Henry Ford: An Interpretation

XIV. Industrial Scavengers

CHAPTER XIV INDUSTRIAL SCAVENGERS WHEN I entered the employ of the Ford Motor Company Mr. Ford had about him the group of great executives mentioned in the preceding chapter. I doubt if there ever came together in any organization a body of men of greater ability, each in his own line or of finer ideals, or broader human sympathies. Certainly no group of men were ever more devoted to the best interests of their company, or were more loyal to their employer. Loyalty, of course, went for nothing. Mr. Ford derides it; seems to doubt whether such a thing exists between employer and employee. Men work for money. I have always felt it is a pity that he fails to make use of some of these finer things in men; that he does not recognize that there is something which money cannot buy. 139 HENRY FORD In addition to this group of great executives there were hundreds of men in the second and third ranks of the organization who manifested the same enthusiasm in their work and the same loyalty toward their employer. In every oneI met, with a few exceptions to be mentioned later, I found a deep and genuine interest in the well-being of Ford employees . How to humanize the industry to a still greater extent was the subject uppermost on all occasions where Ford men met together, in small groups of employees, in conferencesof executives, in meetings of foremen, at banquets , and managers' conventions. One felt one's self to be a part of a great experiment in applied Christianity in industry. The spirit of service, helpfulness and cooperation permeated practically the whole organization. The world was told that in the Ford Motor Company it had an example of what could be achieved through a just, generous and humane handling of labor. Here was a corporation with a soul. But there are men in every organization to whom the higher things in life make no appeal. 140 INDUSTRIAL SCAVENGERS There were some men of this kind in the employ of Henry Ford. They never understood the better, finer policies of the company and never ceased to ridicule, criticize and misrepresent the efforts put forth to improve the human relations within the industry. To them the morale of the organization meant nothing. They also flouted loyalty on the part of employees as being of no value. They stoutly held that men worked for two reasons — their wage, and the fear of losing their jobs. The humane treatment of employees, according to these men, would lead to the weakening of the authority of the "boss," and to the breaking down of discipline in the shop. To them the sole end of industry was production and profits, and the one sure way of getting these things out of labor was to curse it, threaten it, drive it, insult it, humiliate it, and discharge it on the slightest provocation; in short — to use a phrase much on the lips of such men — "put the fear of God into labor." And they were always thinking of themselves as the little gods who were to be feared. There were not many men of this sort in the 141 HENRY FORD Ford Company when I entered it. But the few who were there seemed to be in a closer and more confidential relation to Mr. Ford than those who stood for the better things, and this in spite of the fact that for the time being he seemed heartily in favor of the humane policies then in force. Why he made familiars of men of this class was a profound mystery to those of us who saw only the other side — the nobler and better side — of him. In an article by Mr. W. P. Wilson, which appeared some time ago in the World's Work, entitled "An Intimate Study of Lloyd George," there is to be found this paragraph: " Asked whyhe (Lloyd George) sometimes chooses such curious friends, he would probably answer that you can not govern mankind by idealists. ' You need scavengers to clean your streets,' is one of his most interesting maxims. Lloyd George has always been particularly careful to select skillful scavengers. They are in attendance on him everywhere, loyally doing the dirty work of national housekeeping . He is as much amused with them as 142 [18.217.108.11] Project MUSE (2024-04-26 03:48...