Milford chronicle., 1934-10-12
ALL THAT GOES on IN WASH.
INGTON Is "UNIMPORTANT,"
SAYS HENRY FORD


What goes on in Washington is
"unimportant," says Henry Ford, in
his latest pronouncement on the
state of the nation. He speaks his
mind in a series of pertinent para
graphs published in the American
Magazine, and he leaves few if any
of the current nation difficulties un-
touched.
Here is what he has to say about
the nations lawmakers:
Some people say that the poll
ticians in Washington are saving the
country. Others say they are ruin
ing the country. ! don't agree with
either side. My belief is that what
goes on in the Capital is of no great
importance, one way or the other.
Laws do not save a country. Life
changes too fast for that. By the
time a law gets on the books, the
situation it was designed to meet
has altered. Laws cannot ruin this
country. We are too strong and re-
sOurceful a people to be hampered
much by legislation. Nothing can
IuTl lut Onllcu OldlcSs
There are experiments now going
on in chemical laboratories, in shops.
in new kinds of business thinking,
which are far more important to the
future than all the experiments in
government In the long run, the
chief result of the government ex-
periments will be lot of expert
ense for the officials concerned"
And this about surpluses and
Over-prOductiOn:
Most people think nowadays of
the surplus as an evil. 1t is said to
break the market. 1t drives down
prices. Therefore. they say, the sur
plus should be destroyed, and the
future production of the commodity
strictly limited This view. | think
is short-shighted and mistaken. The
surplus is really blessing in dis
guise. II places pressure on the
ingenuity of -fnan to discover new
uses for the commodity. Once those
new uses are discovered. the appar-
ent surplus adds to the wealth and
comfort of human life"
How about jobs for odd men? MIR.
Ford says there are plenty:
We hear much talk about modern
industry having no place for older
men. This is only talk. The new
machinery. by requiring less physi-
cal strength in workers, has in |
creased the value of older mems
abilities. We find that our best men |
are between 80 and so, but we have |
many keen fellows in the 70s. The |
work that calls for endurance is best
done by men who are 40 and older.
1t is the man who stops learning. |
he is 90 or 80. who is really |
Did"
Ford still believes enthusiastically
in the future of the American smah
.own. There are now about $500
manufacturers, scattered all over
he country. making parts which go
INTO the Ford car. Eventually there
ought to be $4,000 some in small
towns, some in villages. some right
out on the farms themselves
How about the depression? Mr..
Ford is philosophical about it:
I'VE have had periods of hardship
in this country ever since our ances-
-Ors first came here. Ii is all part
lf our experience and our progress.
Il is natures harsh way of improv-
ng our characters and intelligence.
know | had to learn from expert
ence an dtrOuble Most people do
We all grow in character and ex-
lerience as we go through life.
THE greatest thing in life is ex-
ENHnn OF oil /
yalue for us. Take the matter of
money, for example. There is no
lOubt that financiers have failed to
10 their best to give us an efficient
money system. And yet it was their
business t. do just that.
'he function of money is not to
make money but to move goods.
fOney is only one part of our trans
system. II moves goods
rom man to man. A dollar bill is
ike a postage stamp; it is no good
nless it will move commodities be-
ween persons. If a postage stamp
ill not carry a letter, or money
'ill not move goods, it is just the
anne as an automobile engine that
yill not run. Someone will have to
ct out and fix it. Finance will be-
ONE a science and not a money! =,
laking business, profession and
OF a racket"
Finally Ford gets back to settling
Ome of the problems of the home.
e is still convinced that chemical :
'ods are on the way to our tables
"The day is coming when the COW
nd the hog will be scrapped. Many =
i'll think this prediction absurd, +
st as they did when l said, years h
20. that the horse was doomed as a I
cans of transportation. The COW :
not clean animal. Ways will be
und to produce a beverage super
r to milk, cheaper and more easily
lndled. And foods will be developed
perior to beef and pork. The
ind finds it hard to imagine how
imitive the present is compared
the future" L.
"Wednesday evening, October IL, lie
The date selecfpd for tho Hal X