently, leaving a para graph In his will In which he warned his sons against the big colleges, and advised them to seek an educa ton where conditions were more favorable to mental and moral growth. With this in mind. I in Quired: Do you consider the big college or university a menace. MT. Ford?"
 "I sec no menace in the big uni versity as such" he said The big buildings, the big campus, the big equipment are necessary, and some day men big enough to run such in stitution5 will come along and run them in a really big way. Big men will solve any problem no matter how hard 1t Is. The trouble is the country has too few big men. There are not many leaders in sight. Big men are hard to find, but big insti- tutions will help to develop them."
 MT. Ford hesitated and wrinkled his brows. T have been quoted as an enemy Of higher education, but
 
 system of education that really educates. On the other hand. I am an enemy of any system that fails to educate, and why shouldn't l be, and you, and everybody? Any kind of education that trains boys and girls to think accurately and act promptly Is the highest kind of edu- cation, and l believe in 1t thorough ly."
 Prohibition And Peace P @ Ship.
 What about prohibition, MT. Ford?"
 The master of Dearborn made a meal of this question, full meal. His answer was unequivocal.
 "Ths prohibition question Is set tied, absolutely settled. The Eigh- teenth Amendment is part of the con- stitution, isn't 1t? And it is there to stay. Why, prohibition is dead in so far as 1t is an Issue. The discus sion of prohibition by politicians as an issue is a smoke screen. It con- ceals the big economic questions which the people have 6 right to hear, the fundamental questions, mind you. Politicians shy away from the big questions always and make a lot of noise and raise clouds of dust over issues that are settled and questions that are unimportant."
 I ventured with some misgivings to ask MT. Ford if the peace ship episode had shattered hls idealism. I fancied that he might not want to talk on that subject, but l was mistaken. He took hold of 1t in vigorous fashion.
 Not a particle" he said. The fact is 1t taught me what l wanted to know. l learned about war on that peace ship, especially the World war, the cause of 1t, the men that made It, and the conditions from which it emerged. That peace ship is sailing on. For one thing, the r.orhorn Ipdapapdent cama f1t of