Evening star., 1935-08-09
Senator Vandenberq:

Senator Vdndenberg:
There need be no speculation as
to what will happen to the great
Ford industrial enterprise under this
proposed tax confiscation.
1T will cease to be a tremendous
industrial unit, governed by an anxi-
ETY. singularly dedicated to the pro-
duction of high-grade commodities at
lowest possible cost to the ultimate
consumer, and to the employment of
hundreds of thousands of highest paid
artisans.
1T will be robbed of the integration
ownership which can come only
through enormous ultimate stock sales
to the public.
1T will be forced out of the close
control which has preferred the crea-
ton of vast and effective instru-
mentality of employment and COM
merce rather than the disbursement
of personal dividends.
1T vii be robbed of the integration
which has made it what it is. the
employer of 100000 persons in Wayne
County, Mich, alone, the indirect
employer of countless hundreds of
thousands of others whose tasks de-
pend upon Ford operations, the best
customer Of thousand other factories
in communities scattered all over the
land, gigantic patron of our .ail-
roads and our mines.
Driven to Wall Street.
"Bluntly, it will be driven into
the hands Of Wall Street. or its
equivalent; and the money changers,
who have striven vainly in years past
to achieve this end and q hom this
drive from the temple, will have been
handed the dominion which in no
other manner could be obtained.
How could it be otherwise? Con-
slider the known mathematics. Assume
that Mr. Henry Ford owns a majority
of the Ford Motor Co. stock. Assume
that the Ford Motor Co. is worth half
a billion dollars. Assume that Mr..
Ford's total estate will be $500, ,000, 900.
The proposed inheritance tax, on top
of the existing estate tax, would take
S270. 100000 of this $500 900 900.
Most of the s300,ooo,O0o is repre-
sented by factories which house es-
sential industry and by equipment
which provides jobs for thousands
upon thousands of employees.
Where do you get your s270,o0o,-
900? You cannot take the factories.
Without the motivating genius behind
them they are futile brick and mortar.
Threatened Unemployment
You cannot sell off the machinery
unless you sell off the livelihood of the
greatest single group of high-paid
workmen in the world.
You cannot take the Government
title to the stock and submit the in
stitution to political control and
management. That would be the
final absurdity.
Whence comes this hypothetical
S270 100000? Counsel for the In
ternal Revenue Bureau has itself vol
unteered the only answer. You must
sell Ford to the bankers and then to
the public.
Suppose this happens in an hour
Of economic depression when invest
ment funds are not available? You
have sacrificed vast values by forced
sale. No matter when it happens, you
have destroyed the dynamic integra-
ton, the personality, the dedication of
the institution. You have substituted
a quest for dividends for the inspira-
ton and objectives which have pro-
duced this vast reservoir of values
You have forced liquidation which
is calculated to be liquidation not
only of property but of potential COM
merce and employment. You have
killed the goose that lays the golden
egg. This is not social or economic
progress. 1t is the short-sighted de-
struction, not the distribution of
wealth.
Henry Ford and Edsel Ford are
but incidents in the exhibit. al
though they are anything but Incl
dents" in the development and In
the perpetuation of this stupendous
reservoir of public as we'll as pri-
vate values.
THE vital thing is the reservoir
itself. The important thing is the
status of the vast groups of labor
and trade inevitably dependent
upon Ford operations. The para
mount ;ol
point, is the uninterrupted continu-
alton of the Ford enterprises, and
If you would honestly assess that
contemplation let yourself imagine
what would be the effect today If
the Ford enterprises ceased opera
tionS.
THE paramount concern, from a
revenue standpoint, is the uninter-
rupted continuation of operations
which shall uninterruptedly pay
current taxes not only to the Fed
eral Government, but also to State
and local governments. The para
mount concern, from a national
standpoint, is that we shall not
make it impossible ever again for
self-made men, devoted to an in
dustrtal idea. to build from zero
and create great instrumentalities
that shall bless countless others with
highly profitable employment and
that shall pour their needed impulse
into the trade streams of a pros
porous American commerce"