The Daily Alaska empire., 1934-11-15
SMaSSs
MT. Ford on Recovery.
(NeW York Times ]

MT Henry Ford is apt to sound note of finan- cial hopefulness His declaration last Thursday that a year of better business is ahead of us and that the depression would be over for the whole country very soon if American ndustriasts would take hold of their plans and them with good sound American sense" was doubtless read with gratifica- ton. It predicted what every one wishes for. MT. Ford reinforced his prophecy by announcing that his company's production schedule" for 1885 has been raised to figure not reached since 1880. Consd- ering that the countrys total motorcar output, in the nine months ended with last September, was already 45 per cent above the corresponding period of 1893 and 107 per cent above that of 1882, the significance of a program of further increase is evident enough.
 It is true that MT Ford's predictions have not always been borne out He missed the mark pretty badly after the White House conference of November 1929 when he declared to the newspaper correspond ents that the way to stop the trade reaction through increase in the general wage level. Wages must not down." he then asserted. They must not stay at their present level they must go up" month later, in fact, his company actually raised the minimum daily wage at it's De- decreasing its active employees; in the Autumn of 1881 the $6 minimum was restored, and late in 1882 further cut made. His forecasts of probable production even at his factories have sometimes gone astray-as when he hinted in Feb ruary, 1882 at possible program of 1,5OOOO0" !" which than third above subsequent yearly output
 Nevertheless, after allowing for such impulsve and sometimes eccentric judgments the fact re- mains that MT. Ford's actual views have often been marked by accurate common sense His company the first to foreshadow by it's program both the severe industrial setback at the end of 1920 and the revival during 1922. Furthermore there is touch of reality in his present opinion that the blame for tagging business rests largely business men themselves.
 This is not to deny that obscurites and un- certainties exist-potical financial and industrial to which hesitation the part of producers and consumers may reasonably be ascribed But un- certainty regarding the immediate or longer future always exists there was plenty of it, to the mind of thoughtful business men, even in 1928 and 1929 But with finance and industry a whole doubt or msgving in those days always interpreted in the light of the visible trend of things At a moment when the bell brought about to strike for the great action, business confidence continued positive. As we aware that attitude had continued in the general walks of trade long after correct indications of downturn had begun to show themselves. The majority of business men refused to be alarmed.
 It cannot well be doubted that precisely the opposite attitude prevails today, at moment when weather-signs are pointing as plainly to recovery as they were to reaction in the Summer of 1929 The experience of business men in the past four years has shaken their morale just as their ex-
 
 before the Autumn of 1929 had promoted over confidence. Whereas in that year every disturbing indication by most people thrust aside as some thing not at all in line with recent events and visible tendencies, in 1884 every suggestion of un- certainty and insecurity is accepted as forebodng possible reverson to 1882 AS a contribution to sober analysis of an existing situation, the one attitude is at least as lacking in larger vision as the other
 There are plenty of obstacles in the way of that rapid and uninterrupted recovery for which in its alternating fits of cheerfulness and depond- ency business hopes Not least of them is the fact that the people a whole are poor; how can robust recovery begin from such state of things? But possibly it is worth while to recall the very prevalent idea of 1929 that the people as a whole were unprecedentedly rich; how could reaction and depression occur in the face of that condition? When 1t comes to liberal spending of Govern ment funds lot of people forget that Uncle Sam