Evening star., 1947-04-08
Henry Ford 5 Long Life
Ends in L.anpIii Room
Cut OF by Floods
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Whether this was correct, the elder
Mr.. Ford kept wholly away from the
administration ofnces; he came oc-
casionAlly to the engineering lab
oratory and occupied himself In his
private workshop.
But In the year and half between
In his retirement and his, death, Mr..
Ford saw many of his pet projects
disappear, one by one.
Loss Of $4,00o, 900.
The huge Ford rubber plantation
project in Brazil was disposed OF
and 1t was said to have caused q
loss OF more than "a LOCO 900; so, too,
was his soy bean farm project and
processing. mills within the huge
River Rouge plant In nearby Dear
born.
Other undertakings also were
1iquidated along with the removal OF
many of the old time Ford personnel
AS these projects were disposed
Of and the executive personnel re.
organized, young Henry Ford, II
who succeeded his grandfather al
president at %, said the company
proposed to conflne itself wholly
to the manufacture OF automobiles
In his reorganization Of the COM
pany the younger Mr.. Ford created
10 vice presidents, each with a spe.
cific responsibility.
This was in marked contrast te
the administrative policy Of the
grandfather who named only such
officers as were required by law
and kept most Of his plans for the
conpany's future in his head.
How vast was the estate accumu-
lated by the founder Of the great
Ford empire may require years tc
determine.
Held So Per Cent Of Stock.
With his wife, Clara, who will
be 80 years old April IL, Mr.. Ford
Is understood to have held So pei
cent of the voting stock in the
company, while the remainder Of
the voting shares were held by the
heirs of Edsel Ford.
There was, however, a large
amount Of nonvoting stock assigned
to the Ford Foundation, organized
more than a decade ago to pro-
mote educational and welfare pur-
suits
As an educational project the
foundation was tax exempt.
In the absence of a formal family
announcement, it was assumed the
elder Mr.. Ford's holdings would &c
to his widow. At the time OF
Edsel Ford's death 1t was generally
believed Edsels estate was worth
$200, 100000.
1t was widely suggested at the
time that payment of the inherit
ance tax on that estate would
necessitate the sale of some of the
Ford stock outside the Ford family.
Family Keeps Stock.
So far, however, the stock still
remains within the family and as
far as has been publicly disclosed
probate of the Edsel Ford estate
is still to be completed. Presum-
ably, it will take fully as long to
probate the estate Of Henry Ford.
Insofar as the destiny of the Ford
Motor Coz is concerned, 1t Is gener-
ally conceded in industry circles
that the passing of its founder will
have no effect whatever.
Henry Ford II is credited with
having a. firm grip on company af-
fairs and a huge capacity for its
successful administration.
Mr.. Ford developed his great in
dustrial empire for which he was
once said to have refused $1,000,-
600 600 out Of an idea for q cheap
automobile and an initial capital
investment Of $4,000.
That was in 1908, and at his death
the great empire belonged exclus-
lively to his family and had manu-
factured more than 100000 We
hicles. Around World War I he was
making two Of every three cars pro-
duced in the United States.
Career Has Many Facets.
The passing of Mr.. Ford ended a
career that had many facets. He
was an ardent pacifist, a prohibition
ist and deeply interested in the de-
velopment of agriculture as an ad-
junct to industry.
Mr.. Ford, who abhorred war, once
tried to stop the first world conflict
with a peace ship expedition to
Europe, designed to get the boys
out of the trenches by Christmas. I"
1t was a failure that cost him $780,
900.
For long time In World War II
he refused to believe the German in
vasion Of Poland meant real war;
he often referred to the conflict in
Its early stages as 'phony war"
Once it enguifed the United States,
however, he entered wholly into the
production of war weapons. 81
want peace" he said. "and I'm fight
ing like hell to get it."
It was soon after the United
States entered World War II that
Mr.. Ford asserted that under GER
tain conditions he could build 1000
planes q day.
Ignored Ridicule on Planes.
He stipulated that the design
must be frozen and that he must
have the technical help of such
aviation experts as Charles A. Lind
bergh,
Mr.. Ford was ridiculed for this
assertion, but he ignored 1t and
pointed out that he had not said
he could make bombers. Subse-
qusntly. at the huge Willow Run
bomber plant he saw production
Of the giant aerial bombers reach
q level Of one an hour.
Mr.. Ford, who startled the indus
trial world with his IS a day mini
mum wage in 1914, said he never
worried about anything excepting
Mrs. Ford's well being and that he
regarded his victory In the famed
Selden patent suit as his outstand-
ing achievement.
This was his defense against a
suit brought by George B. Selden,
an upstate New York lawyer, who
charged Mr.. Ford and other car
makers infringed on his patent for
q gasoline engine.
Most other car manufacturers
paid license fees to the holders OF