,,my ,,life ,,and ,,work  ,by ,henry    
,ford  ,in ,collaboration ,with ,samuel 
,crowther     ,,contents                
,,introduction--,,what ,,is ,,the       
,,idea8  ,i4 ,,the ,,beginning  ,,ii4   
,,what ,i ,,learned ,,about ,,business  
,,iii4 ,,starting ,,the ,,real          
,,business  ,,iv4 ,,the ,,secret ,,of   
,,manufacturing ,,and ,,serving  ,v4    
,,getting ,,into ,,production  ,,vi4    
,,machines ,,and ,,men  ,,vii4 ,,the    
,,terror ,,of ,,the ,,machine4  ,,viii4 
,,wages  ,,ix4 ,,why ,,not ,,always     
,,have ,,good ,,business8  ,x4 ,,how    
,,cheaply ,,can ,,things ,,be ,,made8   
,,xi4 ,,money ,,and ,,goods  ,,xii4     
,,money--,,master ,,or ,,servant8       
,,xiii4 ,,why ,,be ,,poor8  ,,xiv4 ,,the
 ,,tractor ,,and ,,power ,,farming      
,,xv4 ,,why ,,charity8  ,,xvi4 ,,the    
,,railroads  ,,xvii4 ,,things ,,in      
,,general  ,,xviii4 ,,democracy ,,and   
,,industry  ,,xix4 ,,what ,,we ,,may    
,,expect4  ,,index     ,,introduction   
,,what ,,is ,,the ,,idea8   ,we have    

only started on our development of our  
country--we have not as yet1 with all   
our talk of wonderful progress1 done    
more than scratch the surface4 ,the     
progress has been wonderful enough--but 
when we compare what we have done with  
what there is to do1 then our past      
accomplishments are as nothing4 ,when we
 consider that more power is used merely
 in ploughing the soil than is used in  
all the industrial establishments of the
 country put together1 an inkling comes 
of how much opportunity there is ahead4 
,and now1 with so many countries of the 
world in ferment and with so much unrest
 every where1 is an excellent time to   
suggest something of the things that may
 be done in the light of what has been  
done4  ,when one speaks of increasing   
power1 machinery1 and industry there    
comes up a picture of a cold1 metallic  
sort of world in which great factories  
will drive away the trees1 the flowers1 
the birds1 and the green fields4 ,and   
that then we shall have a world composed

 of metal machines and human machines4  
,with all of that ,i do not agree4 ,i   
think that unless we know more about    
machines and their use1 unless we better
 understand the mechanical portion of   
life1 we cannot have the time to enjoy  
the trees1 and the birds1 and the       
flowers1 and the green fields4  ,i think
 that we have already done too much     
toward banishing the pleasant things    
from life by thinking that there is some
 opposition between living and providing
 the means of living4 ,we waste so much 
time and energy that we have little left
 over in which to enjoy ourselves4      
,power and machinery1 money and goods1  
are useful only as they set us free to  
live4 ,they are but means to an end4    
,for instance1 ,i do not consider the   
machines which bear my name simply as   
machines4 ,if that was all there was to 
it ,i would do something else4 ,i take  
them as concrete evidence of the working
 out of a theory of business1 which ,i  
hope is something more than a theory of 

business--a theory that looks toward    
making this world a better place in     
which to live4 ,the fact that the       
commercial success of the ,ford ,motor  
,company has been most unusual is       
important only because it serves to     
demonstrate1 in a way which no one can  
fail to understand1 that the theory to  
date is right4 ,considered solely in    
this light ,i can criticize the         
prevailing system of industry and the   
organization of money and society from  
the standpoint of one who has not been  
beaten by them4 ,as things are now      
organized1 ,i could1 were ,i thinking   
only selfishly1 ask for no change4 ,if  
,i merely want money the present system 
is all right2 it gives money in plenty  
to me4 ,but ,i am thinking of service4  
,the present system does not permit of  
the best service because it encourages  
every kind of waste--it keeps many men  
from getting the full return from       
service4 ,and it is going nowhere4 ,it  
is all a matter of better planning and  

adjustment4  ,i have no quarrel with the
 general attitude of scoffing at new    
ideas4 ,it is better to be skeptical of 
all new ideas and to insist upon being  
shown rather than to rush around in a   
continuous brainstorm after every new   
idea4 ,skepticism1 if by that we mean   
cautiousness1 is the balance wheel of   
civilization4 ,most of the present acute
 troubles of the world arise out of     
taking on new ideas without first       
carefully investigating to discover if  
they are good ideas4 ,an idea is not    
necessarily good because it is old1 or  
necessarily bad because it is new1 but  
if an old idea works1 then the weight of
 the evidence is all in its favor4      
,ideas are of themselves extraordinarily
 valuable1 but an idea is just an idea4 
,almost any one can think up an idea4   
,the thing that counts is developing it 
into a practical product4  ,i am now    
most interested in fully demonstrating  
that the ideas we have put into practice
 are capable of the largest             

application--that they have nothing     
peculiarly to do with motor cars or     
tractors but form something in the      
nature of a universal code4 ,i am quite 
certain that it is the natural code and 
,i want to demonstrate it so thoroughly 
that it will be accepted1 not as a new  
idea1 but as a natural code4  ,the      
natural thing to do is to work--to      
recognize that prosperity and happiness 
can be obtained only through honest     
effort4 ,human ills flow largely from   
attempting to escape from this natural  
course4 ,i have no suggestion which goes
 beyond accepting in its fullest this   
principle of nature4 ,i take it for     
granted that we must work4 ,all that we 
have done comes as the result of a      
certain insistence that since we must   
work it is better to work intelligently 
and forehandedly2 that the better we do 
our work the better off we shall be4    
,all of which ,i conceive to be merely  
elemental common sense4  ,i am not a    
reformer4 ,i think there is entirely too

 much attempt at reforming in the world 
and that we pay too much attention to   
reformers4 ,we have two kinds of        
reformers4 ,both are nuisances4 ,the man
 who calls himself a reformer wants to  
smash things4 ,he is the sort of man who
 would tear up a whole shirt because the
 collar button did not fit the          
buttonhole4 ,it would never occur to him
 to enlarge the buttonhole4 ,this sort  
of reformer never under any             
circumstances knows what he is doing4   
,experience and reform do not go        
together4 ,a reformer cannot keep his   
zeal at white heat in the presence of a 
fact4 ,he must discard all facts4       
,since #aiad a great many persons have  
received brand-new intellectual outfits4
 ,many are beginning to think for the   
first time4 ,they opened their eyes and 
realized that they were in the world4   
,then1 with a thrill of independence1   
they realized that they could look at   
the world critically4 ,they did so and  
found it faulty4 ,the intoxication of   

assuming the masterful position of a    
critic of the social system--which it is
 every man's right to assume--is        
unbalancing at first4 ,the very young   
critic is very much unbalanced4 ,he is  
strongly in favor of wiping out the old 
order and starting a new one4 ,they     
actually managed to start a new world in
 ,russia4 ,it is there that the work of 
the world makers can best be studied4   
,we learn from ,russia that it is the   
minority and not the majority who       
determine destructive action4 ,we learn 
also that while men may decree social   
laws in conflict with natural laws1     
,nature vetoes those laws more          
ruthlessly than did the ,czars4 ,nature 
has vetoed the whole ,soviet ,republic4 
,for it sought to deny nature4 ,it      
denied above all else the right to the  
fruits of labour4 ,some people say1     
,russia will have to go to work1 but    
that does not describe the case4 ,the   
fact is that poor ,russia is at work1   
but her work counts for nothing4 ,it is 

not free work4 ,in the ,united ,states a
 workman works eight hours a day2 in    
,russia1 he works twelve to fourteen4   
,in the ,united ,states1 if a workman   
wishes to lay off a day or a week1 and  
is able to afford it1 there is nothing  
to prevent him4 ,in ,russia1 under      
,sovietism1 the workman goes to work    
whether he wants to or not4 ,the freedom
 of the citizen has disappeared in the  
discipline of a prison-like monotony in 
which all are treated alike4 ,that is   
slavery4 ,freedom is the right to work a
 decent length of time and to get a     
decent living for doing so2 to be able  
to arrange the little personal details  
of one's own life4 ,it is the aggregate 
of these and many other items of freedom
 which makes up the great idealistic    
,freedom4 ,the minor forms of ,freedom  
lubricate the everyday life of all of   
us4  ,russia could not get along without
 intelligence and experience4 ,as soon  
as she began to run her factories by    
committees1 they went to rack and ruin2 

there was more debate than production4  
,as soon as they threw out the skilled  
man1 thousands of tons of precious      
materials were spoiled4 ,the fanatics   
talked the people into starvation4 ,the 
,soviets are now offering the engineers1
 the administrators1 the foremen and    
superintendents1 whom at first they     
drove out1 large sums of money if only  
they will come back4 ,bolshevism is now 
crying for the brains and experience    
which it yesterday treated so           
ruthlessly4 ,all that reform did to     
,russia was to block production4  ,there
 is in this country a sinister element  
that desires to creep in between the men
 who work with their hands and the men  
who think and plan for the men who work 
with their hands4 ,the same influence   
that drove the brains1 experience1 and  
ability out of ,russia is busily engaged
 in raising prejudice here4 ,we must not
 suffer the stranger1 the destroyer1 the
 hater of happy humanity1 to divide our 
people4 ,in unity is ,american          

strength--and freedom4 ,on the other    
hand1 we have a different kind of       
reformer who never calls himself one4   
,he is singularly like the radical      
reformer4 ,the radical has had no       
experience and does not want it4 ,the   
other class of reformer has had plenty  
of experience but it does him no good4  
,i refer to the reactionary--who will be
 surprised to find himself put in       
exactly the same class as the           
,bolshevist4 ,he wants to go back to    
some previous condition1 not because it 
was the best condition1 but because he  
thinks he knows about that condition4   
,the one crowd wants to smash up the    
whole world in order to make a better   
one4 ,the other holds the world as so   
good that it might well be let stand as 
it is--and decay4 ,the second notion    
arises as does the first--out of not    
using the eyes to see with4 ,it is      
perfectly possible to smash this world1 
but it is not possible to build a new   
one4 ,it is possible to prevent the     

world from going forward1 but it is not 
possible then to prevent it from going  
back--from decaying4 ,it is foolish to  
expect that1 if everything be           
overturned1 everyone will thereby get   
three meals a day4 ,or1 should          
everything be petrified1 that thereby   
six per cent1 interest may be paid4 ,the
 trouble is that reformers and          
reactionaries alike get away from the   
realities--from the primary functions4  
,one of the counsels of caution is to be
 very certain that we do not mistake a  
reactionary turn for a return of common 
sense4 ,we have passed through a period 
of fireworks of every description1 and  
the making of a great many idealistic   
maps of progress4 ,we did not get       
anywhere4 ,it was a convention1 not a   
march4 ,lovely things were said1 but    
when we got home we found the furnace   
out4 ,reactionaries have frequently     
taken advantage of the recoil from such 
a period1 and they have promised the    
good old times--which usually means the 

bad old abuses--and because they are    
perfectly void of vision they are       
sometimes regarded as practical men4    
,their return to power is often hailed  
as the return of common sense4  ,the    
primary functions are agriculture1      
manufacture1 and transportation4        
,community life is impossible without   
them4 ,they hold the world together4    
,raising things1 making things1 and     
earning things are as primitive as human
 need and yet as modern as anything can 
be4 ,they are of the essence of physical
 life4 ,when they cease1 community life 
ceases4 ,things do get out of shape in  
this present world under the present    
system1 but we may hope for a betterment
 if the foundations stand sure4 ,the    
great delusion is that one may change   
the foundation--usurp the part of       
destiny in the social process4 ,the     
foundations of society are the men and  
means to grow things1 to make things1   
and to carry things4 ,as long as        
agriculture1 manufacture1 and           

transportation survive1 the world can   
survive any economic or social change4  
,as we serve our jobs we serve the      
world4  ,there is plenty of work to do4 
,business is merely work4 ,speculation  
in things already produced--that is not 
business4 ,it is just more or less      
respectable graft4 ,but it cannot be    
legislated out of existence4 ,laws can  
do very little4 ,law never does anything
 constructive4 ,it can never be more    
than a policeman1 and so it is a waste  
of time to look to our state capitals or
 to ,washington to do that which law was
 not designed to do4 ,as long as we look
 to legislation to cure poverty or to   
abolish special privilege we are going  
to see poverty spread and special       
privilege grow4 ,we have had enough of  
looking to ,washington and we have had  
enough of legislators--not so much1     
however1 in this as in other            
countries--promising laws to do that    
which laws cannot do4  ,when you get a  
whole country--as did ours--thinking    

that ,washington is a sort of heaven and
 behind its clouds dwell omniscience and
 omnipotence1 you are educating that    
country into a dependent state of mind  
which augurs ill for the future4 ,our   
help does not come from ,washington1 but
 from ourselves2 our help may1 however1 
go to ,washington as a sort of central  
distribution point where all our efforts
 are coordinated for the general good4  
,we may help the ,government2 the       
,government cannot help us4 ,the slogan 
of less government in business and more 
business in government is a very good   
one1 not mainly on account of business  
or government1 but on account of the    
people4 ,business is not the reason why 
the ,united ,states was founded4 ,the   
,declaration of ,independence is not a  
business charter1 nor is the            
,constitution of the ,united ,states a  
commercial schedule4 ,the ,united       
,states--its land1 people1 government1  
and business--are but methods by which  
the life of the people is made worth    

while4 ,the ,government is a servant and
 never should be anything but a servant4
 ,the moment the people become adjuncts 
to government1 then the law of          
retribution begins to work1 for such a  
relation is unnatural1 immoral1 and     
inhuman4 ,we cannot live without        
business and we cannot live without     
government4 ,business and government are
 necessary as servants1 like water and  
grain2 as masters they overturn the     
natural order4  ,the welfare of the     
country is squarely up to us as         
individuals4 ,that is where it should be
 and that is where it is safest4        
,governments can promise something for  
nothing but they cannot deliver4 ,they  
can juggle the currencies as they did in
 ,europe 7and as bankers the world over 
do1 as long as they can get the benefit 
of the juggling7 with a patter of solemn
 nonsense4 ,but it is work and work     
alone that can continue to deliver the  
goods--and that1 down in his heart1 is  
what every man knows4  ,there is little 

chance of an intelligent people1 such as
 ours1 ruining the fundamental processes
 of economic life4 ,most men know they  
cannot get something for nothing4 ,most 
men feel--even if they do not know--that
 money is not wealth4 ,the ordinary     
theories which promise everything to    
everybody1 and demand nothing from      
anybody1 are promptly denied by the     
instincts of the ordinary man1 even when
 he does not find reasons against them4 
,he knows they are wrong4 ,that is      
enough4 ,the present order1 always      
clumsy1 often stupid1 and in many ways  
imperfect1 has this advantage over any  
other--it works4  ,doubtless our order  
will merge by degrees into another1 and 
the new one will also work--but not so  
much by reason of what it is as by      
reason of what men will bring into it4  
,the reason why ,bolshevism did not     
work1 and cannot work1 is not economic4 
,it does not matter whether industry is 
privately managed or socially           
controlled2 it does not matter whether  

you call the workers' share wages or    
dividends2 it does not matter whether   
you regimentalize the people as to food1
 clothing1 and shelter1 or whether you  
allow them to eat1 dress1 and live as   
they like4 ,those are mere matters of   
detail4 ,the incapacity of the          
,bolshevist leaders is indicated by the 
fuss they made over such details4       
,bolshevism failed because it was both  
unnatural and immoral4 ,our system      
stands4 ,is it wrong8 ,of course it is  
wrong1 at a thousand points6 ,is it     
clumsy8 ,of course it is clumsy4 ,by all
 right and reason it ought to break     
down4 ,but it does not--because it is   
instinct with certain economic and moral
 fundamentals4  ,the economic           
fundamental is labour4 ,labour is the   
human element which makes the fruitful  
seasons of the earth useful to men4 ,it 
is men's labour that makes the harvest  
what it is4 ,that is the economic       
fundamental3 every one of us is working 
with material which we did not and could

 not create1 but which was presented to 
us by ,nature4  ,the moral fundamental  
is man's right in his labour4 ,this is  
variously stated4 ,it is sometimes      
called the right of property4 ,it is    
sometimes masked in the command1 ,thou  
shalt not steal4 ,it is the other man's 
right in his property that makes        
stealing a crime4 ,when a man has earned
 his bread1 he has a right to that      
bread4 ,if another steals it1 he does   
more than steal bread2 he invades a     
sacred human right4 ,if we cannot       
produce we cannot have--but some say if 
we produce it is only for the           
capitalists4 ,capitalists who become    
such because they provide better means  
of production are of the foundation of  
society4 ,they have really nothing of   
their own4 ,they merely manage property 
for the benefit of others4 ,capitalists 
who become such through trading in money
 are a temporarily necessary evil4 ,they
 may not be evil at all if their money  
goes to production4 ,if their money goes

 to complicating distribution--to       
raising barriers between the producer   
and the consumer--then they are evil    
capitalists and they will pass away when
 money is better adjusted to work2 and  
money will become better adjusted to    
work when it is fully realized that     
through work and work alone may health1 
wealth1 and happiness inevitably be     
secured4  ,there is no reason why a man 
who is willing to work should not be    
able to work and to receive the full    
value of his work4 ,there is equally no 
reason why a man who can but will not   
work should not receive the full value  
of his services to the community4 ,he   
should most certainly be permitted to   
take away from the community an         
equivalent of what he contributes to it4
 ,if he contributes nothing he should   
take away nothing4 ,he should have the  
freedom of starvation4 ,we are not      
getting anywhere when we insist that    
every man ought to have more than he    
deserves to have--just because some do  

get more than they deserve to have4     
,there can be no greater absurdity and  
no greater disservice to humanity in    
general than to insist that all men are 
equal4 ,most certainly all men are not  
equal1 and any democratic conception    
which strives to make men equal is only 
an effort to block progress4 ,men cannot
 be of equal service4 ,the men of larger
 ability are less numerous than the men 
of smaller ability2 it is possible for a
 mass of the smaller men to pull the    
larger ones down--but in so doing they  
pull themselves down4 ,it is the larger 
men who give the leadership to the      
community and enable the smaller men to 
live with less effort4  ,the conception 
of democracy which names a leveling-down
 of ability makes for waste4 ,no two    
things in nature are alike4 ,we build   
our cars absolutely interchangeable4    
,all parts are as nearly alike as       
chemical analysis1 the finest machinery1
 and the finest workmanship can make    
them4 ,no fitting of any kind is        

required1 and it would certainly seem   
that two ,fords standing side by side1  
looking exactly alike and made so       
exactly alike that any part could be    
taken out of one and put into the other1
 would be alike4 ,but they are not4     
,they will have different road habits4  
,we have men who have driven hundreds1  
and in some cases thousands of ,fords   
and they say that no two ever act       
precisely the same--that1 if they should
 drive a new car for an hour or even    
less and then the car were mixed with a 
bunch of other new ones1 also each      
driven for a single hour and under the  
same conditions1 that although they     
could not recognize the car they had    
been driving merely by looking at it1   
they could do so by driving it4  ,i have
 been speaking in general terms4 ,let us
 be more concrete4 ,a man ought to be   
able to live on a scale commensurate    
with the service that he renders4 ,this 
is rather a good time to talk about this
 point1 for we have recently been       

through a period when the rendering of  
service was the last thing that most    
people thought of4 ,we were getting to a
 place where no one cared about costs or
 service4 ,orders came without effort4  
,whereas once it was the customer who   
favored the merchant by dealing with    
him1 conditions changed until it was the
 merchant who favored the customer by   
selling to him4 ,that is bad for        
business4 ,monopoly is bad for business4
 ,profiteering is bad for business4 ,the
 lack of necessity to hustle is bad for 
business4 ,business is never as healthy 
as when1 like a chicken1 it must do a   
certain amount of scratching for what it
 gets4 ,things were coming too easily4  
,there was a let-down of the principle  
that an honest relation ought to obtain 
between values and prices4 ,the public  
no longer had to be catered to4 ,there  
was even a public be damned attitude in 
many places4 ,it was intensely bad for  
business4 ,some men called that abnormal
 condition prosperity4 ,it was not      

prosperity-- it was just a needless     
money chase4 ,money chasing is not      
business4  ,it is very easy1 unless one 
keeps a plan thoroughly in mind1 to get 
burdened with money and then1 in an     
effort to make more money1 to forget all
 about selling to the people what they  
want4 ,business on a money-making basis 
is most insecure4 ,it is a touch-and-go 
affair1 moving irregularly and rarely   
over a term of years amounting to much4 
,it is the function of business to      
produce for consumption and not for     
money or speculation4 ,producing for    
consumption implies that the quality of 
the article produced will be high and   
that the price will be low--that the    
article be one which serves the people  
and not merely the producer4 ,if the    
money feature is twisted out of its     
proper perspective1 then the production 
will be twisted to serve the producer4  
,the producer depends for his prosperity
 upon serving the people4 ,he may get by
 for a while serving himself1 but if he 

does1 it will be purely accidental1 and 
when the people wake up to the fact that
 they are not being served1 the end of  
that producer is in sight4 ,during the  
boom period the larger effort of        
production was to serve itself and      
hence1 the moment the people woke up1   
many producers went to smash4 ,they said
 that they had entered into a period of 
depression4 ,really they had not4 ,they 
were simply trying to pit nonsense      
against sense which is something that   
cannot successfully be done4 ,being     
greedy for money is the surest way not  
to get it1 but when one serves for the  
sake of service--for the satisfaction of
 doing that which one believes to be    
right--then money abundantly takes care 
of itself4  ,money comes naturally as   
the result of service4 ,and it is       
absolutely necessary to have money4 ,but
 we do not want to forget that the end  
of money is not ease but the opportunity
 to perform more service4 ,in my mind   
nothing is more abhorrent than a life of

 ease4 ,none of us has any right to     
ease4 ,there is no place in civilization
 for the idler4 ,any scheme looking to  
abolishing money is only making affairs 
more complex1 for we must have a        
measure4 ,that our present system of    
money is a satisfactory basis for       
exchange is a matter of grave doubt4    
,that is a question which ,i shall talk 
of in a subsequent chapter4 ,the gist of
 my objection to the present monetary   
system is that it tends to become a     
thing of itself and to block instead of 
facilitate production4  ,my effort is in
 the direction of simplicity4 ,people in
 general have so little and it costs so 
much to buy even the barest necessities 
7let alone that share of the luxuries to
 which ,i think everyone is entitled7   
because nearly everything that we make  
is much more complex than it needs to   
be4 ,our clothing1 our food1 our        
household furnishings--all could be much
 simpler than they now are and at the   
same time be better looking4 ,things in 

past ages were made in certain ways and 
makers since then have just followed4   
,i do not mean that we should adopt     
freak styles4 ,there is no necessity for
 that ,clothing need not be a bag with a
 hole cut in it4 ,that might be easy to 
make but it would be inconvenient to    
wear4 ,a blanket does not require much  
tailoring1 but none of us could get much
 work done if we went around            
,indian-fashion in blankets4 ,real      
simplicity means that which gives the   
very best service and is the most       
convenient in use4 ,the trouble with    
drastic reforms is they always insist   
that a man be made over in order to use 
certain designed articles4 ,i think that
 dress reform for women--which seems to 
mean ugly clothes--must always originate
 with plain women who want to make      
everyone else look plain4 ,that is not  
the right process4 ,start with an       
article that suits and then study to    
find some way of eliminating the        
entirely useless parts4 ,this applies to

 everything--a shoe1 a dress1 a house1 a
 piece of machinery1 a railroad1 a      
steamship1 an airplane4 ,as we cut out  
useless parts and simplify necessary    
ones we also cut down the cost of       
making4 ,this is simple logic1 but oddly
 enough the ordinary process starts with
 a cheapening of the manufacturing      
instead of with a simplifying of the    
article4 ,the start ought to be with the
 article4 ,first we ought to find       
whether it is as well made as it should 
be--does it give the best possible      
service8 ,then--are the materials the   
best or merely the most expensive8      
,then--can its complexity and weight be 
cut down8 ,and so on4  ,there is no more
 sense in having extra weight in an     
article than there is in the cockade on 
a coachman's hat4 ,in fact1 there is not
 as much4 ,for the cockade may help the 
coachman to identify his hat while the  
extra weight means only a waste of      
strength4 ,i cannot imagine where the   
delusion that weight means strength came

 from4 ,it is all well enough in a      
pile-driver1 but why move a heavy weight
 if we are not going to hit anything    
with it8 ,in transportation why put     
extra weight in a machine8 ,why not add 
it to the load that the machine is      
designed to carry8 ,fat men cannot run  
as fast as thin men but we build most of
 our vehicles as though dead-weight fat 
increased speed6 ,a deal of poverty     
grows out of the carriage of excess     
weight4 ,some day we shall discover how 
further to eliminate weight4 ,take wood1
 for example4 ,for certain purposes wood
 is now the best substance we know1 but 
wood is extremely wasteful4 ,the wood in
 a ,ford car contains thirty pounds of  
water4 ,there must be some way of doing 
better than that4 ,there must be some   
method by which we can gain the same    
strength and elasticity without having  
to lug useless weight4 ,and so through a
 thousand processes4  ,the farmer makes 
too complex an affair out of his daily  
work4 ,i believe that the average farmer

 puts to a really useful purpose only   
about #e per cent of the energy that he 
spends4 ,if any one ever equipped a     
factory in the style1 say1 the average  
farm is fitted out1 the place would be  
cluttered with men4 ,the worst factory  
in ,europe is hardly as bad as the      
average farm barn4 ,power is utilized to
 the least possible degree4 ,not only is
 everything done by hand1 but seldom is 
a thought given to logical arrangement4 
,a farmer doing his chores will walk up 
and down a rickety ladder a dozen times4
 ,he will carry water for years instead 
of putting in a few lengths of pipe4    
,his whole idea1 when there is extra    
work to do1 is to hire extra men4 ,he   
thinks of putting money into            
improvements as an expense4 ,farm       
products at their lowest prices are     
dearer than they ought to be4 ,farm     
profits at their highest are lower than 
they ought to be4 ,it is waste          
motion--waste effort--that makes farm   
prices high and profits low4  ,on my own

 farm at ,dearborn we do everything by  
machinery4 ,we have eliminated a great  
number of wastes1 but we have not as yet
 touched on real economy4 ,we have not  
yet been able to put in five or ten     
years of intense night-and-day study to 
discover what really ought to be done4  
,we have left more undone than we have  
done4 ,yet at no time--no matter what   
the value of crops--have we failed to   
turn a first-class profit4 ,we are not  
farmers--we are industrialists on the   
farm4 ,the moment the farmer considers  
himself as an industrialist1 with a     
horror of waste either in material or in
 men1 then we are going to have farm    
products so low-priced that all will    
have enough to eat1 and the profits will
 be so satisfactory that farming will be
 considered as among the least hazardous
 and most profitable of occupations4    
,lack of knowledge of what is going on  
and lack of knowledge of what the job   
really is and the best way of doing it  
are the reasons why farming is thought  

not to pay4 ,nothing could pay the way  
farming is conducted4 ,the farmer       
follows luck and his forefathers4 ,he   
does not know how economically to       
produce1 and he does not know how to    
market4 ,a manufacturer who knew how    
neither to produce nor to market would  
not long stay in business4 ,that the    
farmer can stay on shows how wonderfully
 profitable farming can be4  ,the way to
 attain low-priced1 high-volume         
production in the factory or on the     
farm--and low-priced1 high-volume       
production means plenty for everyone--is
 quite simple4 ,the trouble is that the 
general tendency is to complicate very  
simple affairs4 ,take1 for an instance1 
an improvement4  ,when we talk about    
improvements usually we have in mind    
some change in a product4 ,an improved  
product is one that has been changed4   
,that is not my idea4 ,i do not believe 
in starting to make until ,i have       
discovered the best possible thing4     
,this1 of course1 does not mean that a  

product should never be changed1 but ,i 
think that it will be found more        
economical in the end not even to try to
 produce an article until you have fully
 satisfied yourself that utility1       
design1 and material are the best4 ,if  
your researches do not give you that    
confidence1 then keep right on searching
 until you find confidence4 ,the place  
to start manufacturing is with the      
article4 ,the factory1 the organization1
 the selling1 and the financial plans   
will shape themselves to the article4   
,you will have a cutting1 edge on your  
business chisel and in the end you will 
save time4 ,rushing into manufacturing  
without being certain of the product is 
the unrecognized cause of many business 
failures4 ,people seem to think that the
 big thing is the factory or the store  
or the financial backing or the         
management4 ,the big thing is the       
product1 and any hurry in getting into  
fabrication before designs are completed
 is just so much waste time4 ,i spent   

twelve years before ,i had a ,model     
,t--which is what is known to-day as the
 ,ford car--that suited me4 ,we did not 
attempt to go into real production until
 we had a real product4 ,that product   
has not been essentially changed4  ,we  
are constantly experimenting with new   
ideas4 ,if you travel the roads in the  
neighbourhood of ,dearborn you can find 
all sorts of models of ,ford cars4 ,they
 are experimental cars--they are not new
 models4 ,i do not believe in letting   
any good idea get by me1 but ,i will not
 quickly decide whether an idea is good 
or bad4 ,if an idea seems good or seems 
even to have possibilities1 ,i believe  
in doing whatever is necessary to test  
out the idea from every angle4 ,but     
testing out the idea is something very  
different from making a change in the   
car4 ,where most manufacturers find     
themselves quicker to make a change in  
the product than in the method of       
manufacturing--we follow exactly the    
opposite course4  ,our big changes have 

been in methods of manufacturing4 ,they 
never stand still4 ,i believe that there
 is hardly a single operation in the    
making of our car that is the same as   
when we made our first car of the       
present model4 ,that is why we make them
 so cheaply4 ,the few changes that have 
been made in the car have been in the   
direction of convenience in use or where
 we found that a change in design might 
give added strength4 ,the materials in  
the car change as we learn more and more
 about materials4 ,also we do not want  
to be held up in production or have the 
expense of production increased by any  
possible shortage in a particular       
material1 so we have for most parts     
worked out substitute materials4        
,vanadium steel1 for instance1 is our   
principal steel4 ,with it we can get the
 greatest strength with the least       
weight1 but it would not be good        
business to let our whole future depend 
upon being able to get vanadium steel4  
,we have worked out a substitute4 ,all  

our steels are special1 but for every   
one of them we have at least one1 and   
sometimes several1 fully proved and     
tested substitutes4 ,and so on through  
all of our materials and likewise with  
our parts4 ,in the beginning we made    
very few of our parts and none of our   
motors4 ,now we make all our motors and 
most of our parts because we find it    
cheaper to do so4 ,but also we aim to   
make some of every part so that we      
cannot be caught in any market emergency
 or be crippled by some outside         
manufacturer being unable to fill his   
orders4 ,the prices on glass were run up
 outrageously high during the war2 we   
are among the largest users of glass in 
the country4 ,now we are putting up our 
own glass factory4 ,if we had devoted   
all of this energy to making changes in 
the product we should be nowhere2 but by
 not changing the product we are able to
 give our energy to the improvement of  
the making4  ,the principal part of a   
chisel is the cutting edge4 ,if there is

 a single principle on which our        
business rests it is that4 ,it makes no 
difference how finely made a chisel is  
or what splendid steel it has in it or  
how well it is forged--if it has no     
cutting edge it is not a chisel4 ,it is 
just a piece of metal4 ,all of which    
being translated means that it is what a
 thing does--not what it is supposed to 
do--that matters4 ,what is the use of   
putting a tremendous force behind a     
blunt chisel if a light blow on a sharp 
chisel will do the work8 ,the chisel is 
there to cut1 not to be hammered4 ,the  
hammering is only incidental to the job4
 ,so if we want to work why not         
concentrate on the work and do it in the
 quickest possible fashion8 ,the cutting
 edge of merchandising is the point     
where the product touches the consumer4 
,an unsatisfactory product is one that  
has a dull cutting edge4 ,a lot of waste
 effort is needed to put it through4    
,the cutting edge of a factory is the   
man and the machine on the job4 ,if the 

man is not right the machine cannot be2 
if the machine is not right the man     
cannot be4 ,for any one to be required  
to use more force than is absolutely    
necessary for the job in hand is waste4 
,the essence of my idea then is that    
waste and greed block the delivery of   
true service4 ,both waste and greed are 
unnecessary4 ,waste is due largely to   
not understanding what one does1 or     
being careless in doing of it4 ,greed is
 merely a species of nearsightedness4 ,i
 have striven toward manufacturing with 
a minimum of waste1 both of materials   
and of human effort1 and then toward    
distribution at a minimum of profit1    
depending for the total profit upon the 
volume of distribution4 ,in the process 
of manufacturing ,i want to distribute  
the maximum of wage--that is1 the       
maximum of buying power4 ,since also    
this makes for a minimum cost and we    
sell at a minimum profit1 we can        
distribute a product in consonance with 
buying power4 ,thus everyone who is     

connected with us--either as a manager1 
worker1 or purchaser--is the better for 
our existence4 ,the institution that we 
have erected is performing a service4   
,that is the only reason ,i have for    
talking about it4 ,the principles of    
that service are these3  #a4 ,an absence
 of fear of the future and of veneration
 for the past4 ,one who fears the       
future1 who fears failure1 limits his   
activities4 ,failure is only the        
opportunity more intelligently to begin 
again4 ,there is no disgrace in honest  
failure2 there is disgrace in fearing to
 fail4 ,what is past is useful only as  
it suggests ways and means for progress4
  #b4 ,a disregard of competition4      
,whoever does a thing best ought to be  
the one to do it4 ,it is criminal to try
 to get business away from another      
man--criminal because one is then trying
 to lower for personal gain the         
condition of one's fellow man--to rule  
by force instead of by intelligence4    
#c4 ,the putting of service before      

profit4 ,without a profit1 business     
cannot extend4 ,there is nothing        
inherently wrong about making a profit4 
,well-conducted business enterprise     
cannot fail to return a profit1 but     
profit must and inevitably will come as 
a reward for good service4 ,it cannot be
 the basis--it must be the result of    
service4  #d4 ,manufacturing is not     
buying low and selling high4 ,it is the 
process of buying materials fairly and1 
with the smallest possible addition of  
cost1 transforming those materials into 
a consumable product and giving it to   
the consumer4 ,gambling1 speculating1   
and sharp dealing1 tend only to clog    
this progression4  ,how all of this     
arose1 how it has worked out1 and how it
 applies generally are the subjects of  
these chapters4     ,,chapter ,i  ,,the 
,,beginning ,,of ,,business   ,on ,may  
#ca1 #aiba1 the ,ford ,motor ,company   
turned out ,car ,no4 #e1jjj1jjj4 ,it is 
out in my museum along with the gasoline
 buggy that ,i began work on thirty     

years before and which first ran        
satisfactorily along in the spring of   
#ahic4 ,i was running it when the       
bobolinks came to ,dearborn and they    
always come on ,april #bnd4 ,there is   
all the difference in the world in the  
appearance of the two vehicles and      
almost as much difference in            
construction and materials1 but in      
fundamentals the two are curiously      
alike--except that the old buggy has on 
it a few wrinkles that we have not yet  
quite adopted in our modern car4 ,for   
that first car or buggy1 even though it 
had but two cylinders1 would make twenty
 miles an hour and run sixty miles on   
the three gallons of gas the little tank
 held and is as good to-day as the day  
it was built4 ,the development in       
methods of manufacture and in materials 
has been greater than the development in
 basic design4 ,the whole design has    
been refined2 the present ,ford car1    
which is the ,model ,t1 has four        
cylinders and a self starter--it is in  

every way a more convenient and an      
easier riding car4 ,it is simpler than  
the first car4 ,but almost every point  
in it may be found also in the first    
car4 ,the changes have been brought     
about through experience in the making  
and not through any change in the basic 
principle--which ,i take to be an       
important fact demonstrating that1 given
 a good idea to start with1 it is better
 to concentrate on perfecting it than to
 hunt around for a new idea4 ,one idea  
at a time is about as much as any one   
can handle4  ,it was life on the farm   
that drove me into devising ways and    
means to better transportation4 ,i was  
born on ,july #cj1 #ahfc1 on a farm at  
,dearborn1 ,michigan1 and my earliest   
recollection is that1 considering the   
results1 there was too much work on the 
place4 ,that is the way ,i still feel   
about farming4 ,there is a legend that  
my parents were very poor and that the  
early days were hard ones4 ,certainly   
they were not rich1 but neither were    

they poor4 ,as ,michigan farmers went1  
we were prosperous4 ,the house in which 
,i was born is still standing1 and it   
and the farm are part of my present     
holding4  ,there was too much hard hand 
labour on our own and all other farms of
 the time4 ,even when very young ,i     
suspected that much might somehow be    
done in a better way4 ,that is what took
 me into mechanics--although my mother  
always said that ,i was born a mechanic4
 ,i had a kind of workshop with odds and
 ends of metal for tools before ,i had  
anything else4 ,in those days we did not
 have the toys of to-day2 what we had   
were home made4 ,my toys were all       
tools--they still are6 ,and every       
fragment of machinery was a treasure4   
,the biggest event of those early years 
was meeting with a road engine about    
eight miles out of ,detroit one day when
 we were driving to town4 ,i was then   
twelve years old4 ,the second biggest   
event was getting a watch--which        
happened in the same year4 ,i remember  

that engine as though ,i had seen it    
only yesterday1 for it was the first    
vehicle other than horse-drawn that ,i  
had ever seen4 ,it was intended         
primarily for driving threshing machines
 and sawmills and was simply a portable 
engine and boiler mounted on wheels with
 a water tank and coal cart trailing    
behind4 ,i had seen plenty of these     
engines hauled around by horses1 but    
this one had a chain that made a        
connection between the engine and the   
rear wheels of the wagon-like frame on  
which the boiler was mounted4 ,the      
engine was placed over the boiler and   
one man standing on the platform behind 
the boiler shoveled coal1 managed the   
throttle1 and did the steering4 ,it had 
been made by ,nichols1 ,shepard         
,company of ,battle ,creek4 ,i found    
that out at once4 ,the engine had       
stopped to let us pass with our horses  
and ,i was off the wagon and talking to 
the engineer before my father1 who was  
driving1 knew what ,i was up to4 ,the   

engineer was very glad to explain the   
whole affair4 ,he was proud of it4 ,he  
showed me how the chain was disconnected
 from the propelling wheel and a belt   
put on to drive other machinery4 ,he    
told me that the engine made two hundred
 revolutions a minute and that the chain
 pinion could be shifted to let the     
wagon stop while the engine was still   
running4 ,this last is a feature which1 
although in different fashion1 is       
incorporated into modern automobiles4   
,it was not important with steam        
engines1 which are easily stopped and   
started1 but it became very important   
with the gasoline engine4 ,it was that  
engine which took me into automotive    
transportation4 ,i tried to make models 
of it1 and some years later ,i did make 
one that ran very well1 but from the    
time ,i saw that road engine as a boy of
 twelve right forward to to-day1 my     
great interest has been in making a     
machine that would travel the roads4    
,driving to town ,i always had a pocket 

full of trinkets--nuts1 washers1 and    
odds and ends of machinery4 ,often ,i   
took a broken watch and tried to put it 
together4 ,when ,i was thirteen ,i      
managed for the first time to put a     
watch together so that it would keep    
time4 ,by the time ,i was fifteen ,i    
could do almost anything in watch       
repairing--although my tools were of the
 crudest4 ,there is an immense amount to
 be learned simply by tinkering with    
things4 ,it is not possible to learn    
from books how everything is made--and a
 real mechanic ought to know how nearly 
everything is made4 ,machines are to a  
mechanic what books are to a writer4 ,he
 gets ideas from them1 and if he has any
 brains he will apply those ideas4      
,from the beginning ,i never could work 
up much interest in the labour of       
farming4 ,i wanted to have something to 
do with machinery4 ,my father was not   
entirely in sympathy with my bent toward
 mechanics4 ,he thought that ,i ought to
 be a farmer4 ,when ,i left school at   

seventeen and became an apprentice in   
the machine shop of the ,drydock ,engine
 ,works ,i was all but given up for     
lost4 ,i passed my apprenticeship       
without trouble--that is1 ,i was        
qualified to be a machinist long before 
my three-year term had expired--and     
having a liking for fine work and a     
leaning toward watches ,i worked nights 
at repairing in a jewelry shop4 ,at one 
period of those early days ,i think that
 ,i must have had fully three hundred   
watches4 ,i thought that ,i could build 
a serviceable watch for around thirty   
cents and nearly started in the         
business4 ,but ,i did not because ,i    
figured out that watches were not       
universal necessities1 and therefore    
people generally would not buy them4    
,just how ,i reached that surprising    
conclusion ,i am unable to state4 ,i did
 not like the ordinary jewelry and watch
 making work excepting where the job was
 hard to do4 ,even then ,i wanted to    
make something in quantity4 ,it was just

 about the time when the standard       
railroad time was being arranged4 ,we   
had formerly been on sun time and for   
quite a while1 just as in our present   
daylight-saving days1 the railroad time 
differed from the local time4 ,that     
bothered me a good deal and so ,i       
succeeded in making a watch that kept   
both times4 ,it had two dials and it was
 quite a curiosity in the neighbourhood4
  ,in #ahgi--that is1 about four years  
after ,i first saw that                 
,nichols-,shepard machine--,i managed to
 get a chance to run one and when my    
apprenticeship was over ,i worked with a
 local representative of the            
,westinghouse ,company of ,schenectady  
as an expert in the setting up and      
repair of their road engines4 ,the      
engine they put out was much the same as
 the ,nichols-,shepard engine excepting 
that the engine was up in front1 the    
boiler in the rear1 and the power was   
applied to the back wheels by a belt4   
,they could make twelve miles an hour on

 the road even though the               
self-propelling feature was only an     
incident of the construction4 ,they were
 sometimes used as tractors to pull     
heavy loads and1 if the owner also      
happened to be in the threshing-machine 
business1 he hitched his threshing      
machine and other paraphernalia to the  
engine in moving from farm to farm4     
,what bothered me was the weight and the
 cost4 ,they weighed a couple of tons   
and were far too expensive to be owned  
by other than a farmer with a great deal
 of land4 ,they were mostly employed by 
people who went into threshing as a     
business or who had sawmills or some    
other line that required portable power4
  ,even before that time ,i had the idea
 of making some kind of a light steam   
car that would take the place of        
horses--more especially1 however1 as a  
tractor to attend to the excessively    
hard labour of ploughing4 ,it occurred  
to me1 as ,i remember somewhat vaguely1 
that precisely the same idea might be   

applied to a carriage or a wagon on the 
road4 ,a horseless carriage was a common
 idea4 ,people had been talking about   
carriages without horses for many years 
back--in fact1 ever since the steam     
engine was invented--but the idea of the
 carriage at first did not seem so      
practical to me as the idea of an engine
 to do the harder farm work1 and of all 
the work on the farm ploughing was the  
hardest4 ,our roads were poor and we had
 not the habit of getting around4 ,one  
of the most remarkable features of the  
automobile on the farm is the way that  
it has broadened the farmer's life4 ,we 
simply took for granted that unless the 
errand were urgent we would not go to   
town1 and ,i think we rarely made more  
than a trip a week4 ,in bad weather we  
did not go even that often4  ,being a   
full-fledged machinist and with a very  
fair workshop on the farm it was not    
difficult for me to build a steam wagon 
or tractor4 ,in the building of it came 
the idea that perhaps it might be made  

for road use4 ,i felt perfectly certain 
that horses1 considering all the bother 
of attending them and the expense of    
feeding1 did not earn their keep4 ,the  
obvious thing to do was to design and   
build a steam engine that would be light
 enough to run an ordinary wagon or to  
pull a plough4 ,i thought it more       
important first to develop the tractor4 
,to lift farm drudgery off flesh and    
blood and lay it on steel and motors has
 been my most constant ambition4 ,it was
 circumstances that took me first into  
the actual manufacture of road cars4 ,i 
found eventually that people were more  
interested in something that would      
travel on the road than in something    
that would do the work on the farms4 ,in
 fact1 ,i doubt that the light farm     
tractor could have been introduced on   
the farm had not the farmer had his eyes
 opened slowly but surely by the        
automobile4 ,but that is getting ahead  
of the story4 ,i thought the farmer     
would be more interested in the tractor4

  ,i built a steam car that ran4 ,it had
 a kerosene-heated boiler and it        
developed plenty of power and a neat    
control--which is so easy with a steam  
throttle4 ,but the boiler was dangerous4
 ,to get the requisite power without too
 big and heavy a power plant required   
that the engine work under high         
pressure2 sitting on a high-pressure    
steam boiler is not altogether pleasant4
 ,to make it even reasonably safe       
required an excess of weight that       
nullified the economy of the high       
pressure4 ,for two years ,i kept        
experimenting with various sorts of     
boilers--the engine and control problems
 were simple enough--and then ,i        
definitely abandoned the whole idea of  
running a road vehicle by steam4 ,i knew
 that in ,england they had what amounted
 to locomotives running on the roads    
hauling lines of trailers and also there
 was no difficulty in designing a big   
steam tractor for use on a large farm4  
,but ours were not then ,english roads2 

they would have stalled or racked to    
pieces the strongest and heaviest road  
tractor4 ,and anyway the manufacturing  
of a big tractor which only a few       
wealthy farmers could buy did not seem  
to me worth while4  ,but ,i did not give
 up the idea of a horseless carriage4   
,the work with the ,westinghouse        
representative only served to confirm   
the opinion ,i had formed that steam was
 not suitable for light vehicles4 ,that 
is why ,i stayed only a year with that  
company4 ,there was nothing more that   
the big steam tractors and engines could
 teach me and ,i did not want to waste  
time on something that would lead       
nowhere4 ,a few years before--it was    
while ,i was an apprentice--,i read in  
the ,world of ,science1 an ,english     
publication1 of the silent gas engine   
which was then coming out in ,england4  
,i think it was the ,otto engine4 ,it   
ran with illuminating gas1 had a single 
large cylinder1 and the power impulses  
being thus intermittent required an     

extremely heavy fly-wheel4 ,as far as   
weight was concerned it gave nothing    
like the power per pound of metal that a
 steam engine gave1 and the use of      
illuminating gas seemed to dismiss it as
 even a possibility for road use4 ,it   
was interesting to me only as all       
machinery was interesting4 ,i followed  
in the ,english and ,american magazines 
which we got in the shop the development
 of the engine and most particularly the
 hints of the possible replacement of   
the illuminating gas fuel by a gas      
formed by the vaporization of gasoline4 
,the idea of gas engines was by no means
 new1 but this was the first time that a
 really serious effort had been made to 
put them on the market4 ,they were      
received with interest rather than      
enthusiasm and ,i do not recall any one 
who thought that the internal combustion
 engine could ever have more than a     
limited use4 ,all the wise people       
demonstrated conclusively that the      
engine could not compete with steam4    

,they never thought that it might carve 
out a career for itself4 ,that is the   
way with wise people--they are so wise  
and practical that they always know to a
 dot just why something cannot be done2 
they always know the limitations4 ,that 
is why ,i never employ an expert in full
 bloom4 ,if ever ,i wanted to kill      
opposition by unfair means ,i would     
endow the opposition with experts4 ,they
 would have so much good advice that ,i 
could be sure they would do little work4
  ,the gas engine interested me and ,i  
followed its progress1 but only from    
curiosity1 until about #ahhe or #ahhf   
when1 the steam engine being discarded  
as the motive power for the carriage    
that ,i intended some day to build1 ,i  
had to look around for another sort of  
motive power4 ,in #ahhe ,i repaired an  
,otto engine at the ,eagle ,iron ,works 
in ,detroit4 ,no one in town knew       
anything about them4 ,there was a rumour
 that ,i did and1 although ,i had never 
before been in contact with one1 ,i     

undertook and carried through the job4  
,that gave me a chance to study the new 
engine at first hand and in #ahhg ,i    
built one on the ,otto four-cycle model 
just to see if ,i understood the        
principles4 ,four cycle means that the  
piston traverses the cylinder four times
 to get one power impulse4 ,the first   
stroke draws in the gas1 the second     
compresses it1 the third is the         
explosion or power stroke1 while the    
fourth stroke exhausts the waste gas4   
,the little model worked well enough2 it
 had a one-inch bore and a three-inch   
stroke1 operated with gasoline1 and     
while it did not develop much power1 it 
was slightly lighter in proportion than 
the engines being offered commercially4 
,i gave it away later to a young man who
 wanted it for something or other and   
whose name ,i have forgotten2 it was    
eventually destroyed4 ,that was the     
beginning of the work with the internal 
combustion engine4  ,i was then on the  
farm to which ,i had returned1 more     

because ,i wanted to experiment than    
because ,i wanted to farm1 and1 now     
being an all-around machinist1 ,i had a 
first-class workshop to replace the toy 
shop of earlier days4 ,my father offered
 me forty acres of timber land1 provided
 ,i gave up being a machinist4 ,i agreed
 in a provisional way1 for cutting the  
timber gave me a chance to get married4 
,i fitted out a sawmill and a portable  
engine and started to cut out and saw up
 the timber on the tract4 ,some of the  
first of that lumber went into a cottage
 on my new farm and in it we began our  
married life4 ,it was not a big         
house--thirty-one feet square and only a
 story and a half high--but it was a    
comfortable place4 ,i added to it my    
workshop1 and when ,i was not cutting   
timber ,i was working on the gas        
engines--learning what they were and how
 they acted4 ,i read everything ,i could
 find1 but the greatest knowledge came  
from the work4 ,a gas engine is a       
mysterious sort of thing--it will not   

always go the way it should4 ,you can   
imagine how those first engines acted6  
,it was in #ahij that ,i began on a     
double-cylinder engine4 ,it was quite   
impractical to consider the single      
cylinder for transportation             
purposes--the fly-wheel had to be       
entirely too heavy4 ,between making the 
first four-cycle engine of the ,otto    
type and the start on a double cylinder 
,i had made a great many experimental   
engines out of tubing4 ,i fairly knew my
 way about4 ,the double cylinder ,i     
thought could be applied to a road      
vehicle and my original idea was to put 
it on a bicycle with a direct connection
 to the crankshaft and allowing for the 
rear wheel of the bicycle to act as the 
balance wheel4 ,the speed was going to  
be varied only by the throttle4 ,i never
 carried out this plan because it soon  
became apparent that the engine1        
gasoline tank1 and the various necessary
 controls would be entirely too heavy   
for a bicycle4 ,the plan of the two     

opposed cylinders was that1 while one   
would be delivering power the other     
would be exhausting4 ,this naturally    
would not require so heavy a fly-wheel  
to even the application of power4 ,the  
work started in my shop on the farm4    
,then ,i was offered a job with the     
,detroit ,electric ,company as an       
engineer and machinist at forty-five    
dollars a month4 ,i took it because that
 was more money than the farm was       
bringing me and ,i had decided to get   
away from farm life anyway4 ,the timber 
had all been cut4 ,we rented a house on 
,bagley ,avenue1 ,detroit4 ,the workshop
 came along and ,i set it up in a brick 
shed at the back of the house4 ,during  
the first several months ,i was in the  
night shift at the electric-light       
plant--which gave me very little time   
for experimenting--but after that ,i was
 in the day shift and every night and   
all of every ,saturday night ,i worked  
on the new motor4 ,i cannot say that it 
was hard work4 ,no work with interest is

 ever hard4 ,i always am certain of     
results4 ,they always come if you work  
hard enough4 ,but it was a very great   
thing to have my wife even more         
confident than ,i was4 ,she has always  
been that way4  ,i had to work from the 
ground up--that is1 although ,i knew    
that a number of people were working on 
horseless carriages1 ,i could not know  
what they were doing4 ,the hardest      
problems to overcome were in the making 
and breaking of the spark and in the    
avoidance of excess weight4 ,for the    
transmission1 the steering gear1 and the
 general construction1 ,i could draw on 
my experience with the steam tractors4  
,in #ahib ,i completed my first motor   
car1 but it was not until the spring of 
the following year that it ran to my    
satisfaction4 ,this first car had       
something of the appearance of a buggy4 
,there were two cylinders with a        
two-and-a-half-inch bore and a six-inch 
stroke set side by side and over the    
rear axle4 ,i made them out of the      

exhaust pipe of a steam engine that ,i  
had bought4 ,they developed about four  
horsepower4 ,the power was transmitted  
from the motor to the countershaft by a 
belt and from the countershaft to the   
rear wheel by a chain4 ,the car would   
hold two people1 the seat being         
suspended on posts and the body on      
elliptical springs4 ,there were two     
speeds--one of ten and the other of     
twenty miles per hour--obtained by      
shifting the belt1 which was done by a  
clutch lever in front of the driving    
seat4 ,thrown forward1 the lever put in 
the high speed2 thrown back1 the low    
speed2 with the lever upright the engine
 could run free4 ,to start the car it   
was necessary to turn the motor over by 
hand with the clutch free4 ,to stop the 
car one simply released the clutch and  
applied the foot brake4 ,there was no   
reverse1 and speeds other than those of 
the belt were obtained by the throttle4 
,i bought the iron work for the frame of
 the carriage and also the seat and the 

springs4 ,the wheels were               
twenty-eight-inch wire bicycle wheels   
with rubber tires4 ,the balance wheel ,i
 had cast from a pattern that ,i made   
and all of the more delicate mechanism  
,i made myself4 ,one of the features    
that ,i discovered necessary was a      
compensating gear that permitted the    
same power to be applied to each of the 
rear wheels when turning corners4 ,the  
machine altogether weighed about five   
hundred pounds4 ,a tank under the seat  
held three gallons of gasoline which was
 fed to the motor through a small pipe  
and a mixing valve4 ,the ignition was by
 electric spark4 ,the original machine  
was air-cooled--or to be more accurate1 
the motor simply was not cooled at all4 
,i found that on a run of an hour or    
more the motor heated up1 and so ,i very
 shortly put a water jacket around the  
cylinders and piped it to a tank in the 
rear of the car over the cylinders4     
,nearly all of these various features   
had been planned in advance4 ,that is   

the way ,i have always worked4 ,i draw a
 plan and work out every detail on the  
plan before starting to build4 ,for     
otherwise one will waste a great deal of
 time in makeshifts as the work goes on 
and the finished article will not have  
coherence4 ,it will not be rightly      
proportioned4 ,many inventors fail      
because they do not distinguish between 
planning and experimenting4 ,the largest
 building difficulties that ,i had were 
in obtaining the proper materials4 ,the 
next were with tools4 ,there had to be  
some adjustments and changes in details 
of the design1 but what held me up most 
was that ,i had neither the time nor the
 money to search for the best material  
for each part4 ,but in the spring of    
#ahic the machine was running to my     
partial satisfaction and giving an      
opportunity further to test out the     
design and material on the road4        
,,chapter ,,ii  ,,what ,i ,,learned     
,,about ,,business   ,my gasoline buggy 
was the first and for a long time the   

only automobile in ,detroit4 ,it was    
considered to be something of a         
nuisance1 for it made a racket and it   
scared horses4 ,also it blocked traffic4
 ,for if ,i stopped my machine anywhere 
in town a crowd was around it before ,i 
could start up again4 ,if ,i left it    
alone even for a minute some inquisitive
 person always tried to run it4         
,finally1 ,i had to carry a chain and   
chain it to a lamp post whenever ,i left
 it anywhere4 ,and then there was       
trouble with the police4 ,i do not know 
quite why1 for my impression is that    
there were no speed-limit laws in those 
days4 ,anyway1 ,i had to get a special  
permit from the mayor and thus for a    
time enjoyed the distinction of being   
the only licensed chauffeur in ,america4
 ,i ran that machine about one thousand 
miles through #ahie and #ahif and then  
sold it to ,charles ,ainsley of ,detroit
 for two hundred dollars4 ,that was my  
first sale4 ,i had built the car not to 
sell but only to experiment with4 ,i    

wanted to start another car4 ,ainsley   
wanted to buy4 ,i could use the money   
and we had no trouble in agreeing upon a
 price4  ,it was not at all my idea to  
make cars in any such petty fashion4 ,i 
was looking ahead to production1 but    
before that could come ,i had to have   
something to produce4 ,it does not pay  
to hurry4 ,i started a second car in    
#ahif2 it was much like the first but a 
little lighter4 ,it also had the belt   
drive which ,i did not give up until    
some time later2 the belts were all     
right excepting in hot weather4 ,that is
 why ,i later adopted gears4 ,i learned 
a great deal from that car4 ,others in  
this country and abroad were building   
cars by that time1 and in #ahie ,i heard
 that a ,benz car from ,germany was on  
exhibition in ,macy's store in ,new     
,york4 ,i traveled down to look at it   
but it had no features that seemed worth
 while4 ,it also had the belt drive1 but
 it was much heavier than my car4 ,i was
 working for lightness2 the foreign     

makers have never seemed to appreciate  
what light weight means4 ,i built three 
cars in all in my home shop and all of  
them ran for years in ,detroit4 ,i still
 have the first car2 ,i bought it back a
 few years later from a man to whom ,mr4
 ,ainsley had sold it4 ,i paid one      
hundred dollars for it4  ,during all    
this time ,i kept my position with the  
electric company and gradually advanced 
to chief engineer at a salary of one    
hundred and twenty-five dollars a month4
 ,but my gas-engine experiments were no 
more popular with the president of the  
company than my first mechanical        
leanings were with my father4 ,it was   
not that my employer objected to        
experiments--only to experiments with a 
gas engine4 ,i can still hear him say3  
,electricity1 yes1 that's the coming    
thing4 ,but gas--no4  ,he had ample     
grounds for his skepticism--to use the  
mildest terms4 ,practically no one had  
the remotest notion of the future of the
 internal combustion engine1 while we   

were just on the edge of the great      
electrical development4 ,as with every  
comparatively new idea1 electricity was 
expected to do much more than we even   
now have any indication that it can do4 
,i did not see the use of experimenting 
with electricity for my purposes4 ,a    
road car could not run on a trolley even
 if trolley wires had been less         
expensive2 no storage battery was in    
sight of a weight that was practical4   
,an electrical car had of necessity to  
be limited in radius and to contain a   
large amount of motive machinery in     
proportion to the power exerted4 ,that  
is not to say that ,i held or now hold  
electricity cheaply2 we have not yet    
begun to use electricity4 ,but it has   
its place1 and the internal combustion  
engine has its place4 ,neither can      
substitute for the other--which is      
exceedingly fortunate4  ,i have the     
dynamo that ,i first had charge of at   
the ,detroit ,edison ,company4 ,when ,i 
started our ,canadian plant ,i bought it

 from an office building to which it had
 been sold by the electric company1 had 
it revamped a little1 and for several   
years it gave excellent service in the  
,canadian plant4 ,when we had to build a
 new power plant1 owing to the increase 
in business1 ,i had the old motor taken 
out to my museum--a room out at         
,dearborn that holds a great number of  
my mechanical treasures4  ,the ,edison  
,company offered me the general         
superintendency of the company but only 
on condition that ,i would give up my   
gas engine and devote myself to         
something really useful4 ,i had to      
choose between my job and my automobile4
 ,i chose the automobile1 or rather ,i  
gave up the job--there was really       
nothing in the way of a choice4 ,for    
already ,i knew that the car was bound  
to be a success4 ,i quit my job on      
,august #ae1 #ahii1 and went into the   
automobile business4  ,it might be      
thought something of a step1 for ,i had 
no personal funds4 ,what money was left 

over from living was all used in        
experimenting4 ,but my wife agreed that 
the automobile could not be given       
up--that we had to make or break4 ,there
 was no demand for automobiles--there   
never is for a new article4 ,they were  
accepted in much the fashion as was more
 recently the airplane4 ,at first the   
horseless carriage was considered merely
 a freak notion and many wise people    
explained with particularity why it     
could never be more than a toy4 ,no man 
of money even thought of it as a        
commercial possibility4 ,i cannot       
imagine why each new means of           
transportation meets with such          
opposition4 ,there are even those to-day
 who shake their heads and talk about   
the luxury of the automobile and only   
grudgingly admit that perhaps the motor 
truck is of some use4 ,but in the       
beginning there was hardly any one who  
sensed that the automobile could be a   
large factor in industry4 ,the most     
optimistic hoped only for a development 

akin to that of the bicycle4 ,when it   
was found that an automobile really     
could go and several makers started to  
put out cars1 the immediate query was as
 to which would go fastest4 ,it was a   
curious but natural development--that   
racing idea4 ,i never thought anything  
of racing1 but the public refused to    
consider the automobile in any light    
other than as a fast toy4 ,therefore    
later we had to race4 ,the industry was 
held back by this initial racing slant1 
for the attention of the makers was     
diverted to making fast rather than good
 cars4 ,it was a business for           
speculators4  ,a group of men of        
speculative turn of mind organized1 as  
soon as ,i left the electric company1   
the ,detroit ,automobile ,company to    
exploit my car4 ,i was the chief        
engineer and held a small amount of the 
stock4 ,for three years we continued    
making cars more or less on the model of
 my first car4 ,we sold very few of     
them2 ,i could get no support at all    

toward making better cars to be sold to 
the public at large4 ,the whole thought 
was to make to order and to get the     
largest price possible for each car4    
,the main idea seemed to be to get the  
money4 ,and being without authority     
other than my engineering position gave 
me1 ,i found that the new company was   
not a vehicle for realizing my ideas but
 merely a money-making concern--that did
 not make much money4 ,in ,march1 #aijb1
 ,i resigned1 determined never again to 
put myself under orders4 ,the ,detroit  
,automobile ,company later became the   
,cadillac ,company under the ownership  
of the ,lelands1 who came in            
subsequently4  ,i rented a shop--a      
one-story brick shed--at #ha ,park      
,place to continue my experiments and to
 find out what business really was4 ,i  
thought that it must be something       
different from what it had proved to be 
in my first adventure4  ,the year from  
#aijb until the formation of the ,ford  
,motor ,company was practically one of  

investigation4 ,in my little one-room   
brick shop ,i worked on the development 
of a four-cylinder motor and on the     
outside ,i tried to find out what       
business really was and whether it      
needed to be quite so selfish a scramble
 for money as it seemed to be from my   
first short experience4 ,from the period
 of the first car1 which ,i have        
described1 until the formation of my    
present company ,i built in all about   
twenty-five cars1 of which nineteen or  
twenty were built with the ,detroit     
,automobile ,company4 ,the automobile   
had passed from the initial stage where 
the fact that it could run at all was   
enough1 to the stage where it had to    
show speed4 ,alexander ,winton of       
,cleveland1 the founder of the ,winton  
car1 was then the track champion of the 
country and willing to meet all comers4 
,i designed a two-cylinder enclosed     
engine of a more compact type than ,i   
had before used1 fitted it into a       
skeleton chassis1 found that ,i could   

make speed1 and arranged a race with    
,winton4 ,we met on the ,grosse ,point  
track at ,detroit4 ,i beat him4 ,that   
was my first race1 and it brought       
advertising of the only kind that people
 cared to read4 ,the public thought     
nothing of a car unless it made         
speed--unless it beat other racing cars4
 ,my ambition to build the fastest car  
in the world led me to plan a           
four-cylinder motor4 ,but of that more  
later4  ,the most surprising feature of 
business as it was conducted was the    
large attention given to finance and the
 small attention to service4 ,that      
seemed to me to be reversing the natural
 process which is that the money should 
come as the result of work and not      
before the work4 ,the second feature was
 the general indifference to better     
methods of manufacture as long as       
whatever was done got by and took the   
money4 ,in other words1 an article      
apparently was not built with reference 
to how greatly it could serve the public

 but with reference solely to how much  
money could be had for it--and that     
without any particular care whether the 
customer was satisfied4 ,to sell him was
 enough4 ,a dissatisfied customer was   
regarded not as a man whose trust had   
been violated1 but either as a nuisance 
or as a possible source of more money in
 fixing up the work which ought to have 
been done correctly in the first place4 
,for instance1 in automobiles there was 
not much concern as to what happened to 
the car once it had been sold4 ,how much
 gasoline it used per mile was of no    
great moment2 how much service it       
actually gave did not matter2 and if it 
broke down and had to have parts        
replaced1 then that was just hard luck  
for the owner4 ,it was considered good  
business to sell parts at the highest   
possible price on the theory that1 since
 the man had already bought the car1 he 
simply had to have the part and would be
 willing to pay for it4  ,the automobile
 business was not on what ,i would call 

an honest basis1 to say nothing of      
being1 from a manufacturing standpoint1 
on a scientific basis1 but it was no    
worse than business in general4 ,that   
was the period1 it may be remembered1 in
 which many corporations were being     
floated and financed4 ,the bankers1 who 
before then had confined themselves to  
the railroads1 got into industry4 ,my   
idea was then and still is that if a man
 did his work well1 the price he would  
get for that work1 the profits and all  
financial matters1 would care for       
themselves and that a business ought to 
start small and build itself up and out 
of its earnings4 ,if there are no       
earnings then that is a signal to the   
owner that he is wasting his time and   
does not belong in that business4 ,i    
have never found it necessary to change 
those ideas1 but ,i discovered that this
 simple formula of doing good work and  
getting paid for it was supposed to be  
slow for modern business4 ,the plan at  
that time most in favor was to start off

 with the largest possible              
capitalization and then sell all the    
stock and all the bonds that could be   
sold4 ,whatever money happened to be    
left over after all the stock and       
bond-selling expenses and promoters1    
charges and all that1 went grudgingly   
into the foundation of the business4 ,a 
good business was not one that did good 
work and earned a fair profit4 ,a good  
business was one that would give the    
opportunity for the floating of a large 
amount of stocks and bonds at high      
prices4 ,it was the stocks and bonds1   
not the work1 that mattered4 ,i could   
not see how a new business or an old    
business could be expected to be able to
 charge into its product a great big    
bond interest and then sell the product 
at a fair price4 ,i have never been able
 to see that4  ,i have never been able  
to understand on what theory the        
original investment of money can be     
charged against a business4 ,those men  
in business who call themselves         

financiers say that money is worth #f   
per cent1 or #e per cent1 or some other 
per cent1 and that if a business has one
 hundred thousand dollars invested in   
it1 the man who made the investment is  
entitled to charge an interest payment  
on the money1 because1 if instead of    
putting that money into the business he 
had put it into a savings bank or into  
certain securities1 he could have a     
certain fixed return4 ,therefore they   
say that a proper charge against the    
operating expenses of a business is the 
interest on this money4 ,this idea is at
 the root of many business failures and 
most service failures4 ,money is not    
worth a particular amount4 ,as money it 
is not worth anything1 for it will do   
nothing of itself4 ,the only use of     
money is to buy tools to work with or   
the product of tools4 ,therefore money  
is worth what it will help you to       
produce or buy and no more4 ,if a man   
thinks that his money will earn #e per  
cent1 or #f per cent1 he ought to place 

it where he can get that return1 but    
money placed in a business is not a     
charge on the business--or1 rather1     
should not be4 ,it ceases to be money   
and becomes1 or should become1 an engine
 of production1 and it is therefore     
worth what it produces--and not a fixed 
sum according to some scale that has no 
bearing upon the particular business in 
which the money has been placed4 ,any   
return should come after it has         
produced1 not before4  ,business men    
believed that you could do anything by  
financing it4 ,if it did not go through 
on the first financing then the idea was
 to refinance4 ,the process of          
refinancing was simply the game of      
sending good money after bad4 ,in the   
majority of cases the need of           
refinancing arises from bad management1 
and the effect of refinancing is simply 
to pay the poor managers to keep up     
their bad management a little longer4   
,it is merely a postponement of the day 
of judgment4 ,this makeshift of         

refinancing is a device of speculative  
financiers4 ,their money is no good to  
them unless they can connect it up with 
a place where real work is being done1  
and that they cannot do unless1 somehow1
 that place is poorly managed4 ,thus1   
the speculative financiers delude       
themselves that they are putting their  
money out to use4 ,they are not2 they   
are putting it out to waste4  ,i        
determined absolutely that never would  
,i join a company in which finance came 
before the work or in which bankers or  
financiers had a part4 ,and further     
that1 if there were no way to get       
started in the kind of business that ,i 
thought could be managed in the interest
 of the public1 then ,i simply would not
 get started at all4 ,for my own short  
experience1 together with what ,i saw   
going on around me1 was quite enough    
proof that business as a mere           
money-making game was not worth giving  
much thought to and was distinctly no   
place for a man who wanted to accomplish

 anything4 ,also it did not seem to me  
to be the way to make money4 ,i have yet
 to have it demonstrated that it is the 
way4 ,for the only foundation of real   
business is service4  ,a manufacturer is
 not through with his customer when a   
sale is completed4 ,he has then only    
started with his customer4 ,in the case 
of an automobile the sale of the machine
 is only something in the nature of an  
introduction4 ,if the machine does not  
give service1 then it is better for the 
manufacturer if he never had the        
introduction1 for he will have the worst
 of all advertisements--a dissatisfied  
customer4 ,there was something more than
 a tendency in the early days of the    
automobile to regard the selling of a   
machine as the real accomplishment and  
that thereafter it did not matter what  
happened to the buyer4 ,that is the     
shortsighted salesman-on-commission     
attitude4 ,if a salesman is paid only   
for what he sells1 it is not to be      
expected that he is going to exert any  

great effort on a customer out of whom  
no more commission is to be made4 ,and  
it is right on this point that we later 
made the largest selling argument for   
the ,ford4 ,the price and the quality of
 the car would undoubtedly have made a  
market1 and a large market4 ,we went    
beyond that4 ,a man who bought one of   
our cars was in my opinion entitled to  
continuous use of that car1 and         
therefore if he had a breakdown of any  
kind it was our duty to see that his    
machine was put into shape again at the 
earliest possible moment4 ,in the       
success of the ,ford car the early      
provision of service was an outstanding 
element4 ,most of the expensive cars of 
that period were ill provided with      
service stations4 ,if your car broke    
down you had to depend on the local     
repair man--when you were entitled to   
depend upon the manufacturer4 ,if the   
local repair man were a forehanded sort 
of a person1 keeping on hand a good     
stock of parts 7although on many of the 

cars the parts were not                 
interchangeable71 the owner was lucky4  
,but if the repair man were a shiftless 
person1 with an adequate knowledge of   
automobiles and an inordinate desire to 
make a good thing out of every car that 
came into his place for repairs1 then   
even a slight breakdown meant weeks of  
laying up and a whopping big repair bill
 that had to be paid before the car     
could be taken away4 ,the repair men    
were for a time the largest menace to   
the automobile industry4 ,even as late  
as #aiaj and #aiaa the owner of an      
automobile was regarded as essentially a
 rich man whose money ought to be taken 
away from him4 ,we met that situation   
squarely and at the very beginning4 ,we 
would not have our distribution blocked 
by stupid1 greedy men4  ,that is getting
 some years ahead of the story1 but it  
is control by finance that breaks up    
service because it looks to the         
immediate dollar4 ,if the first         
consideration is to earn a certain      

amount of money1 then1 unless by some   
stroke of luck matters are going        
especially well and there is a surplus  
over for service so that the operating  
men may have a chance1 future business  
has to be sacrificed for the dollar of  
to-day4  ,and also ,i noticed a tendency
 among many men in business to feel that
 their lot was hard--they worked against
 a day when they might retire and live  
on an income--get out of the strife4    
,life to them was a battle to be ended  
as soon as possible4 ,that was another  
point ,i could not understand1 for as ,i
 reasoned1 life is not a battle except  
with our own tendency to sag with the   
downpull of getting settled4 ,if to     
petrify is success all one has to do is 
to humour the lazy side of the mind but 
if to grow is success1 then one must    
wake up anew every morning and keep     
awake all day4 ,i saw great businesses  
become but the ghost of a name because  
someone thought they could be managed   
just as they were always managed1 and   

though the management may have been most
 excellent in its day1 its excellence   
consisted in its alertness to its day1  
and not in slavish following of its     
yesterdays4 ,life1 as ,i see it1 is not 
a location1 but a journey4 ,even the man
 who most feels himself settled is not  
settled--he is probably sagging back4   
,everything is in flux1 and was meant to
 be4 ,life flows4 ,we may live at the   
same number of the street1 but it is    
never the same man who lives there4     
,and out of the delusion that life is a 
battle that may be lost by a false move 
grows1 ,i have noticed1 a great love for
 regularity4 ,men fall into the         
half-alive habit4 ,seldom does the      
cobbler take up with the new-fangled way
 of soling shoes1 and seldom does the   
artisan willingly take up with new      
methods in his trade4 ,habit conduces to
 a certain inertia1 and any disturbance 
of it affects the mind like trouble4 ,it
 will be recalled that when a study was 
made of shop methods1 so that the       

workmen might be taught to produce with 
less useless motion and fatigue1 it was 
most opposed by the workmen themselves4 
,though they suspected that it was      
simply a game to get more out of them1  
what most irked them was that it        
interfered with the well-worn grooves in
 which they had become accustomed to    
move4 ,business men go down with their  
businesses because they like the old way
 so well they cannot bring themselves to
 change4 ,one sees them all about--men  
who do not know that yesterday is past1 
and who woke up this morning with their 
last year's ideas4 ,it could almost be  
written down as a formula that when a   
man begins to think that he has at last 
found his method he had better begin a  
most searching examination of himself to
 see whether some part of his brain has 
not gone to sleep4 ,there is a subtle   
danger in a man thinking that he is     
fixed for life4 ,it indicates that the  
next jolt of the wheel of progress is   
going to fling him off4  ,there is also 

the great fear of being thought a fool4 
,so many men are afraid of being        
considered fools4 ,i grant that public  
opinion is a powerful police influence  
for those who need it4 ,perhaps it is   
true that the majority of men need the  
restraint of public opinion4 ,public    
opinion may keep a man better than he   
would otherwise be--if not better       
morally1 at least better as far as his  
social desirability is concerned4 ,but  
it is not a bad thing to be a fool for  
righteousness' sake4 ,the best of it is 
that such fools usually live long enough
 to prove that they were not fools--or  
the work they have begun lives long     
enough to prove they were not foolish4  
,the money influence--the pressing to   
make a profit on an investment--and its 
consequent neglect of or skimping of    
work and hence of service showed itself 
to me in many ways4 ,it seemed to be at 
the bottom of most troubles4 ,it was the
 cause of low wages--for without        
well-directed work high wages cannot be 

paid4 ,and if the whole attention is not
 given to the work it cannot be well    
directed4 ,most men want to be free to  
work2 under the system in use they could
 not be free to work4 ,during my first  
experience ,i was not free--,i could not
 give full play to my ideas4 ,everything
 had to be planned to make money2 the   
last consideration was the work4 ,and   
the most curious part of it all was the 
insistence that it was the money and not
 the work that counted4 ,it did not seem
 to strike any one as illogical that    
money should be put ahead of work--even 
though everyone had to admit that the   
profit had to come from the work4 ,the  
desire seemed to be to find a short cut 
to money and to pass over the obvious   
short cut--which is through the work4   
,take competition2 ,i found that        
competition was supposed to be a menace 
and that a good manager circumvented his
 competitors by getting a monopoly      
through artificial means4 ,the idea was 
that there were only a certain number of

 people who could buy and that it was   
necessary to get their trade ahead of   
someone else4 ,some will remember that  
later many of the automobile            
manufacturers entered into an           
association under the ,selden ,patent   
just so that it might be legally        
possible to control the price and the   
output of automobiles4 ,they had the    
same idea that so many trades unions    
have--the ridiculous notion that more   
profit can be had doing less work than  
more4 ,the plan1 ,i believe1 is a very  
antiquated one4 ,i could not see then   
and am still unable to see that there is
 not always enough for the man who does 
his work2 time spent in fighting        
competition is wasted2 it had better be 
spent in doing the work4 ,there are     
always enough people ready and anxious  
to buy1 provided you supply what they   
want and at the proper price--and this  
applies to personal services as well as 
to goods4  ,during this time of         
reflection ,i was far from idle4 ,we    

were going ahead with a four-cylinder   
motor and the building of a pair of big 
racing cars4 ,i had plenty of time1 for 
,i never left my business4 ,i do not    
believe a man can ever leave his        
business4 ,he ought to think of it by   
day and dream of it by night4 ,it is    
nice to plan to do one's work in office 
hours1 to take up the work in the       
morning1 to drop it in the evening--and 
not have a care until the next morning4 
,it is perfectly possible to do that if 
one is so constituted as to be willing  
through all of his life to accept       
direction1 to be an employee1 possibly a
 responsible employee1 but not a        
director or manager of anything4 ,a     
manual labourer must have a limit on his
 hours1 otherwise he will wear himself  
out4 ,if he intends to remain always a  
manual labourer1 then he should forget  
about his work when the whistle blows1  
but if he intends to go forward and do  
anything1 the whistle is only a signal  
to start thinking over the day's work in

 order to discover how it might be done 
better4  ,the man who has the largest   
capacity for work and thought is the man
 who is bound to succeed4 ,i cannot     
pretend to say1 because ,i do not know1 
whether the man who works always1 who   
never leaves his business1 who is       
absolutely intent upon getting ahead1   
and who therefore does get ahead--is    
happier than the man who keeps office   
hours1 both for his brain and his hands4
 ,it is not necessary for any one to    
decide the question4 ,a ten-horsepower  
engine will not pull as much as a       
twenty4 ,the man who keeps brain office 
hours limits his horsepower4 ,if he is  
satisfied to pull only the load that he 
has1 well and good1 that is his         
affair--but he must not complain if     
another who has increased his horsepower
 pulls more than he does4 ,leisure and  
work bring different results4 ,if a man 
wants leisure and gets it--then he has  
no cause to complain4 ,but he cannot    
have both leisure and the results of    

work4  ,concretely1 what ,i most        
realized about business in that         
year--and ,i have been learning more    
each year without finding it necessary  
to change my first conclusions--is this3
  7#a7 ,that finance is given a place   
ahead of work and therefore tends to    
kill the work and destroy the           
fundamental of service4  7#b7 ,that     
thinking first of money instead of work 
brings on fear of failure and this fear 
blocks every avenue of business--it     
makes a man afraid of competition1 of   
changing his methods1 or of doing       
anything which might change his         
condition4  7#c7 ,that the way is clear 
for any one who thinks first of         
service--of doing the work in the best  
possible way4     ,,chapter ,,iii       
,,starting ,,the ,,real ,,business   ,in
 the little brick shop at #ha ,park     
,place ,i had ample opportunity to work 
out the design and some of the methods  
of manufacture of a new car4 ,even if it
 were possible to organize the exact    

kind of corporation that ,i wanted--one 
in which doing the work well and suiting
 the public would be controlling        
factors--it became apparent that ,i     
never could produce a thoroughly good   
motor car that might be sold at a low   
price under the existing cut-and-try    
manufacturing methods4  ,everybody knows
 that it is always possible to do a     
thing better the second time4 ,i do not 
know why manufacturing should not at    
that time have generally recognized this
 as a basic fact--unless it might be    
that the manufacturers were in such a   
hurry to obtain something to sell that  
they did not take time for adequate     
preparation4 ,making to order instead of
 making in volume is1 ,i suppose1 a     
habit1 a tradition1 that has descended  
from the old handicraft days4 ,ask a    
hundred people how they want a          
particular article made4 ,about eighty  
will not know2 they will leave it to    
you4 ,fifteen will think that they must 
say something1 while five will really   

have preferences and reasons4 ,the      
ninety-five1 made up of those who do not
 know and admit it and the fifteen who  
do not know but do not admit it1        
constitute the real market for any      
product4 ,the five who want something   
special may or may not be able to pay   
the price for special work4 ,if they    
have the price1 they can get the work1  
but they constitute a special and       
limited market4 ,of the ninety-five     
perhaps ten or fifteen will pay a price 
for quality4 ,of those remaining1 a     
number will buy solely on price and     
without regard to quality4 ,their       
numbers are thinning with each day4     
,buyers are learning how to buy4 ,the   
majority will consider quality and buy  
the biggest dollar's worth of quality4  
,if1 therefore1 you discover what will  
give this #ie per cent4 of people the   
best all-round service and then arrange 
to manufacture at the very highest      
quality and sell at the very lowest     
price1 you will be meeting a demand     

which is so large that it may be called 
universal4  ,this is not standardizing4 
,the use of the word standardizing is   
very apt to lead one into trouble1 for  
it implies a certain freezing of design 
and method and usually works out so that
 the manufacturer selects whatever      
article he can the most easily make and 
sell at the highest profit4 ,the public 
is not considered either in the design  
or in the price4 ,the thought behind    
most standardization is to be able to   
make a larger profit4 ,the result is    
that with the economies which are       
inevitable if you make only one thing1 a
 larger and larger profit is continually
 being had by the manufacturer4 ,his    
output also becomes larger--his         
facilities produce more--and before he  
knows it his markets are overflowing    
with goods which will not sell4 ,these  
goods would sell if the manufacturer    
would take a lower price for them4      
,there is always buying power           
present--but that buying power will not 

always respond to reductions in price4  
,if an article has been sold at too high
 a price and then1 because of stagnant  
business1 the price is suddenly cut1 the
 response is sometimes most             
disappointing4 ,and for a very good     
reason4 ,the public is wary4 ,it thinks 
that the price-cut is a fake and it sits
 around waiting for a real cut4 ,we saw 
much of that last year4 ,if1 on the     
contrary1 the economies of making are   
transferred at once to the price and if 
it is well known that such is the policy
 of the manufacturer1 the public will   
have confidence in him and will respond4
 ,they will trust him to give honest    
value4 ,so standardization may seem bad 
business unless it carries with it the  
plan of constantly reducing the price at
 which the article is sold4 ,and the    
price has to be reduced 7this is very   
important7 because of the manufacturing 
economies that have come about and not  
because the falling demand by the public
 indicates that it is not satisfied with

 the price4 ,the public should always be
 wondering how it is possible to give so
 much for the money4  ,standardization  
7to use the word as ,i understand it7 is
 not just taking one's best selling     
article and concentrating on it4 ,it is 
planning day and night and probably for 
years1 first on something which will    
best suit the public and then on how it 
should be made4 ,the exact processes of 
manufacturing will develop of           
themselves4 ,then1 if we shift the      
manufacturing from the profit to the    
service basis1 we shall have a real     
business in which the profits will be   
all that any one could desire4  ,all of 
this seems self-evident to me4 ,it is   
the logical basis of any business that  
wants to serve #ie per cent4 of the     
community4 ,it is the logical way in    
which the community can serve itself4 ,i
 cannot comprehend why all business does
 not go on this basis4 ,all that has to 
be done in order to adopt it is to      
overcome the habit of grabbing at the   

nearest dollar as though it were the    
only dollar in the world4 ,the habit has
 already to an extent been overcome4    
,all the large and successful retail    
stores in this country are on the       
one-price basis4 ,the only further step 
required is to throw overboard the idea 
of pricing on what the traffic will bear
 and instead go to the common-sense     
basis of pricing on what it costs to    
manufacture and then reducing the cost  
of manufacture4 ,if the design of the   
product has been sufficiently studied1  
then changes in it will come very       
slowly4 ,but changes in manufacturing   
processes will come very rapidly and    
wholly naturally4 ,that has been our    
experience in everything we have        
undertaken4 ,how naturally it has all   
come about1 ,i shall later outline4 ,the
 point that ,i wish to impress here is  
that it is impossible to get a product  
on which one may concentrate unless an  
unlimited amount of study is given      
beforehand4 ,it is not just an          

afternoon's work4  ,these ideas were    
forming with me during this year of     
experimenting4 ,most of the             
experimenting went into the building of 
racing cars4 ,the idea in those days was
 that a first-class car ought to be a   
racer4 ,i never really thought much of  
racing1 but following the bicycle idea1 
the manufacturers had the notion that   
winning a race on a track told the      
public something about the merits of an 
automobile--although ,i can hardly      
imagine any test that would tell less4  
,but1 as the others were doing it1 ,i1  
too1 had to do it4 ,in #aijc1 with ,tom 
,cooper1 ,i built two cars solely for   
speed4 ,they were quite alike4 ,one we  
named the #iii and the other the ,arrow4
 ,if an automobile were going to be     
known for speed1 then ,i was going to   
make an automobile that would be known  
wherever speed was known4 ,these were4  
,i put in four great big cylinders      
giving #hj ,h4,p4--which up to that time
 had been unheard of4 ,the roar of those

 cylinders alone was enough to half kill
 a man4 ,there was only one seat4 ,one  
life to a car was enough4 ,i tried out  
the cars4 ,cooper tried out the cars4   
,we let them out at full speed4 ,i      
cannot quite describe the sensation4    
,going over ,niagara ,falls would have  
been but a pastime after a ride in one  
of them4 ,i did not want to take the    
responsibility of racing the #iii which 
we put up first1 neither did ,cooper4   
,cooper said he knew a man who lived on 
speed1 that nothing could go too fast   
for him4 ,he wired to ,salt ,lake ,city 
and on came a professional bicycle rider
 named ,barney ,oldfield4 ,he had never 
driven a motor car1 but he liked the    
idea of trying it4 ,he said he would try
 anything once4  ,it took us only a week
 to teach him how to drive4 ,the man did
 not know what fear was4 ,all that he   
had to learn was how to control the     
monster4 ,controlling the fastest car of
 to-day was nothing as compared to      
controlling that car4 ,the steering     

wheel had not yet been thought of4 ,all 
the previous cars that ,i had built     
simply had tillers4 ,on this one ,i put 
a two-handed tiller1 for holding the car
 in line required all the strength of a 
strong man4 ,the race for which we were 
working was at three miles on the       
,grosse ,point track4 ,we kept our cars 
as a dark horse4 ,we left the           
predictions to the others4 ,the tracks  
then were not scientifically banked4 ,it
 was not known how much speed a motor   
car could develop4 ,no one knew better  
than ,oldfield what the turns meant and 
as he took his seat1 while ,i was       
cranking the car for the start1 he      
remarked cheerily3 ,well1 this chariot  
may kill me1 but they will say afterward
 that ,i was going like hell when she   
took me over the bank4  ,and he did     
go4444 ,he never dared to look around4  
,he did not shut off on the curves4 ,he 
simply let that car go--and go it did4  
,he was about half a mile ahead of the  
next man at the end of the race6  ,the  

#iii did what it was intended to do3 ,it
 advertised the fact that ,i could build
 a fast motorcar4 ,a week after the race
 ,i formed the ,ford ,motor ,company4 ,i
 was vice-president1 designer1 master   
mechanic1 superintendent1 and general   
manager4 ,the capitalization of the     
company was one hundred thousand        
dollars1 and of this ,i owned #be #a_/b 
per cent4 ,the total amount subscribed  
in cash was about twenty-eight thousand 
dollars--which is the only money that   
the company has ever received for the   
capital fund from other than operations4
 ,in the beginning ,i thought that it   
was possible1 notwithstanding my former 
experience1 to go forward with a company
 in which ,i owned less than the        
controlling share4 ,i very shortly found
 ,i had to have control and therefore in
 #aijf1 with funds that ,i had earned in
 the company1 ,i bought enough stock to 
bring my holdings up to #ea per cent1   
and a little later bought enough more to
 give me #eh-a_/b per cent4 ,the new    

equipment and the whole progress of the 
company have always been financed out of
 earnings4 ,in #aiai my son ,edsel      
purchased the remaining #da-a_/b per    
cent of the stock because certain of the
 minority stockholders disagreed with my
 policies4 ,for these shares he paid at 
the rate of #ab1ejj for each #ajj par   
and in all paid about seventy-five      
millions4  ,the original company and its
 equipment1 as may be gathered1 were not
 elaborate4 ,we rented ,strelow's       
carpenter shop on ,mack ,avenue4 ,in    
making my designs ,i had also worked out
 the methods of making1 but1 since at   
that time we could not afford to buy    
machinery1 the entire car was made      
according to my designs1 but by various 
manufacturers1 and about all we did1    
even in the way of assembling1 was to   
put on the wheels1 the tires1 and the   
body4 ,that would really be the most    
economical method of manufacturing if   
only one could be certain that all of   
the various parts would be made on the  

manufacturing plan that ,i have above   
outlined4 ,the most economical          
manufacturing of the future will be that
 in which the whole of an article is not
 made under one roof--unless1 of course1
 it be a very simple article4 ,the      
modern--or better1 the future--method is
 to have each part made where it may    
best be made and then assemble the parts
 into a complete unit at the points of  
consumption4 ,that is the method we are 
now following and expect to extend4 ,it 
would make no difference whether one    
company or one individual owned all the 
factories fabricating the component     
parts of a single product1 or whether   
such part were made in our independently
 owned factory1 if only all adopted the 
same service methods4 ,if we can buy as 
good a part as we can make ourselves and
 the supply is ample and the price      
right1 we do not attempt to make it     
ourselves--or1 at any rate1 to make more
 than an emergency supply4 ,in fact1 it 
might be better to have the ownership   

widely scattered4  ,i had been          
experimenting principally upon the      
cutting down of weight4 ,excess weight  
kills any self-propelled vehicle4 ,there
 are a lot of fool ideas about weight4  
,it is queer1 when you come to think of 
it1 how some fool terms get into current
 use4 ,there is the phrase heavyweight  
as applied to a man's mental apparatus6 
,what does it mean8 ,no one wants to be 
fat and heavy of body--then why of head8
 ,for some clumsy reason we have come to
 confuse strength with weight4 ,the     
crude methods of early building         
undoubtedly had much to do with this4   
,the old ox-cart weighed a ton--and it  
had so much weight that it was weak6 ,to
 carry a few tons of humanity from ,new 
,york to ,chicago1 the railroad builds a
 train that weighs many hundred tons1   
and the result is an absolute loss of   
real strength and the extravagant waste 
of untold millions in the form of power4
 ,the law of diminishing returns begins 
to operate at the point where strength  

becomes weight4 ,weight may be desirable
 in a steam roller but nowhere else4    
,strength has nothing to do with weight4
 ,the mentality of the man who does     
things in the world is agile1 light1 and
 strong4 ,the most beautiful things in  
the world are those from which all      
excess weight has been eliminated4      
,strength is never just weight--either  
in men or things4 ,whenever any one     
suggests to me that ,i might increase   
weight or add a part1 ,i look into      
decreasing weight and eliminating a     
part6 ,the car that ,i designed was     
lighter than any car that had yet been  
made4 ,it would have been lighter if ,i 
had known how to make it so--later ,i   
got the materials to make the lighter   
car4  ,in our first year we built ,model
 ,a1 selling the runabout for eight     
hundred and fifty dollars and the       
tonneau for one hundred dollars more4   
,this model had a two-cylinder opposed  
motor developing eight horsepower4 ,it  
had a chain drive1 a seventy-two inch   

wheel base--which was supposed to be    
long--and a fuel capacity of five       
gallons4 ,we made and sold #a1gjh cars  
in the first year4 ,that is how well the
 public responded4  ,every one of these 
,model ,a's has a history4 ,take ,no4   
#dbj4 ,colonel ,d4 ,c4 ,collier of      
,california bought it in #aijd4 ,he used
 it for a couple of years1 sold it1 and 
bought a new ,ford4 ,no4 #dbj changed   
hands frequently until #aijg when it was
 bought by one ,edmund ,jacobs living   
near ,ramona in the heart of the        
mountains4 ,he drove it for several     
years in the roughest kind of work4     
,then he bought a new ,ford and sold his
 old one4 ,by #aiae ,no4 #dbj had passed
 into the hands of a man named ,cantello
 who took out the motor1 hitched it to a
 water pump1 rigged up shafts on the    
chassis and now1 while the motor chugs  
away at the pumping of water1 the       
chassis drawn by a burro acts as a      
buggy4 ,the moral1 of course1 is that   
you can dissect a ,ford but you cannot  

kill it4  ,in our first advertisement we
 said3      ,our purpose is to construct
 and market an automobile specially     
designed for everyday wear and          
tear--business1 professional1 and       
family use2 an automobile which will    
attain to a sufficient speed to         
satisfy the average person without      
acquiring any of those breakneck        
velocities which are so universally     
condemned2 a machine which will     be  
admired by man1 woman1 and child alike  
for its compactness1 its     simplicity1
 its safety1 its all-around convenience1
 and--last but     not least--its       
exceedingly reasonable price1 which     
places it within     the reach of many  
thousands who could not think of paying 
the     comparatively fabulous prices   
asked for most machines4  ,and these are
 the points we emphasized3  ,good       
material4  ,simplicity--most of the cars
 at that time required considerable     
skill in their management4  ,the engine4
  ,the ignition--which was furnished by 

two sets of six dry cell batteries4     
,the automatic oiling4  ,the simplicity 
and the ease of control of the          
transmission1 which was of the planetary
 type4  ,the workmanship4  ,we did not  
make the pleasure appeal4 ,we never     
have4 ,in its first advertising we      
showed that a motor car was a utility4  
,we said3  ,we often hear quoted the old
 proverb1 ,time is money--and yet how   
few business and professional men act as
 if they really believed its truth4     
,men who are constantly complaining of  
shortage of time and lamenting the      
fewness of days in the week--men to whom
 every five minutes wasted means a      
dollar thrown away--men to whom five    
minutes' delay sometimes means the loss 
of many dollars--will yet depend on the 
haphazard1 uncomfortable1 and limited   
means of transportation afforded by     
street cars1 etc41 when the investment  
of an exceedingly moderate sum in the   
purchase of a perfected1 efficient1     
high-grade automobile would cut out     

anxiety and unpunctuality and provide a 
luxurious means of travel ever at your  
beck and call4  ,always ready1 always   
sure4  ,built to save you time and      
consequent money4  ,built to take you   
anywhere you want to go and bring you   
back again on time4  ,built to add to   
your reputation for punctuality2 to keep
 your customers good-humoured and in a  
buying mood4  ,built for business or    
pleasure--just as you say4  ,built also 
for the good of your health--to carry   
you jarlessly over any kind of half     
decent roads1 to refresh your brain with
 the luxury of much out-doorness and    
your lungs with the tonic of tonics--the
 right kind of atmosphere4  ,it is your 
say1 too1 when it comes to speed4 ,you  
can--if you choose--loiter lingeringly  
through shady avenues or you can press  
down on the foot-lever until all the    
scenery looks alike to you and you have 
to keep your eyes skinned to count the  
milestones as they pass4  ,i am giving  
the gist of this advertisement to show  

that1 from the beginning1 we were       
looking to providing service--we never  
bothered with a sporting car4  ,the     
business went along almost as by magic4 
,the cars gained a reputation for       
standing up4 ,they were tough1 they were
 simple1 and they were well made4 ,i was
 working on my design for a universal   
single model but ,i had not settled the 
designs nor had we the money to build   
and equip the proper kind of plant for  
manufacturing4 ,i had not the money to  
discover the very best and lightest     
materials4 ,we still had to accept the  
materials that the market offered--we   
got the best to be had but we had no    
facilities for the scientific           
investigation of materials or for       
original research4  ,my associates were 
not convinced that it was possible to   
restrict our cars to a single model4    
,the automobile trade was following the 
old bicycle trade1 in which every       
manufacturer thought it necessary to    
bring out a new model each year and to  

make it so unlike all previous models   
that those who had bought the former    
models would want to get rid of the old 
and buy the new4 ,that was supposed to  
be good business4 ,it is the same idea  
that women submit to in their clothing  
and hats4 ,that is not service--it seeks
 only to provide something new1 not     
something better4 ,it is extraordinary  
how firmly rooted is the notion that    
business--continuous selling--depends   
not on satisfying the customer once and 
for all1 but on first getting his money 
for one article and then persuading him 
he ought to buy a new and different one4
 ,the plan which ,i then had in the back
 of my head but to which we were not    
then sufficiently advanced to give      
expression1 was that1 when a model was  
settled upon then every improvement on  
that model should be interchangeable    
with the old model1 so that a car should
 never get out of date4 ,it is my       
ambition to have every piece of         
machinery1 or other non-consumable      

product that ,i turn out1 so strong and 
so well made that no one ought ever to  
have to buy a second one4 ,a good       
machine of any kind ought to last as    
long as a good watch4  ,in the second   
year we scattered our energies among    
three models4 ,we made a four-cylinder  
touring car1 ,model ,b1 which sold for  
two thousand dollars2 ,model ,c1 which  
was a slightly improved ,model ,a and   
sold at fifty dollars more than the     
former price2 and ,model ,f1 a touring  
car which sold for a thousand dollars4  
,that is1 we scattered our energy and   
increased prices--and therefore we sold 
fewer cars than in the first year4 ,the 
sales were #a1fie cars4  ,that ,model   
,b--the first four-cylinder car for     
general road use--had to be advertised4 
,winning a race or making a record was  
then the best kind of advertising4 ,so  
,i fixed up the ,arrow1 the twin of the 
old #iii--;in fact practically remade   
it--and a week before the ,new ,york    
,automobile show ,i drove it myself over

 a surveyed mile straightaway on the    
ice4 ,i shall never forget that race4   
,the ice seemed smooth enough1 so smooth
 that if ,i had called off the trial we 
should have secured an immense amount of
 the wrong kind of advertising1 but     
instead of being smooth1 that ice was   
seamed with fissures which ,i knew were 
going to mean trouble the moment ,i got 
up speed4 ,but there was nothing to do  
but go through with the trial1 and ,i   
let the old ,arrow out4 ,at every       
fissure the car leaped into the air4 ,i 
never knew how it was coming down4 ,when
 ,i wasn't in the air1 ,i was skidding1 
but somehow ,i stayed top side up and on
 the course1 making a record that went  
all over the world6 ,that put ,model ,b 
on the map--but not enough on to        
overcome the price advances4 ,no stunt  
and no advertising will sell an article 
for any length of time4 ,business is not
 a game4 ,the moral is coming4  ,our    
little wooden shop had1 with the        
business we were doing1 become totally  

inadequate1 and in #aijf we took out of 
our working capital sufficient funds to 
build a three-story plant at the corner 
of ,piquette and ,beaubien              
streets--which for the first time gave  
us real manufacturing facilities4 ,we   
began to make and to assemble quite a   
number of the parts1 although still we  
were principally an assembling shop4 ,in
 #aije-aijf we made only two models--one
 the four-cylinder car at #b1jjj and    
another touring car at #a1jjj1 both     
being the models of the previous        
year--and our sales dropped to #a1eii   
cars4  ,some said it was because we had 
not brought out new models4 ,i thought  
it was because our cars were too        
expensive--they did not appeal to the   
#ie per cent4 ,i changed the policy in  
the next year--having first acquired    
stock control4 ,for #aijf-aijg we       
entirely left off making touring cars   
and made three models of runabouts and  
roadsters1 none of which differed       
materially from the other in            

manufacturing process or in component   
parts1 but were somewhat different in   
appearance4 ,the big thing was that the 
cheapest car sold for #fjj and the most 
expensive for only #gej1 and right there
 came the complete demonstration of what
 price meant4 ,we sold #h1dbc           
cars--nearly five times as many as in   
our biggest previous year4 ,our banner  
week was that of ,may #ae1 #aijh1 when  
we assembled #caa cars in six working   
days4 ,it almost swamped our facilities4
 ,the foreman had a tallyboard on which 
he chalked up each car as it was        
finished and turned over to the testers4
 ,the tallyboard was hardly equal to the
 task4 ,on one day in the following     
,june we assembled an even one hundred  
cars4  ,in the next year we departed    
from the programme that had been so     
successful and ,i designed a big        
car--fifty horsepower1 six              
cylinder--that would burn up the roads4 
,we continued making our small cars1 but
 the #aijg panic and the diversion to   

the more expensive model cut down the   
sales to #f1cih cars4  ,we had been     
through an experimenting period of five 
years4 ,the cars were beginning to be   
sold in ,europe4 ,the business1 as an   
automobile business then went1 was      
considered extraordinarily prosperous4  
,we had plenty of money4 ,since the     
first year we have practically always   
had plenty of money4 ,we sold for cash1 
we did not borrow money1 and we sold    
directly to the purchaser4 ,we had no   
bad debts and we kept within ourselves  
on every move4 ,i have always kept well 
within my resources4 ,i have never found
 it necessary to strain them1 because1  
inevitably1 if you give attention to    
work and service1 the resources will    
increase more rapidly than you can      
devise ways and means of disposing of   
them4  ,we were careful in the selection
 of our salesmen4 ,at first there was   
great difficulty in getting good        
salesmen because the automobile trade   
was not supposed to be stable4 ,it was  

supposed to be dealing in a luxury--in  
pleasure vehicles4 ,we eventually       
appointed agents1 selecting the very    
best men we could find1 and then paying 
to them a salary larger than they could 
possibly earn in business for           
themselves4 ,in the beginning we had not
 paid much in the way of salaries4 ,we  
were feeling our way1 but when we knew  
what our way was1 we adopted the policy 
of paying the very highest reward for   
service and then insisting upon getting 
the highest service4 ,among the         
requirements for an agent we laid down  
the following3  7#a7 ,a progressive1    
up-to-date man keenly alive to the      
possibilities of     business4  7#b7 ,a 
suitable place of business clean and    
dignified in appearance4  7#c7 ,a stock 
of parts sufficient to make prompt      
replacements and keep in active service 
every ,ford car in his territory4  7#d7 
,an adequately equipped repair shop     
which has in it the right machinery for 
every necessary repair and adjustment4  

7#e7 ,mechanics who are thoroughly      
familiar with the construction and      
operation of ,ford cars4  7#f7 ,a       
comprehensive bookkeeping system and a  
follow-up sales system1 so that it may  
be instantly apparent what is the       
financial status of the various         
departments of his business1 the        
condition and size of his stock1 the    
present owners of cars1 and the future  
prospects4  7#g7 ,absolute cleanliness  
throughout every department4 ,there must
 be no unwashed windows1 dusty          
furniture1 dirty floors4  7#h7 ,a       
suitable display sign4  7#i7 ,the       
adoption of policies which will ensure  
absolutely square dealing and the       
highest character of business ethics4   
,and this is the general instruction    
that was issued3      ,a dealer or a    
salesman ought to have the name of every
 possible     automobile buyer in his   
territory1 including all those who have 
never given the matter a thought4 ,he   
should then personally solicit     by   

visitation if possible--by              
correspondence at the least--every man  
on that list and then making necessary  
memoranda1 know the     automobile      
situation as related to every resident  
so solicited4 ,if     your territory is 
too large to permit this1 you have too  
much     territory4  ,the way was not   
easy4 ,we were harried by a big suit    
brought against the company to try to   
force us into line with an association  
of automobile manufacturers1 who were   
operating under the false principle that
 there was only a limited market for    
automobiles and that a monopoly of that 
market was essential4 ,this was the     
famous ,selden ,patent suit4 ,at times  
the support of our defense severely     
strained our resources4 ,mr4 ,selden1   
who has but recently died1 had little to
 do with the suit4 ,it was the          
association which sought a monopoly     
under the patent4 ,the situation was    
this3  ,george ,b4 ,selden1 a patent    
attorney1 filed an application as far   

back as #ahgi for a patent the object of
 which was stated to be ,the production 
of a safe1 simple1 and cheap road       
locomotive1 light in weight1 easy to    
control1 possessed of sufficient power  
to overcome an ordinary inclination4    
,this application was kept alive in the 
,patent ,office1 by methods which are   
perfectly legal1 until #ahie1 when the  
patent was granted4 ,in #ahgi1 when the 
application was filed1 the automobile   
was practically unknown to the general  
public1 but by the time the patent was  
issued everybody was familiar with      
self-propelled vehicles1 and most of the
 men1 including myself1 who had been for
 years working on motor propulsion1 were
 surprised to learn that what we had    
made practicable was covered by an      
application of years before1 although   
the applicant had kept his idea merely  
as an idea4 ,he had done nothing to put 
it into practice4  ,the specific claims 
under the patent were divided into six  
groups and ,i think that not a single   

one of them was a really new idea even  
in #ahgi when the application was filed4
 ,the ,patent ,office allowed a         
combination and issued a so-called      
combination patent deciding that the    
combination 7a7 of a carriage with its  
body machinery and steering wheel1 with 
the 7b7 propelling mechanism clutch and 
gear1 and finally 7c7 the engine1 made a
 valid patent4  ,with all of that we    
were not concerned4 ,i believed that my 
engine had nothing whatsoever in common 
with what ,selden had in mind4 ,the     
powerful combination of manufacturers   
who called themselves the licensed      
manufacturers because they operated     
under licenses from the patentee1       
brought suit against us as soon as we   
began to be a factor in motor           
production4 ,the suit dragged on4 ,it   
was intended to scare us out of         
business4 ,we took volumes of testimony1
 and the blow came on ,september #ae1   
#aiji1 when ,judge ,hough rendered an   
opinion in the ,united ,states ,district

 ,court finding against us4 ,immediately
 that ,licensed ,association began to   
advertise1 warning prospective          
purchasers against our cars4 ,they had  
done the same thing in #aijc at the     
start of the suit1 when it was thought  
that we could be put out of business4 ,i
 had implicit confidence that eventually
 we should win our suit4 ,i simply knew 
that we were right1 but it was a        
considerable blow to get the first      
decision against us1 for we believed    
that many buyers--even though no        
injunction was issued against us--would 
be frightened away from buying because  
of the threats of court action against  
individual owners4 ,the idea was spread 
that if the suit finally went against   
me1 every man who owned a ,ford car     
would be prosecuted4 ,some of my more   
enthusiastic opponents1 ,i understand1  
gave it out privately that there would  
be criminal as well as civil suits and  
that a man buying a ,ford car might as  
well be buying a ticket to jail4 ,we    

answered with an advertisement for which
 we took four pages in the principal    
newspapers all over the country4 ,we set
 out our case--we set out our confidence
 in victory--and in conclusion said3    
,in conclusion we beg to state if there 
are any prospective automobile buyers   
who are at all intimidated by the claims
 made by our adversaries that we will   
give them1 in addition to the protection
 of the ,ford ,motor ,company with its  
some #f1jjj1jjj4jj of assets1 an        
individual bond backed by a ,company of 
more than #f1jjj1jjj4jj more of assets1 
so that each and every individual owner 
of a ,ford car will be protected until  
at least #ab1jjj1jjj4jj of assets have  
been wiped out by those who desire to   
control and monopolize this wonderful   
industry4  ,the bond is yours for the   
asking1 so do not allow yourself to be  
sold inferior cars at extravagant prices
 because of any statement made by this  
,divine body4  ,n4 ,b4--,this fight is  
not being waged by the ,ford ,motor     

,company without the advice and counsel 
of the ablest patent attorneys of the   
,east and ,west4  ,we thought that the  
bond would give assurance to the        
buyers--that they needed confidence4    
,they did not4 ,we sold more than       
eighteen thousand cars--nearly double   
the output of the previous year--and ,i 
think about fifty buyers asked for      
bonds--perhaps it was less than that4   
,as a matter of fact1 probably nothing  
so well advertised the ,ford car and the
 ,ford ,motor ,company as did this suit4
 ,it appeared that we were the under dog
 and we had the public's sympathy4 ,the 
association had seventy million         
dollars--we at the beginning had not    
half that number of thousands4 ,i never 
had a doubt as to the outcome1 but      
nevertheless it was a sword hanging over
 our heads that we could as well do     
without4 ,prosecuting that suit was     
probably one of the most shortsighted   
acts that any group of ,american        
business men has ever combined to       

commit4 ,taken in all its sidelights1 it
 forms the best possible example of     
joining unwittingly to kill a trade4 ,i 
regard it as most fortunate for the     
automobile makers of the country that we
 eventually won1 and the association    
ceased to be a serious factor in the    
business4 ,by #aijh1 however1 in spite  
of this suit1 we had come to a point    
where it was possible to announce and   
put into fabrication the kind of car    
that ,i wanted to build4     ,,chapter  
,,iv  ,,the ,,secret ,,of               
,,manufacturing ,,and ,,serving   ,now  
,i am not outlining the career of the   
,ford ,motor ,company for any personal  
reason4 ,i am not saying3 ,go thou and  
do likewise4 ,what ,i am trying to      
emphasize is that the ordinary way of   
doing business is not the best way4 ,i  
am coming to the point of my entire     
departure from the ordinary methods4    
,from this point dates the extraordinary
 success of the company4  ,we had been  
fairly following the custom of the      

trade4 ,our automobile was less complex 
than any other4 ,we had no outside money
 in the concern4 ,but aside from these  
two points we did not differ materially 
from the other automobile companies1    
excepting that we had been somewhat more
 successful and had rigidly pursued the 
policy of taking all cash discounts1    
putting our profits back into the       
business1 and maintaining a large cash  
balance4 ,we entered cars in all of the 
races4 ,we advertised and we pushed our 
sales4 ,outside of the simplicity of the
 construction of the car1 our main      
difference in design was that we made no
 provision for the purely pleasure car4 
,we were just as much a pleasure car as 
any other car on the market1 but we gave
 no attention to purely luxury features4
 ,we would do special work for a buyer1 
and ,i suppose that we would have made a
 special car at a price4 ,we were a     
prosperous company4 ,we might easily    
have sat down and said3 ,now we have    
arrived4 ,let us hold what we have got4 

,indeed1 there was some disposition to  
take this stand4 ,some of the           
stockholders were seriously alarmed when
 our production reached one hundred cars
 a day4 ,they wanted to do something to 
stop me from ruining the company1 and   
when ,i replied to the effect that one  
hundred cars a day was only a trifle and
 that ,i hoped before long to make a    
thousand a day1 they were inexpressibly 
shocked and ,i understand seriously     
contemplated court action4 ,if ,i had   
followed the general opinion of my      
associates ,i should have kept the      
business about as it was1 put our funds 
into a fine administration building1    
tried to make bargains with such        
competitors as seemed too active1 made  
new designs from time to time to catch  
the fancy of the public1 and generally  
have passed on into the position of a   
quiet1 respectable citizen with a quiet1
 respectable business4  ,the temptation 
to stop and hang on to what one has is  
quite natural4 ,i can entirely          

sympathize with the desire to quit a    
life of activity and retire to a life of
 ease4 ,i have never felt the urge      
myself but ,i can comprehend what it    
is--although ,i think that a man who    
retires ought entirely to get out of a  
business4 ,there is a disposition to    
retire and retain control4 ,it was1     
however1 no part of my plan to do       
anything of that sort4 ,i regarded our  
progress merely as an invitation to do  
more--as an indication that we had      
reached a place where we might begin to 
perform a real service4 ,i had been     
planning every day through these years  
toward a universal car4 ,the public had 
given its reactions to the various      
models4 ,the cars in service1 the       
racing1 and the road tests gave         
excellent guides as to the changes that 
ought to be made1 and even by #aije ,i  
had fairly in mind the specifications of
 the kind of car ,i wanted to build4    
,but ,i lacked the material to give     
strength without weight4 ,i came across 

that material almost by accident4  ,in  
#aije ,i was at a motor race at ,palm   
,beach4 ,there was a big smash-up and a 
,french car was wrecked4 ,we had entered
 our ,model ,k--the high-powered six4 ,i
 thought the foreign cars had smaller   
and better parts than we knew anything  
about4 ,after the wreck ,i picked up a  
little valve strip stem4 ,it was very   
light and very strong4 ,i asked what it 
was made of4 ,nobody knew4 ,i gave the  
stem to my assistant4  ,find out all    
about this1 ,i told him4 ,that is the   
kind of material we ought to have in our
 cars4  ,he found eventually that it was
 a ,french steel and that there was     
vanadium in it4 ,we tried every steel   
maker in ,america--not one could make   
vanadium steel4 ,i sent to ,england for 
a man who understood how to make the    
steel commercially4 ,the next thing was 
to get a plant to turn it out4 ,that was
 another problem4 ,vanadium requires    
#c1jjj degrees ,fahrenheit4 ,the        
ordinary furnace could not go beyond    

#b1gjj degrees4 ,i found a small steel  
company in ,canton1 ,ohio4 ,i offered to
 guarantee them against loss if they    
would run a heat for us4 ,they agreed4  
,the first heat was a failure4 ,very    
little vanadium remained in the steel4  
,i had them try again1 and the second   
time the steel came through4 ,until then
 we had been forced to be satisfied with
 steel running between #fj1jjj and      
#gj1jjj pounds tensile strength4 ,with  
vanadium1 the strength went up to       
#agj1jjj pounds4  ,having vanadium in   
hand ,i pulled apart our models and     
tested in detail to determine what kind 
of steel was best for every             
part--whether we wanted a hard steel1 a 
tough steel1 or an elastic steel4 ,we1  
for the first time ,i think1 in the     
history of any large construction1      
determined scientifically the exact     
quality of the steel4 ,as a result we   
then selected twenty different types of 
steel for the various steel parts4      
,about ten of these were vanadium4      

,vanadium was used wherever strength and
 lightness were required4 ,of course    
they are not all the same kind of       
vanadium steel4 ,the other elements vary
 according to whether the part is to    
stand hard wear or whether it needs     
spring--in short1 according to what it  
needs4 ,before these experiments ,i     
believe that not more than four         
different grades of steel had ever been 
used in automobile construction4 ,by    
further experimenting1 especially in the
 direction of heat treating1 we have    
been able still further to increase the 
strength of the steel and therefore to  
reduce the weight of the car4 ,in #aiaj 
the ,french ,department of ,commerce and
 ,industry took one of our steering     
spindle connecting rod yokes--selecting 
it as a vital unit--and tried it against
 a similar part from what they          
considered the best ,french car1 and in 
every test our steel proved the         
stronger4  ,the vanadium steel disposed 
of much of the weight4 ,the other       

requisites of a universal car ,i had    
already worked out and many of them were
 in practice4 ,the design had to        
balance4 ,men die because a part gives  
out4 ,machines wreck themselves because 
some parts are weaker than others4      
,therefore1 a part of the problem in    
designing a universal car was to have as
 nearly as possible all parts of equal  
strength considering their purpose--to  
put a motor in a one-horse shay4 ,also  
it had to be fool proof4 ,this was      
difficult because a gasoline motor is   
essentially a delicate instrument and   
there is a wonderful opportunity for any
 one who has a mind that way to mess it 
up4 ,i adopted this slogan3  ,when one  
of my cars breaks down ,i know ,i am to 
blame4  ,from the day the first motor   
car appeared on the streets it had to me
 appeared to be a necessity4 ,it was    
this knowledge and assurance that led me
 to build to the one end--a car that    
would meet the wants of the multitudes4 
,all my efforts were then and still are 

turned to the production of one car--one
 model4 ,and1 year following year1 the  
pressure was1 and still is1 to improve  
and refine and make better1 with an     
increasing reduction in price4 ,the     
universal car had to have these         
attributes3  7#a7 ,quality in material  
to give service in use4 ,vanadium steel 
is the strongest1 toughest1 and most    
lasting of steels4 ,it forms the        
foundation and super-structure of the   
cars4 ,it is the highest quality steel  
in this respect in the world1 regardless
 of price4  7#b7 ,simplicity in         
operation--because the masses are not   
mechanics4  7#c7 ,power in sufficient   
quantity4  7#d7 ,absolute               
reliability--because of the varied uses 
to which the cars would be put and the  
variety of roads over which they would  
travel4  7#e7 ,lightness4 ,with the     
,ford there are only #g4ie pounds to be 
carried by each cubic inch of piston    
displacement4 ,this is one of the       
reasons why ,ford cars are always going1

 wherever and whenever you see          
them--through sand and mud1 through     
slush1 snow1 and water1 up hills1 across
 fields and roadless plains4  7#f7      
,control--to hold its speed always in   
hand1 calmly and safely meeting every   
emergency and contingency either in the 
crowded streets of the city or on       
dangerous roads4 ,the planetary         
transmission of the ,ford gave this     
control and anybody could work it4 ,that
 is the why of the saying3 ,anybody can 
drive a ,ford4 ,it can turn around      
almost anywhere4  7#g7 ,the more a motor
 car weighs1 naturally the more fuel and
 lubricants are used in the driving2 the
 lighter the weight1 the lighter the    
expense of operation4 ,the light weight 
of the ,ford car in its early years was 
used as an argument against it4 ,now    
that is all changed4  ,the design which 
,i settled upon was called ,model ,t4   
,the important feature of the new       
model--which1 if it were accepted1 as ,i
 thought it would be1 ,i intended to    

make the only model and then start into 
real production--was its simplicity4    
,there were but four constructional     
units in the car--the power plant1 the  
frame1 the front axle1 and the rear     
axle4 ,all of these were easily         
accessible and they were designed so    
that no special skill would be required 
for their repair or replacement4 ,i     
believed then1 although ,i said very    
little about it because of the novelty  
of the idea1 that it ought to be        
possible to have parts so simple and so 
inexpensive that the menace of expensive
 hand repair work would be entirely     
eliminated4 ,the parts could be made so 
cheaply that it would be less expensive 
to buy new ones than to have old ones   
repaired4 ,they could be carried in     
hardware shops just as nails or bolts   
are carried4 ,i thought that it was up  
to me as the designer to make the car so
 completely simple that no one could    
fail to understand it4  ,that works both
 ways and applies to everything4 ,the   

less complex an article1 the easier it  
is to make1 the cheaper it may be sold1 
and therefore the greater number may be 
sold4  ,it is not necessary to go into  
the technical details of the            
construction but perhaps this is as good
 a place as any to review the various   
models1 because ,model ,t was the last  
of the models and the policy which it   
brought about took this business out of 
the ordinary line of business4          
,application of the same idea would take
 any business out of the ordinary run4  
,i designed eight models in all before  
,model ,t4 ,they were3 ,model ,a1 ,model
 ,b1 ,model ,c1 ,model ,f1 ,model ,n1   
,model ,r1 ,model ,s1 and ,model ,k4 ,of
 these1 ,models ,a1 ,c1 and ,f had      
two-cylinder opposed horizontal motors4 
,in ,model ,a the motor was at the rear 
of the driver's seat4 ,in all of the    
other models it was in a hood in front4 
,models ,b1 ,n1 ,r1 and ,s had motors of
 the four-cylinder vertical type4 ,model
 ,k had six cylinders4 ,model ,a        

developed eight horsepower4 ,model ,b   
developed twenty-four horsepower with a 
#d-a_/b-;inch cylinder and a #e-;inch   
stroke4 ,the highest horsepower was in  
,model ,k1 the six-cylinder car1 which  
developed forty horsepower4 ,the largest
 cylinders were those of ,model ,b4 ,the
 smallest were in ,models ,n1 ,r1 and ,s
 which were #c-c_/d inches in diameter  
with a #c-c_/h-;inch stroke4 ,model ,t  
has a #c-c_/d-;inch cylinder with a     
#d-;inch stroke4 ,the ignition was by   
dry batteries in all excepting ,model   
,b1 which had storage batteries1 and in 
,model ,k which had both battery and    
magneto4 ,in the present model1 the     
magneto is a part of the power plant and
 is built in4 ,the clutch in the first  
four models was of the cone type2 in the
 last four and in the present model1 of 
the multiple disc type4 ,the            
transmission in all of the cars has been
 planetary4 ,model ,a had a chain drive4
 ,model ,b had a shaft drive4 ,the next 
two models had chain drives4 ,since then

 all of the cars have had shaft drives4 
,model ,a had a #gb-;inch wheel base4   
,model ,b1 which was an extremely good  
car1 had #ib inches4 ,model ,k had #abj 
inches4 ,model ,c had #gh inches4 ,the  
others had #hd inches1 and the present  
car has #ajj inches4 ,in the first five 
models all of the equipment was extra4  
,the next three were sold with a partial
 equipment4 ,the present car is sold    
with full equipment4 ,model ,a weighed  
#a1bej pounds4 ,the lightest cars were  
,models ,n and ,r4 ,they weighed #a1jej 
pounds1 but they were both runabouts4   
,the heaviest car was the six-cylinder1 
which weighed #b1jjj pounds4 ,the       
present car weighs #a1bjj lbs4  ,the    
,model ,t had practically no features   
which were not contained in some one or 
other of the previous models4 ,every    
detail had been fully tested in         
practice4 ,there was no guessing as to  
whether or not it would be a successful 
model4 ,it had to be4 ,there was no way 
it could escape being so1 for it had not

 been made in a day4 ,it contained all  
that ,i was then able to put into a     
motor car plus the material1 which for  
the first time ,i was able to obtain4   
,we put out ,model ,t for the season    
#aijh-aiji4  ,the company was then five 
years old4 ,the original factory space  
had been 4#bh acre4 ,we had employed an 
average of #caa people in the first     
year1 built #a1gjh cars1 and had one    
branch house4 ,in #aijh1 the factory    
space had increased to #b4fe acres and  
we owned the building4 ,the average     
number of employees had increased to    
#a1ijh4 ,we built #f1aha cars and had   
fourteen branch houses4 ,it was a       
prosperous business4  ,during the season
 #aijh-aiji we continued to make ,models
 ,r and ,s1 four-cylinder runabouts and 
roadsters1 the models that had          
previously been so successful1 and which
 sold at #gjj and #gej4 ,but ,model ,t  
swept them right out4 ,we sold #aj1fjg  
cars--a larger number than any          
manufacturer had ever sold4 ,the price  

for the touring car was #hej4 ,on the   
same chassis we mounted a town car at   
#a1jjj1 a roadster at #hbe1 a coupe at  
#iej1 and a landaulet at #iej4  ,this   
season demonstrated conclusively to me  
that it was time to put the new policy  
in force4 ,the salesmen1 before ,i had  
announced the policy1 were spurred by   
the great sales to think that even      
greater sales might be had if only we   
had more models4 ,it is strange how1    
just as soon as an article becomes      
successful1 somebody starts to think    
that it would be more successful if only
 it were different4 ,there is a tendency
 to keep monkeying with styles and to   
spoil a good thing by changing it4 ,the 
salesmen were insistent on increasing   
the line4 ,they listened to the #e per  
cent41 the special customers who could  
say what they wanted1 and forgot all    
about the #ie per cent4 who just bought 
without making any fuss4 ,no business   
can improve unless it pays the closest  
possible attention to complaints and    

suggestions4 ,if there is any defect in 
service then that must be instantly and 
rigorously investigated1 but when the   
suggestion is only as to style1 one has 
to make sure whether it is not merely a 
personal whim that is being voiced4     
,salesmen always want to cater to whims 
instead of acquiring sufficient         
knowledge of their product to be able to
 explain to the customer with the whim  
that what they have will satisfy his    
every requirement--that is1 of course1  
provided what they have does satisfy    
these requirements4  ,therefore in #aiji
 ,i announced one morning1 without any  
previous warning1 that in the future we 
were going to build only one model1 that
 the model was going to be ,model ,t1   
and that the chassis would be exactly   
the same for all cars1 and ,i remarked3 
,any customer can have a car painted any
 colour that he wants so long as it is  
black4  ,i cannot say that any one      
agreed with me4 ,the selling people     
could not of course see the advantages  

that a single model would bring about in
 production4 ,more than that1 they did  
not particularly care4 ,they thought    
that our production was good enough as  
it was and there was a very decided     
opinion that lowering the sales price   
would hurt sales1 that the people who   
wanted quality would be driven away and 
that there would be none to replace     
them4 ,there was very little conception 
of the motor industry4 ,a motor car was 
still regarded as something in the way  
of a luxury4 ,the manufacturers did a   
good deal to spread this idea4 ,some    
clever persons invented the name        
pleasure car and the advertising        
emphasized the pleasure features4 ,the  
sales people had ground for their       
objections and particularly when ,i made
 the following announcement3  ,i will   
build a motor car for the great         
multitude4 ,it will be large enough for 
the family but small enough for the     
individual to run and care for4 ,it will
 be constructed of the best materials1  

by the best men to be hired1 after the  
simplest designs that modern engineering
 can devise4 ,but it will be so low in  
price that no man making a good salary  
will be unable to own one--and enjoy    
with his family the blessing of hours of
 pleasure in ,god's great open spaces4  
,this announcement was received not     
without pleasure4 ,the general comment  
was3  ,if ,ford does that he will be out
 of business in six months4  ,the       
impression was that a good car could not
 be built at a low price1 and that1     
anyhow1 there was no use in building a  
low-priced car because only wealthy     
people were in the market for cars4 ,the
 #aijh-aiji sales of more than ten      
thousand cars had convinced me that we  
needed a new factory4 ,we already had a 
big modern factory--the ,piquette       
,street plant4 ,it was as good as1      
perhaps a little better than1 any       
automobile factory in the country4 ,but 
,i did not see how it was going to care 
for the sales and production that were  

inevitable4 ,so ,i bought sixty acres at
 ,highland ,park1 which was then        
considered away out in the country from 
,detroit4 ,the amount of ground bought  
and the plans for a bigger factory than 
the world has ever seen were opposed4   
,the question was already being asked3  
,how soon will ,ford blow up8  ,nobody  
knows how many thousand times it has    
been asked since4 ,it is asked only     
because of the failure to grasp that a  
principle rather than an individual is  
at work1 and the principle is so simple 
that it seems mysterious4  ,for         
#aiji-aiaj1 in order to pay for the new 
land and buildings1 ,i slightly raised  
the prices4 ,this is perfectly          
justifiable and results in a benefit1   
not an injury1 to the purchaser4 ,i did 
exactly the same thing a few years      
ago--or rather1 in that case ,i did not 
lower the price as is my annual custom1 
in order to build the ,river ,rouge     
plant4 ,the extra money might in each   
case have been had by borrowing1 but    

then we should have had a continuing    
charge upon the business and all        
subsequent cars would have had to bear  
this charge4 ,the price of all the      
models was increased #ajj1 with the     
exception of the roadster1 which was    
increased only #ge and of the landaulet 
and town car1 which were increased #aej 
and #bjj respectively4 ,we sold #ah1ffd 
cars1 and then for #aiaj-aiaa1 with the 
new facilities1 ,i cut the touring car  
from #iej to #ghj and we sold #cd1ebh   
cars4 ,that is the beginning of the     
steady reduction in the price of the    
cars in the face of ever-increasing cost
 of materials and ever-higher wages4    
,contrast the year #aijh with the year  
#aiaa4 ,the factory space increased from
 #b4fe to #cb acres4 ,the average number
 of employees from #a1ijh to #d1aaj1 and
 the cars built from a little over six  
thousand to nearly thirty-five thousand4
 ,you will note that men were not       
employed in proportion to the output4   
,we were1 almost overnight it seems1 in 

great production4 ,how did all this come
 about8  ,simply through the application
 of an inevitable principle4 ,by the    
application of intelligently directed   
power and machinery4 ,in a little dark  
shop on a side street an old man had    
laboured for years making axe handles4  
,out of seasoned hickory he fashioned   
them1 with the help of a draw shave1 a  
chisel1 and a supply of sandpaper4      
,carefully was each handle weighed and  
balanced4 ,no two of them were alike4   
,the curve must exactly fit the hand and
 must conform to the grain of the wood4 
,from dawn until dark the old man       
laboured4 ,his average product was eight
 handles a week1 for which he received a
 dollar and a half each4 ,and often some
 of these were unsaleable--because the  
balance was not true4  ,to-day you can  
buy a better axe handle1 made by        
machinery1 for a few cents4 ,and you    
need not worry about the balance4 ,they 
are all alike--and every one is perfect4
 ,modern methods applied in a big way   

have not only brought the cost of axe   
handles down to a fraction of their     
former cost--but they have immensely    
improved the product4  ,it was the      
application of these same methods to the
 making of the ,ford car that at the    
very start lowered the price and        
heightened the quality4 ,we just        
developed an idea4 ,the nucleus of a    
business may be an idea4 ,that is1 an   
inventor or a thoughtful workman works  
out a new and better way to serve some  
established human need2 the idea        
commends itself1 and people want to     
avail themselves of it4 ,in this way a  
single individual may prove1 through his
 idea or discovery1 the nucleus of a    
business4 ,but the creation of the body 
and bulk of that business is shared by  
everyone who has anything to do with it4
 ,no manufacturer can say3 ,i built this
 business--if he has required the help  
of thousands of men in building it4 ,it 
is a joint production4 ,everyone        
employed in it has contributed something

 to it4 ,by working and producing they  
make it possible for the purchasing     
world to keep coming to that business   
for the type of service it provides1 and
 thus they help establish a custom1 a   
trade1 a habit which supplies them with 
a livelihood4 ,that is the way our      
company grew and just how ,i shall start
 explaining in the next chapter4  ,in   
the meantime1 the company had become    
world-wide4 ,we had branches in ,london 
and in ,australia4 ,we were shipping to 
every part of the world1 and in ,england
 particularly we were beginning to be as
 well known as in ,america4 ,the        
introduction of the car in ,england was 
somewhat difficult on account of the    
failure of the ,american bicycle4       
,because the ,american bicycle had not  
been suited to ,english uses it was     
taken for granted and made a point of by
 the distributors that no ,american     
vehicle could appeal to the ,british    
market4 ,two ,model ,a's found their way
 to ,england in #aijc4 ,the newspapers  

refused to notice them4 ,the automobile 
agents refused to take the slightest    
interest4 ,it was rumoured that the     
principal components of its manufacture 
were string and hoop wire and that a    
buyer would be lucky if it held together
 for a fortnight6 ,in the first year    
about a dozen cars in all were used2 the
 second was only a little better4 ,and  
,i may say as to the reliability of that
 ,model ,a that most of them after      
nearly twenty years are still in some   
kind of service in ,england4  ,in #aije 
our agent entered a ,model ,c in the    
,scottish ,reliability ,trials4 ,in     
those days reliability runs were more   
popular in ,england than motor races4   
,perhaps there was no inkling that after
 all an automobile was not merely a toy4
 ,the ,scottish ,trials was over eight  
hundred miles of hilly1 heavy roads4    
,the ,ford came through with only one   
involuntary stop against it4 ,that      
started the ,ford sales in ,england4 ,in
 that same year ,ford taxicabs were     

placed in ,london for the first time4   
,in the next several years the sales    
began to pick up4 ,the cars went into   
every endurance and reliability test and
 won every one of them4 ,the ,brighton  
dealer had ten ,fords driven over the   
,south ,downs for two days in a kind of 
steeplechase and every one of them came 
through4 ,as a result six hundred cars  
were sold that year4 ,in #aiaa ,henry   
,alexander drove a ,model ,t to the top 
of ,ben ,nevis1 #d1fjj feet4 ,that year 
#ad1jfj cars were sold in ,england1 and 
it has never since been necessary to    
stage any kind of a stunt4 ,we          
eventually opened our own factory at    
,manchester2 at first it was purely an  
assembling plant4 ,but as the years have
 gone by we have progressively made more
 and more of the car4     ,,chapter ,v  
,,getting ,,into ,,production   ,if a   
device would save in time just #aj per  
cent4 or increase results #aj per cent41
 then its absence is always a #aj per   
cent4 tax4 ,if the time of a person is  

worth fifty cents an hour1 a #aj per    
cent4 saving is worth five cents an     
hour4 ,if the owner of a skyscraper     
could increase his income #aj per cent41
 he would willingly pay half the        
increase just to know how4 ,the reason  
why he owns a skyscraper is that science
 has proved that certain materials1 used
 in a given way1 can save space and     
increase rental incomes4 ,a building    
thirty stories high needs no more ground
 space than one five stories high4      
,getting along with the old-style       
architecture costs the five-story man   
the income of twenty-five floors4 ,save 
ten steps a day for each of twelve      
thousand employees and you will have    
saved fifty miles of wasted motion and  
misspent energy4  ,those are the        
principles on which the production of my
 plant was built up4 ,they all come     
practically as of course4 ,in the       
beginning we tried to get machinists4   
,as the necessity for production        
increased it became apparent not only   

that enough machinists were not to be   
had1 but also that skilled men were not 
necessary in production1 and out of this
 grew a principle that ,i later want to 
present in full4  ,it is self-evident   
that a majority of the people in the    
world are not mentally--even if they are
 physically--capable of making a good   
living4 ,that is1 they are not capable  
of furnishing with their own hands a    
sufficient quantity of the goods which  
this world needs to be able to exchange 
their unaided product for the goods     
which they need4 ,i have heard it said1 
in fact ,i believe it is quite a current
 thought1 that we have taken skill out  
of work4 ,we have not4 ,we have put in  
skill4 ,we have put a higher skill into 
planning1 management1 and tool building1
 and the results of that skill are      
enjoyed by the man who is not skilled4  
,this ,i shall later enlarge on4  ,we   
have to recognize the unevenness in     
human mental equipments4 ,if every job  
in our place required skill the place   

would never have existed4 ,sufficiently 
skilled men to the number needed could  
not have been trained in a hundred      
years4 ,a million men working by hand   
could not even approximate our present  
daily output4 ,no one could manage a    
million men4 ,but more important than   
that1 the product of the unaided hands  
of those million men could not be sold  
at a price in consonance with buying    
power4 ,and even if it were possible to 
imagine such an aggregation and imagine 
its management and correlation1 just    
think of the area that it would have to 
occupy6 ,how many of the men would be   
engaged1 not in producing1 but in merely
 carrying from place to place what the  
other men had produced8 ,i cannot see   
how under such conditions the men could 
possibly be paid more than ten or twenty
 cents a day--for of course it is not   
the employer who pays wages4 ,he only   
handles the money4 ,it is the product   
that pays the wages and it is the       
management that arranges the production 

so that the product may pay the wages4  
,the more economical methods of         
production did not begin all at once4   
,they began gradually--just as we began 
gradually to make our own parts4 ,model 
,t was the first motor that we made     
ourselves4 ,the great economies began in
 assembling and then extended to other  
sections so that1 while to-day we have  
skilled mechanics in plenty1 they do not
 produce automobiles--they make it easy 
for others to produce them4 ,our skilled
 men are the tool makers1 the           
experimental workmen1 the machinists1   
and the pattern makers4 ,they are as    
good as any men in the world--so good1  
indeed1 that they should not be wasted  
in doing that which the machines they   
contrive can do better4 ,the rank and   
file of men come to us unskilled2 they  
learn their jobs within a few hours or a
 few days4 ,if they do not learn within 
that time they will never be of any use 
to us4 ,these men are1 many of them1    
foreigners1 and all that is required    

before they are taken on is that they   
should be potentially able to do enough 
work to pay the overhead charges on the 
floor space they occupy4 ,they do not   
have to be able-bodied men4 ,we have    
jobs that require great physical        
strength--although they are rapidly     
lessening2 we have other jobs that      
require no strength whatsoever--jobs    
which1 as far as strength is concerned1 
might be attended to by a child of      
three4  ,it is not possible1 without    
going deeply into technical processes1  
to present the whole development of     
manufacturing1 step by step1 in the     
order in which each thing came about4 ,i
 do not know that this could be done1   
because something has been happening    
nearly every day and nobody can keep    
track4 ,take at random a number of the  
changes4 ,from them it is possible not  
only to gain some idea of what will     
happen when this world is put on a      
production basis1 but also to see how   
much more we pay for things than we     

ought to1 and how much lower wages are  
than they ought to be1 and what a vast  
field remains to be explored4 ,the ,ford
 ,company is only a little way along on 
the journey4  ,a ,ford car contains     
about five thousand parts--that is      
counting screws1 nuts1 and all4 ,some of
 the parts are fairly bulky and others  
are almost the size of watch parts4 ,in 
our first assembling we simply started  
to put a car together at a spot on the  
floor and workmen brought to it the     
parts as they were needed in exactly the
 same way that one builds a house4 ,when
 we started to make parts it was natural
 to create a single department of the   
factory to make that part1 but usually  
one workman performed all of the        
operations necessary on a small part4   
,the rapid press of production made it  
necessary to devise plans of production 
that would avoid having the workers     
falling over one another4 ,the          
undirected worker spends more of his    
time walking about for materials and    

tools than he does in working2 he gets  
small pay because pedestrianism is not a
 highly paid line4  ,the first step     
forward in assembly came when we began  
taking the work to the men instead of   
the men to the work4 ,we now have two   
general principles in all               
operations--that a man shall never have 
to take more than one step1 if possibly 
it can be avoided1 and that no man need 
ever stoop over4  ,the principles of    
assembly are these3  7#a7 ,place the    
tools and the men in the sequence of the
 operation so that each component part  
shall travel the least possible distance
 while in the process of finishing4     
7#b7 ,use work slides or some other form
 of carrier so that when a workman      
completes his operation1 he drops the   
part always in the same place--which    
place must always be the most convenient
 place to his hand--and if possible have
 gravity carry the part to the next     
workman for his operation4  7#c7 ,use   
sliding assembling lines by which the   

parts to be assembled are delivered at  
convenient distances4  ,the net result  
of the application of these principles  
is the reduction of the necessity for   
thought on the part of the worker and   
the reduction of his movements to a     
minimum4 ,he does as nearly as possible 
only one thing with only one movement4  
,the assembling of the chassis is1 from 
the point of view of the non-mechanical 
mind1 our most interesting and perhaps  
best known operation1 and at one time it
 was an exceedingly important operation4
 ,we now ship out the parts for assembly
 at the point of distribution4  ,along  
about ,april #a1 #aiac1 we first tried  
the experiment of an assembly line4 ,we 
tried it on assembling the flywheel     
magneto4 ,we try everything in a little 
way first--we will rip out anything once
 we discover a better way1 but we have  
to know absolutely that the new way is  
going to be better than the old before  
we do anything drastic4  ,i believe that
 this was the first moving line ever    

installed4 ,the idea came in a general  
way from the overhead trolley that the  
,chicago packers use in dressing beef4  
,we had previously assembled the        
fly-wheel magneto in the usual method4  
,with one workman doing a complete job  
he could turn out from thirty-five to   
forty pieces in a nine-hour day1 or     
about twenty minutes to an assembly4    
,what he did alone was then spread into 
twenty-nine operations2 that cut down   
the assembly time to thirteen minutes1  
ten seconds4 ,then we raised the height 
of the line eight inches--this was in   
#aiad--;and cut the time to seven       
minutes4 ,further experimenting with the
 speed that the work should move at cut 
the time down to five minutes4 ,in      
short1 the result is this3 by the aid of
 scientific study one man is now able to
 do somewhat more than four did only a  
comparatively few years ago4 ,that line 
established the efficiency of the method
 and we now use it everywhere4 ,the     
assembling of the motor1 formerly done  

by one man1 is now divided into         
eighty-four operations--those men do the
 work that three times their number     
formerly did4 ,in a short time we tried 
out the plan on the chassis4  ,about the
 best we had done in stationary chassis 
assembling was an average of twelve     
hours and twenty-eight minutes per      
chassis4 ,we tried the experiment of    
drawing the chassis with a rope and     
windlass down a line two hundred fifty  
feet long4 ,six assemblers traveled with
 the chassis and picked up the parts    
from piles placed along the line4 ,this 
rough experiment reduced the time to    
five hours fifty minutes per chassis4   
,in the early part of #aiad we elevated 
the assembly line4 ,we had adopted the  
policy of man-high work2 we had one line
 twenty-six and three quarter inches and
 another twenty-four and one half inches
 from the floor--to suit squads of      
different heights4 ,the waist-high      
arrangement and a further subdivision of
 work so that each man had fewer        

movements cut down the labour time per  
chassis to one hour thirty-three        
minutes4 ,only the chassis was then     
assembled in the line4 ,the body was    
placed on in ,john ,r4 ,street--the     
famous street that runs through our     
,highland ,park factories4 ,now the line
 assembles the whole car4  ,it must not 
be imagined1 however1 that all this     
worked out as quickly as it sounds4 ,the
 speed of the moving work had to be     
carefully tried out2 in the fly-wheel   
magneto we first had a speed of sixty   
inches per minute4 ,that was too fast4  
,then we tried eighteen inches per      
minute4 ,that was too slow4 ,finally we 
settled on forty-four inches per minute4
 ,the idea is that a man must not be    
hurried in his work--he must have every 
second necessary but not a single       
unnecessary second4 ,we have worked out 
speeds for each assembly1 for the       
success of the chassis assembly caused  
us gradually to overhaul our entire     
method of manufacturing and to put all  

assembling in mechanically driven lines4
 ,the chassis assembling line1 for      
instance1 goes at a pace of six feet per
 minute2 the front axle assembly line   
goes at one hundred eighty-nine inches  
per minute4 ,in the chassis assembling  
are forty-five separate operations or   
stations4 ,the first men fasten four    
mud-guard brackets to the chassis frame2
 the motor arrives on the tenth         
operation and so on in detail4 ,some men
 do only one or two small operations1   
others do more4 ,the man who places a   
part does not fasten it--the part may   
not be fully in place until after       
several operations later4 ,the man who  
puts in a bolt does not put on the nut2 
the man who puts on the nut does not    
tighten it4 ,on operation number        
thirty-four the budding motor gets its  
gasoline2 it has previously received    
lubrication2 on operation number        
forty-four the radiator is filled with  
water1 and on operation number          
forty-five the car drives out onto ,john

 ,r4 ,street4  ,essentially the same    
ideas have been applied to the          
assembling of the motor4 ,in ,october1  
#aiac1 it required nine hours and       
fifty-four minutes of labour time to    
assemble one motor2 six months later1 by
 the moving assembly method1 this time  
had been reduced to five hours and      
fifty-six minutes4 ,every piece of work 
in the shops moves2 it may move on hooks
 on overhead chains going to assembly in
 the exact order in which the parts are 
required2 it may travel on a moving     
platform1 or it may go by gravity1 but  
the point is that there is no lifting or
 trucking of anything other than        
materials4 ,materials are brought in on 
small trucks or trailers operated by    
cut-down ,ford chassis1 which are       
sufficiently mobile and quick to get in 
and out of any aisle where they may be  
required to go4 ,no workman has anything
 to do with moving or lifting anything4 
,that is all in a separate              
department--the department of           

transportation4  ,we started assembling 
a motor car in a single factory4 ,then  
as we began to make parts1 we began to  
departmentalize so that each department 
would do only one thing4 ,as the factory
 is now organized each department makes 
only a single part or assembles a part4 
,a department is a little factory in    
itself4 ,the part comes into it as raw  
material or as a casting1 goes through  
the sequence of machines and heat       
treatments1 or whatever may be required1
 and leaves that department finished4   
,it was only because of transport ease  
that the departments were grouped       
together when we started to manufacture4
 ,i did not know that such minute       
divisions would be possible2 but as our 
production grew and departments         
multiplied1 we actually changed from    
making automobiles to making parts4     
,then we found that we had made another 
new discovery1 which was that by no     
means all of the parts had to be made in
 one factory4 ,it was not really a      

discovery--it was something in the      
nature of going around in a circle to my
 first manufacturing when ,i bought the 
motors and probably ninety per cent4 of 
the parts4 ,when we began to make our   
own parts we practically took for       
granted that they all had to be made in 
the one factory--that there was some    
special virtue in having a single roof  
over the manufacture of the entire car4 
,we have now developed away from this4  
,if we build any more large factories1  
it will be only because the making of a 
single part must be in such tremendous  
volume as to require a large unit4 ,i   
hope that in the course of time the big 
,highland ,park plant will be doing only
 one or two things4 ,the casting has    
already been taken away from it and has 
gone to the ,river ,rouge plant4 ,so now
 we are on our way back to where we     
started from--excepting that1 instead of
 buying our parts on the outside1 we are
 beginning to make them in our own      
factories on the outside4  ,this is a   

development which holds exceptional     
consequences1 for it means1 as ,i shall 
enlarge in a later chapter1 that highly 
standardized1 highly subdivided industry
 need no longer become concentrated in  
large plants with all the inconveniences
 of transportation and housing that     
hamper large plants4 ,a thousand or five
 hundred men ought to be enough in a    
single factory2 then there would be no  
problem of transporting them to work or 
away from work and there would be no    
slums or any of the other unnatural ways
 of living incident to the overcrowding 
that must take place if the workmen are 
to live within reasonable distances of a
 very large plant4  ,highland ,park now 
has five hundred departments4 ,down at  
our ,piquette plant we had only eighteen
 departments1 and formerly at ,highland 
,park we had only one hundred and fifty 
departments4 ,this illustrates how far  
we are going in the manufacture of      
parts4  ,hardly a week passes without   
some improvement being made somewhere in

 machine or process1 and sometimes this 
is made in defiance of what is called   
the best shop practice4 ,i recall that a
 machine manufacturer was once called   
into conference on the building of a    
special machine4 ,the specifications    
called for an output of two hundred per 
hour4  ,this is a mistake1 said the     
manufacturer1 you mean two hundred a    
day--no machine can be forced to two    
hundred an hour4  ,the company officer  
sent for the man who had designed the   
machine and they called his attention to
 the specification4 ,he said3  ,yes1    
what about it8  ,it can't be done1 said 
the manufacturer positively1 no machine 
built will do that--it is out of the    
question4  ,out of the question6        
exclaimed the engineer1 if you will come
 down to the main floor you will see one
 doing it2 we built one to see if it    
could be done and now we want more like 
it4  ,the factory keeps no record of    
experiments4 ,the foremen and           
superintendents remember what has been  

done4 ,if a certain method has formerly 
been tried and failed1 somebody will    
remember it--but ,i am not particularly 
anxious for the men to remember what    
someone else has tried to do in the     
past1 for then we might quickly         
accumulate far too many things that     
could not be done4 ,that is one of the  
troubles with extensive records4 ,if you
 keep on recording all of your failures 
you will shortly have a list showing    
that there is nothing left for you to   
try--whereas it by no means follows     
because one man has failed in a certain 
method that another man will not        
succeed4  ,they told us we could not    
cast gray iron by our endless chain     
method and ,i believe there is a record 
of failures4 ,but we are doing it4 ,the 
man who carried through our work either 
did not know or paid no attention to the
 previous figures4 ,likewise we were    
told that it was out of the question to 
pour the hot iron directly from the     
blast furnace into mould4 ,the usual    

method is to run the iron into pigs1 let
 them season for a time1 and then remelt
 them for casting4 ,but at the ,river   
,rouge plant we are casting directly    
from cupolas that are filled from the   
blast furnaces4 ,then1 too1 a record of 
failures--particularly if it is a       
dignified and well-authenticated        
record--deters a young man from trying4 
,we get some of our best results from   
letting fools rush in where angels fear 
to tread4  ,none of our men are experts4
 ,we have most unfortunately found it   
necessary to get rid of a man as soon as
 he thinks himself an expert--because no
 one ever considers himself expert if he
 really knows his job4 ,a man who knows 
a job sees so much more to be done than 
he has done1 that he is always pressing 
forward and never gives up an instant of
 thought to how good and how efficient  
he is4 ,thinking always ahead1 thinking 
always of trying to do more1 brings a   
state of mind in which nothing is       
impossible4 ,the moment one gets into   

the expert state of mind a great number 
of things become impossible4  ,i refuse 
to recognize that there are             
impossibilities4 ,i cannot discover that
 any one knows enough about anything on 
this earth definitely to say what is and
 what is not possible4 ,the right kind  
of experience1 the right kind of        
technical training1 ought to enlarge the
 mind and reduce the number of          
impossibilities4 ,it unfortunately does 
nothing of the kind4 ,most technical    
training and the average of that which  
we call experience1 provide a record of 
previous failures and1 instead of these 
failures being taken for what they are  
worth1 they are taken as absolute bars  
to progress4 ,if some man1 calling      
himself an authority1 says that this or 
that cannot be done1 then a horde of    
unthinking followers start the chorus3  
,it can't be done4  ,take castings4     
,castings has always been a wasteful    
process and is so old that it has       
accumulated many traditions which make  

improvements extraordinarily difficult  
to bring about4 ,i believe one authority
 on moulding declared--before we started
 our experiments--that any man who said 
he could reduce costs within half a year
 wrote himself down as a fraud4  ,our   
foundry used to be much like other      
foundries4 ,when we cast the first      
,model ,t cylinders in #aiaj1 everything
 in the place was done by hand2 shovels 
and wheelbarrows abounded4 ,the work was
 then either skilled or unskilled2 we   
had moulders and we had labourers4 ,now 
we have about five per cent4 of         
thoroughly skilled moulders and core    
setters1 but the remaining #ie per cent4
 are unskilled1 or to put it more       
accurately1 must be skilled in exactly  
one operation which the most stupid man 
can learn within two days4 ,the moulding
 is all done by machinery4 ,each part   
which we have to cast has a unit or     
units of its own--according to the      
number required in the plan of          
production4 ,the machinery of the unit  

is adapted to the single casting2 thus  
the men in the unit each perform a      
single operation that is always the     
same4 ,a unit consists of an overhead   
railway to which at intervals are hung  
little platforms for the moulds4        
,without going into technical details1  
let me say the making of the moulds and 
the cores1 and the packing of the cores1
 are done with the work in motion on the
 platforms4 ,the metal is poured at     
another point as the work moves1 and by 
the time the mould in which the metal   
has been poured reaches the terminal1 it
 is cool enough to start on its         
automatic way to cleaning1 machining1   
and assembling4 ,and the platform is    
moving around for a new load4  ,take the
 development of the piston-rod assembly4
 ,even under the old plan1 this         
operation took only three minutes and   
did not seem to be one to bother about4 
,there were two benches and twenty-eight
 men in all2 they assembled one hundred 
seventy-five pistons and rods in a      

nine-hour day--which means just five    
seconds over three minutes each4 ,there 
was no inspection1 and many of the      
piston and rod assemblies came back from
 the motor assembling line as defective4
 ,it is a very simple operation4 ,the   
workman pushed the pin out of the       
piston1 oiled the pin1 slipped the rod  
in place1 put the pin through the rod   
and piston1 tightened one screw1 and    
opened another screw4 ,that was the     
whole operation4 ,the foreman1 examining
 the operation1 could not discover why  
it should take as much as three minutes4
 ,he analyzed the motions with a        
stop-watch4 ,he found that four hours   
out of a nine-hour day were spent in    
walking4 ,the assembler did not go off  
anywhere1 but he had to shift his feet  
to gather in his materials and to push  
away his finished piece4 ,in the whole  
task1 each man performed six operations4
 ,the foreman devised a new plan2 he    
split the operation into three          
divisions1 put a slide on the bench and 

three men on each side of it1 and an    
inspector at the end4 ,instead of one   
man performing the whole operation1 one 
man then performed only one third of the
 operation--he performed only as much as
 he could do without shifting his feet4 
,they cut down the squad from           
twenty-eight to fourteen men4 ,the      
former record for twenty-eight men was  
one hundred seventy-five assemblies a   
day4 ,now seven men turn out twenty-six 
hundred assemblies in eight hours4 ,it  
is not necessary to calculate the       
savings there6  ,painting the rear axle 
assembly once gave some trouble4 ,it    
used to be dipped by hand into a tank of
 enamel4 ,this required several         
handlings and the services of two men4  
,now one man takes care of it all on a  
special machine1 designed and built in  
the factory4 ,the man now merely hangs  
the assembly on a moving chain which    
carries it up over the enamel tank1 two 
levers then thrust thimbles over the    
ends of the ladle shaft1 the paint tank 

rises six feet1 immerses the axle1      
returns to position1 and the axle goes  
on to the drying oven4 ,the whole cycle 
of operations now takes just thirteen   
seconds4  ,the radiator is a complex    
affair and soldering it used to be a    
matter of skill4 ,there are ninety-five 
tubes in a radiator4 ,fitting and       
soldering these tubes in place is by    
hand a long operation1 requiring both   
skill and patience4 ,now it is all done 
by a machine which will make twelve     
hundred radiator cores in eight hours2  
then they are soldered in place by being
 carried through a furnace by a         
conveyor4 ,no tinsmith work and so no   
skill are required4  ,we used to rivet  
the crank-case arms to the crank-case1  
using pneumatic hammers which were      
supposed to be the latest development4  
,it took six men to hold the hammers and
 six men to hold the casings1 and the   
din was terrific4 ,now an automatic     
press operated by one man1 who does     
nothing else1 gets through five times as

 much work in a day as those twelve men 
did4  ,in the ,piquette plant the       
cylinder casting traveled four thousand 
feet in the course of finishing2 now it 
travels only slightly over three hundred
 feet4  ,there is no manual handling of 
material4 ,there is not a single hand   
operation4 ,if a machine can be made    
automatic1 it is made automatic4 ,not a 
single operation is ever considered as  
being done in the best or cheapest way4 
,at that1 only about ten per cent4 of   
our tools are special2 the others are   
regular machines adjusted to the        
particular job4 ,and they are placed    
almost side by side4 ,we put more       
machinery per square foot of floor space
 than any other factory in the          
world--every foot of space not used     
carries an overhead expense4 ,we want   
none of that waste4 ,yet there is all   
the room needed--no man has too much    
room and no man has too little room4    
,dividing and subdividing operations1   
keeping the work in motion--those are   

the keynotes of production4 ,but also it
 is to be remembered that all the parts 
are designed so that they can be most   
easily made4 ,and the saving8 ,although 
the comparison is not quite fair1 it is 
startling4 ,if at our present rate of   
production we employed the same number  
of men per car that we did when we began
 in #aijc--;and those men were only for 
assembly--we should to-day require a    
force of more than two hundred thousand4
 ,we have less than fifty thousand men  
on automobile production at our highest 
point of around four thousand cars a    
day6     ,,chapter ,,vi  ,,machines     
,,and ,,men   ,that which one has to    
fight hardest against in bringing       
together a large number of people to do 
work is excess organization and         
consequent red tape4 ,to my mind there  
is no bent of mind more dangerous than  
that which is sometimes described as the
 genius for organization4 ,this usually 
results in the birth of a great big     
chart showing1 after the fashion of a   

family tree1 how authority ramifies4    
,the tree is heavy with nice round      
berries1 each of which bears the name of
 a man or of an office4 ,every man has a
 title and certain duties which are     
strictly limited by the circumference of
 his berry4  ,if a straw boss wants to  
say something to the general            
superintendent1 his message has to go   
through the sub-foreman1 the foreman1   
the department head1 and all the        
assistant superintendents1 before1 in   
the course of time1 it reaches the      
general superintendent4 ,probably by    
that time what he wanted to talk about  
is already history4 ,it takes about six 
weeks for the message of a man living in
 a berry on the lower left-hand corner  
of the chart to reach the president or  
chairman of the board1 and if it ever   
does reach one of these august          
officials1 it has by that time gathered 
to itself about a pound of criticisms1  
suggestions1 and comments4 ,very few    
things are ever taken under official    

consideration until long after the time 
when they actually ought to have been   
done4 ,the buck is passed to and fro and
 all responsibility is dodged by        
individuals--following the lazy notion  
that two heads are better than one4     
,now a business1 in my way of thinking1 
is not a machine4 ,it is a collection of
 people who are brought together to do  
work and not to write letters to one    
another4 ,it is not necessary for any   
one department to know what any other   
department is doing4 ,if a man is doing 
his work he will not have time to take  
up any other work4 ,it is the business  
of those who plan the entire work to see
 that all of the departments are working
 properly toward the same end4 ,it is   
not necessary to have meetings to       
establish good feeling between          
individuals or departments4 ,it is not  
necessary for people to love each other 
in order to work together4 ,too much    
good fellowship may indeed be a very bad
 thing1 for it may lead to one man      

trying to cover up the faults of        
another4 ,that is bad for both men4     
,when we are at work we ought to be at  
work4 ,when we are at play we ought to  
be at play4 ,there is no use trying to  
mix the two4 ,the sole object ought to  
be to get the work done and to get paid 
for it4 ,when the work is done1 then the
 play can come1 but not before4 ,and so 
the ,ford factories and enterprises have
 no organization1 no specific duties    
attaching to any position1 no line of   
succession or of authority1 very few    
titles1 and no conferences4 ,we have    
only the clerical help that is          
absolutely required2 we have no         
elaborate records of any kind1 and      
consequently no red tape4  ,we make the 
individual responsibility complete4 ,the
 workman is absolutely responsible for  
his work4 ,the straw boss is responsible
 for the workmen under him4 ,the foreman
 is responsible for his group4 ,the     
department head is responsible for the  
department4 ,the general superintendent 

is responsible for the whole factory4   
,every man has to know what is going on 
in his sphere4 ,i say general           
superintendent4 ,there is no such formal
 title4 ,one man is in charge of the    
factory and has been for years4 ,he has 
two men with him1 who1 without in any   
way having their duties defined1 have   
taken particular sections of the work to
 themselves4 ,with them are about half a
 dozen other men in the nature of       
assistants1 but without specific duties4
 ,they have all made jobs for           
themselves--but there are no limits to  
their jobs4 ,they just work in where    
they best fit4 ,one man chases stock and
 shortages4 ,another has grabbed        
inspection1 and so on4  ,this may seem  
haphazard1 but it is not4 ,a group of   
men1 wholly intent upon getting work    
done1 have no difficulty in seeing that 
the work is done4 ,they do not get into 
trouble about the limits of authority1  
because they are not thinking of titles4
 ,if they had offices and all that1 they

 would shortly be giving up their time  
to office work and to wondering why did 
they not have a better office than some 
other fellow4  ,because there are no    
titles and no limits of authority1 there
 is no question of red tape or going    
over a man's head4 ,any workman can go  
to anybody1 and so established has      
become this custom1 that a foreman does 
not get sore if a workman goes over him 
and directly to the head of the factory4
 ,the workman rarely ever does so1      
because a foreman knows as well as he   
knows his own name that if he has been  
unjust it will be very quickly found    
out1 and he shall no longer be a        
foreman4 ,one of the things that we will
 not tolerate is injustice of any kind4 
,the moment a man starts to swell with  
authority he is discovered1 and he goes 
out1 or goes back to a machine4 ,a large
 amount of labour unrest comes from the 
unjust exercise of authority by those in
 subordinate positions1 and ,i am afraid
 that in far too many manufacturing     

institutions it is really not possible  
for a workman to get a square deal4     
,the work and the work alone controls   
us4 ,that is one of the reasons why we  
have no titles4 ,most men can swing a   
job1 but they are floored by a title4   
,the effect of a title is very peculiar4
 ,it has been used too much as a sign of
 emancipation from work4 ,it is almost  
equivalent to a badge bearing the       
legend3  ,this man has nothing to do but
 regard himself as important and all    
others as inferior4  ,not only is a     
title often injurious to the wearer1 but
 it has its effect on others as well4   
,there is perhaps no greater single     
source of personal dissatisfaction among
 men than the fact that the             
title-bearers are not always the real   
leaders4 ,everybody acknowledges a real 
leader--a man who is fit to plan and    
command4 ,and when you find a real      
leader who bears a title1 you will have 
to inquire of someone else what his     
title is4 ,he doesn't boast about it4   

,titles in business have been greatly   
overdone and business has suffered4 ,one
 of the bad features is the division of 
responsibility according to titles1     
which goes so far as to amount to a     
removal altogether of responsibility4   
,where responsibility is broken up into 
many small bits and divided among many  
departments1 each department under its  
own titular head1 who in turn is        
surrounded by a group bearing their nice
 sub-titles1 it is difficult to find any
 one who really feels responsible4      
,everyone knows what passing the buck   
means4 ,the game must have originated in
 industrial organizations where the     
departments simply shove responsibility 
along4 ,the health of every organization
 depends on every member--whatever his  
place--feeling that everything that     
happens to come to his notice relating  
to the welfare of the business is his   
own job4 ,railroads have gone to the    
devil under the eyes of departments that
 say3  ,oh1 that doesn't come under our 

department4 ,department ,x1 #ajj miles  
away1 has that in charge4  ,there used  
to be a lot of advice given to officials
 not to hide behind their titles4 ,the  
very necessity for the advice showed a  
condition that needed more than advice  
to correct it4 ,and the correction is   
just this--abolish the titles4 ,a few   
may be legally necessary2 a few may be  
useful in directing the public how to do
 business with the concern1 but for the 
rest the best rule is simple3 ,get rid  
of them4  ,as a matter of fact1 the     
record of business in general just now  
is such as to detract very much from the
 value of titles4 ,no one would boast of
 being president of a bankrupt bank4    
,business on the whole has not been so  
skillfully steered as to leave much     
margin for pride in the steersmen4 ,the 
men who bear titles now and are worth   
anything are forgetting their titles and
 are down in the foundation of business 
looking for the weak spots4 ,they are   
back again in the places from which they

 rose--trying to reconstruct from the   
bottom up4 ,and when a man is really at 
work1 he needs no title4 ,his work      
honours him4  ,all of our people come   
into the factory or the offices through 
the employment departments4 ,as ,i have 
said1 we do not hire experts--neither do
 we hire men on past experiences or for 
any position other than the lowest4     
,since we do not take a man on his past 
history1 we do not refuse him because of
 his past history4 ,i never met a man   
who was thoroughly bad4 ,there is always
 some good in him--if he gets a chance4 
,that is the reason we do not care in   
the least about a man's antecedents--we 
do not hire a man's history1 we hire the
 man4 ,if he has been in jail1 that is  
no reason to say that he will be in jail
 again4 ,i think1 on the contrary1 he   
is1 if given a chance1 very likely to   
make a special effort to keep out of    
jail4 ,our employment office does not   
bar a man for anything he has previously
 done--he is equally acceptable whether 

he has been in ,sing ,sing or at        
,harvard and we do not even inquire from
 which place he has graduated4 ,all that
 he needs is the desire to work4 ,if he 
does not desire to work1 it is very     
unlikely that he will apply for a       
position1 for it is pretty well         
understood that a man in the ,ford plant
 works4  ,we do not1 to repeat1 care    
what a man has been4 ,if he has gone to 
college he ought to be able to go ahead 
faster1 but he has to start at the      
bottom and prove his ability4 ,every    
man's future rests solely with himself4 
,there is far too much loose talk about 
men being unable to obtain recognition4 
,with us every man is fairly certain to 
get the exact recognition he deserves4  
,of course1 there are certain factors in
 the desire for recognition which must  
be reckoned with4 ,the whole modern     
industrial system has warped the desire 
so out of shape that it is now almost an
 obsession4 ,there was a time when a    
man's personal advancement depended     

entirely and immediately upon his work1 
and not upon any one's favor2 but       
nowadays it often depends far too much  
upon the individual's good fortune in   
catching some influential eye4 ,that is 
what we have successfully fought        
against4 ,men will work with the idea of
 catching somebody's eye2 they will work
 with the idea that if they fail to get 
credit for what they have done1 they    
might as well have done it badly or not 
have done it at all4 ,thus the work     
sometimes becomes a secondary           
consideration4 ,the job in hand--the    
article in hand1 the special kind of    
service in hand--turns out to be not the
 principal job4 ,the main work becomes  
personal advancement--a platform from   
which to catch somebody's eye4 ,this    
habit of making the work secondary and  
the recognition primary is unfair to the
 work4 ,it makes recognition and credit 
the real job4 ,and this also has an     
unfortunate effect on the worker4 ,it   
encourages a peculiar kind of ambition  

which is neither lovely nor productive4 
,it produces the kind of man who        
imagines that by standing in with the   
boss he will get ahead4 ,every shop     
knows this kind of man4 ,and the worst  
of it is there are some things in the   
present industrial system which make it 
appear that the game really pays4       
,foremen are only human4 ,it is natural 
that they should be flattered by being  
made to believe that they hold the weal 
or woe of workmen in their hands4 ,it is
 natural1 also1 that being open to      
flattery1 their self-seeking            
subordinates should flatter them still  
more to obtain and profit by their      
favor4 ,that is why ,i want as little as
 possible of the personal element4  ,it 
is particularly easy for any man who    
never knows it all to go forward to a   
higher position with us4 ,some men will 
work hard but they do not possess the   
capacity to think and especially to     
think quickly4 ,such men get as far as  
their ability deserves4 ,a man may1 by  

his industry1 deserve advancement1 but  
it cannot be possibly given him unless  
he also has a certain element of        
leadership4 ,this is not a dream world  
we are living in4 ,i think that every   
man in the shaking-down process of our  
factory eventually lands about where he 
belongs4  ,we are never satisfied with  
the way that everything is done in any  
part of the organization2 we always     
think it ought to be done better and    
that eventually it will be done better4 
,the spirit of crowding forces the man  
who has the qualities for a higher place
 eventually to get it4 ,he perhaps would
 not get the place if at any time the   
organization--which is a word ,i do not 
like to use--became fixed1 so that there
 would be routine steps and dead men's  
shoes4 ,but we have so few titles that a
 man who ought to be doing something    
better than he is doing1 very soon gets 
to doing it--he is not restrained by the
 fact that there is no position ahead of
 him open--for there are no positions4  

,we have no cut-and-dried places--our   
best men make their places4 ,this is    
easy enough to do1 for there is always  
work1 and when you think of getting the 
work done instead of finding a title to 
fit a man who wants to be promoted1 then
 there is no difficulty about promotion4
 ,the promotion itself is not formal2   
the man simply finds himself doing      
something other than what he was doing  
and getting more money4  ,all of our    
people have thus come up from the       
bottom4 ,the head of the factory started
 as a machinist4 ,the man in charge of  
the big ,river ,rouge plant began as a  
patternmaker4 ,another man overseeing   
one of the principal departments started
 as a sweeper4 ,there is not a single   
man anywhere in the factory who did not 
simply come in off the street4          
,everything that we have developed has  
been done by men who have qualified     
themselves with us4 ,we fortunately did 
not inherit any traditions and we are   
not founding any4 ,if we have a         

tradition it is this3  ,everything can  
always be done better than it is being  
done4  ,that pressing always to do work 
better and faster solves nearly every   
factory problem4 ,a department gets its 
standing on its rate of production4 ,the
 rate of production and the cost of     
production are distinct elements4 ,the  
foremen and superintendents would only  
be wasting time were they to keep a     
check on the costs in their departments4
 ,there are certain costs--such as the  
rate of wages1 the overhead1 the price  
of materials1 and the like1 which they  
could not in any way control1 so they do
 not bother about them4 ,what they can  
control is the rate of production in    
their own departments4 ,the rating of a 
department is gained by dividing the    
number of parts produced by the number  
of hands working4 ,every foreman checks 
his own department daily--he carries the
 figures always with him4 ,the          
superintendent has a tabulation of all  
the scores2 if there is something wrong 

in a department the output score shows  
it at once1 the superintendent makes    
inquiries and the foreman looks alive4  
,a considerable part of the incentive to
 better methods is directly traceable to
 this simple rule-of-thumb method of    
rating production4 ,the foreman need not
 be a cost accountant--he is no better a
 foreman for being one4 ,his charges are
 the machines and the human beings in   
his department4 ,when they are working  
at their best he has performed his      
service4 ,the rate of his production is 
his guide4 ,there is no reason for him  
to scatter his energies over collateral 
subjects4  ,this rating system simply   
forces a foreman to forget              
personalities--to forget everything     
other than the work in hand4 ,if he     
should select the people he likes       
instead of the people who can best do   
the work1 his department record will    
quickly show up that fact4  ,there is no
 difficulty in picking out men4 ,they   
pick themselves out because--although   

one hears a great deal about the lack of
 opportunity for advancement--the       
average workman is more interested in a 
steady job than he is in advancement4   
,scarcely more than five per cent1 of   
those who work for wages1 while they    
have the desire to receive more money1  
have also the willingness to accept the 
additional responsibility and the       
additional work which goes with the     
higher places4 ,only about twenty-five  
per cent4 are even willing to be straw  
bosses1 and most of them take that      
position because it carries with it more
 pay than working on a machine4 ,men of 
a more mechanical turn of mind1 but with
 no desire for responsibility1 go into  
the tool-making departments where they  
receive considerably more pay than in   
production proper4 ,but the vast        
majority of men want to stay put4 ,they 
want to be led4 ,they want to have      
everything done for them and to have no 
responsibility4 ,therefore1 in spite of 
the great mass of men1 the difficulty is

 not to discover men to advance1 but men
 who are willing to be advanced4  ,the  
accepted theory is that all people are  
anxious for advancement1 and a great    
many pretty plans have been built up    
from that4 ,i can only say that we do   
not find that to be the case4 ,the      
,americans in our employ do want to go  
ahead1 but they by no means do always   
want to go clear through to the top4    
,the foreigners1 generally speaking1 are
 content to stay as straw bosses4 ,why  
all of this is1 ,i do not know4 ,i am   
giving the facts4  ,as ,i have said1    
everyone in the place reserves an open  
mind as to the way in which every job is
 being done4 ,if there is any fixed     
theory--any fixed rule--it is that no   
job is being done well enough4 ,the     
whole factory management is always open 
to suggestion1 and we have an informal  
suggestion system by which any workman  
can communicate any idea that comes to  
him and get action on it4  ,the saving  
of a cent per piece may be distinctly   

worth while4 ,a saving of one cent on a 
part at our present rate of production  
represents twelve thousand dollars a    
year4 ,one cent saved on each part would
 amount to millions a year4 ,therefore1 
in comparing savings1 the calculations  
are carried out to the thousandth part  
of a cent4 ,if the new way suggested    
shows a saving and the cost of making   
the change will pay for itself within a 
reasonable time--say within three       
months--the change is made practically  
as of course4 ,these changes are by no  
means limited to improvements which will
 increase production or decrease cost4  
,a great many--perhaps most of them--are
 in the line of making the work easier4 
,we do not want any hard1 man-killing   
work about the place1 and there is now  
very little of it4 ,and usually it so   
works out that adopting the way which is
 easier on the men also decreases the   
cost4 ,there is most intimate connection
 between decency and good business4 ,we 
also investigate down to the last       

decimal whether it is cheaper to make or
 to buy a part4  ,the suggestions come  
from everywhere4 ,the ,polish workmen   
seem to be the cleverest of all of the  
foreigners in making them4 ,one1 who    
could not speak ,english1 indicated that
 if the tool in his machine were set at 
a different angle it might wear longer4 
,as it was it lasted only four or five  
cuts4 ,he was right1 and a lot of money 
was saved in grinding4 ,another ,pole1  
running a drill press1 rigged up a      
little fixture to save handling the part
 after drilling4 ,that was adopted      
generally and a considerable saving     
resulted4 ,the men often try out little 
attachments of their own because1       
concentrating on one thing1 they can1 if
 they have a mind that way1 usually     
devise some improvement4 ,the           
cleanliness of a man's machine          
also--although cleaning a machine is no 
part of his duty--is usually an         
indication of his intelligence4  ,here  
are some of the suggestions3 ,a proposal

 that castings be taken from the foundry
 to the machine shop on an overhead     
conveyor saved seventy men in the       
transport division4 ,there used to be   
seventeen men--and this was when        
production was smaller--taking the burrs
 off gears1 and it was a hard1 nasty    
job4 ,a man roughly sketched a special  
machine4 ,his idea was worked out and   
the machine built4 ,now four men have   
several times the output of the         
seventeen men--and have no hard work at 
all to do4 ,changing from a solid to a  
welded rod in one part of the chassis   
effected an immediate saving of about   
one half million a year on a smaller    
than the present-day production4 ,making
 certain tubes out of flat sheets       
instead of drawing them in the usual way
 effected another enormous saving4  ,the
 old method of making a certain gear    
comprised four operations and #ab per   
cent4 of the steel went into scrap4 ,we 
use most of our scrap and eventually we 
will use it all1 but that is no reason  

for not cutting down on scrap--the mere 
fact that all waste is not a dead loss  
is no excuse for permitting waste4 ,one 
of the workmen devised a very simple new
 method for making this gear in which   
the scrap was only one per cent4 ,again1
 the camshaft has to have heat treatment
 in order to make the surface hard2 the 
cam shafts always came out of the       
heat-treat oven somewhat warped1 and    
even back in #aiah1 we employed #cg men 
just to straighten the shafts4 ,several 
of our men experimented for about a year
 and finally worked out a new form of   
oven in which the shafts could not warp4
 ,in #aiba1 with the production much    
larger than in #aiah1 we employed only  
eight men in the whole operation4  ,and 
then there is the pressing to take away 
the necessity for skill in any job done 
by any one4 ,the old-time tool hardener 
was an expert4 ,he had to judge the     
heating temperatures4 ,it was a         
hit-or-miss operation4 ,the wonder is   
that he hit so often4 ,the heat         

treatment in the hardening of steel is  
highly important--providing one knows   
exactly the right heat to apply4 ,that  
cannot be known by rule-of-thumb4 ,it   
has to be measured4 ,we introduced a    
system by which the man at the furnace  
has nothing at all to do with the heat4 
,he does not see the pyrometer--the     
instrument which registers the          
temperature4 ,coloured electric lights  
give him his signals4  ,none of our     
machines is ever built haphazardly4 ,the
 idea is investigated in detail before a
 move is made4 ,sometimes wooden models 
are constructed or again the parts are  
drawn to full size on a blackboard4 ,we 
are not bound by precedent but we leave 
nothing to luck1 and we have yet to     
build a machine that will not do the    
work for which it was designed4 ,about  
ninety per cent4 of all experiments have
 been successful4  ,whatever expertness 
in fabrication that has developed has   
been due to men4 ,i think that if men   
are unhampered and they know that they  

are serving1 they will always put all of
 mind and will into even the most       
trivial of tasks4     ,,chapter ,,vii   
,,the ,,terror ,,of ,,the ,,machine     
,repetitive labour--the doing of one    
thing over and over again and always in 
the same way--is a terrifying prospect  
to a certain kind of mind4 ,it is       
terrifying to me4 ,i could not possibly 
do the same thing day in and day out1   
but to other minds1 perhaps ,i might say
 to the majority of minds1 repetitive   
operations hold no terrors4 ,in fact1 to
 some types of mind thought is          
absolutely appalling4 ,to them the ideal
 job is one where the creative instinct 
need not be expressed4 ,the jobs where  
it is necessary to put in mind as well  
as muscle have very few takers--we      
always need men who like a job because  
it is difficult4 ,the average worker1 ,i
 am sorry to say1 wants a job in which  
he does not have to put forth much      
physical exertion--above all1 he wants a
 job in which he does not have to think4

 ,those who have what might be called   
the creative type of mind and who       
thoroughly abhor monotony are apt to    
imagine that all other minds are        
similarly restless and therefore to     
extend quite unwanted sympathy to the   
labouring man who day in and day out    
performs almost exactly the same        
operation4  ,when you come right down to
 it1 most jobs are repetitive4 ,a       
business man has a routine that he      
follows with great exactness2 the work  
of a bank president is nearly all       
routine2 the work of under officers and 
clerks in a bank is purely routine4     
,indeed1 for most purposes and most     
people1 it is necessary to establish    
something in the way of a routine and to
 make most motions purely               
repetitive--otherwise the individual    
will not get enough done to be able to  
live off his own exertions4 ,there is no
 reason why any one with a creative mind
 should be at a monotonous job1 for     
everywhere the need for creative men is 

pressing4 ,there will never be a dearth 
of places for skilled people1 but we    
have to recognize that the will to be   
skilled is not general4 ,and even if the
 will be present1 then the courage to go
 through with the training is absent4   
,one cannot become skilled by mere      
wishing4  ,there are far too many       
assumptions about what human nature     
ought to be and not enough research into
 what it is4 ,take the assumption that  
creative work can be undertaken only in 
the realm of vision4 ,we speak of       
creative artists in music1 painting1 and
 the other arts4 ,we seemingly limit the
 creative functions to productions that 
may be hung on gallery walls1 or played 
in concert halls1 or otherwise displayed
 where idle and fastidious people gather
 to admire each other's culture4 ,but if
 a man wants a field for vital creative 
work1 let him come where he is dealing  
with higher laws than those of sound1 or
 line1 or colour2 let him come where he 
may deal with the laws of personality4  

,we want artists in industrial          
relationship4 ,we want masters in       
industrial method--both from the        
standpoint of the producer and the      
product4 ,we want those who can mould   
the political1 social1 industrial1 and  
moral mass into a sound and shapely     
whole4 ,we have limited the creative    
faculty too much and have used it for   
too trivial ends4 ,we want men who can  
create the working design for all that  
is right and good and desirable in our  
life4 ,good intentions plus             
well-thought-out working designs can be 
put into practice and can be made to    
succeed4 ,it is possible to increase the
 well-being of the workingman--not by   
having him do less work1 but by aiding  
him to do more4 ,if the world will give 
its attention and interest and energy to
 the making of plans that will profit   
the other fellow as he is1 then such    
plans can be established on a practical 
working basis4 ,such plans will         
endure--and they will be far the most   

profitable both in human and financial  
values4 ,what this generation needs is a
 deep faith1 a profound conviction in   
the practicability of righteousness1    
justice1 and humanity in industry4 ,if  
we cannot have these qualities1 then we 
were better off without industry4       
,indeed1 if we cannot get those         
qualities1 the days of industry are     
numbered4 ,but we can get them4 ,we are 
getting them4  ,if a man cannot earn his
 keep without the aid of machinery1 is  
it benefiting him to withhold that      
machinery because attendance upon it may
 be monotonous8 ,and let him starve8 ,or
 is it better to put him in the way of a
 good living8 ,is a man the happier for 
starving8 ,if he is the happier for     
using a machine to less than its        
capacity1 is he happier for producing   
less than he might and consequently     
getting less than his share of the      
world's goods in exchange8  ,i have not 
been able to discover that repetitive   
labour injures a man in any way4 ,i have

 been told by parlour experts that      
repetitive labour is soul--as well as   
body--destroying1 but that has not been 
the result of our investigations4 ,there
 was one case of a man who all day long 
did little but step on a treadle        
release4 ,he thought that the motion was
 making him one-sided2 the medical      
examination did not show that he had    
been affected but1 of course1 he was    
changed to another job that used a      
different set of muscles4 ,in a few     
weeks he asked for his old job again4   
,it would seem reasonable to imagine    
that going through the same set of      
motions daily for eight hours would     
produce an abnormal body1 but we have   
never had a case of it4 ,we shift men   
whenever they ask to be shifted and we  
should like regularly to change         
them--that would be entirely feasible if
 only the men would have it that way4   
,they do not like changes which they do 
not themselves suggest4 ,some of the    
operations are undoubtedly              

monotonous--so monotonous that it seems 
scarcely possible that any man would    
care to continue long at the same job4  
,probably the most monotonous task in   
the whole factory is one in which a man 
picks up a gear with a steel hook1      
shakes it in a vat of oil1 then turns it
 into a basket4 ,the motion never       
varies4 ,the gears come to him always in
 exactly the same place1 he gives each  
one the same number of shakes1 and he   
drops it into a basket which is always  
in the same place4 ,no muscular energy  
is required1 no intelligence is         
required4 ,he does little more than wave
 his hands gently to and fro--the steel 
rod is so light4 ,yet the man on that   
job has been doing it for eight solid   
years4 ,he has saved and invested his   
money until now he has about forty      
thousand dollars--and he stubbornly     
resists every attempt to force him into 
a better job6  ,the most thorough       
research has not brought out a single   
case of a man's mind being twisted or   

deadened by the work4 ,the kind of mind 
that does not like repetitive work does 
not have to stay in it4 ,the work in    
each department is classified according 
to its desirability and skill into      
,classes ,a1 ,b1 and ,c1 each class     
having anywhere from ten to thirty      
different operations4 ,a man comes      
directly from the employment office to  
,class ,c4 ,as he gets better he goes   
into ,class ,b1 and so on into ,class   
,a1 and out of ,class ,a into tool      
making or some supervisory capacity4 ,it
 is up to him to place himself4 ,if he  
stays in production it is because he    
likes it4  ,in a previous chapter ,i    
noted that no one applying for work is  
refused on account of physical          
condition4 ,this policy went into effect
 on ,january #ab1 #aiad1 at the time of 
setting the minimum wage at five dollars
 a day and the working day at eight     
hours4 ,it carried with it the further  
condition that no one should be         
discharged on account of physical       

condition1 except1 of course1 in the    
case of contagious disease4 ,i think    
that if an industrial institution is to 
fill its whole role1 it ought to be     
possible for a cross-section of its     
employees to show about the same        
proportions as a cross-section of a     
society in general4 ,we have always with
 us the maimed and the halt4 ,there is a
 most generous disposition to regard all
 of these people who are physically     
incapacitated for labour as a charge on 
society and to support them by charity4 
,there are cases where ,i imagine that  
the support must be by charity--as1 for 
instance1 an idiot4 ,but those cases are
 extraordinarily rare1 and we have found
 it possible1 among the great number of 
different tasks that must be performed  
somewhere in the company1 to find an    
opening for almost any one and on the   
basis of production4 ,the blind man or  
cripple can1 in the particular place to 
which he is assigned1 perform just as   
much work and receive exactly the same  

pay as a wholly able-bodied man would4  
,we do not prefer cripples--but we have 
demonstrated that they can earn full    
wages4  ,it would be quite outside the  
spirit of what we are trying to do1 to  
take on men because they were crippled1 
pay them a lower wage1 and be content   
with a lower output4 ,that might be     
directly helping the men but it would   
not be helping them in the best way4    
,the best way is always the way by which
 they can be put on a productive par    
with able-bodied men4 ,i believe that   
there is very little occasion for       
charity in this world--that is1 charity 
in the sense of making gifts4 ,most     
certainly business and charity cannot be
 combined2 the purpose of a factory is  
to produce1 and it ill serves the       
community in general unless it does     
produce to the utmost of its capacity4  
,we are too ready to assume without     
investigation that the full possession  
of faculties is a condition requisite to
 the best performance of all jobs4 ,to  

discover just what was the real         
situation1 ,i had all of the different  
jobs in the factory classified to the   
kind of machine and work--whether the   
physical labour involved was light1     
medium1 or heavy2 whether it were a wet 
or a dry job1 and if not1 with what kind
 of fluid2 whether it were clean or     
dirty2 near an oven or a furnace2 the   
condition of the air2 whether one or    
both hands had to be used2 whether the  
employee stood or sat down at his work2 
whether it was noisy or quiet2 whether  
it required accuracy2 whether the light 
was natural or artificial2 the number of
 pieces that had to be handled per hour2
 the weight of the material handled2 and
 the description of the strain upon the 
worker4 ,it turned out at the time of   
the inquiry that there were then #g1hhb 
different jobs in the factory4 ,of      
these1 #idi were classified as heavy    
work requiring strong1 able-bodied1 and 
practically physically perfect men2     
#c1cch required men of ordinary physical

 development and strength4 ,the         
remaining #c1eie jobs were disclosed as 
requiring no physical exertion and could
 be performed by the slightest1 weakest 
sort of men4 ,in fact1 most of them     
could be satisfactorily filled by women 
or older children4 ,the lightest jobs   
were again classified to discover how   
many of them required the use of full   
faculties1 and we found that #fgj could 
be filled by legless men1 #b1fcg by     
one-legged men1 #b by armless men1 #gae 
by one-armed men1 and #aj by blind men4 
,therefore1 out of #g1hhb kinds of jobs1
 #d1jcd--;although some of them required
 strength--did not require full physical
 capacity4 ,that is1 developed industry 
can provide wage work for a higher      
average of standard men than are        
ordinarily included in any normal       
community4 ,if the jobs in any one      
industry or1 say1 any one factory1 were 
analyzed as ours have been analyzed1 the
 proportion might be very different1 yet
 ,i am quite sure that if work is       

sufficiently subdivided--subdivided to  
the point of highest economy--there will
 be no dearth of places in which the    
physically incapacitated can do a man's 
job and get a man's wage4 ,it is        
economically most wasteful to accept    
crippled men as charges and then to     
teach them trivial tasks like the       
weaving of baskets or some other form of
 unremunerative hand labour1 in the     
hope1 not of aiding them to make a      
living1 but of preventing despondency4  
,when a man is taken on by the          
,employment ,department1 the theory is  
to put him into a job suited to his     
condition4 ,if he is already at work and
 he does not seem able to perform the   
work1 or if he does not like his work1  
he is given a transfer card1 which he   
takes up to the transfer department1 and
 after an examination he is tried out in
 some other work more suited to his     
condition or disposition4 ,those who are
 below the ordinary physical standards  
are just as good workers1 rightly       

placed1 as those who are above4 ,for    
instance1 a blind man was assigned to   
the stock department to count bolts and 
nuts for shipment to branch             
establishments4 ,two other able-bodied  
men were already employed on this work4 
,in two days the foreman sent a note to 
the transfer department releasing the   
able-bodied men because the blind man   
was able to do not only his own work but
 also the work that had formerly been   
done by the sound men4  ,this salvage   
can be carried further4 ,it is usually  
taken for granted that when a man is    
injured he is simply out of the running 
and should be paid an allowance4 ,but   
there is always a period of             
convalescence1 especially in fracture   
cases1 where the man is strong enough to
 work1 and1 indeed1 by that time usually
 anxious to work1 for the largest       
possible accident allowance can never be
 as great as a man's wage4 ,if it were1 
then a business would simply have an    
additional tax put upon it1 and that tax

 would show up in the cost of the       
product4 ,there would be less buying of 
the product and therefore less work for 
somebody4 ,that is an inevitable        
sequence that must always be borne in   
mind4  ,we have experimented with       
bedridden men--men who were able to sit 
up4 ,we put black oilcloth covers or    
aprons over the beds and set the men to 
work screwing nuts on small bolts4 ,this
 is a job that has to be done by hand   
and on which fifteen or twenty men are  
kept busy in the ,magneto ,department4  
,the men in the hospital could do it    
just as well as the men in the shop and 
they were able to receive their regular 
wages4 ,in fact1 their production was   
about #bj per cent41 ,i believe1 above  
the usual shop production4 ,no man had  
to do the work unless he wanted to4 ,but
 they all wanted to4 ,it kept time from 
hanging on their hands4 ,they slept and 
ate better and recovered more rapidly4  
,no particular consideration has to be  
given to deaf-and-dumb employees4 ,they 

do their work one hundred per cent4 ,the
 tubercular employees--and there are    
usually about a thousand of them--mostly
 work in the material salvage           
department4 ,those cases which are      
considered contagious work together in  
an especially constructed shed4 ,the    
work of all of them is largely out of   
doors4  ,at the time of the last        
analysis of employed1 there were #i1efc 
sub-standard men4 ,of these1 #abc had   
crippled or amputated arms1 forearms1 or
 hands4 ,one had both hands off4 ,there 
were #d totally blind men1 #bjg blind in
 one eye1 #bec with one eye nearly      
blind1 #cg deaf and dumb1 #fj           
epileptics1 #d with both legs or feet   
missing1 #bcd with one foot or leg      
missing4 ,the others had minor          
impediments4  ,the length of time       
required to become proficient in the    
various occupations is about as follows3
 #dc per cent4 of all the jobs require  
not over one day of training2 #cf per   
cent4 require from one day to one week2 

#f per cent4 require from one to two    
weeks2 #ad per cent4 require from one   
month to one year2 one per cent4 require
 from one to six years4 ,the last jobs  
require great skill--as in tool making  
and die sinking4  ,the discipline       
throughout the plant is rigid4 ,there   
are no petty rules1 and no rules the    
justice of which can reasonably be      
disputed4 ,the injustice of arbitrary   
discharge is avoided by confining the   
right of discharge to the employment    
manager1 and he rarely exercises it4    
,the year #aiai is the last on which    
statistics were kept4 ,in that year     
#cj1aee changes occurred4 ,of those     
#aj1ccd were absent more than ten days  
without notice and therefore dropped4   
,because they refused the job assigned  
or1 without giving cause1 demanded a    
transfer1 #c1gjb were let go4 ,a refusal
 to learn ,english in the school        
provided accounted for #ch more2 #ajh   
enlisted2 about #c1jjj were transferred 
to other plants4 ,going home1 going into

 farming or business accounted for about
 the same number4 ,eighty-two women were
 discharged because their husbands were 
working--we do not employ married women 
whose husbands have jobs4 ,out of the   
whole lot only #hj were flatly          
discharged and the causes were3         
,misrepresentation1 #ef2 by order of    
,educational ,department1 #bj2 and      
undesirable1 #d4  ,we expect the men to 
do what they are told4 ,the organization
 is so highly specialized and one part  
is so dependent upon another that we    
could not for a moment consider allowing
 men to have their own way4 ,without the
 most rigid discipline we would have the
 utmost confusion4 ,i think it should   
not be otherwise in industry4 ,the men  
are there to get the greatest possible  
amount of work done and to receive the  
highest possible pay4 ,if each man were 
permitted to act in his own way1        
production would suffer and therefore   
pay would suffer4 ,any one who does not 
like to work in our way may always      

leave4 ,the company's conduct toward the
 men is meant to be exact and impartial4
 ,it is naturally to the interest both  
of the foremen and of the department    
heads that the releases from their      
departments should be few4 ,the workman 
has a full chance to tell his story if  
he has been unjustly treated--he has    
full recourse4 ,of course1 it is        
inevitable that injustices occur4 ,men  
are not always fair with their fellow   
workmen4 ,defective human nature        
obstructs our good intentions now and   
then4 ,the foreman does not always get  
the idea1 or misapplies it--but the     
company's intentions are as ,i have     
stated1 and we use every means to have  
them understood4  ,it is necessary to be
 most insistent in the matter of        
absences4 ,a man may not come or go as  
he pleases2 he may always apply for     
leave to the foreman1 but if he leaves  
without notice1 then1 on his return1 the
 reasons for his absence are carefully  
investigated and are sometimes referred 

to the ,medical ,department4 ,if his    
reasons are good1 he is permitted to    
resume work4 ,if they are not good he   
may be discharged4 ,in hiring a man the 
only data taken concerns his name1 his  
address1 his age1 whether he is married 
or single1 the number of his dependents1
 whether he has ever worked for the     
,ford ,motor ,company1 and the condition
 of his sight and his hearing4 ,no      
questions are asked concerning what the 
man has previously done1 but we have    
what we call the ,better ,advantage     
,notice1 by which a man who has had a   
trade before he came to us files a      
notice with the employment department   
stating what the trade was4 ,in this    
way1 when we need specialists of any    
kind1 we can get them right out of      
production4 ,this is also one of the    
avenues by which tool makers and        
moulders quickly reach the higher       
positions4 ,i once wanted a ,swiss watch
 maker4 ,the cards turned one up--he was
 running a drill press4 ,the ,heat      

,treat department wanted a skilled      
firebrick layer4 ,he also was found on a
 drill press--he is now a general       
inspector4  ,there is not much personal 
contact--the men do their work and go   
home--a factory is not a drawing room4  
,but we try to have justice and1 while  
there may be little in the way of hand  
shaking--we have no professional hand   
shakers--also we try to prevent         
opportunity for petty personalities4 ,we
 have so many departments that the place
 is almost a world in itself--every kind
 of man can find a place somewhere in   
it4 ,take fighting between men4 ,men    
will fight1 and usually fighting is a   
cause for discharge on the spot4 ,we    
find that does not help the fighters--it
 merely gets them out of our sight4 ,so 
the foremen have become rather ingenious
 in devising punishments that will not  
take anything away from the man's family
 and which require no time at all to    
administer4  ,one point that is         
absolutely essential to high capacity1  

as well as to humane production1 is a   
clean1 well-lighted and well-ventilated 
factory4 ,our machines are placed very  
close together--every foot of floor     
space in the factory carries1 of course1
 the same overhead charge4 ,the consumer
 must pay the extra overhead and the    
extra transportation involved in having 
machines even six inches farther apart  
than they have to be4 ,we measure on    
each job the exact amount of room that a
 man needs2 he must not be cramped--that
 would be waste4 ,but if he and his     
machine occupy more space than is       
required1 that also is waste4 ,this     
brings our machines closer together than
 in probably any other factory in the   
world4 ,to a stranger they may seem     
piled right on top of one another1 but  
they are scientifically arranged1 not   
only in the sequence of operations1 but 
to give every man and every machine     
every square inch that he requires and1 
if possible1 not a square inch1 and     
certainly not a square foot1 more than  

he requires4 ,our factory buildings are 
not intended to be used as parks4 ,the  
close placing requires a maximum of     
safeguards and ventilation4  ,machine   
safeguarding is a subject all of itself4
 ,we do not consider any machine--no    
matter how efficiently it may turn out  
its work--as a proper machine unless it 
is absolutely safe4 ,we have no machines
 that we consider unsafe1 but even at   
that a few accidents will happen4 ,every
 accident1 no matter how trivial1 is    
traced back by a skilled man employed   
solely for that purpose1 and a study is 
made of the machine to make that same   
accident in the future impossible4      
,when we put up the older buildings1 we 
did not understand so much about        
ventilation as we do to-day4 ,in all the
 later buildings1 the supporting columns
 are made hollow and through them the   
bad air is pumped out and the good air  
introduced4 ,a nearly even temperature  
is kept everywhere the year round and1  
during daylight1 there is nowhere the   

necessity for artificial light4         
,something like seven hundred men are   
detailed exclusively to keeping the     
shops clean1 the windows washed1 and all
 of the paint fresh4 ,the dark corners  
which invite expectoration are painted  
white4 ,one cannot have morale without  
cleanliness4 ,we tolerate makeshift     
cleanliness no more than makeshift      
methods4  ,no reason exists why factory 
work should be dangerous4 ,if a man has 
worked too hard or through too long     
hours he gets into a mental state that  
invites accidents4 ,part of the work of 
preventing accidents is to avoid this   
mental state2 part is to prevent        
carelessness1 and part is to make       
machinery absolutely fool-proof4 ,the   
principal causes of accidents as they   
are grouped by the experts are3  7#a7   
,defective structures2 7#b7 defective   
machines2 7#c7 insufficient room2 7#d7  
absence of safeguards2 7#e7 unclean     
conditions2 7#f7 bad lights2 7#g7 bad   
air2 7#h7 unsuitable clothing2 7#i7     

carelessness2 7#aj7 ignorance2 7#aa7    
mental condition2 7#ab7 lack of         
cooperation4  ,the questions of         
defective structures1 defective         
machinery1 insufficient room1 unclean   
conditions1 bad light1 bad air1 the     
wrong mental condition1 and the lack of 
cooperation are easily disposed of4     
,none of the men work too hard4 ,the    
wages settle nine tenths of the mental  
problems and construction gets rid of   
the others4 ,we have then to guard      
against unsuitable clothing1            
carelessness1 and ignorance1 and to make
 everything we have fool-proof4 ,this is
 more difficult where we have belts4 ,in
 all of our new construction1 each      
machine has its individual electric     
motor1 but in the older construction we 
had to use belts4 ,every belt is        
guarded4 ,over the automatic conveyors  
are placed bridges so that no man has to
 cross at a dangerous point4 ,wherever  
there is a possibility of flying metal1 
the workman is required to wear goggles 

and the chances are further reduced by  
surrounding the machine with netting4   
,around hot furnaces we have railings4  
,there is nowhere an open part of a     
machine in which clothing can be caught4
 ,all the aisles are kept clear4 ,the   
starting switches of draw presses are   
protected by big red tags which have to 
be removed before the switch can be     
turned--this prevents the machine being 
started thoughtlessly4 ,workmen will    
wear unsuitable clothing--ties that may 
be caught in a pulley1 flowing sleeves1 
and all manner of unsuitable articles4  
,the bosses have to watch for that1 and 
they catch most of the offenders4 ,new  
machines are tested in every way before 
they are permitted to be installed4 ,as 
a result we have practically no serious 
accidents4  ,industry needs not exact a 
human toll4     ,,chapter ,,viii        
,,wages   ,there is nothing to running a
 business by custom--to saying3 ,i pay  
the going rate of wages4 ,the same man  
would not so easily say3 ,i have nothing

 better or cheaper to sell than any one 
has4 ,no manufacturer in his right mind 
would contend that buying only the      
cheapest materials is the way to make   
certain of manufacturing the best       
article4 ,then why do we hear so much   
talk about the liquidation of labour and
 the benefits that will flow to the     
country from cutting wages--which means 
only the cutting of buying power and the
 curtailing of the home market8 ,what   
good is industry if it be so            
unskillfully managed as not to return a 
living to everyone concerned8 ,no       
question is more important than that of 
wages--most of the people of the country
 live on wages4 ,the scale of their     
living--the rate of their               
wages--determines the prosperity of the 
country4  ,throughout all the ,ford     
industries we now have a minimum wage of
 six dollars a day2 we used to have a   
minimum of five dollars2 before that we 
paid whatever it was necessary to pay4  
,it would be bad morals to go back to   

the old market rate of paying--but also 
it would be the worst sort of bad       
business4  ,first get at the            
relationships4 ,it is not usual to speak
 of an employee as a partner1 and yet   
what else is he8 ,whenever a man finds  
the management of a business too much   
for his own time or strength1 he calls  
in assistants to share the management   
with him4 ,why1 then1 if a man finds the
 production part of a business too much 
for his own two hands should he deny the
 title of partner to those who come in  
and help him produce8 ,every business   
that employs more than one man is a kind
 of partnership4 ,the moment a man calls
 for assistance in his business--even   
though the assistant be but a boy--that 
moment he has taken a partner4 ,he may  
himself be sole owner of the resources  
of the business and sole director of its
 operations1 but only while he remains  
sole manager and sole producer can he   
claim complete independence4 ,no man is 
independent as long as he has to depend 

on another man to help him4 ,it is a    
reciprocal relation--the boss is the    
partner of his worker1 the worker is    
partner of his boss4 ,and such being the
 case1 it is useless for one group or   
the other to assume that it is the one  
indispensable unit4 ,both are           
indispensable4 ,the one can become      
unduly assertive only at the expense of 
the other--and eventually at its own    
expense as well4 ,it is utterly foolish 
for ,capital or for ,labour to think of 
themselves as groups4 ,they are         
partners4 ,when they pull and haul      
against each other--they simply injure  
the organization in which they are      
partners and from which both draw       
support4  ,it ought to be the employer's
 ambition1 as leader1 to pay better     
wages than any similar line of business1
 and it ought to be the workman's       
ambition to make this possible4 ,of     
course there are men in all shops who   
seem to believe that if they do their   
best1 it will be only for the employer's

 benefit--and not at all for their own4 
,it is a pity that such a feeling should
 exist4 ,but it does exist and perhaps  
it has some justification4 ,if an       
employer urges men to do their best1 and
 the men learn after a while that their 
best does not bring any reward1 then    
they naturally drop back into getting   
by4 ,but if they see the fruits of hard 
work in their pay envelope--proof that  
harder work means higher pay--then also 
they begin to learn that they are a part
 of the business1 and that its success  
depends on them and their success       
depends on it4  ,what ought the employer
 to pay8--,what ought the employee to   
receive8 ,these are but minor questions4
 ,the basic question is ,what can the   
business stand8 ,certainly no business  
can stand outgo that exceeds its income4
 ,when you pump water out of a well at a
 faster rate than the water flows in1   
the well goes dry4 ,and when the well   
runs dry1 those who depend on it go     
thirsty4 ,and if1 perchance1 they       

imagine they can pump one well dry and  
then jump to some other well1 it is only
 a matter of time when all the wells    
will be dry4 ,there is now a widespread 
demand for more justly divided rewards1 
but it must be recognized that there are
 limits to rewards4 ,the business itself
 sets the limits4 ,you cannot distribute
 #aej1jjj out of a business that brings 
in only #ajj1jjj4 ,the business limits  
the wages1 but does anything limit the  
business8 ,the business limits itself by
 following bad precedents4  ,if men1    
instead of saying the employer ought to 
do thus-and-so1 would say1 the business 
ought to be so stimulated and managed   
that it can do thus-and-so1 they would  
get somewhere4 ,because only the        
business can pay wages4 ,certainly the  
employer cannot1 unless the business    
warrants4 ,but if that business does    
warrant higher wages and the employer   
refuses1 what is to be done8 ,as a rule 
a business means the livelihood of too  
many men1 to be tampered with4 ,it is   

criminal to assassinate a business to   
which large numbers of men have given   
their labours and to which they have    
learned to look as their field of       
usefulness and their source of          
livelihood4 ,killing the business by a  
strike or a lockout does not help4 ,the 
employer can gain nothing by looking    
over the employees and asking himself1  
,how little can ,i get them to take8    
,nor the employee by glaring back and   
asking1 ,how much can ,i force him to   
give8 ,eventually both will have to turn
 to the business and ask1 ,how can this 
industry be made safe and profitable1 so
 that it will be able to provide a sure 
and comfortable living for all of us8   
,but by no means all employers or all   
employees will think straight4 ,the     
habit of acting shortsightedly is a hard
 one to break4 ,what can be done8       
,nothing4 ,no rules or laws will effect 
the changes4 ,but enlightened           
self-interest will4 ,it takes a little  
while for enlightenment to spread4 ,but 

spread it must1 for the concern in which
 both employer and employees work to the
 same end of service is bound to forge  
ahead in business4  ,what do we mean by 
high wages1 anyway8  ,we mean a higher  
wage than was paid ten months or ten    
years ago4 ,we do not mean a higher wage
 than ought to be paid4 ,our high wages 
of to-day may be low wages ten years    
from now4  ,if it is right for the      
manager of a business to try to make it 
pay larger dividends1 it is quite as    
right that he should try to make it pay 
higher wages4 ,but it is not the manager
 of the business who pays the high      
wages4 ,of course1 if he can and will   
not1 then the blame is on him4 ,but he  
alone can never make high wages         
possible4 ,high wages cannot be paid    
unless the workmen earn them4 ,their    
labour is the productive factor4 ,it is 
not the only productive factor--poor    
management can waste labour and material
 and nullify the efforts of labour4     
,labour can nullify the results of good 

management4 ,but in a partnership of    
skilled management and honest labour1 it
 is the workman who makes high wages    
possible4 ,he invests his energy and    
skill1 and if he makes an honest1       
wholehearted investment1 high wages     
ought to be his reward4 ,not only has he
 earned them1 but he has had a big part 
in creating them4  ,it ought to be      
clear1 however1 that the high wage      
begins down in the shop4 ,if it is not  
created there it cannot get into pay    
envelopes4 ,there will never be a system
 invented which will do away with the   
necessity of work4 ,nature has seen to  
that4 ,idle hands and minds were never  
intended for any one of us4 ,work is our
 sanity1 our self-respect1 our          
salvation4 ,so far from being a curse1  
work is the greatest blessing4 ,exact   
social justice flows only out of honest 
work4 ,the man who contributes much     
should take away much4 ,therefore no    
element of charity is present in the    
paying of wages4 ,the kind of workman   

who gives the business the best that is 
in him is the best kind of workman a    
business can have4 ,and he cannot be    
expected to do this indefinitely without
 proper recognition of his contribution4
 ,the man who comes to the day's job    
feeling that no matter how much he may  
give1 it will not yield him enough of a 
return to keep him beyond want1 is not  
in shape to do his day's work4 ,he is   
anxious and worried1 and it all reacts  
to the detriment of his work4  ,but if a
 man feels that his day's work is not   
only supplying his basic need1 but is   
also giving him a margin of comfort and 
enabling him to give his boys and girls 
their opportunity and his wife some     
pleasure in life1 then his job looks    
good to him and he is free to give it of
 his best4 ,this is a good thing for him
 and a good thing for the business4 ,the
 man who does not get a certain         
satisfaction out of his day's work is   
losing the best part of his pay4  ,for  
the day's work is a great thing--a very 

great thing6 ,it is at the very         
foundation of the world2 it is the basis
 of our self-respect4 ,and the employer 
ought constantly to put in a harder     
day's work than any of his men4 ,the    
employer who is seriously trying to do  
his duty in the world must be a hard    
worker4 ,he cannot say1 ,i have so many 
thousand men working for me4 ,the fact  
of the matter is that so many thousand  
men have him working for them--and the  
better they work the busier they keep   
him disposing of their products4 ,wages 
and salaries are in fixed amounts1 and  
this must be so1 in order to have a     
basis to figure on4 ,wages and salaries 
are a sort of profit-sharing fixed in   
advance1 but it often happens that when 
the business of the year is closed1 it  
is discovered that more can be paid4    
,and then more ought to be paid4 ,when  
we are all in the business working      
together1 we all ought to have some     
share in the profits--by way of a good  
wage1 or salary1 or added compensation4 

,and that is beginning now quite        
generally to be recognized4  ,there is  
now a definite demand that the human    
side of business be elevated to a       
position of equal importance with the   
material side4 ,and that is going to    
come about4 ,it is just a question      
whether it is going to be brought about 
wisely--in a way that will conserve the 
material side which now sustains us1 or 
unwisely and in such a way as shall take
 from us all the benefit of the work of 
the past years4 ,business represents our
 national livelihood1 it reflects our   
economic progress1 and gives us our     
place among other nations4 ,we do not   
want to jeopardize that4 ,what we want  
is a better recognition of the human    
element in business4 ,and surely it can 
be achieved without dislocation1 without
 loss to any one1 indeed with an        
increase of benefit to every human      
being4 ,and the secret of it all is in a
 recognition of human partnership4      
,until each man is absolutely sufficient

 unto himself1 needing the services of  
no other human being in any capacity    
whatever1 we shall never get beyond the 
need of partnership4  ,such are the     
fundamental truths of wages4 ,they are  
partnership distributions4  ,when can a 
wage be considered adequate8 ,how much  
of a living is reasonably to be expected
 from work8 ,have you ever considered   
what a wage does or ought to do8 ,to say
 that it should pay the cost of living  
is to say almost nothing4 ,the cost of  
living depends largely upon the         
efficiency of production and            
transportation2 and the efficiency of   
these is the sum of the efficiencies of 
the management and the workers4 ,good   
work1 well managed1 ought to result in  
high wages and low living costs4 ,if we 
attempt to regulate wages on living     
costs1 we get nowhere4 ,the cost of     
living is a result and we cannot expect 
to keep a result constant if we keep    
altering the factors which produce the  
result4 ,when we try to regulate wages  

according to the cost of living1 we are 
imitating a dog chasing his tail4 ,and1 
anyhow1 who is competent to say just    
what kind of living we shall base the   
costs on8 ,let us broaden our view and  
see what a wage is to the workmen--and  
what it ought to be4  ,the wage carries 
all the worker's obligations outside the
 shop2 it carries all that is necessary 
in the way of service and management    
inside the shop4 ,the day's productive  
work is the most valuable mine of wealth
 that has ever been opened4 ,certainly  
it ought to bear not less than all the  
worker's outside obligations4 ,and      
certainly it ought to be made to take   
care of the worker's sunset days when   
labour is no longer possible to him--and
 should be no longer necessary4 ,and if 
it is made to do even these1 industry   
will have to be adjusted to a schedule  
of production1 distribution1 and reward1
 which will stop the leaks into the     
pockets of men who do not assist in     
production4 ,in order to create a system

 which shall be as independent of the   
good-will of benevolent employers as of 
the ill-will of selfish ones1 we shall  
have to find a basis in the actual facts
 of life itself4  ,it costs just as much
 physical strength to turn out a day's  
work when wheat is #a a bushel1 as when 
wheat is #b4ej a bushel4 ,eggs may be   
#ab cents a dozen or #ij cents a dozen4 
,what difference does it make in the    
units of energy a man uses in a         
productive day's work8 ,if only the man 
himself were concerned1 the cost of his 
maintenance and the profit he ought to  
have would be a simple matter4 ,but he  
is not just an individual4 ,he is a     
citizen1 contributing to the welfare of 
the nation4 ,he is a householder4 ,he is
 perhaps a father with children who must
 be reared to usefulness on what he is  
able to earn4 ,we must reckon with all  
these facts4 ,how are you going to      
figure the contribution of the home to  
the day's work8 ,you pay the man for his
 work1 but how much does that work owe  

to his home8 ,how much to his position  
as a citizen8 ,how much to his position 
as a father8 ,the man does the work in  
the shop1 but his wife does the work in 
the home4 ,the shop must pay them both4 
,on what system of figuring is the home 
going to find its place on the cost     
sheets of the day's work8 ,is the man's 
own livelihood to be regarded as the    
cost8 ,and is his ability to have a home
 and family the profit8 ,is the profit  
on a day's work to be computed on a cash
 basis only1 measured by the amount a   
man has left over after his own and his 
family's wants are all supplied8 ,or are
 all these relationships to be          
considered strictly under head of cost1 
and the profit to be computed entirely  
outside of them8 ,that is1 after having 
supported himself and family1 clothed   
them1 housed them1 educated them1 given 
them the privileges incident to their   
standard of living1 ought there to be   
provision made for still something more 
in the way of savings profit8 ,and are  

all properly chargeable to the day's    
work8 ,i think they are4 ,otherwise1 we 
have the hideous prospect of little     
children and their mothers being forced 
out to work4  ,these are questions which
 call for accurate observation and      
computation4 ,perhaps there is no one   
item connected with our economic life   
that would surprise us more than a      
knowledge of just what burdens the day's
 work4 ,it is perhaps possible          
accurately to determine--albeit with    
considerable interference with the day's
 work itself--how much energy the day's 
work takes out of a man4 ,but it is not 
at all possible accurately to determine 
how much it will require to put back    
that energy into him against the next   
day's demands4 ,nor is it possible to   
determine how much of that expended     
energy he will never be able to get back
 at all4 ,economics has never yet       
devised a sinking fund for the          
replacement of the strength of a worker4
 ,it is possible to set up a kind of    

sinking fund in the form of old-age     
pensions4 ,but pensions do not attend to
 the profit which each day's labour     
ought to yield in order to take care of 
all of life's overhead1 of all physical 
losses1 and of the inevitable           
deterioration of the manual worker4     
,the best wages that have up to date    
ever been paid are not nearly as high as
 they ought to be4 ,business is not yet 
sufficiently well organized and its     
objectives are not yet sufficiently     
clear to make it possible to pay more   
than a fraction of the wages that ought 
to be paid4 ,that is part of the work we
 have before us4 ,it does not help      
toward a solution to talk about         
abolishing the wage system and          
substituting communal ownership4 ,the   
wage system is the only one that we     
have1 under which contributions to      
production can be rewarded according to 
their worth4 ,take away the wage measure
 and we shall have universal injustice4 
,perfect the system and we may have     

universal justice4  ,i have learned     
through the years a good deal about     
wages4 ,i believe in the first place    
that1 all other considerations aside1   
our own sales depend in a measure upon  
the wages we pay4 ,if we can distribute 
high wages1 then that money is going to 
be spent and it will serve to make      
storekeepers and distributors and       
manufacturers and workers in other lines
 more prosperous and their prosperity   
will be reflected in our sales4         
,country-wide high wages spell          
country-wide prosperity1 provided1      
however1 the higher wages are paid for  
higher production4 ,paying high wages   
and lowering production is starting down
 the incline toward dull business4  ,it 
took us some time to get our bearings on
 wages1 and it was not until we had gone
 thoroughly into production on ,model   
,t1 that it was possible to figure out  
what wages ought to be4 ,before then we 
had had some profit sharing4 ,we had at 
the end of each year1 for some years    

past1 divided a percentage of our       
earnings with the employees4 ,for       
instance1 as long ago as #aiji we       
distributed eighty thousand dollars on  
the basis of years of service4 ,a       
one-year man received #e per cent4 of   
his year's wages2 a two-year man1       
#g-a_/b per cent41 and a three-year man1
 #aj per cent4 ,the objection to that   
plan was that it had no direct          
connection with the day's work4 ,a man  
did not get his share until long after  
his work was done and then it came to   
him almost in the way of a present4 ,it 
is always unfortunate to have wages     
tinged with charity4  ,and then1 too1   
the wages were not scientifically       
adjusted to the jobs4 ,the man in job ,a
 might get one rate and the man in job  
,b a higher rate1 while as a matter of  
fact job ,a might require more skill or 
exertion than job ,b4 ,a great deal of  
inequity creeps into wage rates unless  
both the employer and the employee know 
that the rate paid has been arrived at  

by something better than a guess4       
,therefore1 starting about #aiac we had 
time studies made of all the thousands  
of operations in the shops4 ,by a time  
study it is possible theoretically to   
determine what a man's output should be4
 ,then1 making large allowances1 it is  
further possible to get at a            
satisfactory standard output for a day1 
and1 taking into consideration the      
skill1 to arrive at a rate which will   
express with fair accuracy the amount of
 skill and exertion that goes into a    
job--and how much is to be expected from
 the man in the job in return for the   
wage4 ,without scientific study the     
employer does not know why he is paying 
a wage and the worker does not know why 
he is getting it4 ,on the time figures  
all of the jobs in our factory were     
standardized and rates set4  ,we do not 
have piece work4 ,some of the men are   
paid by the day and some are paid by the
 hour1 but in practically every case    
there is a required standard output     

below which a man is not expected to    
fall4 ,were it otherwise1 neither the   
workman nor ourselves would know whether
 or not wages were being earned4 ,there 
must be a fixed day's work before a real
 wage can be paid4 ,watchmen are paid   
for presence4 ,workmen are paid for     
work4  ,having these facts in hand we   
announced and put into operation in     
,january1 #aiad1 a kind of              
profit-sharing plan in which the minimum
 wage for any class of work and under   
certain conditions was five dollars a   
day4 ,at the same time we reduced the   
working day to eight hours--it had been 
nine--and the week to forty-eight hours4
 ,this was entirely a voluntary act4    
,all of our wage rates have been        
voluntary4 ,it was to our way of        
thinking an act of social justice1 and  
in the last analysis we did it for our  
own satisfaction of mind4 ,there is a   
pleasure in feeling that you have made  
others happy--that you have lessened in 
some degree the burdens of your         

fellow-men--that you have provided a    
margin out of which may be had pleasure 
and saving4 ,good-will is one of the few
 really important assets of life4 ,a    
determined man can win almost anything  
that he goes after1 but unless1 in his  
getting1 he gains good will he has not  
profited much4  ,there was1 however1 no 
charity in any way involved4 ,that was  
not generally understood4 ,many         
employers thought we were just making   
the announcement because we were        
prosperous and wanted advertising and   
they condemned us because we were       
upsetting standards--violating the      
custom of paying a man the smallest     
amount he would take4 ,there is nothing 
to such standards and customs4 ,they    
have to be wiped out4 ,some day they    
will be4 ,otherwise1 we cannot abolish  
poverty4 ,we made the change not merely 
because we wanted to pay higher wages   
and thought we could pay them4 ,we      
wanted to pay these wages so that the   
business would be on a lasting          

foundation4 ,we were not distributing   
anything--we were building for the      
future4 ,a low wage business is always  
insecure4  ,probably few industrial     
announcements have created a more       
world-wide comment than did this one1   
and hardly any one got the facts quite  
right4 ,workmen quite generally believed
 that they were going to get five       
dollars a day1 regardless of what work  
they did4  ,the facts were somewhat     
different from the general impression4  
,the plan was to distribute profits1 but
 instead of waiting until the profits   
had been earned--to approximate them in 
advance and to add them1 under certain  
conditions1 to the wages of those       
persons who had been in the employ of   
the company for six months or more4 ,it 
was classified participation among three
 classes of employees3  7#a7 ,married   
men living with and taking good care of 
their families4  7#b7 ,single men over  
twenty-two years of age who are of      
proved thrifty     habits4  7#c7 ,young 

men under twenty-two years of age1 and  
women who are the sole support of some  
next of kin4  ,a man was first to be    
paid his just wages--which were then on 
an average of about fifteen per cent4   
above the usual market wage4 ,he was    
then eligible to a certain profit4 ,his 
wages plus his profit were calculated to
 give a minimum daily income of five    
dollars4 ,the profit sharing rate was   
divided on an hour basis and was        
credited to the hourly wage rate1 so as 
to give those receiving the lowest      
hourly rate the largest proportion of   
profits4 ,it was paid every two weeks   
with the wages4 ,for example1 a man who 
received thirty-four cents an hour had a
 profit rate of twenty-eight and one    
half cents an hour--which would give him
 a daily income of five dollars4 ,a man 
receiving fifty-four cents an hour would
 have a profit rate of twenty-one cents 
an hour--which would give him a daily   
income of six dollars4  ,it was a sort  
of prosperity-sharing plan4 ,but on     

conditions4 ,the man and his home had to
 come up to certain standards of        
cleanliness and citizenship4 ,nothing   
paternal was intended6--a certain amount
 of paternalism did develop1 and that is
 one reason why the whole plan and the  
social welfare department were          
readjusted4 ,but in the beginning the   
idea was that there should be a very    
definite incentive to better living and 
that the very best incentive was a money
 premium on proper living4 ,a man who is
 living aright will do his work aright4 
,and then1 too1 we wanted to avoid the  
possibility of lowering the standard of 
work through an increased wage4 ,it was 
demonstrated in war time that too       
quickly increasing a man's pay sometimes
 increases only his cupidity and        
therefore decreases his earning power4  
,if1 in the beginning1 we had simply put
 the increase in the pay envelopes1 then
 very likely the work standards would   
have broken down4 ,the pay of about half
 the men was doubled in the new plan2 it

 might have been taken as easy money4   
,the thought of easy money breaks down  
work4 ,there is a danger in too rapidly 
raising the pay of any man--whether he  
previously received one dollar or one   
hundred dollars a day4 ,in fact1 if the 
salary of a hundred-dollar-a-day man    
were increased overnight to three       
hundred dollars a day he would probably 
make a bigger fool of himself than the  
working man whose pay is increased from 
one dollar to three dollars an hour4    
,the man with the larger amount of money
 has larger opportunity to make a fool  
of himself4  ,in this first plan the    
standards insisted upon were not        
petty--although sometimes they may have 
been administered in a petty fashion4   
,we had about fifty investigators in the
 ,social ,department2 the standard of   
common sense among them was very high   
indeed1 but it is impossible to assemble
 fifty men equally endowed with common  
sense4 ,they erred at times--one always 
hears about the errors4 ,it was expected

 that in order to receive the bonus     
married men should live with and take   
proper care of their families4 ,we had  
to break up the evil custom among many  
of the foreign workers of taking in     
boarders--of regarding their homes as   
something to make money out of rather   
than as a place to live in4 ,boys under 
eighteen received a bonus if they       
supported the next of kin4 ,single men  
who lived wholesomely shared4 ,the best 
evidence that the plan was essentially  
beneficial is the record4 ,when the plan
 went into effect1 #fj per cent4 of the 
workers immediately qualified to share2 
at the end of six months #gh per cent4  
were sharing1 and at the end of one year
 #hg per cent4 ,within a year and one   
half only a fraction of one per cent4   
failed to share4  ,the large wage had   
other results4 ,in #aiad1 when the first
 plan went into effect1 we had #ad1jjj  
employees and it had been necessary to  
hire at the rate of about #ec1jjj a year
 in order to keep a constant force of   

#ad1jjj4 ,in #aiae we had to hire only  
#f1ejh men and the majority of these new
 men were taken on because of the growth
 of the business4 ,with the old turnover
 of labour and our present force we     
should have to hire at the rate of      
nearly #bjj1jjj men a year--which would 
be pretty nearly an impossible          
proposition4 ,even with the minimum of  
instruction that is required to master  
almost any job in our place1 we cannot  
take on a new staff each morning1 or    
each week1 or each month2 for1 although 
a man may qualify for acceptable work at
 an acceptable rate of speed within two 
or three days1 he will be able to do    
more after a year's experience than he  
did at the beginning4 ,the matter of    
labour turnover has not since bothered  
us2 it is rather hard to give exact     
figures because when we are not running 
to capacity1 we rotate some of the men  
in order to distribute the work among   
greatest number4 ,this makes it hard to 
distinguish between the voluntary and   

involuntary exits4 ,to-day we keep no   
figures2 we now think so little of our  
turnover that we do not bother to keep  
records4 ,as far as we know the turnover
 is somewhere between #c per cent4 and  
#f per cent4 a month4  ,we have made    
changes in the system1 but we have not  
deviated from this principle3  ,if you  
expect a man to give his time and       
energy1 fix his wages so that he will   
have no financial worries4 ,it pays4    
,our profits1 after paying good wages   
and a bonus--which bonus used to run    
around ten millions a year before we    
changed the system--show that paying    
good wages is the most profitable way of
 doing business4  ,there were objections
 to the bonus-on-conduct method of      
paying wages4 ,it tended toward         
paternalism4 ,paternalism has no place  
in industry4 ,welfare work that consists
 in prying into employees' private      
concerns is out of date4 ,men need      
counsel and men need help1 oftentimes   
special help2 and all this ought to be  

rendered for decency's sake4 ,but the   
broad workable plan of investment and   
participation will do more to solidify  
industry and strengthen organization    
than will any social work on the        
outside4  ,without changing the         
principle we have changed the method of 
payment4     ,,chapter ,,ix  ,,why ,,not
 ,,always ,,have ,,good ,,business8     
,the employer has to live by the year4  
,the workman has to live by the year4   
,but both of them1 as a rule1 work by   
the week4 ,they get an order or a job   
when they can and at the price they can4
 ,during what is called a prosperous    
time1 orders and jobs are plentiful4    
,during a dull season they are scarce4  
,business is always either feasting or  
fasting and is always either good or    
bad4 ,although there is never a time    
when everyone has too much of this      
world's goods--when everyone is too     
comfortable or too happy--there come    
periods when we have the astounding     
spectacle of a world hungry for goods   

and an industrial machine hungry for    
work and the two--the demand and the    
means of satisfying it--held apart by a 
money barrier4 ,both manufacturing and  
employment are in-and-out affairs4      
,instead of a steady progression we go  
ahead by fits and starts--now going too 
fast1 now stopping altogether4 ,when a  
great many people want to buy1 there is 
said to be a shortage of goods4 ,when   
nobody wants to buy1 there is said to be
 an overproduction of goods4 ,i know    
that we have always had a shortage of   
goods1 but ,i do not believe we have    
ever had an overproduction4 ,we may     
have1 at a particular time1 too much of 
the wrong kind of goods4 ,that is not   
overproduction--that is merely headless 
production4 ,we may also have great     
stocks of goods at too high prices4     
,that is not overproduction--it is      
either bad manufacturing or bad         
financing4 ,is business good or bad     
according to the dictates of fate8 ,must
 we accept the conditions as inevitable8

 ,business is good or bad as we make it 
so4 ,the only reason for growing crops1 
for mining1 or for manufacturing1 is    
that people may eat1 keep warm1 have    
clothing to wear1 and articles to use4  
,there is no other possible reason1 yet 
that reason is forced into the          
background and instead we have          
operations carried on1 not to the end of
 service1 but to the end of making      
money--and this because we have evolved 
a system of money that instead of being 
a convenient medium of exchange1 is at  
times a barrier to exchange4 ,of this   
more later4  ,we suffer frequent periods
 of so-called bad luck only because we  
manage so badly4 ,if we had a vast crop 
failure1 ,i can imagine the country     
going hungry1 but ,i cannot conceive how
 it is that we tolerate hunger and      
poverty1 when they grow solely out of   
bad management1 and especially out of   
the bad management that is implicit in  
an unreasoned financial structure4 ,of  
course the war upset affairs in this    

country4 ,it upset the whole world4     
,there would have been no war had       
management been better4 ,but the war    
alone is not to blame4 ,the war showed  
up a great number of the defects of the 
financial system1 but more than anything
 else it showed how insecure is business
 supported only by a money foundation4  
,i do not know whether bad business is  
the result of bad financial methods or  
whether the wrong motive in business    
created bad financial methods1 but ,i do
 know that1 while it would be wholly    
undesirable to try to overturn the      
present financial system1 it is wholly  
desirable to reshape business on the    
basis of service4 ,then a better        
financial system will have to come4 ,the
 present system will drop out because it
 will have no reason for being4 ,the    
process will have to be a gradual one4  
,the start toward the stabilization of  
his own affairs may be made by any one4 
,one cannot achieve perfect results     
acting alone1 but as the example begins 

to sink in there will be followers1 and 
thus in the course of time we can hope  
to put inflated business and its fellow1
 depressed business1 into a class with  
small-pox--that is1 into the class of   
preventable diseases4 ,it is perfectly  
possible1 with the reorganization of    
business and finance that is bound to   
come about1 to take the ill effect of   
seasons1 if not the seasons1 out of     
industry1 and also the periodic         
depressions4 ,farming is already in     
process of reorganization4 ,when        
industry and farming are fully          
reorganized they will be complementary2 
they belong together1 not apart4 ,as an 
indication1 take our valve plant4 ,we   
established it eighteen miles out in the
 country so that the workers could also 
be farmers4 ,by the use of machinery    
farming need not consume more than a    
fraction of the time it now consumes2   
the time nature requires to produce is  
much larger than that required for the  
human contribution of seeding1          

cultivating1 and harvesting2 in many    
industries where the parts are not bulky
 it does not make much difference where 
they are made4 ,by the aid of water     
power they can well be made out in      
farming country4 ,thus we can1 to a much
 larger degree than is commonly known1  
have farmer-industrialists who both farm
 and work under the most scientific and 
healthful conditions4 ,that arrangement 
will care for some seasonal industries2 
others can arrange a succession of      
products according to the seasons and   
the equipment1 and still others can1    
with more careful management1 iron out  
their seasons4 ,a complete study of any 
specific problem will show the way4     
,the periodic depressions are more      
serious because they seem so vast as to 
be uncontrollable4 ,until the whole     
reorganization is brought about1 they   
cannot be wholly controlled1 but each   
man in business can easily do something 
for himself and while benefiting his own
 organization in a very material way1   

also help others4 ,the ,ford production 
has not reflected good times or bad     
times2 it has kept right on regardless  
of conditions excepting from #aiag to   
#aiai1 when the factory was turned over 
to war work4 ,the year #aiab-aiac was   
supposed to be a dull one2 although now 
some call it normal2 we all but doubled 
our sales2 #aiac-aiad was dull2 we      
increased our sales by more than a      
third4 ,the year #aibj-aiba is supposed 
to have been one of the most depressed  
in history2 we sold a million and a     
quarter cars1 or about five times as    
many as in #aiac-aiad--the normal year4 
,there is no particular secret in it4   
,it is1 as is everything else in our    
business1 the inevitable result of the  
application of a principle which can be 
applied to any business4  ,we now have a
 minimum wage of six dollars a day paid 
without reservation4 ,the people are    
sufficiently used to high wages to make 
supervision unnecessary4 ,the minimum   
wage is paid just as soon as a worker   

has qualified in his production--which  
is a matter that depends upon his own   
desire to work4 ,we have put our        
estimate of profits into the wage and   
are now paying higher wages than during 
the boom times after the war4 ,but we   
are1 as always1 paying them on the basis
 of work4 ,and that the men do work is  
evidenced by the fact that although six 
dollars a day is the minimum wage1 about
 #fj per cent4 of the workers receive   
above the minimum4 ,the six dollars is  
not a flat but a minimum wage4          
,consider first the fundamentals of     
prosperity4 ,progress is not made by    
pulling off a series of stunts4 ,each   
step has to be regulated4 ,a man cannot 
expect to progress without thinking4    
,take prosperity4 ,a truly prosperous   
time is when the largest number of      
people are getting all they can         
legitimately eat and wear1 and are in   
every sense of the word comfortable4 ,it
 is the degree of the comfort of the    
people at large--not the size of the    

manufacturer's bank balance--that       
evidences prosperity4 ,the function of  
the manufacturer is to contribute to    
this comfort4 ,he is an instrument of   
society and he can serve society only as
 he manages his enterprises so as to    
turn over to the public an increasingly 
better product at an ever-decreasing    
price1 and at the same time to pay to   
all those who have a hand in his        
business an ever-increasing wage1 based 
upon the work they do4 ,in this way and 
in this way alone can a manufacturer or 
any one in business justify his         
existence4  ,we are not much concerned  
with the statistics and the theories of 
the economists on the recurring cycles  
of prosperity and depression4 ,they call
 the periods when prices are high       
prosperous4 ,a really prosperous period 
is not to be judged on the prices that  
manufacturers are quoting for articles4 
,we are not concerned with combinations 
of words4 ,if the prices of goods are   
above the incomes of the people1 then   

get the prices down to the incomes4     
,ordinarily1 business is conceived as   
starting with a manufacturing process   
and ending with a consumer4 ,if that    
consumer does not want to buy what the  
manufacturer has to sell him and has not
 the money to buy it1 then the          
manufacturer blames the consumer and    
says that business is bad1 and thus1    
hitching the cart before the horse1 he  
goes on his way lamenting4 ,isn't that  
nonsense8  ,does the manufacturer exist 
for the consumer or does the consumer   
exist for the manufacturer8 ,if the     
consumer will not--says he cannot--buy  
what the manufacturer has to offer1 is  
that the fault of the manufacturer or   
the consumer8 ,or is nobody at fault8   
,if nobody is at fault then the         
manufacturer must go out of business4   
,but what business ever started with the
 manufacturer and ended with the        
consumer8 ,where does the money to make 
the wheels go round come from8 ,from the
 consumer1 of course4 ,and success in   

manufacture is based solely upon an     
ability to serve that consumer to his   
liking4 ,he may be served by quality or 
he may be served by price4 ,he is best  
served by the highest quality at the    
lowest price1 and any man who can give  
to the consumer the highest quality at  
the lowest price is bound to be a leader
 in business1 whatever the kind of an   
article he makes4 ,there is no getting  
away from this4  ,then why flounder     
around waiting for good business8 ,get  
the costs down by better management4    
,get the prices down to the buying      
power4  ,cutting wages is the easiest   
and most slovenly way to handle the     
situation1 not to speak of its being an 
inhuman way4 ,it is1 in effect1 throwing
 upon labour the incompetency of the    
managers of the business4 ,if we only   
knew it1 every depression is a challenge
 to every manufacturer to put more      
brains into his business--to overcome by
 management what other people try to    
overcome by wage reduction4 ,to tamper  

with wages before all else is changed1  
is to evade the real issue4 ,and if the 
real issue is tackled first1 no         
reduction of wages may be necessary4    
,that has been my experience4 ,the      
immediate practical point is that1 in   
the process of adjustment1 someone will 
have to take a loss4 ,and who can take a
 loss except those who have something   
which they can afford to lose8 ,but the 
expression1 take a loss1 is rather      
misleading4 ,really no loss is taken at 
all4 ,it is only a giving up of a       
certain part of the past profits in     
order to gain more in the future4 ,i was
 talking not long since with a hardware 
merchant in a small town4 ,he said3  ,i 
expect to take a loss of #aj1jjj on my  
stock4 ,but of course1 you know1 it     
isn't really like losing that much4 ,we 
hardware men have had pretty good times4
 ,most of my stock was bought at high   
prices1 but ,i have already sold several
 stocks and had the benefit of them4    
,besides1 the ten thousand dollars which

 ,i say ,i will lose are not the same   
kind of dollars that ,i used to have4   
,they are1 in a way1 speculative        
dollars4 ,they are not the good dollars 
that bought #ajj cents' worth4 ,so1     
though my loss may sound big1 it is not 
big4 ,and at the same time ,i am making 
it possible for the people in my town to
 go on building their houses without    
being discouraged by the size of the    
hardware item4  ,he is a wise merchant4 
,he would rather take less profit and   
keep business moving than keep his stock
 at high prices and bar the progress of 
his community4 ,a man like that is an   
asset to a town4 ,he has a clear head4  
,he is better able to swing the         
adjustment through his inventory than   
through cutting down the wages of his   
delivery men--through cutting down their
 ability to buy4  ,he did not sit around
 holding on to his prices and waiting   
for something to turn up4 ,he realized  
what seems to have been quite generally 
forgotten--that it is part of           

proprietorship every now and again to   
lose money4 ,we had to take our loss4   
,our sales eventually fell off as all   
other sales fell off4 ,we had a large   
inventory and1 taking the materials and 
parts in that inventory at their cost   
price1 we could not turn out a car at a 
price lower than we were asking1 but    
that was a price which on the turn of   
business was higher than people could or
 wanted to pay4 ,we closed down to get  
our bearings4 ,we were faced with making
 a cut of #ag1jjj1jjj in the inventory  
or taking a much larger loss than that  
by not doing business4 ,so there was no 
choice at all4  ,that is always the     
choice that a man in business has4 ,he  
can take the direct loss on his books   
and go ahead and do business or he can  
stop doing business and take the loss of
 idleness4 ,the loss of not doing       
business is commonly a loss greater than
 the actual money involved1 for during  
the period of idleness fear will consume
 initiative and1 if the shutdown is long

 enough1 there will be no energy left   
over to start up with again4  ,there is 
no use waiting around for business to   
improve4 ,if a manufacturer wants to    
perform his function1 he must get his   
price down to what people will pay4     
,there is always1 no matter what the    
condition1 a price that people can and  
will pay for a necessity1 and always1 if
 the will is there1 that price can be   
met4  ,it cannot be met by lowering     
quality or by shortsighted economy1     
which results only in a dissatisfied    
working force4 ,it cannot be met by     
fussing or buzzing around4 ,it can be   
met only by increasing the efficiency of
 production and1 viewed in this fashion1
 each business depression1 so-called1   
ought to be regarded as a challenge to  
the brains of the business community4   
,concentrating on prices instead of on  
service is a sure indication of the kind
 of business man who can give no        
justification for his existence as a    
proprietor4  ,this is only another way  

of saying that sales should be made on  
the natural basis of real value1 which  
is the cost of transmuting human energy 
into articles of trade and commerce4    
,but that simple formula is not         
considered business-like4 ,it is not    
complex enough4 ,we have business which 
takes the most honest of all human      
activities and makes them subject to the
 speculative shrewdness of men who can  
produce false shortages of food and     
other commodities1 and thus excite in   
society anxiety of demand4 ,we have     
false stimulation and then false        
numbness4  ,economic justice is being   
constantly and quite often innocently   
violated4 ,you may say that it is the   
economic condition which makes mankind  
what it is2 or you may say that it is   
mankind that makes the economic         
condition what it is4 ,you will find    
many claiming that it is the economic   
system which makes men what they are4   
,they blame our industrial system for   
all the faults which we behold in       

mankind generally4 ,and you will find   
other men who say that man creates his  
own conditions2 that if the economic1   
industrial1 or social system is bad1 it 
is but a reflection of what man himself 
is4 ,what is wrong in our industrial    
system is a reflection of what is wrong 
in man himself4 ,manufacturers hesitate 
to admit that the mistakes of the       
present industrial methods are1 in part 
at least1 their own mistakes1           
systematized and extended4 ,but take the
 question outside of a man's immediate  
concerns1 and he sees the point readily 
enough4  ,no doubt1 with a less faulty  
human nature a less faulty social system
 would have grown up4 ,or1 if human     
nature were worse than it is1 a worse   
system would have grown up--though      
probably a worse system would not have  
lasted as long as the present one has4  
,but few will claim that mankind        
deliberately set out to create a faulty 
social system4 ,granting without reserve
 that all faults of the social system   

are in man himself1 it does not follow  
that he deliberately organized his      
imperfections and established them4 ,we 
shall have to charge a great deal up to 
ignorance4 ,we shall have to charge a   
great deal up to innocence4  ,take the  
beginnings of our present industrial    
system4 ,there was no indication of how 
it would grow4 ,every new advance was   
hailed with joy4 ,no one ever thought of
 capital and labour as hostile          
interests4 ,no one ever dreamed that the
 very fact of success would bring       
insidious dangers with it4 ,and yet with
 growth every imperfection latent in the
 system came out4 ,a man's business grew
 to such proportions that he had to have
 more helpers than he knew by their     
first names2 but that fact was not      
regretted2 it was rather hailed with    
joy4 ,and yet it has since led to an    
impersonal system wherein the workman   
has become something less than a        
person--a mere part of the system4 ,no  
one believes1 of course1 that this      

dehumanizing process was deliberately   
invented4 ,it just grew4 ,it was latent 
in the whole early system1 but no one   
saw it and no one could foresee it4     
,only prodigious and unheard-of         
development could bring it to light4    
,take the industrial idea2 what is it8  
,the true industrial idea is not to make
 money4 ,the industrial idea is to      
express a serviceable idea1 to duplicate
 a useful idea1 by as many thousands as 
there are people who need it4  ,to      
produce1 produce2 to get a system that  
will reduce production to a fine art2 to
 put production on such a basis as will 
provide means for expansion and the     
building of still more shops1 the       
production of still more thousands of   
useful things--that is the real         
industrial idea4 ,the negation of the   
industrial idea is the effort to make a 
profit out of speculation instead of out
 of work4 ,there are short-sighted men  
who cannot see that business is bigger  
than any one man's interests4 ,business 

is a process of give and take1 live and 
let live4 ,it is cooperation among many 
forces and interests4 ,whenever you find
 a man who believes that business is a  
river whose beneficial flow ought to    
stop as soon as it reaches him you find 
a man who thinks he can keep business   
alive by stopping its circulation4 ,he  
would produce wealth by this stopping of
 the production of wealth4  ,the        
principles of service cannot fail to    
cure bad business4 ,which leads us into 
the practical application of the        
principles of service and finance4      
,,chapter ,x  ,,how ,,cheaply ,,can     
,,things ,,be ,,made8   ,no one will    
deny that if prices are sufficiently    
low1 buyers will always be found1 no    
matter what are supposed to be the      
business conditions4 ,that is one of the
 elemental facts of business4 ,sometimes
 raw materials will not move1 no matter 
how low the price4 ,we have seen        
something of that during the last year1 
but that is because the manufacturers   

and the distributors were trying to     
dispose of high-cost stocks before      
making new engagements4 ,the markets    
were stagnant1 but not saturated with   
goods4 ,what is called a saturated      
market is only one in which the prices  
are above the purchasing power4  ,unduly
 high prices are always a sign of       
unsound business1 because they are      
always due to some abnormal condition4  
,a healthy patient has a normal         
temperature2 a healthy market has normal
 prices4 ,high prices come about        
commonly by reason of speculation       
following the report of a shortage4     
,although there is never a shortage in  
everything1 a shortage in just a few    
important commodities1 or even in one1  
serves to start speculation4 ,or again1 
goods may not be short at all4 ,an      
inflation of currency or credit will    
cause a quick bulge in apparent buying  
power and the consequent opportunity to 
speculate4 ,there may be a combination  
of actual shortages and a currency      

inflation--as frequently happens during 
war4 ,but in any condition of unduly    
high prices1 no matter what the real    
cause1 the people pay the high prices   
because they think there is going to be 
a shortage4 ,they may buy bread ahead of
 their own needs1 so as not to be left  
later in the lurch1 or they may buy in  
the hope of reselling at a profit4 ,when
 there was talk of a sugar shortage1    
housewives who had never in their lives 
bought more than ten pounds of sugar at 
once tried to get stocks of one hundred 
or two hundred pounds1 and while they   
were doing this1 speculators were buying
 sugar to store in warehouses4 ,nearly  
all our war shortages were caused by    
speculation or buying ahead of need4    
,no matter how short the supply of an   
article is supposed to be1 no matter if 
the ,government takes control and seizes
 every ounce of that article1 a man who 
is willing to pay the money can always  
get whatever supply he is willing to pay
 for4 ,no one ever knows actually how   

great or how small is the national stock
 of any commodity4 ,the very best       
figures are not more than guesses2      
estimates of the world's stock of a     
commodity are still wilder4 ,we may     
think we know how much of a commodity is
 produced on a certain day or in a      
certain month1 but that does not tell us
 how much will be produced the next day 
or the next month4 ,likewise we do not  
know how much is consumed4 ,by spending 
a great deal of money we might1 in the  
course of time1 get at fairly accurate  
figures on how much of a particular     
commodity was consumed over a period1   
but by the time those figures were      
compiled they would be utterly useless  
except for historical purposes1 because 
in the next period the consumption might
 be double or half as much4 ,people do  
not stay put4 ,that is the trouble with 
all the framers of ,socialistic and     
,communistic1 and of all other plans for
 the ideal regulation of society4 ,they 
all presume that people will stay put4  

,the reactionary has the same idea4 ,he 
insists that everyone ought to stay put4
 ,nobody does1 and for that ,i am       
thankful4  ,consumption varies according
 to the price and the quality1 and      
nobody knows or can figure out what     
future consumption will amount to1      
because every time a price is lowered a 
new stratum of buying power is reached4 
,everyone knows that1 but many refuse to
 recognize it by their acts4 ,when a    
storekeeper buys goods at a wrong price 
and finds they will not move1 he reduces
 the price by degrees until they do     
move4 ,if he is wise1 instead of        
nibbling at the price and encouraging in
 his customers the hope of even lower   
prices1 he takes a great big bite out of
 the price and gets the stuff out of his
 place4 ,everyone takes a loss on some  
proposition of sales4 ,the common hope  
is that after the loss there may be a   
big profit to make up for the loss4     
,that is usually a delusion4 ,the profit
 out of which the loss has to be taken  

must be found in the business preceding 
the cut4 ,any one who was foolish enough
 to regard the high profits of the boom 
period as permanent profits got into    
financial trouble when the drop came4   
,however1 there is a belief1 and a very 
strong one1 that business consists of a 
series of profits and losses1 and good  
business is one in which the profits    
exceed the losses4 ,therefore some men  
reason that the best price to sell at is
 the highest price which may be had4    
,that is supposed to be good business   
practice4 ,is it8 ,we have not found it 
so4  ,we have found in buying materials 
that it is not worth while to buy for   
other than immediate needs4 ,we buy only
 enough to fit into the plan of         
production1 taking into consideration   
the state of transportation at the time4
 ,if transportation were perfect and an 
even flow of materials could be assured1
 it would not be necessary to carry any 
stock whatsoever4 ,the carloads of raw  
materials would arrive on schedule and  

in the planned order and amounts1 and go
 from the railway cars into production4 
,that would save a great deal of money1 
for it would give a very rapid turnover 
and thus decrease the amount of money   
tied up in materials4 ,with bad         
transportation one has to carry larger  
stocks4 ,at the time of revaluing the   
inventory in #aiba the stock was unduly 
high because transportation had been so 
bad4 ,but we learned long ago never to  
buy ahead for speculative purposes4     
,when prices are going up it is         
considered good business to buy far     
ahead1 and when prices are up to buy as 
little as possible4 ,it needs no        
argument to demonstrate that1 if you buy
 materials at ten cents a pound and the 
material goes later to twenty cents a   
pound you will have a distinct advantage
 over the man who is compelled to buy at
 twenty cents4 ,but we have found that  
thus buying ahead does not pay4 ,it is  
entering into a guessing contest4 ,it is
 not business4 ,if a man buys a large   

stock at ten cents1 he is in a fine     
position as long as the other man is    
paying twenty cents4 ,then he later gets
 a chance to buy more of the material at
 twenty cents1 and it seems to be a good
 buy because everything points to the   
price going to thirty cents4 ,having    
great satisfaction in his previous      
judgment1 on which he made money1 he of 
course makes the new purchase4 ,then the
 price drops and he is just where he    
started4 ,we have carefully figured1    
over the years1 that buying ahead of    
requirements does not pay--that the     
gains on one purchase will be offset by 
the losses on another1 and in the end we
 have gone to a great deal of trouble   
without any corresponding benefit4      
,therefore in our buying we simply get  
the best price we can for the quantity  
that we require4 ,we do not buy less if 
the price be high and we do not buy more
 if the price be low4 ,we carefully     
avoid bargain lots in excess of         
requirements4 ,it was not easy to reach 

that decision4 ,but in the end          
speculation will kill any manufacturer4 
,give him a couple of good purchases on 
which he makes money and before long he 
will be thinking more about making money
 out of buying and selling than out of  
his legitimate business1 and he will    
smash4 ,the only way to keep out of     
trouble is to buy what one needs--no    
more and no less4 ,that course removes  
one hazard from business4  ,this buying 
experience is given at length because it
 explains our selling policy4 ,instead  
of giving attention to competitors or to
 demand1 our prices are based on an     
estimate of what the largest possible   
number of people will want to pay1 or   
can pay1 for what we have to sell4 ,and 
what has resulted from that policy is   
best evidenced by comparing the price of
 the touring car and the production4    
,,year                ,,price           
,,production   #aiji-aj             #iej
                   #ah1ffd cars         
#aiaj-aa             #ghj               

#cd1ebh     #aiaa-ab             #fij   
#gh1ddj     #aiab-ac             #fjj   
#afh1bbj     #aiac-ad             #eej  
#bdh1cjg     #aiad-ae             #dij  
#cjh1bac     #aiae-af             #ddj  
#ecc1iba     #aiaf-ag             #cfj  
#ghe1dcb     #aiag-ah             #dej  
#gjf1ehd     #aiah-ai             #ebe  
#ecc1gjf     7,the above two years were 
war years and the factory was in war    
work74   #aiai-bj           #ege to #ddj
            #iif1ffj     #aibj-ba       
#ddj to #cee          #a1bej1jjj    ,the
 high prices of #aiba were1 considering 
the financial inflation1 not really     
high4 ,at the time of writing the price 
is #dig4 ,these prices are actually     
lower than they appear to be1 because   
improvements in quality are being       
steadily made4 ,we study every car in   
order to discover if it has features    
that might be developed and adapted4 ,if
 any one has anything better than we    
have we want to know it1 and for that   
reason we buy one of every new car that 

comes out4 ,usually the car is used for 
a while1 put through a road test1 taken 
apart1 and studied as to how and of what
 everything is made4 ,scattered about   
,dearborn there is probably one of      
nearly every make of car on earth4      
,every little while when we buy a new   
car it gets into the newspapers and     
somebody remarks that ,ford doesn't use 
the ,ford4 ,last year we ordered a big  
,lanchester--which is supposed to be the
 best car in ,england4 ,it lay in our   
,long ,island factory for several months
 and then ,i decided to drive it to     
,detroit4 ,there were several of us and 
we had a little caravan--the            
,lanchester1 a ,packard1 and a ,ford or 
two4 ,i happened to be riding in the    
,lanchester passing through a ,new ,york
 town and when the reporters came up    
they wanted to know right away why ,i   
was not riding in a ,ford4  ,well1 you  
see1 it is this way1 ,i answered4 ,i am 
on a vacation now2 ,i am in no hurry1 we
 do not care much when we get home4     

,that is the reason ,i am not in the    
,ford4  ,you know1 we also have a line  
of ,ford stories6  ,our policy is to    
reduce the price1 extend the operations1
 and improve the article4 ,you will     
notice that the reduction of price comes
 first4 ,we have never considered any   
costs as fixed4 ,therefore we first     
reduce the price to a point where we    
believe more sales will result4 ,then we
 go ahead and try to make the price4 ,we
 do not bother about the costs4 ,the new
 price forces the costs down4 ,the more 
usual way is to take the costs and then 
determine the price1 and although that  
method may be scientific in the narrow  
sense1 it is not scientific in the broad
 sense1 because what earthly use is it  
to know the cost if it tells you you    
cannot manufacture at a price at which  
the article can be sold8 ,but more to   
the point is the fact that1 although one
 may calculate what a cost is1 and of   
course all of our costs are carefully   
calculated1 no one knows what a cost    

ought to be4 ,one of the ways of        
discovering what a cost ought to be is  
to name a price so low as to force      
everybody in the place to the highest   
point of efficiency4 ,the low price     
makes everybody dig for profits4 ,we    
make more discoveries concerning        
manufacturing and selling under this    
forced method than by any method of     
leisurely investigation4  ,the payment  
of high wages fortunately contributes to
 the low costs because the men become   
steadily more efficient on account of   
being relieved of outside worries4 ,the 
payment of five dollars a day for an    
eight-hour day was one of the finest    
cost-cutting moves we ever made1 and the
 six-dollar day wage is cheaper than the
 five4 ,how far this will go1 we do not 
know4  ,we have always made a profit at 
the prices we have fixed and1 just as we
 have no idea how high wages will go1 we
 also have no idea how low prices will  
go1 but there is no particular use in   
bothering on that point4 ,the tractor1  

for instance1 was first sold for #gej1  
then at #hej1 then at #fbe1 and the     
other day we cut it #cg per cent1 to    
#cie4 ,the tractor is not made in       
connection with the automobiles4 ,no    
plant is large enough to make two       
articles4 ,a shop has to be devoted to  
exactly one product in order to get the 
real economies4  ,for most purposes a   
man with a machine is better than a man 
without a machine4 ,by the ordering of  
design of product and of manufacturing  
process we are able to provide that kind
 of a machine which most multiplies the 
power of the hand1 and therefore we give
 to that man a larger role of service1  
which means that he is entitled to a    
larger share of comfort4  ,keeping that 
principle in mind we can attack waste   
with a definite objective4 ,we will not 
put into our establishment anything that
 is useless4 ,we will not put up        
elaborate buildings as monuments to our 
success4 ,the interest on the investment
 and the cost of their upkeep only serve

 to add uselessly to the cost of what is
 produced--so these monuments of success
 are apt to end as tombs4 ,a great      
administration building may be          
necessary4 ,in me it arouses a suspicion
 that perhaps there is too much         
administration4 ,we have never found a  
need for elaborate administration and   
would prefer to be advertised by our    
product than by where we make our       
product4  ,the standardization that     
effects large economies for the consumer
 results in profits of such gross       
magnitude to the producer that he can   
scarcely know what to do with his money4
 ,but his effort must be sincere1       
painstaking1 and fearless4 ,cutting out 
a half-a-dozen models is not            
standardizing4 ,it may be1 and usually  
is1 only the limiting of business1 for  
if one is selling on the ordinary basis 
of profit--that is1 on the basis of     
taking as much money away from the      
consumer as he will give up--then surely
 the consumer ought to have a wide range

 of choice4  ,standardization1 then1 is 
the final stage of the process4 ,we     
start with consumer1 work back through  
the design1 and finally arrive at       
manufacturing4 ,the manufacturing       
becomes a means to the end of service4  
,it is important to bear this order in  
mind4 ,as yet1 the order is not         
thoroughly understood4 ,the price       
relation is not understood4 ,the notion 
persists that prices ought to be kept   
up4 ,on the contrary1 good              
business--large consumption--depends on 
their going down4  ,and here is another 
point4 ,the service must be the best you
 can give4 ,it is considered good       
manufacturing practice1 and not bad     
ethics1 occasionally to change designs  
so that old models will become obsolete 
and new ones will have to be bought     
either because repair parts for the old 
cannot be had1 or because the new model 
offers a new sales argument which can be
 used to persuade a consumer to scrap   
what he has and buy something new4 ,we  

have been told that this is good        
business1 that it is clever business1   
that the object of business ought to be 
to get people to buy frequently and that
 it is bad business to try to make      
anything that will last forever1 because
 when once a man is sold he will not buy
 again4  ,our principle of business is  
precisely to the contrary4 ,we cannot   
conceive how to serve the consumer      
unless we make for him something that1  
as far as we can provide1 will last     
forever4 ,we want to construct some kind
 of a machine that will last forever4   
,it does not please us to have a buyer's
 car wear out or become obsolete4 ,we   
want the man who buys one of our        
products never to have to buy another4  
,we never make an improvement that      
renders any previous model obsolete4    
,the parts of a specific model are not  
only interchangeable with all other cars
 of that model1 but they are            
interchangeable with similar parts on   
all the cars that we have turned out4   

,you can take a car of ten years ago    
and1 buying to-day's parts1 make it with
 very little expense into a car of      
to-day4 ,having these objectives the    
costs always come down under pressure4  
,and since we have the firm policy of   
steady price reduction1 there is always 
pressure4 ,sometimes it is just harder6 
,take a few more instances of saving4   
,the sweepings net six hundred thousand 
dollars a year4 ,experiments are        
constantly going on in the utilization  
of scrap4 ,in one of the stamping       
operations six-inch circles of sheet    
metal are cut out4 ,these formerly went 
into scrap4 ,the waste worried the men4 
,they worked to find uses for the discs4
 ,they found that the plates were just  
the right size and shape to stamp into  
radiator caps but the metal was not     
thick enough4 ,they tried a double      
thickness of plates1 with the result    
that they made a cap which tests proved 
to be stronger than one made out of a   
single sheet of metal4 ,we get #aej1jjj 

of those discs a day4 ,we have now found
 a use for about #bj1jjj a day and      
expect to find further uses for the     
remainder4 ,we saved about ten dollars  
each by making transmissions instead of 
buying them4 ,we experimented with bolts
 and produced a special bolt made on    
what is called an upsetting machine with
 a rolled thread that was stronger than 
any bolt we could buy1 although in its  
making was used only about one third of 
the material that the outside           
manufacturers used4 ,the saving on one  
style of bolt alone amounted to half a  
million dollars a year4 ,we used to     
assemble our cars at ,detroit1 and      
although by special packing we managed  
to get five or six into a freight car1  
we needed many hundreds of freight cars 
a day4 ,trains were moving in and out   
all the time4 ,once a thousand freight  
cars were packed in a single day4 ,a    
certain amount of congestion was        
inevitable4 ,it is very expensive to    
knock down machines and crate them so   

that they cannot be injured in          
transit--to say nothing of the          
transportation charges4 ,now1 we        
assemble only three or four hundred cars
 a day at ,detroit--just enough for     
local needs4 ,we now ship the parts to  
our assembling stations all over the    
,united ,states and in fact pretty much 
all over the world1 and the machines are
 put together there4 ,wherever it is    
possible for a branch to make a part    
more cheaply than we can make it in     
,detroit and ship it to them1 then the  
branch makes the part4  ,the plant at   
,manchester1 ,england1 is making nearly 
an entire car4 ,the tractor plant at    
,cork1 ,ireland1 is making almost a     
complete tractor4 ,this is an enormous  
saving of expense and is only an        
indication of what may be done          
throughout industry generally1 when each
 part of a composite article is made at 
the exact point where it may be made    
most economically4 ,we are constantly   
experimenting with every material that  

enters into the car4 ,we cut most of our
 own lumber from our own forests4 ,we   
are experimenting in the manufacture of 
artificial leather because we use about 
forty thousand yards of artificial      
leather a day4 ,a penny here and a penny
 there runs into large amounts in the   
course of a year4  ,the greatest        
development of all1 however1 is the     
,river ,rouge plant1 which1 when it is  
running to its full capacity1 will cut  
deeply and in many directions into the  
price of everything we make4 ,the whole 
tractor plant is now there4 ,this plant 
is located on the river on the outskirts
 of ,detroit and the property covers six
 hundred and sixty-five acres--enough   
for future development4 ,it has a large 
slip and a turning basin capable of     
accommodating any lake steamship2 a     
short-cut canal and some dredging will  
give a direct lake connection by way of 
the ,detroit ,river4 ,we use a great    
deal of coal4 ,this coal comes directly 
from our mines over the ,detroit1       

,toledo and ,ironton ,railway1 which we 
control1 to the ,highland ,park plant   
and the ,river ,rouge plant4 ,part of it
 goes for steam purposes4 ,another part 
goes to the by-product coke ovens which 
we have established at the ,river ,rouge
 plant4 ,coke moves on from the ovens by
 mechanical transmission to the blast   
furnaces4 ,the low volatile gases from  
the blast furnaces are piped to the     
power plant boilers where they are      
joined by the sawdust and the shavings  
from the body plant--the making of all  
our bodies has been shifted to this     
plant--and in addition the coke breeze  
7the dust in the making of coke7 is now 
also being utilized for stoking4 ,the   
steam power plant is thus fired almost  
exclusively from what would otherwise be
 waste products4 ,immense steam turbines
 directly coupled with dynamos transform
 this power into electricity1 and all of
 the machinery in the tractor and the   
body plants is run by individual motors 
from this electricity4 ,in the course of

 time it is expected that there will be 
sufficient electricity to run           
practically the whole ,highland ,park   
plant1 and we shall then have cut out   
our coal bill4  ,among the by-products  
of the coke ovens is a gas4 ,it is piped
 both to the ,rouge and ,highland ,park 
plants where it is used for heat-treat  
purposes1 for the enamelling ovens1 for 
the car ovens1 and the like4 ,we        
formerly had to buy this gas4 ,the      
ammonium sulphate is used for           
fertilizer4 ,the benzol is a motor fuel4
 ,the small sizes of coke1 not suitable 
for the blast furnaces1 are sold to the 
employees--delivered free into their    
homes at much less than the ordinary    
market price4 ,the large-sized coke goes
 to the blast furnaces4 ,there is no    
manual handling4 ,we run the melted iron
 directly from the blast furnaces into  
great ladles4 ,these ladles travel into 
the shops and the iron is poured        
directly into the moulds without another
 heating4 ,we thus not only get a       

uniform quality of iron according to our
 own specifications and directly under  
our control1 but we save a melting of   
pig iron and in fact cut out a whole    
process in manufacturing as well as     
making available all our own scrap4     
,what all this will amount to in point  
of savings we do not know--that is1 we  
do not know how great will be the       
saving1 because the plant has not been  
running long enough to give more than an
 indication of what is ahead1 and we    
save in so many directions--in          
transportation1 in the generation of our
 power1 in the generation of gas1 in the
 expense in casting1 and then over and  
above that is the revenue from the      
by-products and from the smaller sizes  
of coke4 ,the investment to accomplish  
these objects to date amounts to        
something over forty million dollars4   
,how far we shall thus reach back to    
sources depends entirely on             
circumstances4 ,nobody anywhere can     
really do more than guess about the     

future costs of production4 ,it is wiser
 to recognize that the future holds more
 than the past--that every day holds    
within it an improvement on the methods 
of the day before4  ,but how about      
production8 ,if every necessary of life 
were produced so cheaply and in such    
quantities1 would not the world shortly 
be surfeited with goods8 ,will there not
 come a point when1 regardless of price1
 people simply will not want anything   
more than what they already have8 ,and  
if in the process of manufacturing fewer
 and fewer men are used1 what is going  
to become of these men--how are they    
going to find jobs and live8  ,take the 
second point first4 ,we mentioned many  
machines and many methods that displaced
 great numbers of men and then someone  
asks3  ,yes1 that is a very fine idea   
from the standpoint of the proprietor1  
but how about these poor fellows whose  
jobs are taken away from them8  ,the    
question is entirely reasonable1 but it 
is a little curious that it should be   

asked4 ,for when were men ever really   
put out of work by the bettering of     
industrial processes8 ,the stage-coach  
drivers lost their jobs with the coming 
of the railways4 ,should we have        
prohibited the railways and kept the    
stage-coach drivers8 ,were there more   
men working with the stage-coaches than 
are working on the railways8 ,should we 
have prevented the taxicab because its  
coming took the bread out of the mouths 
of the horse-cab drivers8 ,how does the 
number of taxicabs compare with the     
number of horse-cabs when the latter    
were in their prime8 ,the coming of shoe
 machinery closed most of the shops of  
those who made shoes by hand4 ,when     
shoes were made by hand1 only the very  
well-to-do could own more than a single 
pair of shoes1 and most working people  
went barefooted in summer4 ,now1 hardly 
any one has only one pair of shoes1 and 
shoe making is a great industry4 ,no1   
every time you can so arrange that one  
man will do the work of two1 you so add 

to the wealth of the country that there 
will be a new and better job for the man
 who is displaced4 ,if whole industries 
changed overnight1 then disposing of the
 surplus men would be a problem1 but    
these changes do not occur as rapidly as
 that4 ,they come gradually4 ,in our own
 experience a new place always opens for
 a man as soon as better processes have 
taken his old job4 ,and what happens in 
my shops happens everywhere in industry4
 ,there are many times more men to-day  
employed in the steel industries than   
there were in the days when every       
operation was by hand4 ,it has to be so4
 ,it always is so and always will be so4
 ,and if any man cannot see it1 it is   
because he will not look beyond his own 
nose4  ,now as to saturation4 ,we are   
continually asked3  ,when will you get  
to the point of overproduction8 ,when   
will there be more cars than people to  
use them8  ,we believe it is possible   
some day to reach the point where all   
goods are produced so cheaply and in    

such quantities that overproduction will
 be a reality4 ,but as far as we are    
concerned1 we do not look forward to    
that condition with fear--we look       
forward to it with great satisfaction4  
,nothing could be more splendid than a  
world in which everybody has all that he
 wants4 ,our fear is that this condition
 will be too long postponed4 ,as to our 
own products1 that condition is very far
 away4 ,we do not know how many motor   
cars a family will desire to use of the 
particular kind that we make4 ,we know  
that1 as the price has come down1 the   
farmer1 who at first used one car 7and  
it must be remembered that it is not so 
very long ago that the farm market for  
motor cars was absolutely unknown--the  
limit of sales was at that time fixed by
 all the wise statistical sharps at     
somewhere near the number of            
millionaires in the country7 now often  
uses two1 and also he buys a truck4     
,perhaps1 instead of sending workmen out
 to scattered jobs in a single car1 it  

will be cheaper to send each worker out 
in a car of his own4 ,that is happening 
with salesmen4 ,the public finds its own
 consumptive needs with unerring        
accuracy1 and since we no longer make   
motor cars or tractors1 but merely the  
parts which when assembled become motor 
cars and tractors1 the facilities as now
 provided would hardly be sufficient to 
provide replacements for ten million    
cars4 ,and it would be quite the same   
with any business4 ,we do not have to   
bother about overproduction for some    
years to come1 provided the prices are  
right4 ,it is the refusal of people to  
buy on account of price that really     
stimulates real business4 ,then if we   
want to do business we have to get the  
prices down without hurting the quality4
 ,thus price reduction forces us to     
learn improved and less wasteful methods
 of production4 ,one big part of the    
discovery of what is normal in industry 
depends on managerial genius discovering
 better ways of doing things4 ,if a man 

reduces his selling price to a point    
where he is making no profit or         
incurring a loss1 then he simply is     
forced to discover how to make as good  
an article by a better method--making   
his new method produce the profit1 and  
not producing a profit out of reduced   
wages or increased prices to the public4
  ,it is not good management to take    
profits out of the workers or the       
buyers2 make management produce the     
profits4 ,don't cheapen the product2    
don't cheapen the wage2 don't overcharge
 the public4 ,put brains into the       
method1 and more brains1 and still more 
brains--do things better than ever      
before2 and by this means all parties to
 business are served and benefited4     
,and all of this can always be done4    
,,chapter ,,xi  ,,money ,,and ,,goods   
,the primary object of a manufacturing  
business is to produce1 and if that     
objective is always kept1 finance       
becomes a wholly secondary matter that  
has largely to do with bookkeeping4 ,my 

own financial operations have been very 
simple4 ,i started with the policy of   
buying and selling for cash1 keeping a  
large fund of cash always on hand1      
taking full advantage of all discounts1 
and collecting interest on bank         
balances4 ,i regard a bank principally  
as a place in which it is safe and      
convenient to keep money4 ,the minutes  
we spend on a competitor's business we  
lose on our own4 ,the minutes we spend  
in becoming expert in finance we lose in
 production4 ,the place to finance a    
manufacturing business is the shop1 and 
not the bank4 ,i would not say that a   
man in business needs to know nothing at
 all about finance1 but he is better off
 knowing too little than too much1 for  
if he becomes too expert he will get    
into the way of thinking that he can    
borrow money instead of earning it and  
then he will borrow more money to pay   
back what he has borrowed1 and instead  
of being a business man he will be a    
note juggler1 trying to keep in the air 

a regular flock of bonds and notes4  ,if
 he is a really expert juggler1 he may  
keep going quite a long time in this    
fashion1 but some day he is bound to    
make a miss and the whole collection    
will come tumbling down around him4     
,manufacturing is not to be confused    
with banking1 and ,i think that there is
 a tendency for too many business men to
 mix up in banking and for too many     
bankers to mix up in business4 ,the     
tendency is to distort the true purposes
 of both business and banking and that  
hurts both of them4 ,the money has to   
come out of the shop1 not out of the    
bank1 and ,i have found that the shop   
will answer every possible requirement1 
and in one case1 when it was believed   
that the company was rather seriously in
 need of funds1 the shop when called on 
raised a larger sum than any bank in    
this country could loan4  ,we have been 
thrown into finance mostly in the way of
 denial4 ,some years back we had to keep
 standing a denial that the ,ford ,motor

 ,company was owned by the ,standard    
,oil ,company and with that denial1 for 
convenience's sake1 we coupled a denial 
that we were connected with any other   
concern or that we intended to sell cars
 by mail4 ,last year the best-liked     
rumour was that we were down in ,wall   
,street hunting for money4 ,i did not   
bother to deny that4 ,it takes too much 
time to deny everything4 ,instead1 we   
demonstrated that we did not need any   
money4 ,since then ,i have heard nothing
 more about being financed by ,wall     
,street4  ,we are not against borrowing 
money and we are not against bankers4   
,we are against trying to make borrowed 
money take the place of work4 ,we are   
against the kind of banker who regards a
 business as a melon to be cut4 ,the    
thing is to keep money and borrowing and
 finance generally in their proper      
place1 and in order to do that one has  
to consider exactly for what the money  
is needed and how it is going to be paid
 off4  ,money is only a tool in         

business4 ,it is just a part of the     
machinery4 ,you might as well borrow    
#ajj1jjj lathes as #ajj1jjj if the      
trouble is inside your business4 ,more  
lathes will not cure it2 neither will   
more money4 ,only heavier doses of      
brains and thought and wise courage can 
cure4 ,a business that misuses what it  
has will continue to misuse what it can 
get4 ,the point is--cure the misuse4    
,when that is done1 the business will   
begin to make its own money1 just as a  
repaired human body begins to make      
sufficient pure blood4  ,borrowing may  
easily become an excuse for not boring  
into the trouble4 ,borrowing may easily 
become a sop for laziness and pride4    
,some business men are too lazy to get  
into overalls and go down to see what is
 the matter4 ,or they are too proud to  
permit the thought that anything they   
have originated could go wrong4 ,but the
 laws of business are like the law of   
gravity1 and the man who opposes them   
feels their power4  ,borrowing for      

expansion is one thing2 borrowing to    
make up for mismanagement and waste is  
quite another4 ,you do not want money   
for the latter--for the reason that     
money cannot do the job4 ,waste is      
corrected by economy2 mismanagement is  
corrected by brains4 ,neither of these  
correctives has anything to do with     
money4 ,indeed1 money under certain     
circumstances is their enemy4 ,and many 
a business man thanks his stars for the 
pinch which showed him that his best    
capital was in his own brains and not in
 bank loans4 ,borrowing under certain   
circumstances is just like a drunkard   
taking another drink to cure the effect 
of the last one4 ,it does not do what it
 is expected to do4 ,it simply increases
 the difficulty4 ,tightening up the     
loose places in a business is much more 
profitable than any amount of new       
capital at #g per cent4  ,the internal  
ailments of business are the ones that  
require most attention4 ,business in the
 sense of trading with the people is    

largely a matter of filling the wants of
 the people4 ,if you make what they     
need1 and sell it at a price which makes
 possession a help and not a hardship1  
then you will do business as long as    
there is business to do4 ,people buy    
what helps them just as naturally as    
they drink water4  ,but the process of  
making the article will require constant
 care4 ,machinery wears out and needs to
 be restored4 ,men grow uppish1 lazy1 or
 careless4 ,a business is men and       
machines united in the production of a  
commodity1 and both the man and the     
machines need repairs and replacements4 
,sometimes it is the men higher up who  
most need revamping--and they themselves
 are always the last to recognize it4   
,when a business becomes congested with 
bad methods2 when a business becomes ill
 through lack of attention to one or    
more of its functions2 when executives  
sit comfortably back in their chairs as 
if the plans they inaugurated are going 
to keep them going forever2 when        

business becomes a mere plantation on   
which to live1 and not a big work which 
one has to do--then you may expect      
trouble4 ,you will wake up some fine    
morning and find yourself doing more    
business than you have ever done        
before--and getting less out of it4 ,you
 find yourself short of money4 ,you can 
borrow money4 ,and you can do it1 oh1 so
 easily4 ,people will crowd money on    
you4 ,it is the most subtle temptation  
the young business man has4 ,but if you 
do borrow money you are simply giving a 
stimulant to whatever may be wrong4 ,you
 feed the disease4 ,is a man more wise  
with borrowed money than he is with his 
own8 ,not as a usual thing4 ,to borrow  
under such conditions is to mortgage a  
declining property4  ,the time for a    
business man to borrow money1 if ever1  
is when he does not need it4 ,that is1  
when he does not need it as a substitute
 for the things he ought himself to do4 
,if a man's business is in excellent    
condition and in need of expansion1 it  

is comparatively safe to borrow4 ,but if
 a business is in need of money through 
mismanagement1 then the thing to do is  
to get into the business and correct the
 trouble from the inside--not poultice  
it with loans from the outside4  ,my    
financial policy is the result of my    
sales policy4 ,i hold that it is better 
to sell a large number of articles at a 
small profit than to sell a few at a    
large profit4 ,this enables a larger    
number of people to buy and it gives a  
larger number of men employment at good 
wages4 ,it permits the planning of      
production1 the elimination of dull     
seasons1 and the waste of carrying an   
idle plant4 ,thus results a suitable1   
continuous business1 and if you will    
think it over1 you will discover that   
most so-called urgent financing is made 
necessary because of a lack of planned1 
continuous business4 ,reducing prices is
 taken by the short-sighted to be the   
same as reducing the income of a        
business4 ,it is very difficult to deal 

with that sort of a mind because it is  
so totally lacking in even the          
background knowledge of what business   
is4 ,for instance1 ,i was once asked1   
when contemplating a reduction of eighty
 dollars a car1 whether on a production 
of five hundred thousand cars this would
 not reduce the income of the company by
 forty million dollars4 ,of course if   
one sold only five hundred thousand cars
 at the new price1 the income would be  
reduced forty million dollars--which is 
an interesting mathematical calculation 
that has nothing whatsoever to do with  
business1 because unless you reduce the 
price of an article the sales do not    
continuously increase and therefore the 
business has no stability4  ,if a       
business is not increasing1 it is bound 
to be decreasing1 and a decreasing      
business always needs a lot of          
financing4 ,old-time business went on   
the doctrine that prices should always  
be kept up to the highest point at which
 people will buy4 ,really modern        

business has to take the opposite view4 
,bankers and lawyers can rarely         
appreciate this fact4 ,they confuse     
inertia with stability4 ,it is perfectly
 beyond their comprehension that the    
price should ever voluntarily be        
reduced4 ,that is why putting the usual 
type of banker or lawyer into the       
management of a business is courting    
disaster4 ,reducing prices increases the
 volume and disposes of finance1        
provided one regards the inevitable     
profit as a trust fund with which to    
conduct more and better business4 ,our  
profit1 because of the rapidity of the  
turnover in the business and the great  
volume of sales1 has1 no matter what the
 price at which the product was sold1   
always been large4 ,we have had a small 
profit per article but a large aggregate
 profit4 ,the profit is not constant4   
,after cutting the prices1 the profits  
for a time run low1 but then the        
inevitable economies begin to get in    
their work and the profits go high      

again4 ,but they are not distributed as 
dividends4 ,i have always insisted on   
the payment of small dividends and the  
company has to-day no stockholders who  
wanted a different policy4 ,i regard    
business profits above a small          
percentage as belonging more to the     
business than to the stockholders4  ,the
 stockholders1 to my way of thinking1   
ought to be only those who are active in
 the business and who will regard the   
company as an instrument of service     
rather than as a machine for making     
money4 ,if large profits are made--and  
working to serve forces them to be      
large--then they should be in part      
turned back into the business so that it
 may be still better fitted to serve1   
and in part passed on to the purchaser4 
,during one year our profits were so    
much larger than we expected them to be 
that we voluntarily returned fifty      
dollars to each purchaser of a car4 ,we 
felt that unwittingly we had overcharged
 the purchaser by that much4 ,my price  

policy and hence my financial policy    
came up in a suit brought against the   
company several years ago to compel the 
payment of larger dividends4 ,on the    
witness stand ,i gave the policy then in
 force and which is still in force4 ,it 
is this3  ,in the first place1 ,i hold  
that it is better to sell a large number
 of cars at a reasonably small margin   
than to sell fewer cars at a large      
margin of profit4  ,i hold this because 
it enables a large number of people to  
buy and enjoy the use of a car and      
because it gives a larger number of men 
employment at good wages4 ,those are    
aims ,i have in life4 ,but ,i would not 
be counted a success2 ,i would be1 in   
fact1 a flat failure if ,i could not    
accomplish that and at the same time    
make a fair amount of profit for myself 
and the men associated with me in       
business4  ,this policy ,i hold is good 
business policy because it              
works--because with each succeeding year
 we have been able to put our car within

 the reach of greater and greater       
numbers1 give employment to more and    
more men1 and1 at the same time1 through
 the volume of business1 increase our   
own profits beyond anything we had hoped
 for or even dreamed of when we started4
  ,bear in mind1 every time you reduce  
the price of the car without reducing   
the quality1 you increase the possible  
number of purchasers4 ,there are many   
men who will pay #cfj for a car who     
would not pay #ddj4 ,we had in round    
numbers #ejj1jjj buyers of cars on the  
#ddj basis1 and ,i figure that on the   
#cfj basis we can increase the sales to 
possibly #hjj1jjj cars for the          
year--less profit on each car1 but more 
cars1 more employment of labour1 and in 
the end we shall get all the total      
profit we ought to make4  ,and let me   
say right here1 that ,i do not believe  
that we should make such an awful profit
 on our cars4 ,a reasonable profit is   
right1 but not too much4 ,so it has been
 my policy to force the price of the car

 down as fast as production would       
permit1 and give the benefits to users  
and labourers--with resulting           
surprisingly enormous benefits to       
ourselves4  ,this policy does not agree 
with the general opinion that a business
 is to be managed to the end that the   
stockholders can take out the largest   
possible amount of cash4 ,therefore ,i  
do not want stockholders in the ordinary
 sense of the term--they do not help    
forward the ability to serve4 ,my       
ambition is to employ more and more men 
and to spread1 in so far as ,i am able1 
the benefits of the industrial system   
that we are working to found2 we want to
 help build lives and homes4 ,this      
requires that the largest share of the  
profits be put back into productive     
enterprise4 ,hence we have no place for 
the non-working stockholders4 ,the      
working stockholder is more anxious to  
increase his opportunity to serve than  
to bank dividends4  ,if it at any time  
became a question between lowering wages

 or abolishing dividends1 ,i would      
abolish dividends4 ,that time is not apt
 to come1 for1 as ,i have pointed out1  
there is no economy in low wages4 ,it is
 bad financial policy to reduce wages   
because it also reduces buying power4   
,if one believes that leadership brings 
responsibility1 then a part of that     
responsibility is in seeing that those  
whom one leads shall have an adequate   
opportunity to earn a living4 ,finance  
concerns not merely the profit or       
solvency of a company2 it also          
comprehends the amount of money that the
 company turns back to the community    
through wages4 ,there is no charity in  
this4 ,there is no charity in proper    
wages4 ,it is simply that no company can
 be said to be stable which is not so   
well managed that it can afford a man an
 opportunity to do a great deal of work 
and therefore to earn a good wage4      
,there is something sacred about        
wages--they represent homes and families
 and domestic destinies4 ,people ought  

to tread very carefully when approaching
 wages4 ,on the cost sheet1 wages are   
mere figures2 out in the world1 wages   
are bread boxes and coal bins1 babies'  
cradles and children's education--family
 comforts and contentment4 ,on the other
 hand1 there is something just as sacred
 about capital which is used to provide 
the means by which work can be made     
productive4 ,nobody is helped if our    
industries are sucked dry of their      
life-blood4 ,there is something just as 
sacred about a shop that employs        
thousands of men as there is about a    
home4 ,the shop is the mainstay of all  
the finer things which the home         
represents4 ,if we want the home to be  
happy1 we must contrive to keep the shop
 busy4 ,the whole justification of the  
profits made by the shop is that they   
are used to make doubly secure the homes
 dependent on that shop1 and to create  
more jobs for other men4 ,if profits go 
to swell a personal fortune1 that is one
 thing2 if they go to provide a sounder 

basis for business1 better working      
conditions1 better wages1 more extended 
employment--that is quite another thing4
 ,capital thus employed should not be   
carelessly tampered with4 ,it is for the
 service of all1 though it may be under 
the direction of one4  ,profits belong  
in three places3 they belong to the     
business--to keep it steady1            
progressive1 and sound4 ,they belong to 
the men who helped produce them4 ,and   
they belong also1 in part1 to the       
public4 ,a successful business is       
profitable to all three of these        
interests--planner1 producer1 and       
purchaser4  ,people whose profits are   
excessive when measured by any sound    
standard should be the first to cut     
prices4 ,but they never are4 ,they pass 
all their extra costs down the line     
until the whole burden is borne by the  
consumer2 and besides doing that1 they  
charge the consumer a percentage on the 
increased charges4 ,their whole business
 philosophy is3 ,get while the getting  

is good4 ,they are the speculators1 the 
exploiters1 the no-good element that is 
always injuring legitimate business4    
,there is nothing to be expected from   
them4 ,they have no vision4 ,they cannot
 see beyond their own cash registers4   
,these people can talk more easily about
 a #aj or #bj per cent4 cut in wages    
than they can about a #aj or #bj per    
cent4 cut in profits4 ,but a business   
man1 surveying the whole community in   
all its interests and wishing to serve  
that community1 ought to be able to make
 his contribution to stability4  ,it has
 been our policy always to keep on hand 
a large amount of cash--the cash balance
 in recent years has usually been in    
excess of fifty million dollars4 ,this  
is deposited in banks all over the      
country1 we do not borrow but we have   
established lines of credit1 so that if 
we so cared we might raise a very large 
amount of money by bank borrowing4 ,but 
keeping the cash reserve makes borrowing
 unnecessary--our provision is only to  

be prepared to meet an emergency4 ,i    
have no prejudice against proper        
borrowing4 ,it is merely that ,i do not 
want to run the danger of having the    
control of the business and hence the   
particular idea of service to which ,i  
am devoted taken into other hands4  ,a  
considerable part of finance is in the  
overcoming of seasonal operation4 ,the  
flow of money ought to be nearly        
continuous4 ,one must work steadily in  
order to work profitably4 ,shutting down
 involves great waste4 ,it brings the   
waste of unemployment of men1 the waste 
of unemployment of equipment1 and the   
waste of restricted future sales through
 the higher prices of interrupted       
production4 ,that has been one of the   
problems we had to meet4 ,we could not  
manufacture cars to stock during the    
winter months when purchases are less   
than in spring or summer4 ,where or how 
could any one store half a million cars8
 ,and if stored1 how could they be      
shipped in the rush season8 ,and who    

would find the money to carry such a    
stock of cars even if they could be     
stored8  ,seasonal work is hard on the  
working force4 ,good mechanics will not 
accept jobs that are good for only part 
of the year4 ,to work in full force     
twelve months of the year guarantees    
workmen of ability1 builds up a         
permanent manufacturing organization1   
and continually improves the            
product--the men in the factory1 through
 uninterrupted service1 become more     
familiar with the operations4  ,the     
factory must build1 the sales department
 must sell1 and the dealer must buy cars
 all the year through1 if each would    
enjoy the maximum profit to be derived  
from the business4 ,if the retail buyer 
will not consider purchasing except in  
seasons1 a campaign of education needs  
to be waged1 proving the                
all-the-year-around value of a car      
rather than the limited-season value4   
,and while the educating is being done1 
the manufacturer must build1 and the    

dealer must buy1 in anticipation of     
business4  ,we were the first to meet   
the problem in the automobile business4 
,the selling of ,ford cars is a         
merchandising proposition4 ,in the days 
when every car was built to order and   
#ej cars a month a big output1 it was   
reasonable to wait for the sale before  
ordering4 ,the manufacturer waited for  
the order before building4  ,we very    
shortly found that we could not do      
business on order4 ,the factory could   
not be built large enough--even were it 
desirable--to make between ,march and   
,august all the cars that were ordered  
during those months4 ,therefore1 years  
ago began the campaign of education to  
demonstrate that a ,ford was not a      
summer luxury but a year-round          
necessity4 ,coupled with that came the  
education of the dealer into the        
knowledge that even if he could not sell
 so many cars in winter as in summer it 
would pay him to stock in winter for the
 summer and thus be able to make instant

 delivery4 ,both plans have worked out2 
in most parts of the country cars are   
used almost as much in winter as in     
summer4 ,it has been found that they    
will run in snow1 ice1 or mud--in       
anything4 ,hence the winter sales are   
constantly growing larger and the       
seasonal demand is in part lifted from  
the dealer4 ,and he finds it profitable 
to buy ahead in anticipation of needs4  
,thus we have no seasons in the plant2  
the production1 up until the last couple
 of years1 has been continuous excepting
 for the annual shut downs for          
inventory4 ,we have had an interruption 
during the period of extreme depression 
but it was an interruption made         
necessary in the process of readjusting 
ourselves to the market conditions4  ,in
 order to attain continuous production  
and hence a continuous turning over of  
money we have had to plan our operations
 with extreme care4 ,the plan of        
production is worked out very carefully 
each month between the sales and        

production departments1 with the object 
of producing enough cars so that those  
in transit will take care of the orders 
in hand4 ,formerly1 when we assembled   
and shipped cars1 this was of the       
highest importance because we had no    
place in which to store finished cars4  
,now we ship parts instead of cars and  
assemble only those required for the    
,detroit district4 ,that makes the      
planning no less important1 for if the  
production stream and the order stream  
are not approximately equal we should be
 either jammed with unsold parts or     
behind in our orders4 ,when you are     
turning out the parts to make #d1jjj    
cars a day1 just a very little          
carelessness in overestimating orders   
will pile up a finished inventory       
running into the millions4 ,that makes  
the balancing of operations an          
exceedingly delicate matter4  ,in order 
to earn the proper profit on our narrow 
margin we must have a rapid turnover4   
,we make cars to sell1 not to store1 and

 a month's unsold production would turn 
into a sum the interest on which alone  
would be enormous4 ,the production is   
planned a year ahead and the number of  
cars to be made in each month of the    
year is scheduled1 for of course it is a
 big problem to have the raw materials  
and such parts as we still buy from the 
outside flowing in consonance with      
production4 ,we can no more afford to   
carry large stocks of finished than we  
can of raw material4 ,everything has to 
move in and move out4 ,and we have had  
some narrow escapes4 ,some years ago the
 plant of the ,diamond ,manufacturing   
,company burned down4 ,they were making 
radiator parts for us and the brass     
parts--tubings and castings4 ,we had to 
move quickly or take a big loss4 ,we got
 together the heads of all our          
departments1 the pattern-makers and the 
draughtsmen4 ,they worked from          
twenty-four to forty-eight hours on a   
stretch4 ,they made new patterns2 the   
,diamond ,company leased a plant and got

 some machinery in by express4 ,we      
furnished the other equipment for them  
and in twenty days they were shipping   
again4 ,we had enough stock on hand to  
carry us over1 say1 for seven or eight  
days1 but that fire prevented us        
shipping cars for ten or fifteen days4  
,except for our having stock ahead it   
would have held us up for twenty        
days--and our expenses would have gone  
right on4  ,to repeat4 ,the place in    
which to finance is the shop4 ,it has   
never failed us1 and once1 when it was  
thought that we were hard up for money1 
it served rather conclusively to        
demonstrate how much better finance can 
be conducted from the inside than from  
the outside4     ,,chapter ,,xii        
,,money--,,master ,,or ,,servant8   ,in 
,december1 #aibj1 business the country  
over was marking time4 ,more automobile 
plants were closed than were open and   
quite a number of those which were      
closed were completely in the charge of 
bankers4 ,rumours of bad financial      

condition were afloat concerning nearly 
every industrial company1 and ,i became 
interested when the reports persisted   
that the ,ford ,motor ,company not only 
needed money but could not get it4 ,i   
have become accustomed to all kinds of  
rumours about our company--so much so1  
that nowadays ,i rarely deny any sort of
 rumour4 ,but these reports differed    
from all previous ones4 ,they were so   
exact and circumstantial4 ,i learned    
that ,i had overcome my prejudice       
against borrowing and that ,i might be  
found almost any day down in ,wall      
,street1 hat in hand1 asking for money4 
,and rumour went even further and said  
that no one would give me money and that
 ,i might have to break up and go out of
 business4  ,it is true that we did have
 a problem4 ,in #aiai we had borrowed   
#gj1jjj1jjj on notes to buy the full    
stock interest in the ,ford ,motor      
,company4 ,on this we had #cc1jjj1jjj   
left to pay4 ,we had #ah1jjj1jjj in     
income taxes due or shortly to become   

due to the ,government1 and also we     
intended to pay our usual bonus for the 
year to the workmen1 which amounted to  
#g1jjj1jjj4 ,altogether1 between        
,january #ast and ,april #ah1 #aiba1 we 
had payments ahead totaling #eh1jjj1jjj4
 ,we had only #bj1jjj1jjj in bank4 ,our 
balance sheet was more or less common   
knowledge and ,i suppose it was taken   
for granted that we could not raise the 
#ch1jjj1jjj needed without borrowing4   
,for that is quite a large sum of money4
 ,without the aid of ,wall ,street such 
a sum could not easily and quickly be   
raised4 ,we were perfectly good for the 
money4 ,two years before we had borrowed
 #gj1jjj1jjj4 ,and since our whole      
property was unencumbered and we had no 
commercial debts1 the matter of lending 
a large sum to us would not ordinarily  
have been a matter of moment4 ,in fact1 
it would have been good banking         
business4  ,however1 ,i began to see    
that our need for money was being       
industriously circulated as an evidence 

of impending failure4 ,then ,i began to 
suspect that1 although the rumours came 
in news dispatches from all over the    
country1 they might perhaps be traced to
 a single source4 ,this belief was      
further strengthened when we were       
informed that a very fat financial      
editor was at ,battle ,creek sending out
 bulletins concerning the acuteness of  
our financial condition4 ,therefore1 ,i 
took care not to deny a single rumour4  
,we had made our financial plans and    
they did not include borrowing money4   
,i cannot too greatly emphasize that the
 very worst time to borrow money is when
 the banking people think that you need 
money4 ,in the last chapter ,i outlined 
our financial principles4 ,we simply    
applied those principles4 ,we planned a 
thorough house-cleaning4  ,go back a bit
 and see what the conditions were4      
,along in the early part of #aibj came  
the first indications that the feverish 
speculative business engendered by the  
war was not going to continue4 ,a few   

concerns that had sprung out of the war 
and had no real reason for existence    
failed4 ,people slowed down in their    
buying4 ,our own sales kept right along1
 but we knew that sooner or later they  
would drop off4 ,i thought seriously of 
cutting prices1 but the costs of        
manufacturing everywhere were out of    
control4 ,labour gave less and less in  
return for high wages4 ,the suppliers of
 raw material refused even to think of  
coming back to earth4 ,the very plain   
warnings of the storm went quite        
unheeded4  ,in ,june our own sales began
 to be affected4 ,they grew less and    
less each month from ,june on until     
,september4 ,we had to do something to  
bring our product within the purchasing 
power of the public1 and not only that1 
we had to do something drastic enough to
 demonstrate to the public that we were 
actually playing the game and not just  
shamming4 ,therefore in ,september we   
cut the price of the touring car from   
#ege to #ddj4 ,we cut the price far     

below the cost of production1 for we    
were still making from stock bought at  
boom prices4 ,the cut created a         
considerable sensation4 ,we received a  
deal of criticism4 ,it was said that we 
were disturbing conditions4 ,that is    
exactly what we were trying to do4 ,we  
wanted to do our part in bringing prices
 from an artificial to a natural level4 
,i am firmly of the opinion that if at  
this time or earlier manufacturers and  
distributors had all made drastic cuts  
in their prices and had put through     
thorough house-cleanings we should not  
have so long a business depression4     
,hanging on in the hope of getting      
higher prices simply delayed adjustment4
 ,nobody got the higher prices they     
hoped for1 and if the losses had been   
taken all at once1 not only would the   
productive and the buying powers of the 
country have become harmonized1 but we  
should have been saved this long period 
of general idleness4 ,hanging on in the 
hope of higher prices merely made the   

losses greater1 because those who hung  
on had to pay interest on their         
high-priced stocks and also lost the    
profits they might have made by working 
on a sensible basis4 ,unemployment cut  
down wage distribution and thus the     
buyer and the seller became more and    
more separated4 ,there was a lot of     
flurried talk of arranging to give vast 
credits to ,europe--the idea being that 
thereby the high-priced stocks might be 
palmed off4 ,of course the proposals    
were not put in any such crude fashion1 
and ,i think that quite a lot of people 
sincerely believed that if large credits
 were extended abroad even without a    
hope of the payment of either principal 
or interest1 ,american business would   
somehow be benefited4 ,it is true that  
if these credits were taken by ,american
 banks1 those who had high-priced stocks
 might have gotten rid of them at a     
profit1 but the banks would have        
acquired so much frozen credit that they
 would have more nearly resembled ice   

houses than banks4 ,i suppose it is     
natural to hang on to the possibility of
 profits until the very last moment1 but
 it is not good business4  ,our own     
sales1 after the cut1 increased1 but    
soon they began to fall off again4 ,we  
were not sufficiently within the        
purchasing power of the country to make 
buying easy4 ,retail prices generally   
had not touched bottom4 ,the public     
distrusted all prices4 ,we laid our     
plans for another cut and we kept our   
production around one hundred thousand  
cars a month4 ,this production was not  
justified by our sales but we wanted to 
have as much as possible of our raw     
material transformed into finished      
product before we shut down4 ,we knew   
that we would have to shut down in order
 to take an inventory and clean house4  
,we wanted to open with another big cut 
and to have cars on hand to supply the  
demand4 ,then the new cars could be     
built out of material bought at lower   
prices4 ,we determined that we were     

going to get lower prices4  ,we shut    
down in ,december with the intention of 
opening again in about two weeks4 ,we   
found so much to do that actually we did
 not open for nearly six weeks4 ,the    
moment that we shut down the rumours    
concerning our financial condition      
became more and more active4 ,i know    
that a great many people hoped that we  
should have to go out after money--for1 
were we seeking money1 then we should   
have to come to terms4 ,we did not ask  
for money4 ,we did not want money4 ,we  
had one offer of money4 ,an officer of a
 ,new ,york bank called on me with a    
financial plan which included a large   
loan and in which also was an           
arrangement by which a representative of
 the bankers would act as treasurer and 
take charge of the finance of the       
company4 ,those people meant well       
enough1 ,i am quite sure4 ,we did not   
want to borrow money but it so happened 
that at the moment we were without a    
treasurer4 ,to that extent the bankers  

had envisaged our condition correctly4  
,i asked my son ,edsel to be treasurer  
as well as president of the company4    
,that fixed us up as to a treasurer1 so 
there was really nothing at all that the
 bankers could do for us4  ,then we     
began our house-cleaning4 ,during the   
war we had gone into many kinds of war  
work and had thus been forced to depart 
from our principle of a single product4 
,this had caused many new departments to
 be added4 ,the office force had        
expanded and much of the wastefulness of
 scattered production had crept in4 ,war
 work is rush work and is wasteful work4
 ,we began throwing out everything that 
did not contribute to the production of 
cars4  ,the only immediate payment      
scheduled was the purely voluntary one  
of a seven-million-dollar bonus to our  
workmen4 ,there was no obligation to    
pay1 but we wanted to pay on the first  
of ,january4 ,that we paid out of our   
cash on hand4  ,throughout the country  
we have thirty-five branches4 ,these are

 all assembling plants1 but in          
twenty-two of them parts are also       
manufactured4 ,they had stopped the     
making of parts but they went on        
assembling cars4 ,at the time of        
shutting down we had practically no cars
 in ,detroit4 ,we had shipped out all   
the parts1 and during ,january the      
,detroit dealers actually had to go as  
far a field as ,chicago and ,columbus to
 get cars for local needs4 ,the branches
 shipped to each dealer1 under his      
yearly quota1 enough cars to cover about
 a month's sales4 ,the dealers worked   
hard on sales4 ,during the latter part  
of ,january we called in a skeleton     
organization of about ten thousand men1 
mostly foremen1 sub-foremen1 and straw  
bosses1 and we started ,highland ,park  
into production4 ,we collected our      
foreign accounts and sold our           
by-products4  ,then we were ready for   
full production4 ,and gradually into    
full production we went--on a profitable
 basis4 ,the house-cleaning swept out   

the waste that had both made the prices 
high and absorbed the profit4 ,we sold  
off the useless stuff4 ,before we had   
employed fifteen men per car per day4   
,afterward we employed nine per car per 
day4 ,this did not mean that six out of 
fifteen men lost their jobs4 ,they only 
ceased being unproductive4 ,we made that
 cut by applying the rule that          
everything and everybody must produce or
 get out4  ,we cut our office forces in 
halves and offered the office workers   
better jobs in the shops4 ,most of them 
took the jobs4 ,we abolished every order
 blank and every form of statistics that
 did not directly aid in the production 
of a car4 ,we had been collecting tons  
of statistics because they were         
interesting4 ,but statistics will not   
construct automobiles--so out they went4
  ,we took out #fj per cent4 of our     
telephone extensions4 ,only a           
comparatively few men in any            
organization need telephones4 ,we       
formerly had a foreman for every five   

men2 now we have a foreman for every    
twenty men4 ,the other foremen are      
working on machines4  ,we cut the       
overhead charge from #adf a car to #ic a
 car1 and when you realize what this    
means on more than four thousand cars a 
day you will have an idea how1 not by   
economy1 not by wage-cutting1 but by the
 elimination of waste1 it is possible to
 make an impossible price4 ,most        
important of all1 we found out how to   
use less money in our business by       
speeding up the turnover4 ,and in       
increasing the turnover rate1 one of the
 most important factors was the         
,detroit1 ,toledo1  ,ironton            
,railroad--which we purchased4 ,the     
railroad took a large place in the      
scheme of economy4 ,to the road itself  
,i have given another chapter4  ,we     
discovered1 after a little              
experimenting1 that freight service     
could be improved sufficiently to reduce
 the cycle of manufacture from          
twenty-two to fourteen days4 ,that is1  

raw material could be bought1           
manufactured1 and the finished product  
put into the hands of the distributor in
 7roughly7 #cc per cent4 less time than 
before4 ,we had been carrying an        
inventory of around #fj1jjj1jjj to      
insure uninterrupted production4        
,cutting down the time one third        
released #bj1jjj1jjj1 or #a1bjj1jjj a   
year in interest4 ,counting the finished
 inventory1 we saved approximately      
#h1jjj1jjj more--that is1 we were able  
to release #bh1jjj1jjj in capital and   
save the interest on that sum4  ,on     
,january #ast we had #bj1jjj1jjj4 ,on   
,april #ast we had #hg1cjj1jjj1 or      
#bg1cjj1jjj more than we needed to wipe 
out all our indebtedness4 ,that is what 
boring into the business did for us6    
,this amount came to us in these items3 
,cash on hand1 ,january                 
#bj1jjj1jjj   ,stock on hand turned into
 cash1 ,january #a to ,april #a         
#bd1gjj1jjj   ,speeding up transit of   
goods released                          

#bh1jjj1jjj   ,collected from agents in 
foreign countries             #c1jjj1jjj
   ,sale of by-products                 
#c1gjj1jjj   ,sale of ,liberty ,bonds   
#g1ijj1jjj    ,,total                   
#hg1cjj1jjj  ,now ,i have told about all
 this not in the way of an exploit1 but 
to point out how a business may find    
resources within itself instead of      
borrowing1 and also to start a little   
thinking as to whether the form of our  
money may not put a premium on borrowing
 and thus give far too great a place in 
life to the bankers4  ,we could have    
borrowed #dj1jjj1jjj--more had we wanted
 to4 ,suppose we had borrowed1 what     
would have happened8 ,should we have    
been better fitted to go on with our    
business8 ,or worse fitted8 ,if we had  
borrowed we should not have been under  
the necessity of finding methods to     
cheapen production4 ,had we been able to
 obtain the money at #f per cent4       
flat--and we should in commissions and  
the like have had to pay more than      

that--the interest charge alone on a    
yearly production of #ejj1jjj cars would
 have amounted to about four dollars a  
car4 ,therefore we should now be without
 the benefit of better production and   
loaded with a heavy debt4 ,our cars     
would probably cost about one hundred   
dollars more than they do2 hence we     
should have a smaller production1 for we
 could not have so many buyers2 we      
should employ fewer men1 and in short1  
should not be able to serve to the      
utmost4 ,you will note that the         
financiers proposed to cure by lending  
money and not by bettering methods4     
,they did not suggest putting in an     
engineer2 they wanted to put in a       
treasurer4  ,and that is the danger of  
having bankers in business4 ,they think 
solely in terms of money4 ,they think of
 a factory as making money1 not goods4  
,they want to watch the money1 not the  
efficiency of production4 ,they cannot  
comprehend that a business never stands 
still1 it must go forward or go back4   

,they regard a reduction in prices as a 
throwing away of profit instead of as a 
building of business4  ,bankers play far
 too great a part in the conduct of     
industry4 ,most business men will       
privately admit that fact4 ,they will   
seldom publicly admit it because they   
are afraid of their bankers4 ,it        
required less skill to make a fortune   
dealing in money than dealing in        
production4 ,the average successful     
banker is by no means so intelligent and
 resourceful a man as is the average    
successful business man4 ,yet the banker
 through his control of credit          
practically controls the average        
business man4  ,there has been a great  
reaching out by bankers in the last     
fifteen or twenty years--and especially 
since the war--and the ,federal ,reserve
 ,system for a time put into their hands
 an almost limitless supply of credit4  
,the banker is1 as ,i have noted1 by    
training and because of his position1   
totally unsuited to the conduct of      

industry4 ,if1 therefore1 the           
controllers of credit have lately       
acquired this very large power1 is it   
not to be taken as a sign that there is 
something wrong with the financial      
system that gives to finance instead of 
to service the predominant power in     
industry8 ,it was not the industrial    
acumen of the bankers that brought them 
into the management of industry4        
,everyone will admit that4 ,they were   
pushed there1 willy-nilly1 by the system
 itself4 ,therefore1 ,i personally want 
to discover whether we are operating    
under the best financial system4  ,now1 
let me say at once that my objection to 
bankers has nothing to do with          
personalities4 ,i am not against bankers
 as such4 ,we stand very much in need of
 thoughtful men1 skilled in finance4    
,the world cannot go on without banking 
facilities4 ,we have to have money4 ,we 
have to have credit4 ,otherwise the     
fruits of production could not be       
exchanged4 ,we have to have capital4    

,without it there could be no           
production4 ,but whether we have based  
our banking and our credit on the right 
foundation is quite another matter4  ,it
 is no part of my thought to attack our 
financial system4 ,i am not in the      
position of one who has been beaten by  
the system and wants revenge4 ,it does  
not make the least difference to me     
personally what bankers do because we   
have been able to manage our affairs    
without outside financial aid4 ,my      
inquiry is prompted by no personal      
motive whatsoever4 ,i only want to know 
whether the greatest good is being      
rendered to the greatest number4  ,no   
financial system is good which favors   
one class of producers over another4 ,we
 want to discover whether it is not     
possible to take away power which is not
 based on wealth creation4 ,any sort of 
class legislation is pernicious4 ,i     
think that the country's production has 
become so changed in its methods that   
gold is not the best medium with which  

it may be measured1 and that the gold   
standard as a control of credit gives1  
as it is now 7and ,i believe inevitably7
 administered1 class advantage4 ,the    
ultimate check on credit is the amount  
of gold in the country1 regardless of   
the amount of wealth in the country4  ,i
 am not prepared to dogmatize on the    
subject of money or credit4 ,as far as  
money and credit are concerned1 no one  
as yet knows enough about them to       
dogmatize4 ,the whole question will have
 to be settled as all other questions of
 real importance have to be settled1 and
 that is by cautious1 well-founded      
experiment4 ,and ,i am not inclined to  
go beyond cautious experiments4 ,we have
 to proceed step by step and very       
carefully4 ,the question is not         
political1 it is economic1 and ,i am    
perfectly certain that helping the      
people to think on the question is      
wholly advantageous4 ,they will not act 
without adequate knowledge1 and thus    
cause disaster1 if a sincere effort is  

made to provide them with knowledge4    
,the money question has first place in  
multitudes of minds of all degrees or   
power4 ,but a glance at most of the     
cure-all systems shows how contradictory
 they are4 ,the majority of them make   
the assumption of honesty among mankind1
 to begin with1 and that1 of course1 is 
a prime defect4 ,even our present system
 would work splendidly if all men were  
honest4 ,as a matter of fact1 the whole 
money question is #ie per cent4 human   
nature2 and your successful system must 
check human nature1 not depend upon it4 
,the people are thinking about the money
 question2 and if the money masters have
 any information which they think the   
people ought to have to prevent them    
going astray1 now is the time to give   
it4 ,the days are fast slipping away    
when the fear of credit curtailment will
 avail1 or when wordy slogans will      
affright4 ,the people are naturally     
conservative4 ,they are more            
conservative than the financiers4 ,those

 who believe that the people are so     
easily led that they would permit       
printing presses to run off money like  
milk tickets do not understand them4 ,it
 is the innate conservation of the      
people that has kept our money good in  
spite of the fantastic tricks which the 
financiers play--and which they cover up
 with high technical terms4  ,the people
 are on the side of sound money4 ,they  
are so unalterably on the side of sound 
money that it is a serious question how 
they would regard the system under which
 they live1 if they once knew what the  
initiated can do with it4  ,the present 
money system is not going to be changed 
by speech-making or political           
sensationalism or economic experiment4  
,it is going to change under the        
pressure of conditions--conditions that 
we cannot control and pressure that we  
cannot control4 ,these conditions are   
now with us2 that pressure is now upon  
us4  ,the people must be helped to think
 naturally about money4 ,they must be   

told what it is1 and what makes it      
money1 and what are the possible tricks 
of the present system which put nations 
and peoples under control of the few4   
,money1 after all1 is extremely simple4 
,it is a part of our transportation     
system4 ,it is a simple and direct      
method of conveying goods from one      
person to another4 ,money is in itself  
most admirable4 ,it is essential4 ,it is
 not intrinsically evil4 ,it is one of  
the most useful devices in social life4 
,and when it does what it was intended  
to do1 it is all help and no hindrance4 
,but money should always be money4 ,a   
foot is always twelve inches1 but when  
is a dollar a dollar8 ,if ton weights   
changed in the coal yard1 and peck      
measures changed in the grocery1 and    
yard sticks were to-day #db inches and  
to-morrow #cc inches 7by some occult    
process called exchange7 the people     
would mighty soon remedy that4 ,when a  
dollar is not always a dollar1 when the 
#ajj-;cent dollar becomes the #fe-;cent 

dollar1 and then the #ej-;cent dollar1  
and then the #dg-;cent dollar1 as the   
good old ,american gold and silver      
dollars did1 what is the use of yelling 
about cheap money1 depreciated money8 ,a
 dollar that stays #ajj cents is as     
necessary as a pound that stays #af     
ounces and a yard that stays #cf inches4
  ,the bankers who do straight banking  
should regard themselves as naturally   
the first men to probe and understand   
our monetary system--instead of being   
content with the mastery of local       
banking-house methods2 and if they would
 deprive the gamblers in bank balances  
of the name of banker and oust them once
 for all from the place of influence    
which that name gives them1 banking     
would be restored and established as the
 public service it ought to be1 and the 
iniquities of the present monetary      
system and financial devices would be   
lifted from the shoulders of the people4
  ,there is an if here1 of course4 ,but 
it is not insurmountable4 ,affairs are  

coming to a jam as it is1 and if those  
who possess technical facility do not   
engage to remedy the case1 those who    
lack that facility may attempt it4      
,nothing is more foolish than for any   
class to assume that progress is an     
attack upon it4 ,progress is only a call
 made upon it to lend its experience for
 the general advancement4 ,it is only   
those who are unwise who will attempt to
 obstruct progress and thereby become   
its victims4 ,all of us are here        
together1 all of us must go forward     
together2 it is perfectly silly for any 
man or class to take umbrage at the     
stirring of progress4 ,if financiers    
feel that progress is only the          
restlessness of weak-minded persons1 if 
they regard all suggestions of          
betterment as a personal slap1 then they
 are taking the part which proves more  
than anything else could their unfitness
 to continue in their leadership4  ,if  
the present faulty system is more       
profitable to a financier than a more   

perfect system would be1 and if that    
financier values his few remaining years
 of personal profits more highly than he
 would value the honour of making a     
contribution to the life of the world by
 helping to erect a better system1 then 
there is no way of preventing a clash of
 interests4 ,but it is fair to say to   
the selfish financial interests that1 if
 their fight is waged to perpetuate a   
system just because it profits them1    
then their fight is already lost4 ,why  
should finance fear8 ,the world will    
still be here4 ,men will do business    
with one another4 ,there will be money  
and there will be need of masters of the
 mechanism of money4 ,nothing is going  
to depart but the knots and tangles4    
,there will be some readjustments1 of   
course4 ,banks will no longer be the    
masters of industry4 ,they will be the  
servants of industry4 ,business will    
control money instead of money          
controlling business4 ,the ruinous      
interest system will be greatly         

modified4 ,banking will not be a risk1  
but a service4 ,banks will begin to do  
much more for the people than they do   
now1 and instead of being the most      
expensive businesses in the world to    
manage1 and the most highly profitable  
in the matter of dividends1 they will   
become less costly1 and the profits of  
their operation will go to the community
 which they serve4  ,two facts of the   
old order are fundamental4 ,first3 that 
within the nation itself the tendency of
 financial control is toward its largest
 centralized banking                    
institutions--either a government bank  
or a closely allied group of private    
financiers4 ,there is always in every   
nation a definite control of credit by  
private or semi-public interests4       
,second3 in the world as a whole the    
same centralizing tendency is operative4
 ,an ,american credit is under control  
of ,new ,york interests1 as before the  
war world credit was controlled in      
,london--the ,british pound sterling was

 the standard of exchange for the       
world's trade4  ,two methods of reform  
are open to us1 one beginning at the    
bottom and one beginning at the top4    
,the latter is the more orderly way1 the
 former is being tried in ,russia4 ,if  
our reform should begin at the top it   
will require a social vision and an     
altruistic fervour of a sincerity and   
intensity which is wholly inconsistent  
with selfish shrewdness4  ,the wealth of
 the world neither consists in nor is   
adequately represented by the money of  
the world4 ,gold itself is not a        
valuable commodity4 ,it is no more      
wealth than hat checks are hats4 ,but it
 can be so manipulated1 as the sign of  
wealth1 as to give its owners or        
controllers the whip-hand over the      
credit which producers of real wealth   
require4 ,dealing in money1 the         
commodity of exchange1 is a very        
lucrative business4 ,when money itself  
becomes an article of commerce to be    
bought and sold before real wealth can  

be moved or exchanged1 the usurers and  
speculators are thereby permitted to lay
 a tax on production4 ,the hold which   
controllers of money are able to        
maintain on productive forces is seen to
 be more powerful when it is remembered 
that1 although money is supposed to     
represent the real wealth of the world1 
there is always much more wealth than   
there is money1 and real wealth is often
 compelled to wait upon money1 thus     
leading to that most paradoxical        
situation--a world filled with wealth   
but suffering want4  ,these facts are   
not merely fiscal1 to be cast into      
figures and left there4 ,they are       
instinct with human destiny and they    
bleed4 ,the poverty of the world is     
seldom caused by lack of goods but by a 
money stringency4 ,commercial           
competition between nations1 which leads
 to international rivalry and ill-will1 
which in their turn breed wars-- these  
are some of the human significations of 
these facts4 ,thus poverty and war1 two 

great preventable evils1 grow on a      
single stem4  ,let us see if a beginning
 toward a better method cannot be made4 
,,chapter ,,xiii  ,,why ,,be ,,poor8    
,poverty springs from a number of       
sources1 the more important of which are
 controllable4 ,so does special         
privilege4 ,i think it is entirely      
feasible to abolish both poverty and    
special privilege--and there can be no  
question but that their abolition is    
desirable4 ,both are unnatural1 but it  
is work1 not law1 to which we must look 
for results4  ,by poverty ,i mean the   
lack of reasonably sufficient food1     
housing1 and clothing for an individual 
or a family4 ,there will have to be     
differences in the grades of sustenance4
 ,men are not equal in mentality or in  
physique4 ,any plan which starts with   
the assumption that men are or ought to 
be equal is unnatural and therefore     
unworkable4 ,there can be no feasible or
 desirable process of leveling down4    
,such a course only promotes poverty by 

making it universal instead of          
exceptional4 ,forcing the efficient     
producer to become inefficient does not 
make the inefficient producer more      
efficient4 ,poverty can be done away    
with only by plenty1 and we have now    
gone far enough along in the science of 
production to be able to see1 as a      
natural development1 the day when       
production and distribution will be so  
scientific that all may have according  
to ability and industry4  ,the extreme  
,socialists went wide of the mark in    
their reasoning that industry would     
inevitably crush the worker4 ,modern    
industry is gradually lifting the worker
 and the world4 ,we only need to know   
more about planning and methods4 ,the   
best results can and will be brought    
about by individual initiative and      
ingenuity--by intelligent individual    
leadership4 ,the government1 because it 
is essentially negative1 cannot give    
positive aid to any really constructive 
programme4 ,it can give negative aid--by

 removing obstructions to progress and  
by ceasing to be a burden upon the      
community4  ,the underlying causes of   
poverty1 as ,i can see them1 are        
essentially due to the bad adjustment   
between production and distribution1 in 
both industry and agriculture--between  
the source of power and its application4
 ,the wastes due to lack of adjustment  
are stupendous4 ,all of these wastes    
must fall before intelligent leadership 
consecrated to service4 ,so long as     
leadership thinks more of money than it 
does of service1 the wastes will        
continue4 ,waste is prevented by        
far-sighted not by short-sighted men4   
,short-sighted men think first of money4
 ,they cannot see waste4 ,they think of 
service as altruistic instead of as the 
most practical thing in the world4 ,they
 cannot get far enough away from the    
little things to see the big things--to 
see the biggest thing of all1 which is  
that opportunist production from a      
purely money standpoint is the least    

profitable4  ,service can be based upon 
altruism1 but that sort of service is   
not usually the best4 ,the sentimental  
trips up the practical4  ,it is not that
 the industrial enterprises are unable  
fairly to distribute a share of the     
wealth which they create4 ,it is simply 
that the waste is so great that there is
 not a sufficient share for everyone    
engaged1 notwithstanding the fact that  
the product is usually sold at so high a
 price as to restrict its fullest       
consumption4  ,take some of the wastes4 
,take the wastes of power4 ,the         
,mississippi ,valley is without coal4   
,through its centre pour many millions  
of potential horsepower--the            
,mississippi ,river4 ,but if the people 
by its banks want power or heat they buy
 coal that has been hauled hundreds of  
miles and consequently has to be sold at
 far above its worth as heat or power4  
,or if they cannot afford to buy this   
expensive coal1 they go out and cut down
 trees1 thereby depriving themselves of 

one of the great conservers of water    
power4 ,until recently they never       
thought of the power at hand which1 at  
next to nothing beyond the initial cost1
 could heat1 light1 cook1 and work for  
the huge population which that valley is
 destined to support4  ,the cure of     
poverty is not in personal economy but  
in better production4 ,the thrift and   
economy ideas have been overworked4 ,the
 word economy represents a fear4 ,the   
great and tragic fact of waste is       
impressed on a mind by some             
circumstance1 usually of a most         
materialistic kind4 ,there comes a      
violent reaction against                
extravagance--the mind catches hold of  
the idea of economy4 ,but it only flies 
from a greater to a lesser evil2 it does
 not make the full journey from error to
 truth4  ,economy is the rule of        
half-alive minds4 ,there can be no doubt
 that it is better than waste2 neither  
can there be any doubt that it is not as
 good as use4 ,people who pride         

themselves on their economy take it as a
 virtue4 ,but what is more pitiable than
 a poor1 pinched mind spending the rich 
days and years clutching a few bits of  
metal8 ,what can be fine about paring   
the necessities of life to the very     
quick8 ,we all know economical people   
who seem to be niggardly even about the 
amount of air they breathe and the      
amount of appreciation they will allow  
themselves to give to anything4 ,they   
shrivel--body and soul4 ,economy is     
waste3 it is waste of the juices of     
life1 the sap of living4 ,for there are 
two kinds of waste--that of the prodigal
 who throws his substance away in       
riotous living1 and that of the sluggard
 who allows his substance to rot from   
non-use4 ,the rigid economizer is in    
danger of being classed with the        
sluggard4 ,extravagance is usually a    
reaction from suppression of            
expenditure4 ,economy is likely to be a 
reaction from extravagance4  ,everything
 was given us to use4 ,there is no evil 

from which we suffer that did not come  
about through misuse4 ,the worst sin we 
can commit against the things of our    
common life is to misuse them4 ,misuse  
is the wider term4 ,we like to say      
waste1 but waste is only one phase of   
misuse4 ,all waste is misuse2 all misuse
 is waste4  ,it is possible even to     
overemphasize the saving habit4 ,it is  
proper and desirable that everyone have 
a margin2 it is really wasteful not to  
have one--if you can have one4 ,but it  
can be overdone4 ,we teach children to  
save their money4 ,as an attempt to     
counteract thoughtless and selfish      
expenditure1 that has a value4 ,but it  
is not positive2 it does not lead the   
child out into the safe and useful      
avenues of self-expression or           
self-expenditure4 ,to teach a child to  
invest and use is better than to teach  
him to save4 ,most men who are          
laboriously saving a few dollars would  
do better to invest those few           
dollars--first in themselves1 and then  

in some useful work4 ,eventually they   
would have more to save4 ,young men     
ought to invest rather than save4 ,they 
ought to invest in themselves to        
increase creative value2 after they have
 taken themselves to the peak of        
usefulness1 then will be time enough to 
think of laying aside1 as a fixed       
policy1 a certain substantial share of  
income4 ,you are not saving when you    
prevent yourself from becoming more     
productive4 ,you are really taking away 
from your ultimate capital2 you are     
reducing the value of one of nature's   
investments4 ,the principle of use is   
the true guide4 ,use is positive1       
active1 life-giving4 ,use is alive4 ,use
 adds to the sum of good4  ,personal    
want may be avoided without changing the
 general condition4 ,wage increases1    
price increases1 profit increases1 other
 kinds of increases designed to bring   
more money here or money there1 are only
 attempts of this or that class to get  
out of the fire--regardless of what may 

happen to everyone else4 ,there is a    
foolish belief that if only the money   
can be gotten1 somehow the storm can be 
weathered4 ,labour believes that if it  
can get more wages1 it can weather the  
storm4 ,capital thinks that if it can   
get more profits1 it can weather the    
storm4 ,there is a pathetic faith in    
what money can do4 ,money is very useful
 in normal times1 but money has no more 
value than the people put into it by    
production1 and it can be so misused4   
,it can be so superstitiously worshipped
 as a substitute for real wealth as to  
destroy its value altogether4  ,the idea
 persists that there exists an essential
 conflict between industry and the farm4
 ,there is no such conflict4 ,it is     
nonsense to say that because the cities 
are overcrowded everybody ought to go   
back to the farm4 ,if everybody did so  
farming would soon decline as a         
satisfactory occupation4 ,it is not more
 sensible for everyone to flock to the  
manufacturing towns4 ,if the farms be   

deserted1 of what use are manufacturers8
 ,a reciprocity can exist between       
farming and manufacturing4 ,the         
manufacturer can give the farmer what he
 needs to be a good farmer1 and the     
farmer and other producers of raw       
materials can give the manufacturer what
 he needs to be a good manufacturer4    
,then with transportation as a          
messenger1 we shall have a stable and a 
sound system built on service4 ,if we   
live in smaller communities where the   
tension of living is not so high1 and   
where the products of the fields and    
gardens can be had without the          
interference of so many profiteers1     
there will be little poverty or unrest4 
,look at this whole matter of seasonal  
work4 ,take building as an example of a 
seasonal trade4 ,what a waste of power  
it is to allow builders to hibernate    
through the winter1 waiting for the     
building season to come around6  ,and   
what an equal waste of skill it is to   
force experienced artisans who have gone

 into factories to escape the loss of   
the winter season to stay in the factory
 jobs through the building season       
because they are afraid they may not get
 their factory places back in the       
winter4 ,what a waste this all-year     
system has been6 ,if the farmer could   
get away from the shop to till his farm 
in the planting1 growing1 and harvesting
 seasons 7they are only a small part of 
the year1 after all71 and if the builder
 could get away from the shop to ply his
 useful trade in its season1 how much   
better they would be1 and how much more 
smoothly the world would proceed4       
,suppose we all moved outdoors every    
spring and summer and lived the         
wholesome life of the outdoors for three
 or four months6 ,we could not have     
slack times4  ,the farm has its dull    
season4 ,that is the time for the farmer
 to come into the factory and help      
produce the things he needs to till the 
farm4 ,the factory also has its dull    
season4 ,that is the time for the       

workmen to go out to the land to help   
produce food4 ,thus we might take the   
slack out of work and restore the       
balance between the artificial and the  
natural4  ,but not the least benefit    
would be the more balanced view of life 
we should thus obtain4 ,the mixing of   
the arts is not only beneficial in a    
material way1 but it makes for breadth  
of mind and fairness of judgment4 ,a    
great deal of our unrest to-day is the  
result of narrow1 prejudiced judgment4  
,if our work were more diversified1 if  
we saw more sides of life1 if we saw how
 necessary was one factor to another1 we
 should be more balanced4 ,every man is 
better for a period of work under the   
open sky4  ,it is not at all impossible4
 ,what is desirable and right is never  
impossible4 ,it would only mean a little
 teamwork--a little less attention to   
greedy ambition and a little more       
attention to life4  ,those who are rich 
find it desirable to go away for three  
or four months a year and dawdle in     

idleness around some fancy winter or    
summer resort4 ,the rank and file of the
 ,american people would not waste their 
time that way even if they could4 ,but  
they would provide the team-work        
necessary for an outdoor1 seasonal      
employment4  ,it is hardly possible to  
doubt that much of the unrest we see    
about us is the result of unnatural     
modes of life4 ,men who do the same     
thing continuously the year around and  
are shut away from the health of the sun
 and the spaciousness of the great out  
of doors are hardly to be blamed if they
 see matters in a distorted light4 ,and 
that applies equally to the capitalist  
and the worker4  ,what is there in life 
that should hamper normal and wholesome 
modes of living8 ,and what is there in  
industry incompatible with all the arts 
receiving in their turn the attention of
 those qualified to serve in them8 ,it  
may be objected that if the forces of   
industry were withdrawn from the shops  
every summer it would impede production4

 ,but we must look at the matter from a 
universal point of view4 ,we must       
consider the increased energy of the    
industrial forces after three or four   
months in outdoor work4 ,we must also   
consider the effect on the cost of      
living which would result from a general
 return to the fields4  ,we have1 as ,i 
indicated in a previous chapter1 been   
working toward this combination of farm 
and factory and with entirely           
satisfactory results4 ,at ,northville1  
not far from ,detroit1 we have a little 
factory making valves4 ,it is a little  
factory1 but it makes a great many      
valves4 ,both the management and the    
mechanism of the plant are comparatively
 simple because it makes but one thing4 
,we do not have to search for skilled   
employees4 ,the skill is in the machine4
 ,the people of the countryside can work
 in the plant part of the time and on   
the farm part of the time1 for          
mechanical farming is not very          
laborious4 ,the plant power is derived  

from water4  ,another plant on a        
somewhat larger scale is in building at 
,flat ,rock1 about fifteen miles from   
,detroit4 ,we have dammed the river4    
,the dam also serves as a bridge for the
 ,detroit1 ,toledo  ,ironton ,railway1  
which was in need of a new bridge at    
that point1 and a road for the          
public--all in one construction4 ,we are
 going to make our glass at this point4 
,the damming of the river gives         
sufficient water for the floating to us 
of most of our raw material4 ,it also   
gives us our power through a            
hydroelectric plant4 ,and1 being well   
out in the midst of the farming country1
 there can be no possibility of crowding
 or any of the ills incident to too     
great a concentration of population4    
,the men will have plots of ground or   
farms as well as their jobs in the      
factory1 and these can be scattered over
 fifteen or twenty miles                
surrounding--for of course nowadays the 
workingman can come to the shop in an   

automobile4 ,there we shall have the    
combination of agriculture and          
industrialism and the entire absence of 
all the evils of concentration4  ,the   
belief that an industrial country has to
 concentrate its industries is not1 in  
my opinion1 well-founded4 ,that is only 
a stage in industrial development4 ,as  
we learn more about manufacturing and   
learn to make articles with             
interchangeable parts1 then those parts 
can be made under the best possible     
conditions4 ,and these best possible    
conditions1 as far as the employees are 
concerned1 are also the best possible   
conditions from the manufacturing       
standpoint4 ,one could not put a great  
plant on a little stream4 ,one can put a
 small plant on a little stream1 and the
 combination of little plants1 each     
making a single part1 will make the     
whole cheaper than a vast factory would4
 ,there are exceptions1 as where casting
 has to be done4 ,in such case1 as at   
,river ,rouge1 we want to combine the   

making of the metal and the casting of  
it and also we want to use all of the   
waste power4 ,this requires a large     
investment and a considerable force of  
men in one place4 ,but such combinations
 are the exception rather than the rule1
 and there would not be enough of them  
seriously to interfere with the process 
of breaking down the concentration of   
industry4  ,industry will decentralize4 
,there is no city that would be rebuilt 
as it is1 were it destroyed--which fact 
is in itself a confession of our real   
estimate of our cities4 ,the city had a 
place to fill1 a work to do4 ,doubtless 
the country places would not have       
approximated their livableness had it   
not been for the cities4 ,by crowding   
together1 men have learned some secrets4
 ,they would never have learned them    
alone in the country4 ,sanitation1      
lighting1 social organization--all these
 are products of men's experience in the
 city4 ,but also every social ailment   
from which we to-day suffer originated  

and centres in the big cities4 ,you will
 find the smaller communities living    
along in unison with the seasons1 having
 neither extreme poverty nor            
wealth--none of the violent plagues of  
upheave and unrest which afflict our    
great populations4 ,there is something  
about a city of a million people which  
is untamed and threatening4 ,thirty     
miles away1 happy and contented villages
 read of the ravings of the city6 ,a    
great city is really a helpless mass4   
,everything it uses is carried to it4   
,stop transport and the city stops4 ,it 
lives off the shelves of stores4 ,the   
shelves produce nothing4 ,the city      
cannot feed1 clothe1 warm1 or house     
itself4 ,city conditions of work and    
living are so artificial that instincts 
sometimes rebel against their           
unnaturalness4  ,and finally1 the       
overhead expense of living or doing     
business in the great cities is becoming
 so large as to be unbearable4 ,it      
places so great a tax upon life that    

there is no surplus over to live on4    
,the politicians have found it easy to  
borrow money and they have borrowed to  
the limit4 ,within the last decade the  
expense of running every city in the    
country has tremendously increased4 ,a  
good part of that expense is for        
interest upon money borrowed2 the money 
has gone either into non-productive     
brick1 stone1 and mortar1 or into       
necessities of city life1 such as water 
supplies and sewage systems at far above
 a reasonable cost4 ,the cost of        
maintaining these works1 the cost of    
keeping in order great masses of people 
and traffic is greater than the         
advantages derived from community life4 
,the modern city has been prodigal1 it  
is to-day bankrupt1 and to-morrow it    
will cease to be4  ,the provision of a  
great amount of cheap and convenient    
power--not all at once1 but as it may be
 used--will do more than anything else  
to bring about the balancing of life and
 the cutting of the waste which breeds  

poverty4 ,there is no single source of  
power4 ,it may be that generating       
electricity by a steam plant at the mine
 mouth will be the most economical      
method for one community4               
,hydro-electric power may be best for   
another community4 ,but certainly in    
every community there ought to be a     
central station to furnish cheap        
power--it ought to be held as essential 
as a railway or a water supply4 ,and we 
could have every great source of power  
harnessed and working for the common    
good were it not that the expense of    
obtaining capital stands in the way4 ,i 
think that we shall have to revise some 
of our notions about capital4  ,capital 
that a business makes for itself1 that  
is employed to expand the workman's     
opportunity and increase his comfort and
 prosperity1 and that is used to give   
more and more men work1 at the same time
 reducing the cost of service to the    
public--that sort of capital1 even      
though it be under single control1 is   

not a menace to humanity4 ,it is a      
working surplus held in trust and daily 
use for the benefit of all4 ,the holder 
of such capital can scarcely regard it  
as a personal reward4 ,no man can view  
such a surplus as his own1 for he did   
not create it alone4 ,it is the joint   
product of his whole organization4 ,the 
owner's idea may have released all the  
energy and direction1 but certainly it  
did not supply all the energy and       
direction4 ,every workman was a partner 
in the creation4 ,no business can       
possibly be considered only with        
reference to to-day and to the          
individuals engaged in it4 ,it must have
 the means to carry on4 ,the best wages 
ought to be paid4 ,a proper living ought
 to be assured every participant in the 
business--no matter what his part4 ,but1
 for the sake of that business's ability
 to support those who work in it1 a     
surplus has to be held somewhere4 ,the  
truly honest manufacturer holds his     
surplus profits in that trust4          

,ultimately it does not matter where    
this surplus be held nor who controls   
it2 it is its use that matters4         
,capital that is not constantly creating
 more and better jobs is more useless   
than sand4 ,capital that is not         
constantly making conditions of daily   
labour better and the reward of daily   
labour more just1 is not fulfilling its 
highest function4 ,the highest use of   
capital is not to make more money1 but  
to make money do more service for the   
betterment of life4 ,unless we in our   
industries are helping to solve the     
social problem1 we are not doing our    
principal work4 ,we are not fully       
serving4     ,,chapter ,,xiv  ,,the     
,,tractor ,,and ,,power ,,farming   ,it 
is not generally known that our tractor1
 which we call the ,fordson1 was put    
into production about a year before we  
had intended1 because of the ,allies'   
war-time food emergency1 and that all of
 our early production 7aside1 of course1
 from the trial and experimental        

machines7 went directly to ,england4 ,we
 sent in all five thousand tractors     
across the sea in the critical #aiag-ah 
period when the submarines were busiest4
 ,every one of them arrived safely1 and 
officers of the ,british ,government    
have been good enough to say that       
without their aid ,england could        
scarcely have met its food crisis4  ,it 
was these tractors1 run mostly by women1
 that ploughed up the old estates and   
golf courses and let all ,england be    
planted and cultivated without taking   
away from the fighting man power or     
crippling the forces in the munitions   
factories4  ,it came about in this way3 
,the ,english food administration1 about
 the time that we entered the war in    
#aiag1 saw that1 with the ,german       
submarines torpedoing a freighter almost
 every day1 the already low supply of   
shipping was going to be totally        
inadequate to carry the ,american troops
 across the seas1 to carry the essential
 munitions for these troops and the     

,allies1 to carry the food for the      
fighting forces1 and at the same time   
carry enough food for the home          
population of ,england4 ,it was then    
that they began shipping out of ,england
 the wives and families of the colonials
 and made plans for the growing of crops
 at home4 ,the situation was a grave    
one4 ,there were not enough draft       
animals in all ,england to plough and   
cultivate land to raise crops in        
sufficient volume to make even a dent in
 the food imports4 ,power farming was   
scarcely known1 for the ,english farms  
were not1 before the war1 big enough to 
warrant the purchase of heavy1 expensive
 farm machinery1 and especially with    
agricultural labour so cheap and        
plentiful4 ,various concerns in ,england
 made tractors1 but they were heavy     
affairs and mostly run by steam4 ,there 
were not enough of them to go around4   
,more could not easily be made1 for all 
the factories were working on munitions1
 and even if they had been made they    

were too big and clumsy for the average 
field and in addition required the      
management of engineers4 ,we had put    
together several tractors at our        
,manchester plant for demonstration     
purposes4 ,they had been made in the    
,united ,states and merely assembled in 
,england4 ,the ,board of ,agriculture   
requested the ,royal ,agricultural      
,society to make a test of these        
tractors and report4 ,this is what they 
reported3  ,at the request of the ,royal
 ,agricultural ,society of ,england1 we 
have examined two ,ford tractors1 rated 
at #be h4 p41 at work ploughing3        
,first1 cross-ploughing a fallow of     
strong land in a dirty condition1 and   
subsequently in a field of lighter land 
which had seeded itself down into rough 
grass1 and which afforded every         
opportunity of testing the motor on the 
level and on a steep hill4  ,in the     
first trial1 a #b-;furrow ,oliver plough
 was used1 ploughing on an average #e   
inches deep with a #af-;inch wide       

furrow2 a #c-;furrow ,cockshutt plough  
was also used at the same depth with the
 breast pitched #aj inches4  ,in the    
second trial1 the #c-;furrow plough was 
used1 ploughing an average of #f inches 
deep4  ,in both cases the motor did its 
work with ease1 and on a measured acre  
the time occupied was #a hour #cj       
minutes1 with a consumption of #b       
gallons of paraffin per acre4  ,these   
results we consider very satisfactory4  
,the ploughs were not quite suitable to 
the land1 and the tractors1             
consequently1 were working at some      
disadvantage4  ,the total weight of the 
tractor fully loaded with fuel and      
water1 as weighed by us1 was #bc #a_/d  
cwts4  ,the tractor is light for its    
power1 and1 consequently1 light on the  
land1 is easily handled1 turns in a     
small circle1 and leaves a very narrow  
headland4  ,the motor is quickly started
 up from cold on a small supply of      
petrol4  ,after these trials we         
proceeded to ,messrs4 ,ford's works at  

,trafford ,park1 ,manchester1 where one 
of the motors had been sent to be       
dismantled and inspected in detail4  ,we
 find the design of ample strength1 and 
the work of first-rate quality4 ,we     
consider the driving-wheels rather      
light1 and we understand that a new and 
stronger pattern is to be supplied in   
future4  ,the tractor is designed purely
 for working on the land1 and the       
wheels1 which are fitted with spuds1    
should be provided with some protection 
to enable them to travel on the road    
when moving from farm to farm4  ,bearing
 the above points in mind1 we recommend1
 under existing circumstances1 that     
steps be taken to construct immediately 
as many of these tractors as possible4  
,the report was signed by ,prof4 ,w4 ,e4
 ,dalby and ,f4 ,s4 ,courtney1          
engineering2 ,r4 ,n4 ,greaves1          
engineering and agriculture2 ,robert ,w4
 ,hobbs and ,henry ,overman1            
agriculture2 ,gilbert ,greenall1        
honorary directors1 and ,john ,e4       

,cross1 steward4  ,almost immediately   
after the filing of that report we      
received the following wire3  ,have not 
received anything definite concerning   
shipment necessary steel and plant for  
,cork factory4 ,under best circumstances
 however ,cork factory production could 
not be available before next spring4    
,the need for food production in        
,england is imperative and large        
quantity of tractors must be available  
at earliest possible date for purpose   
breaking up existing grass land and     
ploughing for ,fall wheat4 ,am requested
 by high authorities to appeal to ,mr4  
,ford for help4 ,would you be willing to
 send ,sorensen and others with drawings
 of everything necessary1 loaning them  
to ,british ,government so that parts   
can be manufactured over here and       
assembled in ,government factories under
 ,sorensen's guidance8 ,can assure you  
positively this suggestion is made in   
national interest and if carried out    
will be done by the ,government for the 

people with no manufacturing or         
capitalist interest invested and no     
profit being made by any interests      
whatever4 ,the matter is very urgent4   
,impossible to ship anything adequate   
from ,america because many thousand     
tractors must be provided4 ,ford        
,tractor considered best and only       
suitable design4 ,consequently national 
necessity entirely dependent ,mr4       
,ford's design4 ,my work prevents me    
coming ,america to present the proposal 
personally4 ,urge favorable             
consideration and immediate decision    
because every day is of vital           
importance4 ,you may rely on            
manufacturing facility for production   
here under strictest impartial          
,government control4 ,would welcome     
,sorensen and any and every other       
assistance and guidance you can furnish 
from ,america4 ,cable reply1 ,perry1    
,care of ,harding ,prodome1 ,london4    
,,prodome4  ,i understand that its      
sending was directed by the ,british    

,cabinet4 ,we at once cabled our entire 
willingness to lend the drawings1 the   
benefit of what experience we had to    
date1 and whatever men might be         
necessary to get production under way1  
and on the next ship sent ,charles ,e4  
,sorensen with full drawings4 ,mr4      
,sorensen had opened the ,manchester    
plant and was familiar with ,english    
conditions4 ,he was in charge of the    
manufacture of tractors in this country4
  ,mr4 ,sorensen started at work with   
the ,british officials to the end of    
having the parts made and assembled in  
,england4 ,many of the materials which  
we used were special and could not be   
obtained in ,england4 ,all of their     
factories equipped for doing casting and
 machine work were filled with munition 
orders4 ,it proved to be exceedingly    
difficult for the ,ministry to get      
tenders of any kind4 ,then came ,june   
and a series of destructive air raids on
 ,london4 ,there was a crisis4          
,something had to be done1 and finally1 

after passing to and fro among half the 
factories of ,england1 our men succeeded
 in getting the tenders lodged with the 
,ministry4  ,lord ,milner exhibited     
these tenders to ,mr4 ,sorensen4 ,taking
 the best of them the price per tractor 
came to about #a1ejj without any        
guarantee of delivery4  ,that price is  
out of all reason1 said ,mr4 ,sorensen1 
,these should not cost more than #gjj   
apiece4  ,can you make five thousand at 
that price8 asked ,lord ,milner4  ,yes1 
answered ,mr4 ,sorensen4  ,how long will
 it take you to deliver them8  ,we will 
start shipping within sixty days4  ,they
 signed a contract on the spot1 which1  
among other things1 provided for an     
advance payment of #be per cent4 of the 
total sum4 ,mr4 ,sorensen cabled us what
 he had done and took the next boat     
home4 ,the #be five per cent4 payment   
was1 by the way1 not touched by us until
 after the entire contract was          
completed3 we deposited it in a kind of 
trust fund4  ,the tractor works was not 

ready to go into production4 ,the       
,highland ,park plant might have been   
adapted1 but every machine in it was    
going day and night on essential war    
work4 ,there was only one thing to do4  
,we ran up an emergency extension to our
 plant at ,dearborn1 equipped it with   
machinery that was ordered by telegraph 
and mostly came by express1 and in less 
than sixty days the first tractors were 
on the docks in ,new ,york in the hands 
of the ,british authorities4 ,they      
delayed in getting cargo space1 but on  
,december #f1 #aiag1 we received this   
cable3  ,london1 ,december #e1 #aiag4   
,,sorensen1  ,fordson1 ,f4 ,r4          
,dearborn4  ,first tractors arrived1    
when will ,smith and others leave8      
,cable4  ,,perry4  ,the entire shipment 
of five thousand tractors went through  
within three months and that is why the 
tractors were being used in ,england    
long before they were really known in   
the ,united ,states4  ,the planning of  
the tractor really antedated that of the

 motor car4 ,out on the farm my first   
experiments were with tractors1 and it  
will be remembered that ,i was employed 
for some time by a manufacturer of steam
 tractors--the big heavy road and       
thresher engines4 ,but ,i did not see   
any future for the large tractors4 ,they
 were too expensive for the small farm1 
required too much skill to operate1 and 
were much too heavy as compared with the
 pull they exerted4 ,and anyway1 the    
public was more interested in being     
carried than in being pulled2 the       
horseless carriage made a greater appeal
 to the imagination4 ,and so it was that
 ,i practically dropped work upon a     
tractor until the automobile was in     
production4 ,with the automobile on the 
farms1 the tractor became a necessity4  
,for then the farmers had been          
introduced to power4  ,the farmer does  
not stand so much in need of new tools  
as of power to run the tools that he    
has4 ,i have followed many a weary mile 
behind a plough and ,i know all the     

drudgery of it4 ,what a waste it is for 
a human being to spend hours and days   
behind a slowly moving team of horses   
when in the same time a tractor could do
 six times as much work6 ,it is no      
wonder that1 doing everything slowly and
 by hand1 the average farmer has not    
been able to earn more than a bare      
living while farm products are never as 
plentiful and cheap as they ought to be4
  ,as in the automobile1 we wanted      
power--not weight4 ,the weight idea was 
firmly fixed in the minds of tractor    
makers4 ,it was thought that excess     
weight meant excess pulling power--that 
the machine could not grip unless it    
were heavy4 ,and this in spite of the   
fact that a cat has not much weight and 
is a pretty good climber4 ,i have       
already set out my ideas on weight4 ,the
 only kind of tractor that ,i thought   
worth working on was one that would be  
light1 strong1 and so simple that any   
one could run it4 ,also it had to be so 
cheap that any one could buy it4 ,with  

these ends in view1 we worked for nearly
 fifteen years on a design and spent    
some millions of dollars in experiments4
 ,we followed exactly the same course as
 with the automobile4 ,each part had to 
be as strong as it was possible to make 
it1 the parts had to be few in number1  
and the whole had to admit of quantity  
production4 ,we had some thought that   
perhaps the automobile engine might be  
used and we conducted a few experiments 
with it4 ,but finally we became         
convinced that the kind of tractor we   
wanted and the automobile had           
practically nothing in common4 ,it was  
the intention from the beginning that   
the tractor should be made as a separate
 undertaking from the automobile and in 
a distinct plant4 ,no plant is big      
enough to make two articles4  ,the      
automobile is designed to carry2 the    
tractor is designed to pull--to climb4  
,and that difference in function made   
all the difference in the world in      
construction4 ,the hard problem was to  

get bearings that would stand up against
 the heavy pull4 ,we finally got them   
and a construction which seems to give  
the best average performance under all  
conditions4 ,we fixed upon a            
four-cylinder engine that is started by 
gasoline but runs thereafter on         
kerosene4 ,the lightest weight that we  
could attain with strength was #b1dbe   
pounds4 ,the grip is in the lugs on the 
driving wheels--as in the claws of the  
cat4  ,in addition to its strictly      
pulling functions1 the tractor1 to be of
 the greatest service1 had also to be   
designed for work as a stationary engine
 so that when it was not out on the road
 or in the fields it might be hitched up
 with a belt to run machinery4 ,in      
short1 it had to be a compact1 versatile
 power plant4 ,and that it has been4 ,it
 has not only ploughed1 harrowed1       
cultivated1 and reaped1 but it has also 
threshed1 run grist mills1 saw mills1   
and various other sorts of mills1 pulled
 stumps1 ploughed snow1 and done about  

everything that a plant of moderate     
power could do from sheep-shearing to   
printing a newspaper4 ,it has been      
fitted with heavy tires to haul on      
roads1 with sledge runners for the woods
 and ice1 and with rimmed wheels to run 
on rails4 ,when the shops in ,detroit   
were shut down by coal shortage1 we got 
out the ,dearborn ,independent by       
sending a tractor to the electro-typing 
factory--stationing the tractor in the  
alley1 sending up a belt four stories1  
and making the plates by tractor power4 
,its use in ninety-five distinct lines  
of service has been called to our       
attention1 and probably we know only a  
fraction of the uses4  ,the mechanism of
 the tractor is even more simple than   
that of the automobile and it is        
manufactured in exactly the same        
fashion4 ,until the present year1 the   
production has been held back by the    
lack of a suitable factory4 ,the first  
tractors had been made in the plant at  
,dearborn which is now used as an       

experimental station4 ,that was not     
large enough to affect the economies of 
large-scale production and it could not 
well be enlarged because the design was 
to make the tractors at the ,river      
,rouge plant1 and that1 until this year1
 was not in full operation4  ,now that  
plant is completed for the making of    
tractors4 ,the work flows exactly as    
with the automobiles4 ,each part is a   
separate departmental undertaking and   
each part as it is finished joins the   
conveyor system which leads it to its   
proper initial assembly and eventually  
into the final assembly4 ,everything    
moves and there is no skilled work4 ,the
 capacity of the present plant is one   
million tractors a year4 ,that is the   
number we expect to make--for the world 
needs inexpensive1 general-utility power
 plants more now than ever before--and  
also it now knows enough about machinery
 to want such plants4  ,the first       
tractors1 as ,i have said1 went to      
,england4 ,they were first offered in   

the ,united ,states in #aiah at #gej4   
,in the next year1 with the higher      
costs1 the price had to be made #hhe2 in
 the middle of the year it was possible 
again to make the introductory price of 
#gej4 ,in #aibj we charged #gij2 in the 
next year we were sufficiently familiar 
with the production to begin cutting4   
,the price came down to #fbe and then in
 #aibb with the ,river ,rouge plant     
functioning we were able to cut to #cie4
 ,all of which shows what getting into  
scientific production will do to a      
price4 ,just as ,i have no idea how     
cheaply the ,ford automobile can        
eventually be made1 ,i have no idea how 
cheaply the tractor can eventually be   
made4  ,it is important that it shall be
 cheap4 ,otherwise power will not go to 
all the farms4 ,and they must all of    
them have power4 ,within a few years a  
farm depending solely on horse and hand 
power will be as much of a curiosity as 
a factory run by a treadmill4 ,the      
farmer must either take up power or go  

out of business4 ,the cost figures make 
this inevitable4 ,during the war the    
,government made a test of a ,fordson   
tractor to see how its costs compared   
with doing the work with horses4 ,the   
figures on the tractor were taken at the
 high price plus freight4 ,the          
depreciation and repair items are not so
 great as the report sets them forth1   
and even if they were1 the prices are   
cut in halves which would therefore cut 
the depreciation and repair charge in   
halves4 ,these are the figures3  ,,cost1
 ,,fordson1 #hhj4 ,,wearing ,,life1     
#d1hjj ,,hours ,,at #d_/e ,,acres ,,per 
,,hour1 #c1hdj ,,acres    #c1hdj acres  
at #hhj2 depreciation per acre          
4#bba    ,repairs for #c1hdj acres1     
#ajj2 per acre                4#jbf     
,fuel cost1 kerosene at #ai cents2 #b   
gal4 per acre       4#ch    #a gal4 oil 
per #h acres2 per acre                  
4#jge    ,driver1 #b per day1 #h acres2 
per acre                  4#be          
---   ,cost of ploughing with ,fordson2 

per acre4              4#ie  #h ,,horses
 ,,cost1 #a1bjj4 ,,working ,,life1      
#e1jjj ,,hours ,,at #d_/e ,,acre ,,per  
,,hour1 #d1jjj ,,acres      #d1jjj acres
 at #a1bjj1 depreciation of horses1 per 
acre4 4 4 4 #cj     ,feed per horse1 #dj
 cents 7#ajj working days7 per acre 4 4 
4 4 4 #dj     ,feed per horse1 #aj cents
 a day 7#bfe idle days7 per acre4 4 4   
#b4fe     ,two drivers1 two gang        
ploughs1 at #b each per day1 per acre4 4
 #ej                                    
----     ,cost of ploughing with horses2
 per acre4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #a4df    
,at present costs1 an acre would run    
about #dj cents only two cents          
representing depreciation and repairs4  
,but this does not take account of the  
time element4 ,the ploughing is done in 
about one fourth the time1 with only the
 physical energy used to steer the      
tractor4 ,ploughing has become a matter 
of motoring across a field4  ,farming in
 the old style is rapidly fading into a 
picturesque memory4 ,this does not mean 

that work is going to remove from the   
farm4 ,work cannot be removed from any  
life that is productive4 ,but           
power-farming does mean this--drudgery  
is going to be removed from the farm4   
,power-farming is simply taking the     
burden from flesh and blood and putting 
it on steel4 ,we are in the opening     
years of power-farming4 ,the motor car  
wrought a revolution in modern farm     
life1 not because it was a vehicle1 but 
because it had power4 ,farming ought to 
be something more than a rural          
occupation4 ,it ought to be the business
 of raising food4 ,and when it does     
become a business the actual work of    
farming the average sort of farm can be 
done in twenty-four days a year4 ,the   
other days can be given over to other   
kinds of business4 ,farming is too      
seasonal an occupation to engage all of 
a man's time4  ,as a food business1     
farming will justify itself as a        
business if it raises food in sufficient
 quantity and distributes it under such 

conditions as will enable every family  
to have enough food for its reasonable  
needs4 ,there could not be a food trust 
if we were to raise such overwhelming   
quantities of all kinds of food as to   
make manipulation and exploitation      
impossible4 ,the farmer who limits his  
planting plays into the hands of the    
speculators4  ,and then1 perhaps1 we    
shall witness a revival of the small    
flour-milling business4 ,it was an evil 
day when the village flour mill         
disappeared4 ,cooperative farming will  
become so developed that we shall see   
associations of farmers with their own  
packing houses in which their own hogs  
will be turned into ham and bacon1 and  
with their own flour mills in which     
their grain will be turned into         
commercial foodstuffs4  ,why a steer    
raised in ,texas should be brought to   
,chicago and then served in ,boston is a
 question that cannot be answered as    
long as all the steers the city needs   
could be raised near ,boston4 ,the      

centralization of food manufacturing    
industries1 entailing enormous costs for
 transportation and organization1 is too
 wasteful long to continue in a         
developed community4  ,we shall have as 
great a development in farming during   
the next twenty years as we have had in 
manufacturing during the last twenty4   
,,chapter ,,xv  ,,why ,,charity8   ,why 
should there by any necessity for       
almsgiving in a civilized community8 ,it
 is not the charitable mind to which ,i 
object4 ,heaven forbid that we should   
ever grow cold toward a fellow creature 
in need4 ,human sympathy is too fine for
 the cool1 calculating attitude to take 
its place4 ,one can name very few great 
advances that did not have human        
sympathy behind them4 ,it is in order to
 help people that every notable service 
is undertaken4  ,the trouble is that we 
have been using this great1 fine motive 
force for ends too small4 ,if human     
sympathy prompts us to feed the hungry1 
why should it not give the larger       

desire--to make hunger in our midst     
impossible8 ,if we have sympathy enough 
for people to help them out of their    
troubles1 surely we ought to have       
sympathy enough to keep them out4  ,it  
is easy to give2 it is harder to make   
giving unnecessary4 ,to make the giving 
unnecessary we must look beyond the     
individual to the cause of his          
misery--not hesitating1 of course1 to   
relieve him in the meantime1 but not    
stopping with mere temporary relief4    
,the difficulty seems to be in getting  
to look beyond to the causes4 ,more     
people can be moved to help a poor      
family than can be moved to give their  
minds toward the removal of poverty     
altogether4  ,i have no patience with   
professional charity1 or with any sort  
of commercialized humanitarianism4 ,the 
moment human helpfulness is             
systematized1 organized1 commercialized1
 and professionalized1 the heart of it  
is extinguished1 and it becomes a cold  
and clammy thing4  ,real human          

helpfulness is never card-catalogued or 
advertised4 ,there are more orphan      
children being cared for in the private 
homes of people who love them than in   
the institutions4 ,there are more old   
people being sheltered by friends than  
you can find in the old people's homes4 
,there is more aid by loans from family 
to family than by the loan societies4   
,that is1 human society on a humane     
basis looks out for itself4 ,it is a    
grave question how far we ought to      
countenance the commercialization of the
 natural instinct of charity4           
,professional charity is not only cold  
but it hurts more than it helps4 ,it    
degrades the recipients and drugs their 
self-respect4 ,akin to it is sentimental
 idealism4 ,the idea went abroad not so 
many years ago that service was         
something that we should expect to have 
done for us4 ,untold numbers of people  
became the recipients of well-meant     
social service4 ,whole sections of our  
population were coddled into a state of 

expectant1 child-like helplessness4     
,there grew up a regular profession of  
doing things for people1 which gave an  
outlet for a laudable desire for        
service1 but which contributed nothing  
whatever to the self-reliance of the    
people nor to the correction of the     
conditions out of which the supposed    
need for such service grew4  ,worse than
 this encouragement of childish         
wistfulness1 instead of training for    
self-reliance and self-sufficiency1 was 
the creation of a feeling of resentment 
which nearly always overtakes the       
objects of charity4 ,people often       
complain of the ingratitude of those    
whom they help4 ,nothing is more        
natural4 ,in the first place1 precious  
little of our so-called charity is ever 
real charity1 offered out of a heart    
full of interest and sympathy4 ,in the  
second place1 no person ever relishes   
being in a position where he is forced  
to take favors4  ,such social work      
creates a strained relation--the        

recipient of bounty feels that he has   
been belittled in the taking1 and it is 
a question whether the giver should not 
also feel that he has been belittled in 
the giving4 ,charity never led to a     
settled state of affairs4 ,the          
charitable system that does not aim to  
make itself unnecessary is not          
performing service4 ,it is simply making
 a job for itself and is an added item  
to the record of non-production4        
,charity becomes unnecessary as those   
who seem to be unable to earn livings   
are taken out of the non-productive     
class and put into the productive4 ,in a
 previous chapter ,i have set out how   
experiments in our shops have           
demonstrated that in sufficiently       
subdivided industry there are places    
which can be filled by the maimed1 the  
halt1 and the blind4 ,scientific        
industry need not be a monster devouring
 all who come near it4 ,when it is1 then
 it is not fulfilling its place in life4
 ,in and out of industry there must be  

jobs that take the full strength of a   
powerful man2 there are other jobs1 and 
plenty of them1 that require more skill 
than the artisans of the ,middle ,ages  
ever had4 ,the minute subdivision of    
industry permits a strong man or a      
skilled man always to use his strength  
or skill4 ,in the old hand industry1 a  
skilled man spent a good part of his    
time at unskilled work4 ,that was a     
waste4 ,but since in those days every   
task required both skilled and unskilled
 labour to be performed by the one man1 
there was little room for either the man
 who was too stupid ever to be skilled  
or the man who did not have the         
opportunity to learn a trade4  ,no      
mechanic working with only his hands can
 earn more than a bare sustenance4 ,he  
cannot have a surplus4 ,it has been     
taken for granted that1 coming into old 
age1 a mechanic must be supported by his
 children or1 if he has no children1    
that he will be a public charge4 ,all of
 that is quite unnecessary4 ,the        

subdivision of industry opens places    
that can be filled by practically any   
one4 ,there are more places in          
subdivision industry that can be filled 
by blind men than there are blind men4  
,there are more places that can be      
filled by cripples than there are       
cripples4 ,and in each of these places  
the man who short-sightedly might be    
considered as an object of charity can  
earn just as adequate a living as the   
keenest and most able-bodied4 ,it is    
waste to put an able-bodied man in a job
 that might be just as well cared for by
 a cripple4 ,it is a frightful waste to 
put the blind at weaving baskets4 ,it is
 waste to have convicts breaking stone  
or picking hemp or doing any sort of    
petty1 useless task4  ,a well-conducted 
jail should not only be self-supporting1
 but a man in jail ought to be able to  
support his family or1 if he has no     
family1 he should be able to accumulate 
a sum of money sufficient to put him on 
his feet when he gets out of jail4 ,i am

 not advocating convict labour or the   
farming out of men practically as       
slaves4 ,such a plan is too detestable  
for words4 ,we have greatly overdone the
 prison business1 anyway2 we begin at   
the wrong end4 ,but as long as we have  
prisons they can be fitted into the     
general scheme of production so neatly  
that a prison may become a productive   
unit working for the relief of the      
public and the benefit of the prisoners4
 ,i know that there are laws--foolish   
laws passed by unthinking men--that     
restrict the industrial activities of   
prisons4 ,those laws were passed mostly 
at the behest of what is called ,labour4
 ,they are not for the benefit of the   
workingman4 ,increasing the charges upon
 a community does not benefit any one in
 the community4 ,if the idea of service 
be kept in mind1 then there is always in
 every community more work to do than   
there are men who can do it4  ,industry 
organized for service removes the need  
for philanthropy4 ,philanthropy1 no     

matter how noble its motive1 does not   
make for self-reliance4 ,we must have   
self-reliance4 ,a community is the      
better for being discontented1 for being
 dissatisfied with what it has4 ,i do   
not mean the petty1 daily1 nagging1     
gnawing sort of discontent1 but a broad1
 courageous sort of discontent which    
believes that everything which is done  
can and ought to be eventually done     
better4 ,industry organized for         
service--and the workingman as well as  
the leader must serve--can pay wages    
sufficiently large to permit every      
family to be both self-reliant and      
self-supporting4 ,a philanthropy that   
spends its time and money in helping the
 world to do more for itself is far     
better than the sort which merely gives 
and thus encourages idleness4           
,philanthropy1 like everything else1    
ought to be productive1 and ,i believe  
that it can be4 ,i have personally been 
experimenting with a trade school and a 
hospital to discover if such            

institutions1 which are commonly        
regarded as benevolent1 cannot be made  
to stand on their own feet4 ,i have     
found that they can be4  ,i am not in   
sympathy with the trade school as it is 
commonly organized--the boys get only a 
smattering of knowledge and they do not 
learn how to use that knowledge4 ,the   
trade school should not be a cross      
between a technical college and a       
school2 it should be a means of teaching
 boys to be productive4 ,if they are put
 at useless tasks--at making articles   
and then throwing them away--they cannot
 have the interest or acquire the       
knowledge which is their right4 ,and    
during the period of schooling the boy  
is not productive2 the schools--unless  
by charity--make no provision for the   
support of the boy4 ,many boys need     
support2 they must work at the first    
thing which comes to hand4 ,they have no
 chance to pick and choose4  ,when the  
boy thus enters life untrained1 he but  
adds to the already great scarcity of   

competent labour4 ,modern industry      
requires a degree of ability and skill  
which neither early quitting of school  
nor long continuance at school provides4
 ,it is true that1 in order to retain   
the interest of the boy and train him in
 handicraft1 manual training departments
 have been introduced in the more       
progressive school systems1 but even    
these are confessedly makeshifts because
 they only cater to1 without satisfying1
 the normal boy's creative instincts4   
,to meet this condition--to fulfill the 
boy's educational possibilities and at  
the same time begin his industrial      
training along constructive lines--the  
,henry ,ford ,trade ,school was         
incorporated in #aiaf4 ,we do not use   
the word philanthropy in connection with
 this effort4 ,it grew out of a desire  
to aid the boy whose circumstances      
compelled him to leave school early4    
,this desire to aid fitted in           
conveniently with the necessity of      
providing trained tool-makers in the    

shops4 ,from the beginning we have held 
to three cardinal principles3 first1    
that the boy was to be kept a boy and   
not changed into a premature            
working-man2 second1 that the academic  
training was to go hand in hand with the
 industrial instruction2 third1 that the
 boy was to be given a sense of pride   
and responsibility in his work by being 
trained on articles which were to be    
used4 ,he works on objects of recognized
 industrial worth4 ,the school is       
incorporated as a private school and is 
open to boys between the ages of twelve 
and eighteen4 ,it is organized on the   
basis of scholarships and each boy is   
awarded an annual cash scholarship of   
four hundred dollars at his entrance4   
,this is gradually increased to a       
maximum of six hundred dollars if his   
record is satisfactory4  ,a record of   
the class and shop work is kept and also
 of the industry the boy displays in    
each4 ,it is the marks in industry which
 are used in making subsequent          

adjustments of his scholarship4 ,in     
addition to his scholarship each boy is 
given a small amount each month which   
must be deposited in his savings        
account4 ,this thrift fund must be left 
in the bank as long as the boy remains  
in the school unless he is given        
permission by the authorities to use it 
for an emergency4  ,one by one the      
problems of managing the school are     
being solved and better ways of         
accomplishing its objects are being     
discovered4 ,at the beginning it was the
 custom to give the boy one third of the
 day in class work and two thirds in    
shop work4 ,this daily adjustment was   
found to be a hindrance to progress1 and
 now the boy takes his training in      
blocks of weeks--one week in the class  
and two weeks in the shop4 ,classes are 
continuous1 the various groups taking   
their weeks in turn4  ,the best         
instructors obtainable are on the staff1
 and the text-book is the ,ford plant4  
,it offers more resources for practical 

education than most universities4 ,the  
arithmetic lessons come in concrete shop
 problems4 ,no longer is the boy's mind 
tortured with the mysterious ,a who can 
row four miles while ,b is rowing two4  
,the actual processes and actual        
conditions are exhibited to him--he is  
taught to observe4 ,cities are no longer
 black specks on maps and continents are
 not just pages of a book4 ,the shop    
shipments to ,singapore1 the shop       
receipts of material from ,africa and   
,south ,america are shown to him1 and   
the world becomes an inhabited planet   
instead of a coloured globe on the      
teacher's desk4 ,in physics and         
chemistry the industrial plant provides 
a laboratory in which theory becomes    
practice and the lesson becomes actual  
experience4 ,suppose the action of a    
pump is being taught4 ,the teacher      
explains the parts and their functions1 
answers questions1 and then they all    
troop away to the engine rooms to see a 
great pump4 ,the school has a regular   

factory workshop with the finest        
equipment4 ,the boys work up from one   
machine to the next4 ,they work solely  
on parts or articles needed by the      
company1 but our needs are so vast that 
this list comprehends nearly everything4
 ,the inspected work is purchased by the
 ,ford ,motor ,company1 and1 of course1 
the work that does not pass inspection  
is a loss to the school4  ,the boys who 
have progressed furthest do fine        
micrometer work1 and they do every      
operation with a clear understanding of 
the purposes and principles involved4   
,they repair their own machines2 they   
learn how to take care of themselves    
around machinery2 they study            
pattern-making and in clean1            
well-lighted rooms with their           
instructors they lay the foundation for 
successful careers4  ,when they         
graduate1 places are always open for    
them in the shops at good wages4 ,the   
social and moral well-being of the boys 
is given an unobtrusive care4 ,the      

supervision is not of authority but of  
friendly interest4 ,the home conditions 
of every boy are pretty well known1 and 
his tendencies are observed4 ,and no    
attempt is made to coddle him4 ,no      
attempt is made to render him           
namby-pamby4 ,one day when two boys came
 to the point of a fight1 they were not 
lectured on the wickedness of fighting4 
,they were counseled to make up their   
differences in a better way1 but when1  
boy-like1 they preferred the more       
primitive mode of settlement1 they were 
given gloves and made to fight it out in
 a corner of the shop4 ,the only        
prohibition laid upon them was that they
 were to finish it there1 and not to be 
caught fighting outside the shop4 ,the  
result was a short encounter            
and--friendship4  ,they are handled as  
boys2 their better boyish instincts are 
encouraged2 and when one sees them in   
the shops and classes one cannot easily 
miss the light of dawning mastery in    
their eyes4 ,they have a sense of       

belonging4 ,they feel they are doing    
something worth while4 ,they learn      
readily and eagerly because they are    
learning the things which every active  
boy wants to learn and about which he is
 constantly asking questions that none  
of his home-folks can answer4           
,beginning with six boys the school now 
has two hundred and is possessed of so  
practical a system that it may expand to
 seven hundred4 ,it began with a        
deficit1 but as it is one of my basic   
ideas that anything worth while in      
itself can be made self-sustaining1 it  
has so developed its processes that it  
is now paying its way4  ,we have been   
able to let the boy have his boyhood4   
,these boys learn to be workmen but they
 do not forget how to be boys4 ,that is 
of the first importance4 ,they earn from
 #ai to #ce cents an hour--which is more
 than they could earn as boys in the    
sort of job open to a youngster4 ,they  
can better help support their families  
by staying in school than by going out  

to work4 ,when they are through1 they   
have a good general education1 the      
beginning of a technical education1 and 
they are so skilled as workmen that they
 can earn wages which will give them the
 liberty to continue their education if 
they like4 ,if they do not want more    
education1 they have at least the skill 
to command high wages anywhere4 ,they do
 not have to go into our factories2 most
 of them do because they do not know    
where better jobs are to be had--we want
 all our jobs to be good for the men who
 take them4 ,but there is no string tied
 to the boys4 ,they have earned their   
own way and are under obligations to no 
one4 ,there is no charity4 ,the place   
pays for itself4  ,the ,ford ,hospital  
is being worked out on somewhat similar 
lines1 but because of the interruption  
of the war--when it was given to the    
,government and became ,general         
,hospital ,no4 #cf1 housing some fifteen
 hundred patients--the work has not yet 
advanced to the point of absolutely     

definite results4 ,i did not            
deliberately set out to build this      
hospital4 ,it began in #aiad as the     
,detroit ,general ,hospital and was     
designed to be erected by popular       
subscription4 ,with others1 ,i made a   
subscription1 and the building began4   
,long before the first buildings were   
done1 the funds became exhausted and ,i 
was asked to make another subscription4 
,i refused because ,i thought that the  
managers should have known how much the 
building was going to cost before they  
started4 ,and that sort of a beginning  
did not give great confidence as to how 
the place would be managed after it was 
finished4 ,however1 ,i did offer to take
 the whole hospital1 paying back all the
 subscriptions that had been made4 ,this
 was accomplished1 and we were going    
forward with the work when1 on ,august  
#a1 #aiah1 the whole institution was    
turned over to the ,government4 ,it was 
returned to us in ,october1 #aiai1 and  
on the tenth day of ,november of the    

same year the first private patient was 
admitted4  ,the hospital is on ,west    
,grand ,boulevard in ,detroit and the   
plot embraces twenty acres1 so that     
there will be ample room for expansion4 
,it is our thought to extend the        
facilities as they justify themselves4  
,the original design of the hospital has
 been quite abandoned and we have       
endeavoured to work out a new kind of   
hospital1 both in design and management4
 ,there are plenty of hospitals for the 
rich4 ,there are plenty of hospitals for
 the poor4 ,there are no hospitals for  
those who can afford to pay only a      
moderate amount and yet desire to pay   
without a feeling that they are         
recipients of charity4 ,it has been     
taken for granted that a hospital cannot
 both serve and be self-supporting--that
 it has to be either an institution kept
 going by private contributions or pass 
into the class of private sanitariums   
managed for profit4 ,this hospital is   
designed to be self-supporting--to give 

a maximum of service at a minimum of    
cost and without the slightest colouring
 of charity4  ,in the new buildings that
 we have erected there are no wards4    
,all of the rooms are private and each  
one is provided with a bath4 ,the       
rooms--which are in groups of           
twenty-four--are all identical in size1 
in fittings1 and in furnishings4 ,there 
is no choice of rooms4 ,it is planned   
that there shall be no choice of        
anything within the hospital4 ,every    
patient is on an equal footing with     
every other patient4  ,it is not at all 
certain whether hospitals as they are   
now managed exist for patients or for   
doctors4 ,i am not unmindful of the     
large amount of time which a capable    
physician or surgeon gives to charity1  
but also ,i am not convinced that the   
fees of surgeons should be regulated    
according to the wealth of the patient1 
and ,i am entirely convinced that what  
is known as professional etiquette is a 
curse to mankind and to the development 

of medicine4 ,diagnosis is not very much
 developed4 ,i should not care to be    
among the proprietors of a hospital in  
which every step had not been taken to  
insure that the patients were being     
treated for what actually was the matter
 with them1 instead of for something    
that one doctor had decided they had4   
,professional etiquette makes it very   
difficult for a wrong diagnosis to be   
corrected4 ,the consulting physician1   
unless he be a man of great tact1 will  
not change a diagnosis or a treatment   
unless the physician who has called him 
in is in thorough agreement1 and then if
 a change be made1 it is usually without
 the knowledge of the patient4 ,there   
seems to be a notion that a patient1 and
 especially when in a hospital1 becomes 
the property of the doctor4 ,a          
conscientious practitioner does not     
exploit the patient4 ,a less            
conscientious one does4 ,many physicians
 seem to regard the sustaining of their 
own diagnoses as of as great moment as  

the recovery of the patient4  ,it has   
been an aim of our hospital to cut away 
from all of these practices and to put  
the interest of the patient first4      
,therefore1 it is what is known as a    
closed hospital4 ,all of the physicians 
and all of the nurses are employed by   
the year and they can have no practice  
outside of the hospital4 ,including the 
interns1 twenty-one physicians and      
surgeons are on the staff4 ,these men   
have been selected with great care and  
they are paid salaries that amount to at
 least as much as they would ordinarily 
earn in successful private practice4    
,they have1 none of them1 any financial 
interest whatsoever in any patient1 and 
a patient may not be treated by a doctor
 from the outside4 ,we gladly           
acknowledge the place and the use of the
 family physician4 ,we do not seek to   
supplant him4 ,we take the case where he
 leaves off1 and return the patient as  
quickly as possible4 ,our system makes  
it undesirable for us to keep patients  

longer than necessary--we do not need   
that kind of business4 ,and we will     
share with the family physician our     
knowledge of the case1 but while the    
patient is in the hospital we assume    
full responsibility4 ,it is closed to   
outside physicians' practice1 though it 
is not closed to our cooperation with   
any family physician who desires it4    
,the admission of a patient is          
interesting4 ,the incoming patient is   
first examined by the senior physician  
and then is routed for examination      
through three1 four1 or whatever number 
of doctors seems necessary4 ,this       
routing takes place regardless of what  
the patient came to the hospital for1   
because1 as we are gradually learning1  
it is the complete health rather than a 
single ailment which is important4 ,each
 of the doctors makes a complete        
examination1 and each sends in his      
written findings to the head physician  
without any opportunity whatsoever to   
consult with any of the other examining 

physicians4 ,at least three1 and        
sometimes six or seven1 absolutely      
complete and absolutely independent     
diagnoses are thus in the hands of the  
head of the hospital4 ,they constitute a
 complete record of the case4 ,these    
precautions are taken in order to       
insure1 within the limits of present-day
 knowledge1 a correct diagnosis4  ,at   
the present time1 there are about six   
hundred beds available4 ,every patient  
pays according to a fixed schedule that 
includes the hospital room1 board1      
medical and surgical attendance1 and    
nursing4 ,there are no extras4 ,there   
are no private nurses4 ,if a case       
requires more attention than the nurses 
assigned to the wing can give1 then     
another nurse is put on1 but without any
 additional expense to the patient4     
,this1 however1 is rarely necessary     
because the patients are grouped        
according to the amount of nursing that 
they will need4 ,there may be one nurse 
for two patients1 or one nurse for five 

patients1 as the type of cases may      
require4 ,no one nurse ever has more    
than seven patients to care for1 and    
because of the arrangements it is easily
 possible for a nurse to care for seven 
patients who are not desperately ill4   
,in the ordinary hospital the nurses    
must make many useless steps4 ,more of  
their time is spent in walking than in  
caring for the patient4 ,this hospital  
is designed to save steps4 ,each floor  
is complete in itself1 and just as in   
the factories we have tried to eliminate
 the necessity for waste motion1 so have
 we also tried to eliminate waste motion
 in the hospital4 ,the charge to        
patients for a room1 nursing1 and       
medical attendance is #d4ej a day4 ,this
 will be lowered as the size of the     
hospital increases4 ,the charge for a   
major operation is #abe4 ,the charge for
 minor operations is according to a     
fixed scale4 ,all of the charges are    
tentative4 ,the hospital has a cost     
system just like a factory4 ,the charges

 will be regulated to make ends just    
meet4  ,there seems to be no good reason
 why the experiment should not be       
successful4 ,its success is purely a    
matter of management and mathematics4   
,the same kind of management which      
permits a factory to give the fullest   
service will permit a hospital to give  
the fullest service1 and at a price so  
low as to be within the reach of        
everyone4 ,the only difference between  
hospital and factory accounting is that 
,i do not expect the hospital to return 
a profit2 we do expect it to cover      
depreciation4 ,the investment in this   
hospital to date is about #i1jjj1jjj4   
,if we can get away from charity1 the   
funds that now go into charitable       
enterprises can be turned to furthering 
production--to making goods cheaply and 
in great plenty4 ,and then we shall not 
only be removing the burden of taxes    
from the community and freeing men but  
also we can be adding to the general    
wealth4 ,we leave for private interest  

too many things we ought to do for      
ourselves as a collective interest4 ,we 
need more constructive thinking in      
public service4 ,we need a kind of      
universal training in economic facts4   
,the over-reaching ambitions of         
speculative capital1 as well as the     
unreasonable demands of irresponsible   
labour1 are due to ignorance of the     
economic basis of life4 ,nobody can get 
more out of life than life can          
produce--yet nearly everybody thinks he 
can4 ,speculative capital wants more2   
labour wants more2 the source of raw    
material wants more2 and the purchasing 
public wants more4 ,a family knows that 
it cannot live beyond its income2 even  
the children know that4 ,but the public 
never seems to learn that it cannot live
 beyond its income--have more than it   
produces4  ,in clearing out the need for
 charity we must keep in mind not only  
the economic facts of existence1 but    
also that lack of knowledge of these    
facts encourages fear4 ,banish fear and 

we can have self-reliance4 ,charity is  
not present where self-reliance dwells4 
,fear is the offspring of a reliance    
placed on something outside--on a       
foreman's good-will1 perhaps1 on a      
shop's prosperity1 on a market's        
steadiness4 ,that is just another way of
 saying that fear is the portion of the 
man who acknowledges his career to be in
 the keeping of earthly circumstances4  
,fear is the result of the body assuming
 ascendancy over the soul4  ,the habit  
of failure is purely mental and is the  
mother of fear4 ,this habit gets itself 
fixed on men because they lack vision4  
,they start out to do something that    
reaches from ,a to ,z4 ,at ,a they fail1
 at ,b they stumble1 and at ,c they meet
 with what seems to be an insuperable   
difficulty4 ,they then cry ,beaten and  
throw the whole task down4 ,they have   
not even given themselves a chance      
really to fail2 they have not given     
their vision a chance to be proved or   
disproved4 ,they have simply let        

themselves be beaten by the natural     
difficulties that attend every kind of  
effort4  ,more men are beaten than fail4
 ,it is not wisdom they need or money1  
or brilliance1 or pull1 but just plain  
gristle and bone4 ,this rude1 simple1   
primitive power which we call           
stick-to-it-iveness is the uncrowned    
king of the world of endeavour4 ,people 
are utterly wrong in their slant upon   
things4 ,they see the successes that men
 have made and somehow they appear to be
 easy4 ,but that is a world away from   
the facts4 ,it is failure that is easy4 
,success is always hard4 ,a man can fail
 in ease2 he can succeed only by paying 
out all that he has and is4 ,it is this 
which makes success so pitiable a thing 
if it be in lines that are not useful   
and uplifting4  ,if a man is in constant
 fear of the industrial situation he    
ought to change his life so as not to be
 dependent upon it4 ,there is always the
 land1 and fewer people are on the land 
now than ever before4 ,if a man lives in

 fear of an employer's favor changing   
toward him1 he ought to extricate       
himself from dependence on any employer4
 ,he can become his own boss4 ,it may be
 that he will be a poorer boss than the 
one he leaves1 and that his returns will
 be much less1 but at least he will have
 rid himself of the shadow of his pet   
fear1 and that is worth a great deal in 
money and position4 ,better still is for
 the man to come through himself and    
exceed himself by getting rid of his    
fears in the midst of the circumstances 
where his daily lot is cast4 ,become a  
freeman in the place where you first    
surrendered your freedom4 ,win your     
battle where you lost it4 ,and you will 
come to see that1 although there was    
much outside of you that was not right1 
there was more inside of you that was   
not right4 ,thus you will learn that the
 wrong inside of you spoils even the    
right that is outside of you4  ,a man is
 still the superior being of the earth4 
,whatever happens1 he is still a man4   

,business may slacken tomorrow--he is   
still a man4 ,he goes through the       
changes of circumstances1 as he goes    
through the variations of               
temperature--still a man4 ,if he can    
only get this thought reborn in him1 it 
opens new wells and mines in his own    
being4 ,there is no security outside of 
himself4 ,there is no wealth outside of 
himself4 ,the elimination of fear is the
 bringing in of security and supply4    
,let every ,american become steeled     
against coddling4 ,americans ought to   
resent coddling4 ,it is a drug4 ,stand  
up and stand out2 let weaklings take    
charity4     ,,chapter ,,xvi  ,,the     
,,railroads   ,nothing in this country  
furnishes a better example of how a     
business may be turned from its function
 of service than do the railroads4 ,we  
have a railroad problem1 and much       
learned thought and discussion have been
 devoted to the solution of that        
problem4 ,everyone is dissatisfied with 
the railways4 ,the public is            

dissatisfied because both the passenger 
and freight rates are too high4 ,the    
railroad employees are dissatisfied     
because they say their wages are too low
 and their hours too long4 ,the owners  
of the railways are dissatisfied because
 it is claimed that no adequate return  
is realized upon the money invested4    
,all of the contacts of a properly      
managed undertaking ought to be         
satisfactory4 ,if the public1 the       
employees1 and the owners do not find   
themselves better off because of the    
undertaking1 then there must be         
something very wrong indeed with the    
manner in which the undertaking is      
carried through4  ,i am entirely without
 any disposition to pose as a railroad  
authority4 ,there may be railroad       
authorities1 but if the service as      
rendered by the ,american railroad      
to-day is the result of accumulated     
railway knowledge1 then ,i cannot say   
that my respect for the usefulness of   
that knowledge is at all profound4 ,i   

have not the slightest doubt in the     
world that the active managers of the   
railways1 the men who really do the     
work1 are entirely capable of conducting
 the railways of the country to the     
satisfaction of every one1 and ,i have  
equally no doubt that these active      
managers have1 by force of a chain of   
circumstances1 all but ceased to manage4
 ,and right there is the source of most 
of the trouble4 ,the men who know       
railroading have not been allowed to    
manage railroads4  ,in a previous       
chapter on finance were set forth the   
dangers attendant upon the              
indiscriminate borrowing of money4 ,it  
is inevitable that any one who can      
borrow freely to cover errors of        
management will borrow rather than      
correct the errors4 ,our railway        
managers have been practically forced to
 borrow1 for since the very inception of
 the railways they have not been free   
agents4 ,the guiding hand of the railway
 has been1 not the railroad man1 but the

 banker4 ,when railroad credit was high1
 more money was to be made out of       
floating bond issues and speculating in 
the securities than out of service to   
the public4 ,a very small fraction of   
the money earned by the railways has    
gone back into the rehabilitation of the
 properties4 ,when by skilled management
 the net revenue became large enough to 
pay a considerable dividend upon the    
stock1 then that dividend was used first
 by the speculators on the inside and   
controlling the railroad fiscal policy  
to boom the stock and unload their      
holdings1 and then to float a bond issue
 on the strength of the credit gained   
through the earnings4 ,when the earnings
 dropped or were artificially depressed1
 then the speculators bought back the   
stock and in the course of time staged  
another advance and unloading4 ,there is
 scarcely a railroad in the ,united     
,states that has not been through one or
 more receiverships1 due to the fact    
that the financial interests piled on   

load after load of securities until the 
structures grew topheavy and fell over4 
,then they got in on the receiverships1 
made money at the expense of gullible   
security holders1 and started the same  
old pyramiding game all over again4     
,the natural ally of the banker is the  
lawyer4 ,such games as have been played 
on the railroads have needed expert     
legal advice4 ,lawyers1 like bankers1   
know absolutely nothing about business4 
,they imagine that a business is        
properly conducted if it keeps within   
the law or if the law can be altered or 
interpreted to suit the purpose in hand4
 ,they live on rules4 ,the bankers took 
finance out of the hands of the         
managers4 ,they put in lawyers to see   
that the railroads violated the law only
 in legal fashion1 and thus grew up     
immense legal departments4 ,instead of  
operating under the rules of common     
sense and according to circumstances1   
every railroad had to operate on the    
advice of counsel4 ,rules spread through

 every part of the organization4 ,then  
came the avalanche of state and federal 
regulations1 until to-day we find the   
railways hog-tied in a mass of rules and
 regulations4 ,with the lawyers and the 
financiers on the inside and various    
state commissions on the outside1 the   
railway manager has little chance4 ,that
 is the trouble with the railways4      
,business cannot be conducted by law4   
,we have had the opportunity of         
demonstrating to ourselves what a       
freedom from the banker-legal mortmain  
means1 in our experience with the       
,detroit1 ,toledo  ,ironton ,railway4   
,we bought the railway because its right
 of way interfered with some of our     
improvements on the ,river ,rouge4 ,we  
did not buy it as an investment1 or as  
an adjunct to our industries1 or because
 of its strategic position4 ,the        
extraordinarily good situation of the   
railway seems to have become universally
 apparent only since we bought it4      
,that1 however1 is beside the point4 ,we

 bought the railway because it          
interfered with our plans4 ,then we had 
to do something with it4 ,the only thing
 to do was to run it as a productive    
enterprise1 applying to it exactly the  
same principles as are applied in every 
department of our industries4 ,we have  
as yet made no special efforts of any   
kind and the railway has not been set up
 as a demonstration of how every railway
 should be run4 ,it is true that        
applying the rule of maximum service at 
minimum cost has caused the income of   
the road to exceed the outgo--which1 for
 that road1 represents a most unusual   
condition4 ,it has been represented that
 the changes we have made--and remember 
they have been made simply as part of   
the day's work--are peculiarly          
revolutionary and quite without         
application to railway management in    
general4 ,personally1 it would seem to  
me that our little line does not differ 
much from the big lines4 ,in our own    
work we have always found that1 if our  

principles were right1 the area over    
which they were applied did not matter4 
,the principles that we use in the big  
,highland ,park plant seem to work      
equally well in every plant that we     
establish4 ,it has never made any       
difference with us whether we multiplied
 what we were doing by five or five     
hundred4 ,size is only a matter of the  
multiplication table1 anyway4  ,the     
,detroit1 ,toledo  ,ironton ,railway was
 organized some twenty-odd years ago and
 has been reorganized every few years   
since then4 ,the last reorganization was
 in #aiad4 ,the war and the federal     
control of the railways interrupted the 
cycle of reorganization4 ,the road owns 
#cdc miles of track1 has #eb miles of   
branches1 and #de miles of trackage     
rights over other roads4 ,it goes from  
,detroit almost due south to ,ironton on
 the ,ohio ,river1 thus tapping the     
,west ,virginia coal deposits4 ,it      
crosses most of the large trunk lines   
and it is a road which1 from a general  

business standpoint1 ought to pay4 ,it  
has paid4 ,it seems to have paid the    
bankers4 ,in #aiac the net              
capitalization per mile of road was     
#aje1jjj4 ,in the next receivership this
 was cut down to #dg1jjj per mile4 ,i do
 not know how much money in all has been
 raised on the strength of the road4 ,i 
do know that in the reorganization of   
#aiad the bondholders were assessed and 
forced to turn into the treasury nearly 
five million dollars--which is the      
amount that we paid for the entire road4
 ,we paid sixty cents on the dollar for 
the outstanding mortgage bonds1 although
 the ruling price just before the time  
of purchase was between thirty and forty
 cents on the dollar4 ,we paid a dollar 
a share for the common stock and five   
dollars a share for the preferred       
stock--which seemed to be a fair price  
considering that no interest had ever   
been paid upon the bonds and a dividend 
on the stock was a most remote          
possibility4 ,the rolling stock of the  

road consisted of about seventy         
locomotives1 twenty-seven passenger     
cars1 and around twenty-eight hundred   
freight cars4 ,all of the rolling stock 
was in extremely bad condition and a    
good part of it would not run at all4   
,all of the buildings were dirty1       
unpainted1 and generally run down4 ,the 
roadbed was something more than a streak
 of rust and something less than a      
railway4 ,the repair shops were         
over-manned and under-machined4         
,practically everything connected with  
operation was conducted with a maximum  
of waste4 ,there was1 however1 an       
exceedingly ample executive and         
administration department1 and of course
 a legal department4 ,the legal         
department alone cost in one month      
nearly #ah1jjj4  ,we took over the road 
in ,march1 #aiba4 ,we began to apply    
industrial principles4 ,there had been  
an executive office in ,detroit4 ,we    
closed that up and put the              
administration into the charge of one   

man and gave him half of the flat-topped
 desk out in the freight office4 ,the   
legal department went with the executive
 offices4 ,there is no reason for so    
much litigation in connection with      
railroading4 ,our people quickly settled
 all the mass of outstanding claims1    
some of which had been hanging on for   
years4 ,as new claims arise1 they are   
settled at once and on the facts1 so    
that the legal expense seldom exceeds   
#bjj a month4 ,all of the unnecessary   
accounting and red tape were thrown out 
and the payroll of the road was reduced 
from #b1gjj to #a1fej men4 ,following   
our general policy1 all titles and      
offices other than those required by law
 were abolished4 ,the ordinary railway  
organization is rigid2 a message has to 
go up through a certain line of         
authority and no man is expected to do  
anything without explicit orders from   
his superior4 ,one morning ,i went out  
to the road very early and found a      
wrecking train with steam up1 a crew    

aboard and all ready to start4 ,it had  
been awaiting orders for half an hour4  
,we went down and cleared the wreck     
before the orders came through2 that was
 before the idea of personal            
responsibility had soaked in4 ,it was a 
little hard to break the orders habit2  
the men at first were afraid to take    
responsibility4 ,but as we went on1 they
 seemed to like the plan more and more  
and now no man limits his duties4 ,a man
 is paid for a day's work of eight hours
 and he is expected to work during those
 eight hours4 ,if he is an engineer and 
finishes a run in four hours then he    
works at whatever else may be in demand 
for the next four hours4 ,if a man works
 more than eight hours he is not paid   
for overtime--he deducts his overtime   
from the next working day or saves it up
 and gets a whole day off with pay4 ,our
 eight-hour day is a day of eight hours 
and not a basis for computing pay4  ,the
 minimum wage is six dollars a day4     
,there are no extra men4 ,we have cut   

down in the offices1 in the shops1 and  
on the roads4 ,in one shop #bj men are  
now doing more work than #ei did before4
 ,not long ago one of our track gangs1  
consisting of a foreman and #ae men1 was
 working beside a parallel road on which
 was a gang of #dj men doing exactly the
 same sort of track repairing and       
ballasting4 ,in five days our gang did  
two telegraph poles more than the       
competing gang6  ,the road is being     
rehabilitated2 nearly the whole track   
has been reballasted and many miles of  
new rails have been laid4 ,the          
locomotives and rolling stock are being 
overhauled in our own shops and at a    
very slight expense4 ,we found that the 
supplies bought previously were of poor 
quality or unfitted for the use2 we are 
saving money on supplies by buying      
better qualities and seeing that nothing
 is wasted4 ,the men seem entirely      
willing to cooperate in saving4 ,they do
 not discard that which might be used4  
,we ask a man1 ,what can you get out of 

an engine8 and he answers with an       
economy record4 ,and we are not pouring 
in great amounts of money4 ,everything  
is being done out of earnings4 ,that is 
our policy4 ,the trains must go through 
and on time4 ,the time of freight       
movements has been cut down about two   
thirds4 ,a car on a siding is not just a
 car on a siding4 ,it is a great big    
question mark4 ,someone has to know why 
it is there4 ,it used to take #h or #i  
days to get freight through to          
,philadelphia or ,new ,york2 now it     
takes three and a half days4 ,the       
organization is serving4  ,all sorts of 
explanations are put forward1 of why a  
deficit was turned into a surplus4 ,i am
 told that it is all due to diverting   
the freight of the ,ford industries4 ,if
 we had diverted all of our business to 
this road1 that would not explain why we
 manage at so much lower an operating   
cost than before4 ,we are routing as    
much as we can of our own business over 
the road1 but only because we there get 

the best service4 ,for years past we had
 been trying to send freight over this  
road because it was conveniently        
located1 but we had never been able to  
use it to any extent because of the     
delayed deliveries4 ,we could not count 
on a shipment to within five or six     
weeks2 that tied up too much money and  
also broke into our production schedule4
 ,there was no reason why the road      
should not have had a schedule2 but it  
did not4 ,the delays became legal       
matters to be taken up in due legal     
course2 that is not the way of business4
 ,we think that a delay is a criticism  
of our work and is something at once to 
be investigated4 ,that is business4     
,the railroads in general have broken   
down1 and if the former conduct of the  
,detroit1 ,toledo  ,ironton is any      
criterion of management in general there
 is no reason in the world why they     
should not have broken down4 ,too many  
railroads are run1 not from the offices 
of practical men1 but from banking      

offices1 and the principles of          
procedure1 the whole outlook1 are       
financial--not transportational1 but    
financial4 ,there has been a breakdown  
simply because more attention has been  
paid to railroads as factors in the     
stock market than as servants of the    
people4 ,outworn ideas have been        
retained1 development has been          
practically stopped1 and railroad men   
with vision have not been set free to   
grow4  ,will a billion dollars solve    
that sort of trouble8 ,no1 a billion    
dollars will only make the difficulty   
one billion dollars worse4 ,the purpose 
of the billion is simply to continue the
 present methods of railroad management1
 and it is because of the present       
methods that we have any railroad       
difficulties at all4  ,the mistaken and 
foolish things we did years ago are just
 overtaking us4 ,at the beginning of    
railway transportation in the ,united   
,states1 the people had to be taught its
 use1 just as they had to be taught the 

use of the telephone4 ,also1 the new    
railroads had to make business in order 
to keep themselves solvent4 ,and because
 railway financing began in one of the  
rottenest periods of our business       
history1 a number of practices were     
established as precedents which have    
influenced railway work ever since4 ,one
 of the first things the railways did   
was to throttle all other methods of    
transportation4 ,there was the beginning
 of a splendid canal system in this     
country and a great movement for        
canalization was at its height4 ,the    
railroad companies bought out the canal 
companies and let the canals fill up and
 choke with weeds and refuse4 ,all over 
the ,eastern and in parts of the ,middle
 ,western states are the remains of this
 network of internal waterways4 ,they   
are being restored now as rapidly as    
possible2 they are being linked         
together2 various commissions1 public   
and private1 have seen the vision of a  
complete system of waterways serving all

 parts of the country1 and thanks to    
their efforts1 persistence1 and faith1  
progress is being made4  ,but there was 
another4 ,this was the system of making 
the haul as long as possible4 ,any one  
who is familiar with the exposures which
 resulted in the formation of the       
,interstate ,commerce ,commission knows 
what is meant by this4 ,there was a     
period when rail transport was not      
regarded as the servant of the          
traveling1 manufacturing1 and commercial
 publics4 ,business was treated as if it
 existed for the benefit of the         
railways4 ,during this period of folly1 
it was not good railroading to get goods
 from their shipping point to their     
destination by the most direct line     
possible1 but to keep them on the road  
as long as possible1 send them around   
the longest way1 give as many connecting
 lines as possible a piece of the       
profit1 and let the public stand the    
resulting loss of time and money4 ,that 
was once counted good railroading4 ,it  

has not entirely passed out of practice 
to-day4  ,one of the great changes in   
our economic life to which this railroad
 policy contributed was the             
centralization of certain activities1   
not because centralization was          
necessary1 nor because it contributed to
 the well-being of the people1 but      
because1 among other things1 it made    
double business for the railroads4 ,take
 two staples--meat and grain4 ,if you   
look at the maps which the packing      
houses put out1 and see where the cattle
 are drawn from2 and then if you        
consider that the cattle1 when converted
 into food1 are hauled again by the same
 railways right back to the place where 
they came from1 you will get some       
sidelight on the transportation problem 
and the price of meat4 ,take also grain4
 ,every reader of advertisements knows  
where the great flour mills of the      
country are located4 ,and they probably 
know also that these great mills are not
 located in the sections where the grain

 of the ,united ,states is raised4      
,there are staggering quantities of     
grain1 thousands of trainloads1 hauled  
uselessly long distances1 and then in   
the form of flour hauled back again long
 distances to the states and sections   
where the grain was raised--a burdening 
of the railroads which is of no benefit 
to the communities where the grain      
originated1 nor to any one else except  
the monopolistic mills and the          
railroads4 ,the railroads can always do 
a big business without helping the      
business of the country at all2 they can
 always be engaged in just such useless 
hauling4 ,on meat and grain and perhaps 
on cotton1 too1 the transportation      
burden could be reduced by more than    
half1 by the preparation of the product 
for use before it is shipped4 ,if a coal
 community mined coal in ,pennsylvania1 
and then sent it by railway to ,michigan
 or ,wisconsin to be screened1 and then 
hauled it back again to ,pennsylvania   
for use1 it would not be much sillier   

than the hauling of ,texas beef alive to
 ,chicago1 there to be killed1 and then 
shipped back dead to ,texas2 or the     
hauling of ,kansas grain to ,minnesota1 
there to be ground in the mills and     
hauled back again as flour4 ,it is good 
business for the railroads1 but it is   
bad business for business4 ,one angle of
 the transportation problem to which too
 few men are paying attention is this   
useless hauling of material4 ,if the    
problem were tackled from the point of  
ridding the railroads of their useless  
hauls1 we might discover that we are in 
better shape than we think to take care 
of the legitimate transportation        
business of the country4 ,in commodities
 like coal it is necessary that they be 
hauled from where they are to where they
 are needed4 ,the same is true of the   
raw materials of industry--they must be 
hauled from the place where nature has  
stored them to the place where there are
 people ready to work them4 ,and as     
these raw materials are not often found 

assembled in one section1 a considerable
 amount of transportation to a central  
assembling place is necessary4 ,the coal
 comes from one section1 the copper from
 another1 the iron from another1 the    
wood from another--they must all be     
brought together4  ,but wherever it is  
possible a policy of decentralization   
ought to be adopted4 ,we need1 instead  
of mammoth flour mills1 a multitude of  
smaller mills distributed through all   
the sections where grain is grown4      
,wherever it is possible1 the section   
that produces the raw material ought to 
produce also the finished product4      
,grain should be ground to flour where  
it is grown4 ,a hog-growing country     
should not export hogs1 but pork1 hams1 
and bacon4 ,the cotton mills ought to be
 near the cotton fields4 ,this is not a 
revolutionary idea4 ,in a sense it is a 
reactionary one4 ,it does not suggest   
anything new2 it suggests something that
 is very old4 ,this is the way the      
country did things before we fell into  

the habit of carting everything around a
 few thousand miles and adding the      
cartage to the consumer's bill4 ,our    
communities ought to be more complete in
 themselves4 ,they ought not to be      
unnecessarily dependent on railway      
transportation4 ,out of what they       
produce they should supply their own    
needs and ship the surplus4 ,and how can
 they do this unless they have the means
 of taking their raw materials1 like    
grain and cattle1 and changing them into
 finished products8 ,if private         
enterprise does not yield these means1  
the cooperation of farmers can4 ,the    
chief injustice sustained by the farmer 
to-day is that1 being the greatest      
producer1 he is prevented from being    
also the greatest merchandiser1 because 
he is compelled to sell to those who put
 his products into merchantable form4   
,if he could change his grain into      
flour1 his cattle into beef1 and his    
hogs into hams and bacon1 not only would
 he receive the fuller profit of his    

product1 but he would render his near-by
 communities more independent of railway
 exigencies1 and thereby improve the    
transportation system by relieving it of
 the burden of his unfinished product4  
,the thing is not only reasonable and   
practicable1 but it is becoming         
absolutely necessary4 ,more than that1  
it is being done in many places4 ,but it
 will not register its full effect on   
the transportation situation and upon   
the cost of living until it is done more
 widely and in more kinds of materials4 
,it is one of nature's compensations to 
withdraw prosperity from the business   
which does not serve4  ,we have found   
that on the ,detroit1 ,toledo  ,ironton 
we could1 following our universal       
policy1 reduce our rates and get more   
business4 ,we made some cuts1 but the   
,interstate ,commerce ,commission       
refused to allow them6 ,under such      
conditions why discuss the railroads as 
a business8 ,or as a service8           
,,chapter ,,xvii  ,,things ,,in         

,,general   ,no man exceeds ,thomas ,a4 
,edison in broad vision and             
understanding4 ,i met him first many    
years ago when ,i was with the ,detroit 
,edison ,company--probably about #ahhg  
or thereabouts4 ,the electrical men held
 a convention at ,atlantic ,city1 and   
,edison1 as the leader in electrical    
science1 made an address4 ,i was then   
working on my gasoline engine1 and most 
people1 including all of my associates  
in the electrical company1 had taken    
pains to tell me that time spent on a   
gasoline engine was time wasted--that   
the power of the future was to be       
electricity4 ,these criticisms had not  
made any impression on me4 ,i was       
working ahead with all my might4 ,but   
being in the same room with ,edison     
suggested to me that it would be a good 
idea to find out if the master of       
electricity thought it was going to be  
the only power in the future4 ,so1 after
 ,mr4 ,edison had finished his address1 
,i managed to catch him alone for a     

moment4 ,i told him what ,i was working 
on4  ,at once he was interested4 ,he is 
interested in every search for new      
knowledge4 ,and then ,i asked him if he 
thought that there was a future for the 
internal combustion engine4 ,he answered
 something in this fashion3  ,yes1 there
 is a big future for any light-weight   
engine that can develop a high          
horsepower and be self-contained4 ,no   
one kind of motive power is ever going  
to do all the work of the country4 ,we  
do not know what electricity can do1 but
 ,i take for granted that it cannot do  
everything4  ,keep on with your engine4 
,if you can get what you are after1 ,i  
can see a great future4  ,that is       
characteristic of ,edison4 ,he was the  
central figure in the electrical        
industry1 which was then young and      
enthusiastic4 ,the rank and file of the 
electrical men could see nothing ahead  
but electricity1 but their leader could 
see with crystal clearness that no one  
power could do all the work of the      

country4 ,i suppose that is why he was  
the leader4  ,such was my first meeting 
with ,edison4 ,i did not see him again  
until many years after--until our motor 
had been developed and was in           
production4 ,he remembered perfectly our
 first meeting4 ,since then we have seen
 each other often4 ,he is one of my     
closest friends1 and we together have   
swapped many an idea4  ,his knowledge is
 almost universal4 ,he is interested in 
every conceivable subject and he        
recognizes no limitations4 ,he believes 
that all things are possible4 ,at the   
same time he keeps his feet on the      
ground4 ,he goes forward step by step4  
,he regards impossible as a description 
for that which we have not at the moment
 the knowledge to achieve4 ,he knows    
that as we amass knowledge we build the 
power to overcome the impossible4 ,that 
is the rational way of doing the        
impossible4 ,the irrational way is to   
make the attempt without the toil of    
accumulating knowledge4 ,mr4 ,edison is 

only approaching the height of his      
power4 ,he is the man who is going to   
show us what chemistry really can do4   
,for he is a real scientist who regards 
the knowledge for which he is always    
searching as a tool to shape the        
progress of the world4 ,he is not the   
type of scientist who merely stores up  
knowledge and turns his head into a     
museum4 ,edison is easily the world's   
greatest scientist4 ,i am not sure that 
he is not also the world's worst        
business man4 ,he knows almost nothing  
of business4  ,john ,burroughs was      
another of those who honoured me with   
their friendship4 ,i1 too1 like birds4  
,i like the outdoors4 ,i like to walk   
across country and jump fences4 ,we have
 five hundred bird houses on the farm4  
,we call them our bird hotels1 and one  
of them1 the ,hotel ,pontchartrain--a   
martin house--has seventy-six           
apartments4 ,all winter long we have    
wire baskets of food hanging about on   
the trees and then there is a big basin 

in which the water is kept from freezing
 by an electric heater4 ,summer and     
winter1 food1 drink1 and shelter are on 
hand for the birds4 ,we have hatched    
pheasants and quail in incubators and   
then turned them over to electric       
brooders4 ,we have all kinds of bird    
houses and nests4 ,the sparrows1 who are
 great abusers of hospitality1 insist   
that their nests be immovable--that they
 do not sway in the wind2 the wrens like
 swaying nests4 ,so we mounted a number 
of wren boxes on strips of spring steel 
so that they would sway in the wind4    
,the wrens liked the idea and the       
sparrows did not1 so we have been able  
to have the wrens nest in peace4 ,in    
summer we leave cherries on the trees   
and strawberries open in the beds1 and  
,i think that we have not only more but 
also more different kinds of bird       
callers than anywhere else in the       
northern states4 ,john ,burroughs said  
he thought we had1 and one day when he  
was staying at our place he came across 

a bird that he had never seen before4   
,about ten years ago we imported a great
 number of birds from                   
abroad--yellow-hammers1 chaffinches1    
green finches1 red pales1 twites1       
bullfinches1 jays1 linnets1 larks--some 
five hundred of them4 ,they stayed      
around a while1 but where they are now  
,i do not know4 ,i shall not import any 
more4 ,birds are entitled to live where 
they want to live4  ,birds are the best 
of companions4 ,we need them for their  
beauty and their companionship1 and also
 we need them for the strictly economic 
reason that they destroy harmful        
insects4 ,the only time ,i ever used the
 ,ford organization to influence        
legislation was on behalf of the birds1 
and ,i think the end justified the      
means4 ,the ,weeks-,mc,lean ,bird ,bill1
 providing for bird sanctuaries for our 
migratory birds1 had been hanging in    
,congress with every likelihood of dying
 a natural death4 ,its immediate        
sponsors could not arouse much interest 

among the ,congressmen4 ,birds do not   
vote4 ,we got behind that bill and we   
asked each of our six thousand dealers  
to wire to his representative in        
,congress4 ,it began to become apparent 
that birds might have votes2 the bill   
went through4 ,our organization has     
never been used for any political       
purpose and never will be4 ,we assume   
that our people have a right to their   
own preferences4  ,to get back to ,john 
,burroughs4 ,of course ,i knew who he   
was and ,i had read nearly everything he
 had written1 but ,i had never thought  
of meeting him until some years ago when
 he developed a grudge against modern   
progress4 ,he detested money and        
especially he detested the power which  
money gives to vulgar people to despoil 
the lovely countryside4 ,he grew to     
dislike the industry out of which money 
is made4 ,he disliked the noise of      
factories and railways4 ,he criticized  
industrial progress1 and he declared    
that the automobile was going to kill   

the appreciation of nature4 ,i          
fundamentally disagreed with him4 ,i    
thought that his emotions had taken him 
on the wrong tack and so ,i sent him an 
automobile with the request that he try 
it out and discover for himself whether 
it would not help him to know nature    
better4 ,that automobile--and it took   
him some time to learn how to manage it 
himself--completely changed his point of
 view4 ,he found that it helped him to  
see more1 and from the time of getting  
it1 he made nearly all of his           
bird-hunting expeditions behind the     
steering wheel4 ,he learned that instead
 of having to confine himself to a few  
miles around ,slabsides1 the whole      
countryside was open to him4  ,out of   
that automobile grew our friendship1 and
 it was a fine one4 ,no man could help  
being the better for knowing ,john      
,burroughs4 ,he was not a professional  
naturalist1 nor did he make sentiment do
 for hard research4 ,it is easy to grow 
sentimental out of doors2 it is hard to 

pursue the truth about a bird as one    
would pursue a mechanical principle4    
,but ,john ,burroughs did that1 and as a
 result the observations he set down    
were very largely accurate4 ,he was     
impatient with men who were not accurate
 in their observations of natural life4 
,john ,burroughs first loved nature for 
its own sake2 it was not merely his     
stock of material as a professional     
writer4 ,he loved it before he wrote    
about it4  ,late in life he turned      
philosopher4 ,his philosophy was not so 
much a philosophy of nature as it was a 
natural philosophy--the long1 serene    
thoughts of a man who had lived in the  
tranquil spirit of the trees4 ,he was   
not pagan2 he was not pantheist2 but he 
did not much divide between nature and  
human nature1 nor between human nature  
and divine4 ,john ,burroughs lived a    
wholesome life4 ,he was fortunate to    
have as his home the farm on which he   
was born4 ,through long years his       
surroundings were those which made for  

quietness of mind4 ,he loved the woods  
and he made dusty-minded city people    
love them1 too--he helped them see what 
he saw4 ,he did not make much beyond a  
living4 ,he could have done so1 perhaps1
 but that was not his aim4 ,like another
 ,american naturalist1 his occupation   
could have been described as inspector  
of birds' nests and hillside paths4 ,of 
course1 that does not pay in dollars and
 cents4  ,when he had passed the three  
score and ten he changed his views on   
industry4 ,perhaps ,i had something to  
do with that4 ,he came to see that the  
whole world could not live by hunting   
birds' nests4 ,at one time in his life1 
he had a grudge against all modern      
progress1 especially where it was       
associated with the burning of coal and 
the noise of traffic4 ,perhaps that was 
as near to literary affectation as he   
ever came4 ,wordsworth disliked railways
 too1 and ,thoreau said that he could   
see more of the country by walking4     
,perhaps it was influences such as these

 which bent ,john ,burroughs for a time 
against industrial progress4 ,but only  
for a time4 ,he came to see that it was 
fortunate for him that others' tastes   
ran in other channels1 just as it was   
fortunate for the world that his taste  
ran in its own channel4 ,there has been 
no observable development in the method 
of making birds' nests since the        
beginning of recorded observation1 but  
that was hardly a reason why human      
beings should not prefer modern sanitary
 homes to cave dwellings4 ,this was a   
part of ,john ,burroughs's sanity--he   
was not afraid to change his views4 ,he 
was a lover of ,nature1 not her dupe4   
,in the course of time he came to value 
and approve modern devices1 and though  
this by itself is an interesting fact1  
it is not so interesting as the fact    
that he made this change after he was   
seventy years old4 ,john ,burroughs was 
never too old to change4 ,he kept       
growing to the last4 ,the man who is too
 set to change is dead already4 ,the    

funeral is a mere detail4  ,if he talked
 more of one person than another1 it was
 ,emerson4 ,not only did he know        
,emerson by heart as an author1 but he  
knew him by heart as a spirit4 ,he      
taught me to know ,emerson4 ,he had so  
saturated himself with ,emerson that at 
one time he thought as he did and even  
fell into his mode of expression4 ,but  
afterward he found his own way--which   
for him was better4  ,there was no      
sadness in ,john ,burroughs's death4    
,when the grain lies brown and ripe     
under the harvest sun1 and the          
harvesters are busy binding it into     
sheaves1 there is no sadness for the    
grain4 ,it has ripened and has fulfilled
 its term1 and so had ,john ,burroughs4 
,with him it was full ripeness and      
harvest1 not decay4 ,he worked almost to
 the end4 ,his plans ran beyond the end4
 ,they buried him amid the scenes he    
loved1 and it was his eighty-fourth     
birthday4 ,those scenes will be         
preserved as he loved them4  ,john      

,burroughs1 ,edison1 and ,i with ,harvey
 ,s4 ,firestone made several vagabond   
trips together4 ,we went in motor       
caravans and slept under canvas4 ,once  
we gypsied through the ,adirondacks and 
again through the ,alleghenies1 heading 
southward4 ,the trips were good         
fun--except that they began to attract  
too much attention4         99       99 
99       99       99  ,to-day ,i am more
 opposed to war than ever ,i was1 and ,i
 think the people of the world          
know--even if the politicians do        
not--that war never settles anything4   
,it was war that made the orderly and   
profitable processes of the world what  
they are to-day--a loose1 disjointed    
mass4 ,of course1 some men get rich out 
of war2 others get poor4 ,but the men   
who get rich are not those who fought or
 who really helped behind the lines4 ,no
 patriot makes money out of war4 ,no man
 with true patriotism could make money  
out of war--out of the sacrifice of     
other men's lives4 ,until the soldier   

makes money by fighting1 until mothers  
make money by giving their sons to      
death--not until then should any citizen
 make money out of providing his country
 with the means to preserve its life4   
,if wars are to continue1 it will be    
harder and harder for the upright       
business man to regard war as a         
legitimate means of high and speedy     
profits4 ,war fortunes are losing caste 
every day4 ,even greed will some day    
hesitate before the overwhelming        
unpopularity and opposition which will  
meet the war profiteer4 ,business should
 be on the side of peace1 because peace 
is business's best asset4  ,and1 by the 
way1 was inventive genius ever so       
sterile as it was during the war8  ,an  
impartial investigation of the last war1
 of what preceded it and what has come  
out of it1 would show beyond a doubt    
that there is in the world a group of   
men with vast powers of control1 that   
prefers to remain unknown1 that does not
 seek office or any of the tokens of    

power1 that belongs to no nation        
whatever but is international--a force  
that uses every government1 every       
widespread business organization1 every 
agency of publicity1 every resource of  
national psychology1 to throw the world 
into a panic for the sake of getting    
still more power over the world4 ,an old
 gambling trick used to be for the      
gambler to cry ,police6 when a lot of   
money was on the table1 and1 in the     
panic that followed1 to seize the money 
and run off with it4 ,there is a power  
within the world which cries ,war6 and  
in the confusion of the nations1 the    
unrestrained sacrifice which people make
 for safety and peace runs off with the 
spoils of the panic4  ,the point to keep
 in mind is that1 though we won the     
military contest1 the world has not yet 
quite succeeded in winning a complete   
victory over the promoters of war4 ,we  
ought not to forget that wars are a     
purely manufactured evil and are made   
according to a definite technique4 ,a   

campaign for war is made upon as        
definite lines as a campaign for any    
other purpose4 ,first1 the people are   
worked upon4 ,by clever tales the       
people's suspicions are aroused toward  
the nation against whom war is desired4 
,make the nation suspicious2 make the   
other nation suspicious4 ,all you need  
for this is a few agents with some      
cleverness and no conscience and a press
 whose interest is locked up with the   
interests that will be benefited by war4
 ,then the overt act will soon appear4  
,it is no trick at all to get an overt  
act once you work the hatred of two     
nations up to the proper pitch4  ,there 
were men in every country who were glad 
to see the ,world ,war begin and sorry  
to see it stop4 ,hundreds of ,american  
fortunes date from the ,civil ,war2     
thousands of new fortunes date from the 
,world ,war4 ,nobody can deny that war  
is a profitable business for those who  
like that kind of money4 ,war is an orgy
 of money1 just as it is an orgy of     

blood4  ,and we should not so easily be 
led into war if we considered what it is
 that makes a nation really great4 ,it  
is not the amount of trade that makes a 
nation great4 ,the creation of private  
fortunes1 like the creation of an       
autocracy1 does not make any country    
great4 ,nor does the mere change of an  
agricultural population into a factory  
population4 ,a country becomes great    
when1 by the wise development of its    
resources and the skill of its people1  
property is widely and fairly           
distributed4  ,foreign trade is full of 
delusions4 ,we ought to wish for every  
nation as large a degree of self-support
 as possible4 ,instead of wishing to    
keep them dependent on us for what we   
manufacture1 we should wish them to     
learn to manufacture themselves and     
build up a solidly founded civilization4
 ,when every nation learns to produce   
the things which it can produce1 we     
shall be able to get down to a basis of 
serving each other along those special  

lines in which there can be no          
competition4 ,the ,north ,temperate     
,zone will never be able to compete with
 the tropics in the special products of 
the tropics4 ,our country will never be 
a competitor with the ,orient in the    
production of tea1 nor with the ,south  
in the production of rubber4  ,a large  
proportion of our foreign trade is based
 on the backwardness of our foreign     
customers4 ,selfishness is a motive that
 would preserve that backwardness4      
,humanity is a motive that would help   
the backward nations to a               
self-supporting basis4 ,take ,mexico1   
for example4 ,we have heard a great deal
 about the development of ,mexico4      
,exploitation is the word that ought    
instead to be used4 ,when its rich      
natural resources are exploited for the 
increase of the private fortunes of     
foreign capitalists1 that is not        
development1 it is ravishment4 ,you can 
never develop ,mexico until you develop 
the ,mexican4 ,and yet how much of the  

development of ,mexico by foreign       
exploiters ever took account of the     
development of its people8 ,the ,mexican
 peon has been regarded as mere fuel for
 the foreign money-makers4 ,foreign     
trade has been his degradation4         
,short-sighted people are afraid of such
 counsel4 ,they say3 ,what would become 
of our foreign trade8  ,when the natives
 of ,africa begin raising their own     
cotton and the natives of ,russia begin 
making their own farming implements and 
the natives of ,china begin supplying   
their own wants1 it will make a         
difference1 to be sure1 but does any    
thoughtful man imagine that the world   
can long continue on the present basis  
of a few nations supplying the needs of 
the world8 ,we must think in terms of   
what the world will be when civilization
 becomes general1 when all the peoples  
have learned to help themselves4  ,when 
a country goes mad about foreign trade  
it usually depends on other countries   
for its raw material1 turns its         

population into factory fodder1 creates 
a private rich class1 and lets its own  
immediate interest lie neglected4 ,here 
in the ,united ,states we have enough   
work to do developing our own country to
 relieve us of the necessity of looking 
for foreign trade for a long time4 ,we  
have agriculture enough to feed us while
 we are doing it1 and money enough to   
carry the job through4 ,is there        
anything more stupid than the ,united   
,states standing idle because ,japan or 
,france or any other country has not    
sent us an order when there is a        
hundred-year job awaiting us in         
developing our own country8  ,commerce  
began in service4 ,men carried off their
 surplus to people who had none4 ,the   
country that raised corn carried it to  
the country that could raise no corn4   
,the lumber country brought wood to the 
treeless plain4 ,the vine country       
brought fruit to cold northern climes4  
,the pasture country brought meat to the
 grassless region4 ,it was all service4 

,when all the peoples of the world      
become developed in the art of          
self-support1 commerce will get back to 
that basis4 ,business will once more    
become service4 ,there will be no       
competition1 because the basis of       
competition will have vanished4 ,the    
varied peoples will develop skills which
 will be in the nature of monopolies and
 not competitive4 ,from the beginning1  
the races have exhibited distinct       
strains of genius3 this one for         
government2 another for colonization2   
another for the sea2 another for art and
 music2 another for agriculture2 another
 for business1 and so on4 ,lincoln said 
that this nation could not survive      
half-slave and half-free4 ,the human    
race cannot forever exist half-exploiter
 and half-exploited4 ,until we become   
buyers and sellers alike1 producers and 
consumers alike1 keeping the balance not
 for profit but for service1 we are     
going to have topsy-turvy conditions4   
,france has something to give the world 

of which no competition can cheat her4  
,so has ,italy4 ,so has ,russia4 ,so    
have the countries of ,south ,america4  
,so has ,japan4 ,so has ,britain4 ,so   
has the ,united ,states4 ,the sooner we 
get back to a basis of natural          
specialties and drop this free-for-all  
system of grab1 the sooner we shall be  
sure of international self-respect--and 
international peace4 ,trying to take the
 trade of the world can promote war4 ,it
 cannot promote prosperity4 ,some day   
even the international bankers will     
learn this4  ,i have never been able to 
discover any honourable reasons for the 
beginning of the ,world ,war4 ,it seems 
to have grown out of a very complicated 
situation created largely by those who  
thought they could profit by war4 ,i    
believed1 on the information that was   
given to me in #aiaf1 that some of the  
nations were anxious for peace and would
 welcome a demonstration for peace4 ,it 
was in the hope that this was true that 
,i financed the expedition to ,stockholm

 in what has since been called the      
,peace ,ship4 ,i do not regret the      
attempt4 ,the mere fact that it failed  
is not1 to me1 conclusive proof that it 
was not worth trying4 ,we learn more    
from our failures than from our         
successes4 ,what ,i learned on that trip
 was worth the time and the money       
expended4 ,i do not now know whether the
 information as conveyed to me was true 
or false4 ,i do not care4 ,but ,i think 
everyone will agree that if it had been 
possible to end the war in #aiaf the    
world would be better off than it is    
to-day4  ,for the victors wasted        
themselves in winning1 and the          
vanquished in resisting4 ,nobody got an 
advantage1 honourable or dishonourable1 
out of that war4 ,i had hoped1 finally1 
when the ,united ,states entered the    
war1 that it might be a war to end wars1
 but now ,i know that wars do not end   
wars any more than an extraordinarily   
large conflagration does away with the  
fire hazard4 ,when our country entered  

the war1 it became the duty of every    
citizen to do his utmost toward seeing  
through to the end that which we had    
undertaken4 ,i believe that it is the   
duty of the man who opposes war to      
oppose going to war up until the time of
 its actual declaration4 ,my opposition 
to war is not based upon pacifist or    
non-resistant principles4 ,it may be    
that the present state of civilization  
is such that certain international      
questions cannot be discussed2 it may be
 that they have to be fought out4 ,but  
the fighting never settles the question4
 ,it only gets the participants around  
to a frame of mind where they will agree
 to discuss what they were fighting     
about4  ,once we were in the war1 every 
facility of the ,ford industries was put
 at the disposal of the ,government4 ,we
 had1 up to the time of the declaration 
of war1 absolutely refused to take war  
orders from the foreign belligerents4   
,it is entirely out of keeping with the 
principles of our business to disturb   

the routine of our production unless in 
an emergency4 ,it is at variance with   
our human principles to aid either side 
in a war in which our country was not   
involved4 ,these principles had no      
application1 once the ,united ,states   
entered the war4 ,from ,april1 #aiag1   
until ,november1 #aiah1 our factory     
worked practically exclusively for the  
,government4 ,of course we made cars and
 parts and special delivery trucks and  
ambulances as a part of our general     
production1 but we also made many other 
articles that were more or less new to  
us4 ,we made #b #a_/b-ton and #f-ton    
trucks4 ,we made ,liberty motors in     
great quantities1 aero cylinders1 #a4ee 
,mm4 and #d4g ,mm4 caissons4 ,we made   
listening devices1 steel helmets 7both  
at ,highland ,park and ,philadelphia71  
and ,eagle ,boats1 and we did a large   
amount of experimental work on armour   
plate1 compensators1 and body armour4   
,for the ,eagle ,boats we put up a      
special plant on the ,river ,rouge site4

 ,these boats were designed to combat   
the submarines4 ,they were #bjd feet    
long1 made of steel1 and one of the     
conditions precedent to their building  
was that their construction should not  
interfere with any other line of war    
production and also that they be        
delivered quickly4 ,the design was      
worked out by the ,navy ,department4 ,on
 ,december #bb1 #aiag1 ,i offered to    
build the boats for the ,navy4 ,the     
discussion terminated on ,january #ae1  
#aiah1 when the ,navy ,department       
awarded the contract to the ,ford       
,company4 ,on ,july #aath1 the first    
completed boat was launched4 ,we made   
both the hulls and the engines1 and not 
a forging or a rolled beam entered into 
the construction of other than the      
engine4 ,we stamped the hulls entirely  
out of sheet steel4 ,they were built    
indoors4 ,in four months we ran up a    
building at the ,river ,rouge a third of
 a mile long1 #cej feet wide1 and #ajj  
feet high1 covering more than thirteen  

acres4 ,these boats were not built by   
marine engineers4 ,they were built      
simply by applying our production       
principles to a new product4  ,with the 
,armistice1 we at once dropped the war  
and went back to peace4         99      
99       99       99       99  ,an able 
man is a man who can do things1 and his 
ability to do things is dependent on    
what he has in him4 ,what he has in him 
depends on what he started with and what
 he has done to increase and discipline 
it4  ,an educated man is not one whose  
memory is trained to carry a few dates  
in history--he is one who can accomplish
 things4 ,a man who cannot think is not 
an educated man however many college    
degrees he may have acquired4 ,thinking 
is the hardest work any one can         
do--which is probably the reason why we 
have so few thinkers4 ,there are two    
extremes to be avoided3 one is the      
attitude of contempt toward education1  
the other is the tragic snobbery of     
assuming that marching through an       

educational system is a sure cure for   
ignorance and mediocrity4 ,you cannot   
learn in any school what the world is   
going to do next year1 but you can learn
 some of the things which the world has 
tried to do in former years1 and where  
it failed and where it succeeded4 ,if   
education consisted in warning the young
 student away from some of the false    
theories on which men have tried to     
build1 so that he may be saved the loss 
of the time in finding out by bitter    
experience1 its good would be           
unquestioned4 ,an education which       
consists of signposts indicating the    
failure and the fallacies of the past   
doubtless would be very useful4 ,it is  
not education just to possess the       
theories of a lot of professors4        
,speculation is very interesting1 and   
sometimes profitable1 but it is not     
education4 ,to be learned in science    
to-day is merely to be aware of a       
hundred theories that have not been     
proved4 ,and not to know what those     

theories are is to be uneducated1       
ignorant1 and so forth4 ,if knowledge of
 guesses is learning1 then one may      
become learned by the simple expedient  
of making his own guesses4 ,and by the  
same token he can dub the rest of the   
world ignorant because it does not know 
what his guesses are4 ,but the best that
 education can do for a man is to put   
him in possession of his powers1 give   
him control of the tools with which     
destiny has endowed him1 and teach him  
how to think4 ,the college renders its  
best service as an intellectual         
gymnasium1 in which mental muscle is    
developed and the student strengthened  
to do what he can4 ,to say1 however1    
that mental gymnastics can be had only  
in college is not true1 as every        
educator knows4 ,a man's real education 
begins after he has left school4 ,true  
education is gained through the         
discipline of life4  ,there are many    
kinds of knowledge1 and it depends on   
what crowd you happen to be in1 or how  

the fashions of the day happen to run1  
which kind of knowledge1 is most        
respected at the moment4 ,there are     
fashions in knowledge1 just as there are
 in everything else4 ,when some of us   
were lads1 knowledge used to be limited 
to the ,bible4 ,there were certain men  
in the neighbourhood who knew the ,book 
thoroughly1 and they were looked up to  
and respected4 ,biblical knowledge was  
highly valued then4 ,but nowadays it is 
doubtful whether deep acquaintance with 
the ,bible would be sufficient to win a 
man a name for learning4  ,knowledge1 to
 my mind1 is something that in the past 
somebody knew and left in a form which  
enables all who will to obtain it4 ,if a
 man is born with normal human          
faculties1 if he is equipped with enough
 ability to use the tools which we call 
letters in reading or writing1 there is 
no knowledge within the possession of   
the race that he cannot have--if he     
wants it6 ,the only reason why every man
 does not know everything that the human

 mind has ever learned is that no one   
has ever yet found it worth while to    
know that much4 ,men satisfy their minds
 more by finding out things for         
themselves than by heaping together the 
things which somebody else has found    
out4 ,you can go out and gather         
knowledge all your life1 and with all   
your gathering you will not catch up    
even with your own times4 ,you may fill 
your head with all the facts of all the 
ages1 and your head may be just an      
overloaded fact-box when you get        
through4 ,the point is this3 ,great     
piles of knowledge in the head are not  
the same as mental activity4 ,a man may 
be very learned and very useless4 ,and  
then again1 a man may be unlearned and  
very useful4  ,the object of education  
is not to fill a man's mind with facts2 
it is to teach him how to use his mind  
in thinking4 ,and it often happens that 
a man can think better if he is not     
hampered by the knowledge of the past4  
,it is a very human tendency to think   

that what mankind does not yet know no  
one can learn4 ,and yet it must be      
perfectly clear to everyone that the    
past learning of mankind cannot be      
allowed to hinder our future learning4  
,mankind has not gone so very far when  
you measure its progress against the    
knowledge that is yet to be gained--the 
secrets that are yet to be learned4     
,one good way to hinder progress is to  
fill a man's head with all the learning 
of the past2 it makes him feel that     
because his head is full1 there is      
nothing more to learn4 ,merely gathering
 knowledge may become the most useless  
work a man can do4 ,what can you do to  
help and heal the world8 ,that is the   
educational test4 ,if a man can hold up 
his own end1 he counts for one4 ,if he  
can help ten or a hundred or a thousand 
other men hold up their ends1 he counts 
for more4 ,he may be quite rusty on many
 things that inhabit the realm of print1
 but he is a learned man just the same4 
,when a man is master of his own sphere1

 whatever it may be1 he has won his     
degree--he has entered the realm of     
wisdom4         99       99       99    
99       99  ,the work which we describe
 as ,studies in the ,jewish ,question1  
and which is variously described by     
antagonists as the ,jewish campaign1 the
 attack on the ,jews1 the anti-,semitic 
pogrom1 and so forth1 needs no          
explanation to those who have followed  
it4 ,its motives and purposes must be   
judged by the work itself4 ,it is       
offered as a contribution to a question 
which deeply affects the country1 a     
question which is racial at its source1 
and which concerns influences and ideals
 rather than persons4 ,our statements   
must be judged by candid readers who are
 intelligent enough to lay our words    
alongside life as they are able to      
observe it4 ,if our word and their      
observation agree1 the case is made4 ,it
 is perfectly silly to begin to damn us 
before it has been shown that our       
statements are baseless or reckless4    

,the first item to be considered is the 
truth of what we have set forth4 ,and   
that is precisely the item which our    
critics choose to evade4  ,readers of   
our articles will see at once that we   
are not actuated by any kind of         
prejudice1 except it may be a prejudice 
in favor of the principles which have   
made our civilization4 ,there had been  
observed in this country certain streams
 of influence which were causing a      
marked deterioration in our literature1 
amusements1 and social conduct2 business
 was departing from its old-time        
substantial soundness2 a general letting
 down of standards was felt everywhere4 
,it was not the robust coarseness of the
 white man1 the rude indelicacy1 say1 of
 ,shakespeare's characters1 but a nasty 
,orientalism which has insidiously      
affected every channel of               
expression--and to such an extent that  
it was time to challenge it4 ,the fact  
that these influences are all traceable 
to one racial source is a fact to be    

reckoned with1 not by us only1 but by   
the intelligent people of the race in   
question4 ,it is entirely creditable to 
them that steps have been taken by them 
to remove their protection from the more
 flagrant violators of ,american        
hospitality1 but there is still room to 
discard outworn ideas of racial         
superiority maintained by economic or   
intellectually subversive warfare upon  
,christian society4  ,our work does not 
pretend to say the last word on the ,jew
 in ,america4 ,it says only the word    
which describes his obvious present     
impress on the country4 ,when that      
impress is changed1 the report of it can
 be changed4 ,for the present1 then1 the
 question is wholly in the ,jews' hands4
 ,if they are as wise as they claim to  
be1 they will labour to make ,jews      
,american1 instead of labouring to make 
,america ,jewish4 ,the genius of the    
,united ,states of ,america is          
,christian in the broadest sense1 and   
its destiny is to remain ,christian4    

,this carries no sectarian meaning with 
it1 but relates to a basic principle    
which differs from other principles in  
that it provides for liberty with       
morality1 and pledges society to a code 
of relations based on fundamental       
,christian conceptions of human rights  
and duties4  ,as for prejudice or hatred
 against persons1 that is neither       
,american nor ,christian4 ,our          
opposition is only to ideas1 false      
ideas1 which are sapping the moral      
stamina of the people4 ,these ideas     
proceed from easily identified sources1 
they are promulgated by easily          
discoverable methods2 and they are      
controlled by mere exposure4 ,we have   
simply used the method of exposure4     
,when people learn to identify the      
source and nature of the influence      
swirling around them1 it is sufficient4 
,let the ,american people once          
understand that it is not natural       
degeneracy1 but calculated subversion   
that afflicts us1 and they are safe4    

,the explanation is the cure4  ,this    
work was taken up without personal      
motives4 ,when it reached a stage where 
we believed the ,american people could  
grasp the key1 we let it rest for the   
time4 ,our enemies say that we began it 
for revenge and that we laid it down in 
fear4 ,time will show that our critics  
are merely dealing in evasion because   
they dare not tackle the main question4 
,time will also show that we are better 
friends to the ,jews' best interests    
than are those who praise them to their 
faces and criticize them behind their   
backs4     ,,chapter ,,xviii            
,,democracy ,,and ,,industry   ,perhaps 
no word is more overworked nowadays than
 the word democracy1 and those who shout
 loudest about it1 ,i think1 as a rule1 
want it least4 ,i am always suspicious  
of men who speak glibly of democracy4 ,i
 wonder if they want to set up some kind
 of a despotism or if they want to have 
somebody do for them what they ought to 
do for themselves4 ,i am for the kind of

 democracy that gives to each an equal  
chance according to his ability4 ,i     
think if we give more attention to      
serving our fellows we shall have less  
concern with the empty forms of         
government and more concern with the    
things to be done4 ,thinking of service1
 we shall not bother about good feeling 
in industry or life2 we shall not bother
 about masses and classes1 or closed and
 open shops1 and such matters as have   
nothing at all to do with the real      
business of living4 ,we can get down to 
facts4 ,we stand in need of facts4  ,it 
is a shock when the mind awakens to the 
fact that not all of humanity is        
human--that whole groups of people do   
not regard others with humane feelings4 
,great efforts have been made to have   
this appear as the attitude of a class1 
but it is really the attitude of all    
classes1 in so far as they are swayed by
 the false notion of classes4 ,before1  
when it was the constant effort of      
propaganda to make the people believe   

that it was only the rich who were      
without humane feelings1 the opinion    
became general that among the poor the  
humane virtues flourished4  ,but the    
rich and the poor are both very small   
minorities1 and you cannot classify     
society under such heads4 ,there are not
 enough rich and there are not enough   
poor to serve the purpose of such       
classification4 ,rich men have become   
poor without changing their natures1 and
 poor men have become rich1 and the     
problem has not been affected by it4    
,between the rich and the poor is the   
great mass of the people who are neither
 rich nor poor4 ,a society made up      
exclusively of millionaires would not be
 different from our present society2    
some of the millionaires would have to  
raise wheat and bake bread and make     
machinery and run trains--else they     
would all starve to death4 ,someone must
 do the work4 ,really we have no fixed  
classes4 ,we have men who will work and 
men who will not4 ,most of the classes  

that one reads about are purely         
fictional4 ,take certain capitalist     
papers4 ,you will be amazed by some of  
the statements about the labouring      
class4 ,we who have been and still are a
 part of the labouring class know that  
the statements are untrue4 ,take certain
 of the labour papers4 ,you are equally 
amazed by some of the statements they   
make about capitalists4 ,and yet on both
 sides there is a grain of truth4 ,the  
man who is a capitalist and nothing     
else1 who gambles with the fruits of    
other men's labours1 deserves all that  
is said against him4 ,he is in precisely
 the same class as the cheap gambler who
 cheats workingmen out of their wages4  
,the statements we read about the       
labouring class in the capitalistic     
press are seldom written by managers of 
great industries1 but by a class of     
writers who are writing what they think 
will please their employers4 ,they write
 what they imagine will please4 ,examine
 the labour press and you will find     

another class of writers who similarly  
seek to tickle the prejudices which they
 conceive the labouring man to have4    
,both kinds of writers are mere         
propagandists4 ,and propaganda that does
 not spread facts is self-destructive4  
,and it should be4 ,you cannot preach   
patriotism to men for the purpose of    
getting them to stand still while you   
rob them--and get away with that kind of
 preaching very long4 ,you cannot preach
 the duty of working hard and producing 
plentifully1 and make that a screen for 
an additional profit to yourself4 ,and  
neither can the worker conceal the lack 
of a day's work by a phrase4            
,undoubtedly the employing class        
possesses facts which the employed ought
 to have in order to construct sound    
opinions and pass fair judgments4       
,undoubtedly the employed possess facts 
which are equally important to the      
employer4 ,it is extremely doubtful1    
however1 if either side has all the     
facts4 ,and this is where propaganda1   

even if it were possible for it to be   
entirely successful1 is defective4 ,it  
is not desirable that one set of ideas  
be put over on a class holding another  
set of ideas4 ,what we really need is to
 get all the ideas together and         
construct from them4  ,take1 for        
instance1 this whole matter of union    
labour and the right to strike4  ,the   
only strong group of union men in the   
country is the group that draws salaries
 from the unions4 ,some of them are very
 rich4 ,some of them are interested in  
influencing the affairs of our large    
institutions of finance4 ,others are so 
extreme in their so-called socialism    
that they border on ,bolshevism and     
anarchism--their union salaries         
liberating them from the necessity of   
work so that they can devote their      
energies to subversive propaganda4 ,all 
of them enjoy a certain prestige and    
power which1 in the natural course of   
competition1 they could not otherwise   
have won4  ,if the official personnel of

 the labour unions were as strong1 as   
honest1 as decent1 and as plainly wise  
as the bulk of the men who make up the  
membership1 the whole movement would    
have taken on a different complexion    
these last few years4 ,but this official
 personnel1 in the main--there are      
notable exceptions--has not devoted     
itself to an alliance with the naturally
 strong qualities of the workingman2 it 
has rather devoted itself to playing    
upon his weaknesses1 principally upon   
the weaknesses of that newly arrived    
portion of the population which does not
 yet know what ,americanism is1 and     
which never will know if left to the    
tutelage of their local union leaders4  
,the workingmen1 except those few who   
have been inoculated with the fallacious
 doctrine of the class war and who have 
accepted the philosophy that progress   
consists in fomenting discord in        
industry 7,when you get your #ab a day1 
don't stop at that4 ,agitate for #ad4   
,when you get your eight hours a day1   

don't be a fool and grow contented2     
agitate for six hours4 ,start something6
 ,always start something671 have the    
plain sense which enables them to       
recognize that with principles accepted 
and observed1 conditions change4 ,the   
union leaders have never seen that4     
,they wish conditions to remain as they 
are1 conditions of injustice1           
provocation1 strikes1 bad feeling1 and  
crippled national life4 ,else where     
would be the need for union officers8   
,every strike is a new argument for     
them2 they point to it and say1 ,you    
see6 ,you still need us4  ,the only true
 labour leader is the one who leads     
labour to work and to wages1 and not the
 leader who leads labour to strikes1    
sabotage1 and starvation4 ,the union of 
labour which is coming to the fore in   
this country is the union of all whose  
interests are interdependent--whose     
interests are altogether dependent on   
the usefulness and efficiency of the    
service they render4  ,there is a change

 coming4 ,when the union of union       
leaders disappears1 with it will go the 
union of blind bosses--bosses who never 
did a decent thing for their employees  
until they were compelled4 ,if the blind
 boss was a disease1 the selfish union  
leader was the antidote4 ,when the union
 leader became the disease1 the blind   
boss became the antidote4 ,both are     
misfits1 both are out of place in       
well-organized society4 ,and they are   
both disappearing together4  ,it is the 
blind boss whose voice is heard to-day  
saying1 ,now is the time to smash       
labour1 we've got them on the run4 ,that
 voice is going down to silence with the
 voice that preaches class war4 ,the    
producers--from the men at the drawing  
board to the men on the moulding        
floor--have gotten together in a real   
union1 and they will handle their own   
affairs henceforth4  ,the exploitation  
of dissatisfaction is an established    
business to-day4 ,its object is not to  
settle anything1 nor to get anything    

done1 but to keep dissatisfaction in    
existence4 ,and the instruments used to 
do this are a whole set of false        
theories and promises which can never be
 fulfilled as long as the earth remains 
what it is4  ,i am not opposed to labour
 organization4 ,i am not opposed to any 
sort of organization that makes for     
progress4 ,it is organizing to limit    
production--whether by employers or by  
workers--that matters4  ,the workingman 
himself must be on guard against some   
very dangerous notions--dangerous to    
himself and to the welfare of the       
country4 ,it is sometimes said that the 
less a worker does1 the more jobs he    
creates for other men4 ,this fallacy    
assumes that idleness is creative4      
,idleness never created a job4 ,it      
creates only burdens4 ,the industrious  
man never runs his fellow worker out of 
a job2 indeed1 it is the industrious man
 who is the partner of the industrious  
manager--who creates more and more      
business and therefore more and more    

jobs4 ,it is a great pity that the idea 
should ever have gone abroad among      
sensible men that by soldiering on the  
job they help someone else4 ,a moment's 
thought will show the weakness of such  
an idea4 ,the healthy business1 the     
business that is always making more and 
more opportunities for men to earn an   
honourable and ample living1 is the     
business in which every man does a day's
 work of which he is proud4 ,and the    
country that stands most securely is the
 country in which men work honestly and 
do not play tricks with the means of    
production4 ,we cannot play fast and    
loose with economic laws1 because if we 
do they handle us in very hard ways4    
,the fact that a piece of work is now   
being done by nine men which used to be 
done by ten men does not mean that the  
tenth man is unemployed4 ,he is merely  
not employed on that work1 and the      
public is not carrying the burden of his
 support by paying more than it ought on
 that work--for after all1 it is the    

public that pays6  ,an industrial       
concern which is wide enough awake to   
reorganize for efficiency1 and honest   
enough with the public to charge it     
necessary costs and no more1 is usually 
such an enterprising concern that it has
 plenty of jobs at which to employ the  
tenth man4 ,it is bound to grow1 and    
growth means jobs4 ,a well-managed      
concern is always seeking to lower the  
labour cost to the public2 and it is    
certain to employ more men than the     
concern which loafs along and makes the 
public pay the cost of its              
mismanagement4  ,the tenth man was an   
unnecessary cost4 ,the ultimate consumer
 was paying him4 ,but the fact that he  
was unnecessary on that particular job  
does not mean that he is unnecessary in 
the work of the world1 or even in the   
work of his particular shop4  ,the      
public pays for all mismanagement4 ,more
 than half the trouble with the world   
to-day is the soldiering and dilution   
and cheapness and inefficiency for which

 the people are paying their good money4
 ,wherever two men are being paid for   
what one can do1 the people are paying  
double what they ought4 ,and it is a    
fact that only a little while ago in the
 ,united ,states1 man for man1 we were  
not producing what we did for several   
years previous to the war4  ,a day's    
work means more than merely being on    
duty at the shop for the required number
 of hours4 ,it means giving an          
equivalent in service for the wage      
drawn4 ,and when that equivalent is     
tampered with either way--when the man  
gives more than he receives1 or receives
 more than he gives--it is not long     
before serious dislocation will be      
manifest4 ,extend that condition        
throughout the country1 and you have a  
complete upset of business4 ,all that   
industrial difficulty means is the      
destruction of basic equivalents in the 
shop4 ,management must share the blame  
with labour4 ,management has been lazy1 
too4 ,management has found it easier to 

hire an additional five hundred men than
 to so improve its methods that one     
hundred men of the old force could be   
released to other work4 ,the public was 
paying1 and business was booming1 and   
management didn't care a pin4 ,it was no
 different in the office from what it   
was in the shop4 ,the law of equivalents
 was broken just as much by managers as 
by workmen4 ,practically nothing of     
importance is secured by mere demand4   
,that is why strikes always fail--even  
though they may seem to succeed4 ,a     
strike which brings higher wages or     
shorter hours and passes on the burden  
to the community is really unsuccessful4
 ,it only makes the industry less able  
to serve--and decreases the number of   
jobs that it can support4 ,this is not  
to say that no strike is justified--it  
may draw attention to an evil4 ,men can 
strike with justice--that they will     
thereby get justice is another question4
 ,the strike for proper conditions and  
just rewards is justifiable4 ,the pity  

is that men should be compelled to use  
the strike to get what is theirs by     
right4 ,no ,american ought to be        
compelled to strike for his rights4 ,he 
ought to receive them naturally1 easily1
 as a matter of course4 ,these          
justifiable strikes are usually the     
employer's fault4 ,some employers are   
not fit for their jobs4 ,the employment 
of men--the direction of their energies1
 the arranging of their rewards in      
honest ratio to their production and to 
the prosperity of the business--is no   
small job4 ,an employer may be unfit for
 his job1 just as a man at the lathe may
 be unfit4 ,justifiable strikes are a   
sign that the boss needs another        
job--one that he can handle4 ,the unfit 
employer causes more trouble than the   
unfit employee4 ,you can change the     
latter to another more suitable job4    
,but the former must usually be left to 
the law of compensation4 ,the justified 
strike1 then1 is one that need never    
have been called if the employer had    

done his work4  ,there is a second kind 
of strike--the strike with a concealed  
design4 ,in this kind of strike the     
workingmen are made the tools of some   
manipulator who seeks his own ends      
through them4 ,to illustrate3 ,here is a
 great industry whose success is due to 
having met a public need with efficient 
and skillful production4 ,it has a      
record for justice4 ,such an industry   
presents a great temptation to          
speculators4 ,if they can only gain     
control of it they can reap rich benefit
 from all the honest effort that has    
been put into it4 ,they can destroy its 
beneficiary wage and profit-sharing1    
squeeze every last dollar out of the    
public1 the product1 and the workingman1
 and reduce it to the plight of other   
business concerns which are run on low  
principles4 ,the motive may be the      
personal greed of the speculators or    
they may want to change the policy of a 
business because its example is         
embarrassing to other employers who do  

not want to do what is right4 ,the      
industry cannot be touched from within1 
because its men have no reason to       
strike4 ,so another method is adopted4  
,the business may keep many outside     
shops busy supplying it with material4  
,if these outside shops can be tied up1 
then that great industry may be         
crippled4  ,so strikes are fomented in  
the outside industries4 ,every attempt  
is made to curtail the factory's source 
of supplies4 ,if the workingmen in the  
outside shops knew what the game was1   
they would refuse to play it1 but they  
don't know2 they serve as the tools of  
designing capitalists without knowing   
it4 ,there is one point1 however1 that  
ought to rouse the suspicions of        
workingmen engaged in this kind of      
strike4 ,if the strike cannot get itself
 settled1 no matter what either side    
offers to do1 it is almost positive     
proof that there is a third party       
interested in having the strike         
continue4 ,that hidden influence does   

not want a settlement on any terms4 ,if 
such a strike is won by the strikers1 is
 the lot of the workingman improved8    
,after throwing the industry into the   
hands of outside speculators1 are the   
workmen given any better treatment or   
wages8  ,there is a third kind of       
strike--the strike that is provoked by  
the money interests for the purpose of  
giving labour a bad name4 ,the ,american
 workman has always had a reputation for
 sound judgment4 ,he has not allowed    
himself to be led away by every shouter 
who promised to create the millennium   
out of thin air4 ,he has had a mind of  
his own and has used it4 ,he has always 
recognized the fundamental truth that   
the absence of reason was never made    
good by the presence of violence4 ,in   
his way the ,american workingman has won
 a certain prestige with his own people 
and throughout the world4 ,public       
opinion has been inclined to regard with
 respect his opinions and desires4 ,but 
there seems to be a determined effort to

 fasten the ,bolshevik stain on         
,american ,labour by inciting it to such
 impossible attitudes and such wholly   
unheard-of actions as shall change      
public sentiment from respect to        
criticism4 ,merely avoiding strikes1    
however1 does not promote industry4 ,we 
may say to the workingman3  ,you have a 
grievance1 but the strike is no         
remedy--it only makes the situation     
worse whether you win or lose4  ,then   
the workingman may admit this to be true
 and refrain from striking4 ,does that  
settle anything8  ,no6 ,if the worker   
abandons strikes as an unworthy means of
 bringing about desirable conditions1 it
 simply means that employers must get   
busy on their own initiative and correct
 defective conditions4  ,the experience 
of the ,ford industries with the        
workingman has been entirely            
satisfactory1 both in the ,united       
,states and abroad4 ,we have no         
antagonism to unions1 but we participate
 in no arrangements with either employee

 or employer organizations4 ,the wages  
paid are always higher than any         
reasonable union could think of         
demanding and the hours of work are     
always shorter4 ,there is nothing that a
 union membership could do for our      
people4 ,some of them may belong to     
unions1 probably the majority do not4   
,we do not know and make no attempt to  
find out1 for it is a matter of not the 
slightest concern to us4 ,we respect the
 unions1 sympathize with their good aims
 and denounce their bad ones4 ,in turn  
,i think that they give us respect1 for 
there has never been any authoritative  
attempt to come between the men and the 
management in our plants4 ,of course    
radical agitators have tried to stir up 
trouble now and again1 but the men have 
mostly regarded them simply as human    
oddities and their interest in them has 
been the same sort of interest that they
 would have in a four-legged man4  ,in  
,england we did meet the trades union   
question squarely in our ,manchester    

plant4 ,the workmen of ,manchester are  
mostly unionized1 and the usual ,english
 union restrictions upon output prevail4
 ,we took over a body plant in which    
were a number of union carpenters4 ,at  
once the union officers asked to see our
 executives and arrange terms4 ,we deal 
only with our own employees and never   
with outside representatives1 so our    
people refused to see the union         
officials4 ,thereupon they called the   
carpenters out on strike4 ,the          
carpenters would not strike and were    
expelled from the union4 ,then the      
expelled men brought suit against the   
union for their share of the benefit    
fund4 ,i do not know how the litigation 
turned out1 but that was the end of     
interference by trades union officers   
with our operations in ,england4  ,we   
make no attempt to coddle the people who
 work with us4 ,it is absolutely a      
give-and-take relation4 ,during the     
period in which we largely increased    
wages we did have a considerable        

supervisory force4 ,the home life of the
 men was investigated and an effort was 
made to find out what they did with     
their wages4 ,perhaps at the time it was
 necessary2 it gave us valuable         
information4 ,but it would not do at all
 as a permanent affair and it has been  
abandoned4  ,we do not believe in the   
glad hand1 or the professionalized      
personal touch1 or human element4 ,it is
 too late in the day for that sort of   
thing4 ,men want something more than a  
worthy sentiment4 ,social conditions are
 not made out of words4 ,they are the   
net result of the daily relations       
between man and man4 ,the best social   
spirit is evidenced by some act which   
costs the management something and which
 benefits all4 ,that is the only way to 
prove good intentions and win respect4  
,propaganda1 bulletins1 lectures--they  
are nothing4 ,it is the right act       
sincerely done that counts4  ,a great   
business is really too big to be human4 
,it grows so large as to supplant the   

personality of the man4 ,in a big       
business the employer1 like the         
employee1 is lost in the mass4 ,together
 they have created a great productive   
organization which sends out articles   
that the world buys and pays for in     
return money that provides a livelihood 
for everyone in the business4 ,the      
business itself becomes the big thing4  
,there is something sacred about a big  
business which provides a living for    
hundreds and thousands of families4     
,when one looks about at the babies     
coming into the world1 at the boys and  
girls going to school1 at the young     
workingmen who1 on the strength of their
 jobs1 are marrying and setting up for  
themselves1 at the thousands of homes   
that are being paid for on installments 
out of the earnings of men--when one    
looks at a great productive organization
 that is enabling all these things to be
 done1 then the continuance of that     
business becomes a holy trust4 ,it      
becomes greater and more important than 

the individuals4  ,the employer is but a
 man like his employees and is subject  
to all the limitations of humanity4 ,he 
is justified in holding his job only as 
he can fill it4 ,if he can steer the    
business straight1 if his men can trust 
him to run his end of the work properly 
and without endangering their security1 
then he is filling his place4 ,otherwise
 he is no more fit for his position than
 would be an infant4 ,the employer1 like
 everyone else1 is to be judged solely  
by his ability4 ,he may be but a name to
 the men--a name on a signboard4 ,but   
there is the business--it is more than a
 name4 ,it produces the living--and a   
living is a pretty tangible thing4 ,the 
business is a reality4 ,it does things4 
,it is a going concern4 ,the evidence of
 its fitness is that the pay envelopes  
keep coming4  ,you can hardly have too  
much harmony in business4 ,but you can  
go too far in picking men because they  
harmonize4 ,you can have so much harmony
 that there will not be enough of the   

thrust and counterthrust which is       
life--enough of the competition which   
means effort and progress4 ,it is one   
thing for an organization to be working 
harmoniously toward one object1 but it  
is another thing for an organization to 
work harmoniously with each individual  
unit of itself4 ,some organizations use 
up so much energy and time maintaining a
 feeling of harmony that they have no   
force left to work for the object for   
which the organization was created4 ,the
 organization is secondary to the       
object4 ,the only harmonious            
organization that is worth anything is  
an organization in which all the members
 are bent on the one main purpose--to   
get along toward the objective4 ,a      
common purpose1 honestly believed in1   
sincerely desired--that is the great    
harmonizing principle4  ,i pity the poor
 fellow who is so soft and flabby that  
he must always have an atmosphere of    
good feeling around him before he can do
 his work4 ,there are such men4 ,and in 

the end1 unless they obtain enough      
mental and moral hardiness to lift them 
out of their soft reliance on feeling1  
they are failures4 ,not only are they   
business failures2 they are character   
failures also2 it is as if their bones  
never attained a sufficient degree of   
hardness to enable them to stand on     
their own feet4 ,there is altogether too
 much reliance on good feeling in our   
business organizations4 ,people have too
 great a fondness for working with the  
people they like4 ,in the end it spoils 
a good many valuable qualities4  ,do not
 misunderstand me2 when ,i use the term 
good feeling ,i mean that habit of      
making one's personal likes and dislikes
 the sole standard of judgment4 ,suppose
 you do not like a man4 ,is that        
anything against him8 ,it may be        
something against you4 ,what have your  
likes or dislikes to do with the facts8 
,every man of common sense knows that   
there are men whom he dislikes1 who are 
really more capable than he is himself4 

,and taking all this out of the shop and
 into the broader fields1 it is not     
necessary for the rich to love the poor 
or the poor to love the rich4 ,it is not
 necessary for the employer to love the 
employee or for the employee to love the
 employer4 ,what is necessary is that   
each should try to do justice to the    
other according to his deserts4 ,that is
 real democracy and not the question of 
who ought to own the bricks and the     
mortar and the furnaces and the mills4  
,and democracy has nothing to do with   
the question1 ,who ought to be boss8    
,that is very much like asking3 ,who    
ought to be the tenor in the quartet8   
,obviously1 the man who can sing tenor4 
,you could not have deposed ,caruso4    
,suppose some theory of musical         
democracy had consigned ,caruso to the  
musical proletariat4 ,would that have   
reared another tenor to take his place8 
,or would ,caruso's gifts have still    
remained his own8     ,,chapter ,,xix   
,,what ,,we ,,may ,,expect   ,we        

are--unless ,i do not read the signs    
aright--in the midst of a change4 ,it is
 going on all about us1 slowly and      
scarcely observed1 but with a firm      
surety4 ,we are gradually learning to   
relate cause and effect4 ,a great deal  
of that which we call disturbance--a    
great deal of the upset in what have    
seemed to be established                
institutions--is really but the surface 
indication of something approaching a   
regeneration4 ,the public point of view 
is changing1 and we really need only a  
somewhat different point of view to make
 the very bad system of the past into a 
very good system of the future4 ,we are 
displacing that peculiar virtue which   
used to be admired as hard-headedness1  
and which was really only               
wooden-headedness1 with intelligence1   
and also we are getting rid of mushy    
sentimentalism4 ,the first confused     
hardness with progress2 the second      
confused softness with progress4 ,we are
 getting a better view of the realities 

and are beginning to know that we have  
already in the world all things needful 
for the fullest kind of a life and that 
we shall use them better once we learn  
what they are and what they mean4       
,whatever is wrong--and we all know that
 much is wrong--can be righted by a     
clear definition of the wrongness4 ,we  
have been looking so much at one        
another1 at what one has and another    
lacks1 that we have made a personal     
affair out of something that is too big 
for personalities4 ,to be sure1 human   
nature enters largely into our economic 
problems4 ,selfishness exists1 and      
doubtless it colours all the competitive
 activities of life4 ,if selfishness    
were the characteristic of any one class
 it might be easily dealt with1 but it  
is in human fibre everywhere4 ,and greed
 exists4 ,and envy exists4 ,and jealousy
 exists4  ,but as the struggle for mere 
existence grows less--and it is less    
than it used to be1 although the sense  
of uncertainty may have increased--we   

have an opportunity to release some of  
the finer motives4 ,we think less of the
 frills of civilization as we grow used 
to them4 ,progress1 as the world has    
thus far known it1 is accompanied by a  
great increase in the things of life4   
,there is more gear1 more wrought       
material1 in the average ,american      
backyard than in the whole domain of an 
,african king4 ,the average ,american   
boy has more paraphernalia around him   
than a whole ,eskimo community4 ,the    
utensils of kitchen1 dining room1       
bedroom1 and coal cellar make a list    
that would have staggered the most      
luxurious potentate of five hundred     
years ago4 ,the increase in the         
impedimenta of life only marks a stage4 
,we are like the ,indian who comes into 
town with all his money and buys        
everything he sees4 ,there is no        
adequate realization of the large       
proportion of the labour and material of
 industry that is used in furnishing the
 world with its trumpery and trinkets1  

which are made only to be sold1 and are 
bought merely to be owned--that perform 
no service in the world and are at last 
mere rubbish as at first they were mere 
waste4 ,humanity is advancing out of its
 trinket-making stage1 and industry is  
coming down to meet the world's needs1  
and thus we may expect further          
advancement toward that life which many 
now see1 but which the present good     
enough stage hinders our attaining4     
,and we are growing out of this worship 
of material possessions4 ,it is no      
longer a distinction to be rich4 ,as a  
matter of fact1 to be rich is no longer 
a common ambition4 ,people do not care  
for money as money1 as they once did4   
,certainly they do not stand in awe of  
it1 nor of him who possesses it4 ,what  
we accumulate by way of useless surplus 
does us no honour4  ,it takes only a    
moment's thought to see that as far as  
individual personal advantage is        
concerned1 vast accumulations of money  
mean nothing4 ,a human being is a human 

being and is nourished by the same      
amount and quality of food1 is warmed by
 the same weight of clothing1 whether he
 be rich or poor4 ,and no one can       
inhabit more than one room at a time4   
,but if one has visions of service1 if  
one has vast plans which no ordinary    
resources could possibly realize1 if one
 has a life ambition to make the        
industrial desert bloom like the rose1  
and the work-a-day life suddenly blossom
 into fresh and enthusiastic human      
motives of higher character and         
efficiency1 then one sees in large sums 
of money what the farmer sees in his    
seed corn--the beginning of new and     
richer harvests whose benefits can no   
more be selfishly confined than can the 
sun's rays4  ,there are two fools in    
this world4 ,one is the millionaire who 
thinks that by hoarding money he can    
somehow accumulate real power1 and the  
other is the penniless reformer who     
thinks that if only he can take the     
money from one class and give it to     

another1 all the world's ills will be   
cured4 ,they are both on the wrong      
track4 ,they might as well try to corner
 all the checkers or all the dominoes of
 the world under the delusion that they 
are thereby cornering great quantities  
of skill4 ,some of the most successful  
money-makers of our times have never    
added one pennyworth to the wealth of   
men4 ,does a card player add to the     
wealth of the world8  ,if we all created
 wealth up to the limits1 the easy      
limits1 of our creative capacity1 then  
it would simply be a case of there being
 enough for everybody1 and everybody    
getting enough4 ,any real scarcity of   
the necessaries of life in the          
world--not a fictitious scarcity caused 
by the lack of clinking metallic disks  
in one's purse--is due only to lack of  
production4 ,and lack of production is  
due only too often to lack of knowledge 
of how and what to produce4         99  
99       99       99       99  ,this    
much we must believe as a starting      

point3  ,that the earth produces1 or is 
capable of producing1 enough to give    
decent sustenance to everyone--not of   
food alone1 but of everything else we   
need4 ,for everything is produced from  
the earth4  ,that it is possible for    
labour1 production1 distribution1 and   
reward to be so organized as to make    
certain that those who contribute shall 
receive shares determined by an exact   
justice4  ,that regardless of the       
frailties of human nature1 our economic 
system can be so adjusted that          
selfishness1 although perhaps not       
abolished1 can be robbed of power to    
work serious economic injustice4        
99       99       99       99       99  
,the business of life is easy or hard   
according to the skill or the lack of   
skill displayed in production and       
distribution4 ,it has been thought that 
business existed for profit4 ,that is   
wrong4 ,business exists for service4 ,it
 is a profession1 and must have         
recognized professional ethics1 to      

violate which declasses a man4 ,business
 needs more of the professional spirit4 
,the professional spirit seeks          
professional integrity1 from pride1 not 
from compulsion4 ,the professional      
spirit detects its own violations and   
penalizes them4 ,business will some day 
become clean4 ,a machine that stops     
every little while is an imperfect      
machine1 and its imperfection is within 
itself4 ,a body that falls sick every   
little while is a diseased body1 and its
 disease is within itself4 ,so with     
business4 ,its faults1 many of them     
purely the faults of the moral          
constitution of business1 clog its      
progress and make it sick every little  
while4 ,some day the ethics of business 
will be universally recognized1 and in  
that day business will be seen to be the
 oldest and most useful of all the      
professions4         99       99        
99       99       99  ,all that the     
,ford industries have done--all that ,i 
have done--is to endeavour to evidence  

by works that service comes before      
profit and that the sort of business    
which makes the world better for its    
presence is a noble profession4 ,often  
it has come to me that what is regarded 
as the somewhat remarkable progression  
of our enterprises--,i will not say     
success1 for that word is an epitaph1   
and we are just starting--is due to some
 accident2 and that the methods which we
 have used1 while well enough in their  
way1 fit only the making of our         
particular products and would not do at 
all in any other line of business or    
indeed for any products or personalities
 other than our own4  ,it used to be    
taken for granted that our theories and 
our methods were fundamentally unsound4 
,that is because they were not          
understood4 ,events have killed that    
kind of comment1 but there remains a    
wholly sincere belief that what we have 
done could not be done by any other     
company--that we have been touched by a 
wand1 that neither we nor any one else  

could make shoes1 or hats1 or sewing    
machines1 or watches1 or typewriters1 or
 any other necessity after the manner in
 which we make automobiles and tractors4
 ,and that if only we ventured into     
other fields we should right quickly    
discover our errors4 ,i do not agree    
with any of this4 ,nothing has come out 
of the air4 ,the foregoing pages should 
prove that4 ,we have nothing that others
 might not have4 ,we have had no good   
fortune except that which always attends
 any one who puts his best into his     
work4 ,there was nothing that could be  
called favorable about our beginning4   
,we began with almost nothing4 ,what we 
have1 we earned1 and we earned it by    
unremitting labour and faith in a       
principle4 ,we took what was a luxury   
and turned it into a necessity and      
without trick or subterfuge4 ,when we   
began to make our present motor car the 
country had few good roads1 gasoline was
 scarce1 and the idea was firmly        
implanted in the public mind that an    

automobile was at the best a rich man's 
toy4 ,our only advantage was lack of    
precedent4  ,we began to manufacture    
according to a creed--a creed which was 
at that time unknown in business4 ,the  
new is always thought odd1 and some of  
us are so constituted that we can never 
get over thinking that anything which is
 new must be odd and probably queer4    
,the mechanical working out of our creed
 is constantly changing4 ,we are        
continually finding new and better ways 
of putting it into practice1 but we have
 not found it necessary to alter the    
principles1 and ,i cannot imagine how it
 might ever be necessary to alter them1 
because ,i hold that they are absolutely
 universal and must lead to a better and
 wider life for all4  ,if ,i did not    
think so ,i would not keep working--for 
the money that ,i make is inconsequent4 
,money is useful only as it serves to   
forward by practical example the        
principle that business is justified    
only as it serves1 that it must always  

give more to the community than it takes
 away1 and that unless everybody        
benefits by the existence of a business 
then that business should not exist4 ,i 
have proved this with automobiles and   
tractors4 ,i intend to prove it with    
railways and public-service             
corporations--not for my personal       
satisfaction and not for the money that 
may be earned4 7,it is perfectly        
impossible1 applying these principles1  
to avoid making a much larger profit    
than if profit were the main object47 ,i
 want to prove it so that all of us may 
have more1 and that all of us may live  
better by increasing the service        
rendered by all businesses4 ,poverty    
cannot be abolished by formula2 it can  
be abolished only by hard and           
intelligent work4 ,we are1 in effect1 an
 experimental station to prove a        
principle4 ,that we do make money is    
only further proof that we are right4   
,for that is a species of argument that 
establishes itself without words4  ,in  

the first chapter was set forth the     
creed4 ,let me repeat it in the light of
 the work that has been done under      
it--for it is at the basis of all our   
work3  7#a7 ,an absence of fear of the  
future or of veneration for the past4   
,one who fears the future1 who fears    
failure1 limits his activities4 ,failure
 is only the opportunity more           
intelligently to begin again4 ,there is 
no disgrace in honest failure2 there is 
disgrace in fearing to fail4 ,what is   
past is useful only as it suggests ways 
and means for progress4  7#b7 ,a        
disregard of competition4 ,whoever does 
a thing best ought to be the one to do  
it4 ,it is criminal to try to get       
business away from another man--criminal
 because one is then trying to lower for
 personal gain the condition of one's   
fellow-men1 to rule by force instead of 
by intelligence4  7#c7 ,the putting of  
service before profit4 ,without a       
profit1 business cannot extend4 ,there  
is nothing inherently wrong about making

 a profit4 ,well-conducted business     
enterprises cannot fail to return a     
profit but profit must and inevitably   
will come as a reward for good service4 
,it cannot be the basis--it must be the 
result of service4  7#d7 ,manufacturing 
is not buying low and selling high4 ,it 
is the process of buying materials      
fairly and1 with the smallest possible  
addition of cost1 transforming those    
materials into a consumable product and 
distributing it to the consumer4        
,gambling1 speculating1 and sharp       
dealing tend only to clog this          
progression4         99       99        
99       99       99  ,we must have     
production1 but it is the spirit behind 
it that counts most4 ,that kind of      
production which is a service inevitably
 follows a real desire to be of service4
 ,the various wholly artificial rules   
set up for finance and industry and     
which pass as laws break down with such 
frequency as to prove that they are not 
even good guesses4 ,the basis of all    

economic reasoning is the earth and its 
products4 ,to make the yield of the     
earth1 in all its forms1 large enough   
and dependable enough to serve as the   
basis for real life--the life which is  
more than eating and sleeping--is the   
highest service4 ,that is the real      
foundation for an economic system4 ,we  
can make things--the problem of         
production has been solved brilliantly4 
,we can make any number of different    
sort of things by the millions4 ,the    
material mode of our life is splendidly 
provided for4 ,there are enough         
processes and improvements now          
pigeonholed and awaiting application to 
bring the physical side of life to      
almost millennial completeness4 ,but we 
are too wrapped up in the things we are 
doing--we are not enough concerned with 
the reasons why we do them4 ,our whole  
competitive system1 our whole creative  
expression1 all the play of our         
faculties seem to be centred around     
material production and its by-products 

of success and wealth4  ,there is1 for  
instance1 a feeling that personal or    
group benefit can be had at the expense 
of other persons or groups4 ,there is   
nothing to be gained by crushing any    
one4 ,if the farmer's bloc should crush 
the manufacturers would the farmers be  
better off8 ,if the manufacturer's bloc 
should crush the farmers1 would the     
manufacturers be better off8 ,could     
,capital gain by crushing ,labour8 ,or  
,labour by crushing ,capital8 ,or does a
 man in business gain by crushing a     
competitor8 ,no1 destructive competition
 benefits no one4 ,the kind of          
competition which results in the defeat 
of the many and the overlordship of the 
ruthless few must go4 ,destructive      
competition lacks the qualities out of  
which progress comes4 ,progress comes   
from a generous form of rivalry4 ,bad   
competition is personal4 ,it works for  
the aggrandizement of some individual or
 group4 ,it is a sort of warfare4 ,it is
 inspired by a desire to get someone4   

,it is wholly selfish4 ,that is to say1 
its motive is not pride in the product1 
nor a desire to excel in service1 nor   
yet a wholesome ambition to approach to 
scientific methods of production4 ,it is
 moved simply by the desire to crowd out
 others and monopolize the market for   
the sake of the money returns4 ,that    
being accomplished1 it always           
substitutes a product of inferior       
quality4         99       99       99   
99       99  ,freeing ourselves from the
 petty sort of destructive competition  
frees us from many set notions4 ,we are 
too closely tied to old methods and     
single1 one-way uses4 ,we need more     
mobility4 ,we have been using certain   
things just one way1 we have been       
sending certain goods through only one  
channel--and when that use is slack1 or 
that channel is stopped1 business stops1
 too1 and all the sorry consequences of 
depression set in4 ,take corn1 for      
example4 ,there are millions upon       
millions of bushels of corn stored in   

the ,united ,states with no visible     
outlet4 ,a certain amount of corn is    
used as food for man and beast1 but not 
all of it4 ,in pre-,prohibition days a  
certain amount of corn went into the    
making of liquor1 which was not a very  
good use for good corn4 ,but through a  
long course of years corn followed those
 two channels1 and when one of them     
stopped the stocks of corn began to pile
 up4 ,it is the money fiction that      
usually retards the movement of stocks1 
but even if money were plentiful we     
could not possibly consume the stores of
 food which we sometimes possess4  ,if  
foodstuffs become too plentiful to be   
consumed as food1 why not find other    
uses for them8 ,why use corn only for   
hogs and distilleries8 ,why sit down and
 bemoan the terrible disaster that has  
befallen the corn market8 ,is there no  
use for corn besides the making of pork 
or the making of whisky8 ,surely there  
must be4 ,there should be so many uses  
for corn that only the important uses   

could ever be fully served2 there ought 
always be enough channels open to permit
 corn to be used without waste4  ,once  
upon a time the farmers burned corn as  
fuel--corn was plentiful and coal was   
scarce4 ,that was a crude way to dispose
 of corn1 but it contained the germ of  
an idea4 ,there is fuel in corn2 oil and
 fuel alcohol are obtainable from corn1 
and it is high time that someone was    
opening up this new use so that the     
stored-up corn crops may be moved4 ,why 
have only one string to our bow8 ,why   
not two8 ,if one breaks1 there is the   
other4 ,if the hog business slackens1   
why should not the farmer turn his corn 
into tractor fuel8  ,we need more       
diversity all round4 ,the four-track    
system everywhere would not be a bad    
idea4 ,we have a single-track money     
system4 ,it is a mighty fine system for 
those who own it4 ,it is a perfect      
system for the interest-collecting1     
credit-controlling financiers who       
literally own the commodity called      

,money and who literally own the        
machinery by which money is made and    
used4 ,let them keep their system if    
they like it4 ,but the people are       
finding out that it is a poor system for
 what we call hard times because it ties
 up the line and stops traffic4 ,if     
there are special protections for the   
interests1 there ought also to be       
special protections for the plain       
people4 ,diversity of outlet1 of use1   
and of financial enablement1 are the    
strongest defenses we can have against  
economic emergencies4  ,it is likewise  
with ,labour4 ,there surely ought to be 
flying squadrons of young men who would 
be available for emergency conditions in
 harvest field1 mine1 shop1 or railroad4
 ,if the fires of a hundred industries  
threaten to go out for lack of coal1 and
 one million men are menaced by         
unemployment1 it would seem both good   
business and good humanity for a        
sufficient number of men to volunteer   
for the mines and the railroads4 ,there 

is always something to be done in this  
world1 and only ourselves to do it4 ,the
 whole world may be idle1 and in the    
factory sense there may be nothing to   
do4 ,there may be nothing to do in this 
place or that1 but there is always      
something to do4 ,it is this fact which 
should urge us to such an organization  
of ourselves that this something to be  
done may get done1 and unemployment     
reduced to a minimum4         99        
99       99       99       99  ,every   
advance begins in a small way and with  
the individual4 ,the mass can be no     
better than the sum of the individuals4 
,advancement begins within the man      
himself2 when he advances from          
half-interest to strength of purpose2   
when he advances from hesitancy to      
decisive directness2 when he advances   
from immaturity to maturity of judgment2
 when he advances from apprenticeship to
 mastery2 when he advances from a mere  
dilettante at labour to a worker who    
finds a genuine joy in work2 when he    

advances from an eye-server to one who  
can be entrusted to do his work without 
oversight and without prodding--why1    
then the world advances6 ,the advance is
 not easy4 ,we live in flabby times when
 men are being taught that everything   
ought to be easy4 ,work that amounts to 
anything will never be easy4 ,and the   
higher you go in the scale of           
responsibility1 the harder becomes the  
job4 ,ease has its place1 of course4    
,every man who works ought to have      
sufficient leisure4 ,the man who works  
hard should have his easy chair1 his    
comfortable fireside1 his pleasant      
surroundings4 ,these are his by right4  
,but no one deserves ease until after   
his work is done4 ,it will never be     
possible to put upholstered ease into   
work4 ,some work is needlessly hard4 ,it
 can be lightened by proper management4 
,every device ought to be employed to   
leave a man free to do a man's work4    
,flesh and blood should not be made to  
bear burdens that steel can bear4 ,but  

even when the best is done1 work still  
remains work1 and any man who puts      
himself into his job will feel that it  
is work4  ,and there cannot be much     
picking and choosing4 ,the appointed    
task may be less than was expected4 ,a  
man's real work is not always what he   
would have chosen to do4 ,a man's real  
work is what he is chosen to do4 ,just  
now there are more menial jobs than     
there will be in the future2 and as long
 as there are menial jobs1 someone will 
have to do them2 but there is no reason 
why a man should be penalized because   
his job is menial4 ,there is one thing  
that can be said about menial jobs that 
cannot be said about a great many       
so-called more responsible jobs1 and    
that is1 they are useful and they are   
respectable and they are honest4  ,the  
time has come when drudgery must be     
taken out of labour4 ,it is not work    
that men object to1 but the element of  
drudgery4 ,we must drive out drudgery   
wherever we find it4 ,we shall never be 

wholly civilized until we remove the    
treadmill from the daily job4 ,invention
 is doing this in some degree now4 ,we  
have succeeded to a very great extent in
 relieving men of the heavier and more  
onerous jobs that used to sap their     
strength1 but even when lightening the  
heavier labour we have not yet succeeded
 in removing monotony4 ,that is another 
field that beckons us--the abolition of 
monotony1 and in trying to accomplish   
that we shall doubtless discover other  
changes that will have to be made in our
 system4         99       99       99   
99       99  ,the opportunity to work is
 now greater than ever it was4 ,the     
opportunity to advance is greater4 ,it  
is true that the young man who enters   
industry to-day enters a very different 
system from that in which the young man 
of twenty-five years ago began his      
career4 ,the system has been tightened  
up2 there is less play or friction in   
it2 fewer matters are left to the       
haphazard will of the individual2 the   

modern worker finds himself part of an  
organization which apparently leaves him
 little initiative4 ,yet1 with all this1
 it is not true that men are mere       
machines4 ,it is not true that          
opportunity has been lost in            
organization4 ,if the young man will    
liberate himself from these ideas and   
regard the system as it is1 he will find
 that what he thought was a barrier is  
really an aid4  ,factory organization is
 not a device to prevent the expansion  
of ability1 but a device to reduce the  
waste and losses due to mediocrity4 ,it 
is not a device to hinder the ambitious1
 clear-headed man from doing his best1  
but a device to prevent the don't-care  
sort of individual from doing his worst4
 ,that is to say1 when laziness1        
carelessness1 slothfulness1 and         
lack-interest are allowed to have their 
own way1 everybody suffers4 ,the factory
 cannot prosper and therefore cannot pay
 living wages4 ,when an organization    
makes it necessary for the don't-care   

class to do better than they naturally  
would1 it is for their benefit--they are
 better physically1 mentally1 and       
financially4 ,what wages should we be   
able to pay if we trusted a large       
don't-care class to their own methods   
and gait of production8  ,if the factory
 system which brought mediocrity up to a
 higher standard operated also to keep  
ability down to a lower standard--it    
would be a very bad system1 a very bad  
system indeed4 ,but a system1 even a    
perfect one1 must have able individuals 
to operate it4 ,no system operates      
itself4 ,and the modern system needs    
more brains for its operation than did  
the old4 ,more brains are needed to-day 
than ever before1 although perhaps they 
are not needed in the same place as they
 once were4 ,it is just like power3     
formerly every machine was run by foot  
power2 the power was right at the       
machine4 ,but nowadays we have moved the
 power back--concentrated it in the     
power-house4 ,thus also we have made it 

unnecessary for the highest types of    
mental ability to be engaged in every   
operation in the factory4 ,the better   
brains are in the mental power-plant4   
,every business that is growing is at   
the same time creating new places for   
capable men4 ,it cannot help but do so4 
,this does not mean that new openings   
come every day and in groups4 ,not at   
all4 ,they come only after hard work2 it
 is the fellow who can stand the gaff of
 routine and still keep himself alive   
and alert who finally gets into         
direction4 ,it is not sensational       
brilliance that one seeks in business1  
but sound1 substantial dependability4   
,big enterprises of necessity move      
slowly and cautiously4 ,the young man   
with ambition ought to take a long look 
ahead and leave an ample margin of time 
for things to happen4         99        
99       99       99       99  ,a great 
many things are going to change4 ,we    
shall learn to be masters rather than   
servants of ,nature4 ,with all our      

fancied skill we still depend largely on
 natural resources and think that they  
cannot be displaced4 ,we dig coal and   
ore and cut down trees4 ,we use the coal
 and the ore and they are gone2 the     
trees cannot be replaced within a       
lifetime4 ,we shall some day harness the
 heat that is all about us and no longer
 depend on coal--we may now create heat 
through electricity generated by water  
power4 ,we shall improve on that method4
 ,as chemistry advances ,i feel quite   
certain that a method will be found to  
transform growing things into substances
 that will endure better than the       
metals--we have scarcely touched the    
uses of cotton4 ,better wood can be made
 than is grown4 ,the spirit of true     
service will create for us4 ,we have    
only each of us to do our parts         
sincerely4         99       99       99 
99       99  ,everything is possible 444
 faith is the substance of things hoped 
for1 the evidence of things not seen4   
,,the ,,book ,,ends   ,,index           

,absentees discharged1   ,accidents1    
safeguarding against2 causes of         
,advancement1 personal   ,advertisement1
 first1 of ,ford ,motor ,co4   ,agents1 
,agriculture1 a primary function        
,ainsley1 ,charles   ,alexander1 ,henry1
 drives ,ford car to top of ,ben ,nevis1
 #d1fjj feet1        in #aiaa           
,antecedents1 a man's1 of no interest in
 hiring at ,ford factory   ,assembly of 
a ,ford car2 first experiment in a      
moving assembly line1        ,april #a1 
#aiac2 results of the experiment        
,automobile1 public's first attitude    
toward   ,automobile business1 bad      
methods of2 in its beginnings   ,bankers
 play too great a part in business2 in  
railroads   ,banking1   ,bedridden men  
at work1   ,benz car on exhibition at   
,macy's in #ahhe1   ,birds1 ,mr4 ,ford's
 fondness for   ,blind men can work1    
,bolshevism1   ,bonuses--,see           
,profit-,sharing   ,borrowing money2    
what it would have meant to ,ford ,motor
 ,co4 in #aibj   ,british ,board of     

,agriculture1   ,british ,cabinet and   
,fordson tractors1   ,burroughs1 ,john  
,business1 monopoly and profiteering bad
 for2 function of   ,buying for         
immediate needs only1   ,cadillac       
,company1   ,capital1   ,capitalist     
newspapers1   ,capitalists1   ,cash     
balance1 large   ,charity1 professional 
,city life1   ,classes mostly fictional1
   ,classification of work at ,ford     
plants1   ,cleanliness of factory1      
,coal used in ,ford plants from ,ford   
mines1   ,coke ovens at ,river ,rouge   
plant1   ,collier1 ,colonel ,d4 ,c4     
,competition1   ,consumption varies     
according to price and quality1         
,convict labour1   ,cooper1 ,tom        
,cooperative farming1   ,cork1 ,ireland1
 ,fordson tractor plant   ,corn1        
potential uses of   ,costs of           
production1 records of2 prices force    
down2 high wages        contribute to   
low   ,country1 living in   ,courtney1  
,f4 ,s4   ,creative work1   ,creed1     
industrial1 ,mr4 ,ford's   ,cripples can

 work1   ,cross1 ,john ,e4   ,dalby1    
,prof4 ,w4 ,e41   ,deaf and dumb men at 
work1   ,dearborn ,independent1         
,dearborn plant1   ,democracy1          
,detroit ,automobile ,co41   ,detroit   
,general ,hospital1 now ,ford ,hospital1
   ,detroit1 ,toledo and ,ironton       
,railway1 purchased by ,ford ,motor     
,co41        in ,march1 #aiba1          
,development1 opportunity for1 in ,u4   
,s41   ,diamond ,manufacturing ,co4     
fire1   ,discipline at ,ford plants1    
,dividends1 abolish1 rather than lower  
wages1   ,dividends1 small1 ,ford policy
 of1   ,doctors1   ,dollar1 the         
fluctuating1   ,drudgery1    ,eagle     
,boats1   ,economy1   ,edison1 ,thomas  
,a41   ,educated man1 an2 definition of1
   ,education1 ,mr4 ,ford's ideas on1   
,educational ,department1   ,electricity
 generated at ,ford plants1             
,employees1 all1 are really partners1   
,employment ,department1   ,equal1 all  
men are not1   ,experience1 lack of1 no 
bar to employment1   ,experiments1 no   

record of1 kept at ,ford factories1     
,experts1 no1 at ,ford plants1          
,factory1 ,ford1 growth of1   ,factory  
organization1 function of1   ,failure1  
habit of1   ,farming1 lack of knowledge 
in1 no conflict between1 and industry1  
future development in1   ,farming with  
tractors1   ,fear1   ,federal ,reserve  
,system1   ,fighting1 a cause for       
immediate discharge1   ,finance1        
,financial crisis in #aiba1 how ,ford   
,motor ,co4 met1   ,financial system at 
present inadequate1   ,firestone1       
,harvey ,s41   ,flat ,rock plant1       
,floor space for workers1               
,flour-milling1   ,foodstuffs1 potential
 uses of1   ,ford car--     the first1  
,no4 #e1jjj1jjj1     the second1        
introduction of1     in ,england in     
#aijc1     about #e1jjj parts in1       
sales and production--,see ,sales       
,ford1 ,henry--     ,born at ,dearborn1 
,mich41 ,july #cj1 #ahfc1               
mechanically inclined1     leaves school
 at seventeen1 becomes apprentice at    

,drydock ,engine          ,works1       
watch repairer1     works with local    
representative of ,westinghouse ,co4 as 
expert in          setting up and       
repairing road engines1     builds a    
steam tractor in his workshop1     reads
 of the silent gas engine in the ,world 
of ,science1     in #ahhg builds one on 
the ,otto four-cycle model1     father  
gives him forty acres of timber land1   
marriage1     in #ahij begins work on   
double-cylinder engine1     leaves farm 
and works as engineer and machinist with
 the ,detroit          ,electric ,co41  
rents house in ,detroit and sets up     
workshop in back yard1     in #ahib     
completes first motor car1     first    
road test in #ahic1     builds second   
motor car1     quits job with ,electric 
,co4 ,august #ae1 #ahii1 and goes into  
automobile business1     organization of
 ,detroit ,automobile ,co41     resigns 
from1 in #aijb1     rents shop to       
continue experiments at #ha ,park       
,place1 ,detroit1     beats ,alexander  

,winton in race1     early reflections  
on business1     in #aijc builds1 with  
,tom ,cooper1 two cars1 the #iii and the
          ,arrow for speed1     forms   
the ,ford ,motor ,co41     buys         
controlling share in #aijf1     builds  
,model ,a1     builds ,model ,b and     
,model ,c1     makes a record in race   
over ice in the ,arrow1     builds first
 real manufacturing plant1 in ,may1     
#aijh1     assembles #caa cars in six   
workings days1     in ,june1 #aijh1     
assembles one hundred cars in one day1  
in #aiji1 decides to manufacture only   
,model ,t1 painted black1     buys sixty
 acres of land for plant at ,highland   
,park1 outside of          ,detroit1    
how he met the financial crises of      
#aiba1     buys ,detroit1 ,toledo       
,ironton ,ry41 ,march1 #aiba1   ,ford   
doesn't use the ,ford1   ,ford1 ,edsel1 
,ford ,hospital1   ,ford ,motor ,co41   
organized #aijc1     ,henry ,ford buys  
controlling share in #aijf1     how it  
met financial crisis in #aiba1          

thirty-five branches of1 in ,u4 ,s4     
,ford1 you can dissect it1 but you      
cannot kill it1   ,fordson tractor1     
prices1     genesis and development of1 
cost of farming with1     #e1jjj sent to
 ,england in #aiag-ah1   ,foreign trade1
    ,gas from coke ovens at ,river      
,rouge plant utilized1   ,gold is not   
wealth1   ,good feeling in working not  
essential1 though desirable1            
,government1 the function of1           
,greaves1 ,r4 ,n41   ,greed vs4 service1
   ,greenhall1 ,gilbert1   ,grosse      
,point track1    ,habit conduces to a   
certain inertia1   ,highland ,park      
plant1   ,hobbs1 ,robert ,w41           
,hospital1 ,ford1   ,hough1 ,judge1     
renders decision against ,ford ,motor   
,co4 in ,selden        ,patent suit1    
,hours of labour per day reduced from   
nine to eight in ,january1 #aiad1       
,human1 a great business is too big to  
be1   ,human element in business1       
,ideas1 old and new1   ,improvements in 
products1   ,interstate ,commerce       

,commission1   ,inventory1 cutting down1
 by improved freight service1           
,investment1 interest on1 not properly  
chargeable to operating expenses1       
,jacobs1 ,edmund1   ,jail1 men in1 ought
 to be able to support their families1  
,jewish question1 studies in the1       
,jobs1 menial1   ,john ,r4 ,street1     
,labour1     the economic fundamental1  
and ,capital1 potential uses of1        
,labour leaders1   ,labour newspapers1  
,labour turnover1   ,lawyers1 like      
bankers1 know absolutely nothing about  
business1   ,legislation1 the function  
of1   ,licensed ,association1   ,life is
 not a location1 but a journey1   ,light
 for working1   ,loss1 taking a2 in     
times of business depression1           
,manchester1 ,eng41     ,ford plant at1 
strike at1   ,machinery1 its place in   
life1   ,manufacture1 a primary         
function1   ,medical ,department1       
,mexico1   ,milner1 ,lord1   ,models--  
,a1     ,b1     ,c1     ,f1     ,k1     
,n1     ,r1     ,s1     ,t1             

changing1 not a ,ford policy1    ,money1
     chasing1     present system of1    
what it is worth1     invested in a     
business not chargeable to it1          
fluctuating value of1     is not wealth1
   ,monopoly1 bad for business1         
,monotonous work1   ,motion1 waste1     
eliminating1    ,northville1 ,mich41    
plant1 combination farm and factory1    
,oldfteld1 ,barney1   ,opportunity for  
young men of today1   ,organization1    
excess1 and red tape1   ,overman1       
,henry1   ,otto engine1   ,overhead     
charge per car1 cut from #adf to #ic1   
,parts1 about #e1jjj1 in a ,ford car1   
,paternalism has no place in industry1  
,peace ,ship   ,philanthropy1           
,physical incapacity not necessarily a  
hindrance to working1   ,physicians1    
,piquette plant1   ,poverty1            
,power-farming1   ,price policy1 ,mr4   
,ford's1   ,producer depends upon       
service1   ,production1     principles  
of ,ford plant1     plan of1 worked out 
carefully1     7,for production of ,ford

 cars1 see ,sales and table of          
production on p4 #ade7   ,professional  
charity1   ,profiteering1 bad for       
business1   ,profit-sharing1            
,property1 the right of1   ,profit1     
small per article1 large aggregate1     
,profits belong to planner1 producer1   
and purchaser1   ,price     raising1    
reducing1   ,prices1 ,if1 of goods are  
above the incomes of the people1 then   
get          the prices down to the     
incomes1   ,prices1 unduly high1 always 
a sign of unsound business1   ,prices of
 ,ford touring cars since #aiji1        
,prison laws1   ,prisoners ought to be  
able to support their families1         
,railroads1     active managers have    
ceased to manage1     suffering from    
bankers and lawyers1     folly of long  
hauls1   ,reactionaries1   ,red tape1   
,refinancing1   ,reformers1             
,repetitive labour1   ,rich1 ,it is no  
longer a distinction to be1   ,right of 
property1   ,river ,rouge plant1        
,routine work1   ,royal ,agricultural   

,society1   ,rumours in #aibj that ,ford
 ,motor ,co4 was in a bad financial     
condition1   ,russia1 under ,sovietism1 
,safeguarding machines1   ,sales depend 
upon wages1   ,sales of ,ford cars      
in #aijc-d1 #a1gjh cars1     in #aijd-e1
 #a1fie cars1     in #aije-f1 #a1eii    
cars1     in #aijf-g1 #h1dbc cars1      
in #aijg-h1 #f1cih cars1     in #aijh-i1
 #aj1fjg cars1     in #aiji-aj1 #ah1ffd 
cars1     in #aiaj-aa1 #hd1ebh cars1    
see also table of production since      
#aiji1   ,saturation1 point of1         
,saving habit1   ,schools1     trade1   
,henry ,ford ,trade ,school1   ,scottish
 ,reliability ,trials1 test of ,ford car
 in   ,scrap1 utilization of1           
,seasonal unemployment1   ,selden1      
,george ,b41   ,selden ,patent1         
famous suit against ,ford ,motor ,co41  
in #aiji1   ,service1     principles of1
     the foundation of real business1   
comes before profit1   ,simplicity1     
philosophy of1   ,social ,department1   
,sorensen1 ,charles ,e41   ,standard    

,oil ,co41   ,standardization1          
,statistics abolished in #aibj1         
,steel1 vanadium1   ,strelow's carpenter
 shop1   ,strike1 the right to1         
,strikes1     why1 fail1   ,suggestions 
from employees1   ,surgeons' fees1      
,sweepings1 saving1 nets #f1jjj a year1 
,titles1 no1 to jobs at ,ford factory1  
,tractor--,see ,fordson   ,trade1       
foreign1   ,trade schools1     ,henry   
,ford ,trade ,school   ,training1       
little1 required for jobs at ,ford      
plants1   ,transportation1 a primary    
function1   ,turnover of goods1         
,union labour1   ,universal car1        
essential attributes of1    ,vanadium   
steel1   ,ventilation of factory1       
,wages1     minimum of #f a day at all  
,ford plants1     are partnership       
distributions1     fallacy of           
regulating1 on basis of cost of1 living1
     sales depend upon1     minimum of  
#e a day introduced in ,january1 #aiad1 
danger in rapidly raising1     cutting1 
a slovenly way to meet business         

depression1     high1 contribute to low 
cost1     abolish dividends rather than 
lower1   ,war1     opposition to1       
,ford industries in the1   ,waste1      
vs4 service1     eliminating1           
,weeks-,mc,lean ,bird ,bill1   ,weight1 
excess1 in an automobile1   ,welfare    
work--,see ,social ,department1 ,medical
        ,department1 and ,educational   
,department4   ,winton1 ,alexander1     
,women1 married1 whose husbands have    
jobs1 not employed at ,ford plants1     
,work1     its place in life1     the   
right to