Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-03-17
MEN AND MONEY
BY NJ. s. RUKEYSER.
(Copyright. 1877

Henry Ford has already laid his
plans for meeting the Increasingly
menacing competition of the Chevro-
let unit of the General Motors Cor
poration.
Until he announces his new pro-
gram the whole automotiVe INDUSTRY
will rest uneasy. The stock market
has already begun to take cogni|Ince
of the fact that the sage OF Dearborn
may do something to upset the appie
cart of prosperity. ,,a,
one automobile leader, in discussing
this situation privately. voiced gen
eraI sentiment when he said that IN
such a situation Mr.. Ford was likely
to take whatever steps he beneveu
would be helpful to his company. WIN
out regard to the effect on the IN
dustry as whole. On the other
hand. he said, that the General
Motors Corporation felt the respon-
sibility of it's leadership and was con-
siderate of the welfare of the INDUS
try as a whole.
Those who are said to be In MI
| Ford's confidence intimate that the
announcement of the new program
will not be sensational and Will marx
no great departure from the Ford ira.
dition Mr. Ford has always favored
the idea of intense specialization, ana
has rejected the suggestion that ne
follow the General Motors pattern OF
a complete line of automobiles to SUIT
| every purse.
Two Obvious Weapons.
Mr.. Ford's two most obvious compeu-
tive weapons are price reductions' OH
the one hand, and technlcal linpruVe.
ment in his car on the other. That
al r0ngl6GrAJlOn
the possibilities of both is beyond
question.
| WWhen Mr.. Ford chooses the Ora
matte moment to take the public into
his confidence, the Industrial atmos'
phere will have been cleared. mean
| time, Mr.. Ford possesses more power
| to shane the curve of industrial pros
perity in the United States than any
other single individual. His decisions
may set the pace for the automotive
| industry on which general prosperity
to a large extent hangs.
After the slump in 1921, Mr.. Fora
broke the buyers strike by annouhc'
ing drastic price cuts.
He showed the way in establishing a
minimum wage of S. a day in 1924 and
| in inaugurating the five-day week III
1926.
Since the latter part Of 1925. Chew
rolet sales have steadily been rising
while Ford sales have been declining.
Ford still undersells his nearest com
petitor by nearly 5000. Meantime
other makes of cheap cars have been
expanding their operations.
| Mr.. Ford's competitors have been IN
| terpreting the setback in Ford sales
as an indication that the tastes OF
the American public will reach higher
| levels One leading Wall street opera
| tor, considered one of the ShreWdes-
| financial minds in the country. In dis
cussing the situation, remarked: NOW
we shall see If Henry Ford Is mer
chant For the first time in his career
he faces intense competition. Hereto
fore he has been lucky"
Standard Oil Prosperity.
| An old Wall Street aphorism was
mo matter who sells the cars Stand
ard Oil will sell the gasoline"
That the Standard Oil Companies
have been doing better than the gen
eral average oil companies has been
strikingly brought to the attention OF
the financial public by compilation
Of Carl H. Pferzheimer & Co., special
lists in Standard Oil securities, which
shows that a high record for cash
dividend payments by the Standard
Oil group in the first quarter of any
year since 1913 was made in the first
| quarter of this year, when they aggre
, gated $55 1893 ,056.
In the first quarter of 1913 the ole
Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey. the
parent company. distributed to stock
| holders the receipts of loans repaid by
former subsidiaries.
The peak current distributions are
| recognition of the large profits
earned during 1926, which was the
most profitable year which the Stand
ard Oil Co. ever experienced with the
exception of 1920. The apparent 1920
profits were larger, but those gains
were largely fictitious and to be
written off to substantial extent dur.
| ing the deflation of 1920-21. Current
operations are somewhat less profit.
able because of the flush production
and renewed spell of price cutting.
The Rockefellers have traditionally
| followed the policy of paying small
, dividends, reinvesting the bulk of the