Auto Moguls Combined to Force Depression
OLIVER, BRYCE
Auto Moguls Combined to Force Depression Henry Ford's Doublecross Reveals Plot To Hit at New Deal Through Slump By BRYCE OLIVER mj the dry routine of- market re-f peru : -om the Detroit...
...them up" again...
...That's what ails us, that's what is dragging us down this minute to the pit...
...The second came when a Federal district judge at New York put his "okay" on the Holding Company Act...
...The court in Baltimore that sentenced the miscreant strikers on the Algic indicates the sure way...
...The league's president, Jotrett Shouse, named these lawyers in 1935 with a great blare of publicity...
...Many of the companies surrendered even before the djsjjdct court upheld the act in the Bond & Share case...
...And it just seemed as if no influenza, tonsilitis, Bright's disease or ingrowing toe nails could stand for a moment against this vast addition to medical wisdom...
...And the means by which the country can be rescued from their deadly blight is likewise clear...
...The SEC was too smart for them, however...
...He was holding back, ^Ltherfear waa growing that, competitors already in Pt^Wuetkm, Ford was going * «e*l home plate by bringing ** something new...
...The others started 48 lawsuits against the commission, in an open a-ttempt to bury Uncle Sam under litigation and strangle his enforcement of the law...
...it would have kept us out of them for the future as well...
...They may lose a market temporarily, but they save on the dyes and tools and the contradiction of payrolls all around...
...There are factory workers, he assures us, that are getting as much as 60 cents an hour or $4.20 or even $4.80 a day...
...The Prof...
...If we keep up the present preposterous wage levels, Desolation stares us right in the face and the wolf is-waiting around the corner...
...According to that law, the utility combines were to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission before December 1, 1935, and file with the commission the facts about their structure and finances...
...I want to be fair...
...Still stubborn, the company carried its case up to an appeals court, aad lost again...
...And again, for the health of the masses...
...All of them...
...Ain't science wonderful...
...It got the courts to bold off all cases except that of the Electric Bond and Share Company, a Morgan-control led combine known as "the mother of the holding companies...
...After that, the rush to register became almost a stampede...
...These are effective in their way to keep the worker ia his place and safeguard our One Per cent in the just enjoyment of their privileges...
...wolman's new theory of increased wages FOR instance, you that have never had the advantages of training on the campus have imagined that it would be well to have an increase in the wages of the workers...
...The first thing is to abolish these labor unions, which just teach Subversive Doctrines and Unrest, anyway...
...fOKD REFUSES TO "flay BALL" THE first hint that an amazingly dew*, innocent-appearing pro-rnm of industrial sabotage had •Jen worked oat came to New York sinks and most big business houses throughout the nation in the form of a confidential report from Detroit, distributed by a national innide information service...
...With Arthur Henderson as Foreign Secretary we saw with pride British influence leading the world step by step towards the organization of peace and disarmament and the avoidance of war...
...It was their own fault, of course, but they publicly blamed it on "New Deal interference wish business...
...Every time we think of something as settled and determined, such as two and two make four or be good and you'll be happy, some Profound Thinker from the academy is sure Ho dig himself out of his cell and shatter our error, leaving us dazzled but grateful in a grand new light...
...We have indeed pursued a policy which has caused warlike Powers to feel that the best way to get what they want is by violence, and the ineffective way by peace...
...Some there are, I know, that in view ef his crimes believe we should proceed to more summary measures and call out the firing squad...
...Ford brought out two entirely new models and thereby gave the nation the evidence that the market is today just as good, and perhaps even better, than in the fall of 1937, when the aggregate value of new cars sales was upwards of 20 per cent greater than for the same period in 1936...
...I know that the government and many British citizens say: "Ah, well, but we have kept out of trouble...
...It's absurd...
...It will help out the building contractors, and as for the cost—a fig for that...
...The security of the British Commonwealth, the strategical interests of other democracies have been, and are, being gravely damaged...
...By striking or threatening to strike, they obtain an increase of wages in one industry and almost at once start in to obtain a like increase in another, and thafs where all our trouble comes from...
...But Knudsen isn't the boss—and it doesn't cost the Morgan-Dupont grouping any finance to slow him up...
...Therefore, If Bond & Share lost, the smaller fellows might give up the fight...
...But if we ask ourselves whether 1937 has been a good year for the peace of the world, we are bound to answer that that year, together with a number of its predecessors, has not been a good year for the peace of the world...
...Organise for peace or drift to war and disaster—that is the issue that the democratic peoples must face in 1988...
...And it's the same way with our scientific economists of the Higher Learning...
...Put them into jail...
...gone wrong with an •freement among the major automobile producers aimed at break-is* tha backbone of the United AatomobUe Workers...
...But for me, I am in favor of tempering justice with mercy, and will be satisfied with life imprisonment...
...William S. Knudsen, president of the giant combine, is merely the deputy of these and it is reported that, as a manufacturer, he is personally unhappy over a situation that causes General Motors to sink back in a potential market...
...It was this independent attitude of Ford and the subsequent results strategy, which now has t™eked the evidence that the re-*'*s accurate in its major ••raise...
...DEMOCRATIC RANKS GROW IN SWEDEN •STOCKHOLM.—The spectacular «*»*-- the Swedish Social-Dem-*«s»tic Pmr^r during 1936 is evidenced by: the fact that/tfffe mem-beasArp has increased by 21,372 *• S68,15* while the number of ***eh«e has increased by 43 to Of particular importance is BJ »*ws that a large number of come from such ¦"¦erty "neglectod sections" of ** Popu.ation as tine forestry and ** worsen...
...In fact, we are not out of trouble...
...You certainly have helped...
...ur*m due to noou&rs poucr WITH cynical disregard for the " rery basis of the Ickes indictment—ttatt the hands on the throttle »f i injjtil were stilting competitive maastry (Ickes did not charge that operating companies them-lejves Van deliberately ruining their own businesses)—Sullivan informed Iekes through his syndicated columns, that if the Secretary of interior would even so nroco is hint that he was in the market for a new car he'd soon fad oat bow indifferent the salesmen were...
...And at the time the Labor Government fell, the World Disarmament Conference had been launched...
...It was to this effect: That the inner circles of Gen-«*J Motors and the other Wall **«et motor groupings (Chrysler, Ho*oc...
...PLOT ruined by double-cross (\F course, it must'nt be thought for one instant that Ford took this independent course, thus undermining an almost fool-proof plot of automobile finance-capital, just to help the union and upset the apple ^:art of the New Deal enemies...
...j^^kooa to make /ho model changes for 1938, it was hinted' was a decision armed directly at the union...
...For Lewis, I suggest the Dry Tortuga* —for life, strongly guarded and kept incommunicado...
...What, indeed...
...DISCOVER LITIGATION DIDN'T PAT DUT many of the holding companies have surrendered without waiting for the final outcome of the famous Bond A Share ease...
...If that happens, the democracies are finished, or gravely damaged — all because we will not realize that both the peace of the the wofM and the security of the British Commonwealth requires that our government should pursue a policy of actively organizing for peace, proving to any existent or potential warlike States that they cannot succeed by the resort to force...
...THE Disarmament Conference was sabotaged, and Germany developed a feeling that the other Powers were not playing the game...
...But that could be discounted...
...Mussolini was permitted to stage his war on Abyssinia and action, when it came, was late, inefficient and i-ncom-p 1 e t e. . j...
...Bet that will be a good thing...
...CONSIDER the healing work of the late Arthur Henderson as ^ Foreign Secretary in the Labor Government...
...We should in this way increase the general purchasing power, thought you, and stimulate industry...
...Perhaps the buying public was relieved...
...There were, and there are, other evil influences in the world, but the Labor Government had lifted the influence of Great Britain to a very high standard, and that influence was beneficial to Britain no less than to the world...
...Round about Gibraltar, at the Western entrance of the Mediterranean, and, as a result of the Italian conquest of Abyssinia at the other end, whilst the same thing is happening in the Far East...
...By no means...
...Use lasts is who got-these fee* are ilrhp ir^ssOaey, sail fSjismr ' in prestige, _____ Oft<%15Ar Democracy Must Organize for Peace in 1938 or Drift to War and Disaster By HERBERT MORRISON...
...They gamed Uttie, if ass** awing, free* this vast expenditure...
...The something which had gone wrong was *h» Mire of Henry Ford to play ¦•fl—is usual...
...I think I perceive the Prof .'s enlightened reasoning about these vital matters...
...Ike fact remains that there is fknty of circumstantial evidence a hand mow to —tain a charge tat the lay-off of 36,000 General ¦¦tars workers and the added vekdu af the fear-wave that ac-eamtrfished this, was doe, not to ¦arket conditions, but to a major Nicy decided upon last fall...
...Care-My warded, this guarded report, ¦»de mi Dec 11, informed the world of big business that something had...
...From a diligent perusal of our leading journals...
...I WARN my readers that we are drifting into a situation in which * semi- or completely-isolated democracies (isolated as a result of their own policy) may be the subj< t of attack by a combination of powerful, warlike States...
...I think not...
...Soon after the so-called "National" Government took office, the international situation appeared to worsen...
...Often I think with a shudder of what life would be without him...
...And as Prof...
...The registered pert of the power industry has tripled from IS to 30 per cent, and many - other big companies are only waiting for the Pumeme Court's decision on Bond at Share...
...And begin, of course, with John L. Lewis...
...The real control at the throttle of General Motors, of course, is the Morgan-Dupont grouping...
...That was the first Heavy blow to the league lawyers...
...Then it ran to the Supreme Court, which may soon call the third strike on the utility giant...
...The influence and authority of the League of Nations was^ steadily weakened...
...fcviesmen and even the presi-SBt* of manufacturing companies awe jnethjmg -to do with the case...
...That date came and went, and companies representing less than 10 per cent qf the $15,000,000 utility industry registered...
...Still the governments say: "We have kept out of major troubles...
...And more than this, if you will believe me, inquiry in six western states recently showed that the average family income of employed wage workers was $1,140 a year, and what could possibly be worse for the morale of our beloved country than such a state of luxurious superfluity...
...As a result of this ban, the companies were suffering heavy financial losses and were unable to expand their plants to take eare of growing demand for power...
...Had Ford "played ball" nobody would ever have realized that the slump in the auto market was manipulated...
...But a wise policy could not only have kept us out of major troubles...
...9C...
...Auto Moguls Combined to Force Depression Henry Ford's Doublecross Reveals Plot To Hit at New Deal Through Slump By BRYCE OLIVER mj the dry routine of- market re-f peru : -om the Detroit automo-Ue cer.--.-r this week there came *w misses Hnk to complete a cirni«*r.:ial chain of evidence suffi-(jBitij- -trong to convict America's ¦l l ii^—try, as charged in the frfrtgsents of Interior Secretary gjroic L. Iekes and Assistant At-jgfney Jeneral Robert H. Jackson...
...It was a sad year-for them...
...Then there came the civil war in Spain, the British government making no real effort to stop German and Italian intervention, whilst itself imposing sanctions against the lawful government of Spain...
...two prisoners lately escaped from Alcatraz, and with such a desperate outlaw we must take no chances...
...I don't know what Chevrolet is doing," he said once— "ami I don't care...
...How can we expect any nation to thrive and prosper under such conditions...
...HOLDING companies fight back DUT on April 12, 1937, the Supreme Court upheld the act in five *^ different cases...
...Sullivan's misleading answer — attempuBg to prove that there eoold be no "strike" by automobile cental oecause the sales organization* are so eager to sell cars— w* fairly typical of the press gen-ersfiy...
...Here comes the eminent Dr...
...I see clearly that he is the arch villain of the piece, he is the source of oar troubles, and a most dangerous character...
...Japan's first attack on China in 1932 was encouraged rather than discouraged...
...And, besides, a little extra profit would be taken up largely in extra taxes...
...The district court upheld the Holding Company Act as constitutional, and ordered Bond A Share to register...
...Very little public attention was paid to the evidence at the last auto shows that 1938 models showed little, if any, change...
...Why, in some instances wages have been increased 57 per cent since 1934, and these insatiable cormorants are asking for more-—more when they already receive as much as $27 a week...
...What I mean is to complete these worthy endeavors with jail sentences for all labor agitators and all these disturbing elements that go on strikes...
...If under British leadership the peaceful States of the world had been vigurou.s, efficient and prompt, not in going to war, but in resorting to the peaceful application of economic and financial sanctions against aggressive countries—if they had made it abundantly clear to such countries in good time that this would happen, and in one or two instances, if events required it, had caused to happen, then the story of the world during recent years would have been different from what it is and the outlook for the future would have been much brighter...
...II/E are at the beginning of a new year, and our minds naturally " speculate as to what it will mean for the world...
...These deep-browed old boys that immune themselves in a college cloister to think and think and then think some more and come out now and then to tell us precious things as the result of their thinking, what should we do without them...
...On this under-' "Whngj General Motors and oth, ¦J already, had begun production 1^38 'with no important chang-**• Ford, on the other hand, had «« doneao...
...Of course, for the rest we should have to enlarge our prison facilities—indeed, multiply them about twenty times...
...With automobiles now built for a service span of eight years, even the wealthy fringe of the population replaces its cars each year only because of the new models...
...Thanks a lot, Prof...
...begin with john lewis—the villain CAR be it from me to seem indifferent to the social value of the * work done in this direction by the Vigilantes, the Back-to-Work Artists, Hatchet Gangs, Labor Spies, Thugs, Agents Provocateur, Finks, the Chicago police and our ever loyal press...
...When new models are not brought forth, the industry slumps...
...Why, the truth is that this country is being ruined by the high wages it allows to working men...
...Nevertheless, Ford being as anti-labor and as anti-New Deal as he is, the Wall Street motor groupings must have believed that Ford would "go along" when they decided on the slump plan for 1938 some time after the big strike...
...Twas a Sad Year for Liberty League Lawyers AS 1937 draws to a close, drop a tear for the Liberty League's ** "committee>of 58 eminent constitutional lawyers," and for the business Big Shots who took their bad advice...
...But where...
...Defending salesmen when "tesissuc royalty" are named, is 13a amw-ering a charge of disorderly conduct by appearing to be najb iiiflJEinn^ that .saybody sV«K presume to libel your dog W charging falsely that he bit sseoody...
...Foolish ones...
...So far that is true...
...I read about a year ago of a group of these peerless leaders in the medical way that had cut the left hind leg from a rat and stuck it into the middle of another rat's btck and made it grow there, and with this great achievement seemed to believe they could cure chilb'ains, arthritis, arterio-sclerosis, megrims and whooping Tough...
...Compare it with the blundering, and the worse than blundering, of Sir John Simon, Sir Samuel Hoare and Anthony Eden...
...Decides Wages Are Too High by Charles Edward Russell 11/HAT a marvelous asset to America is the American scientist...
...Besides, it wffuld do something to bring about a more equitable distribution of wealth, it would check somewhat the absorption of the nation's wealth into the hands of One Par Cent of the population, it would for millions of toilers insure a better living...
...And finally, the second and bigger attack of Japan on China and British interests in the Far East...
...They are...
...The commission picked this one because it is the largest utility system, controlling one-sixth of the power industry...
...British and American lives have been lost...
...1937 has been a great year for London Labor, a year of municipal triumphs, both in administration and in elections, a year of great activity for great causes—for the solidarity of Labor, the rights of democracy in Spain, and for the rights of the people of China against imperialist aggression...
...Both charged, in effect, that faince capital was on a sit-down jtrjke against the government in „ effort toggliquidate the JJew peal...
...And have you reflected that this means almost $27 a week...
...It is high wages that caused the recession and everything...
...He's that way...
...1. Ford, by crossing up Wall Street once again, let the evidence out of the bag...
...Had the foreign policy of the Labor Government been continued, had the Coalition Ministers been e n e rg e t i c in furthering the British influence for peace, I am perfectly certain that the world story of 1931 to 1937 would not have been what it has been...
...And two days ago I reail of Indianapolis physicians who had severed a dog's spinafcord in three places (keeping the dog alive with respirators) and then found that the dog could still wiggle his paw if the paw were "sufficiently shocked...
...It seems incredible, but it is true...
...Just look at some of the abnormal wages the Prof, has unearthed...
...FORD brings out NEW MODEL HPHE Machiavellian beauty of the * scheme comes to light only through its (partial) failure...
...The main objective would be twofold...
...1) The industry would be relieved of dependence upon the tool and die manufacturers whose plants could easily be tied up by the union in a showdown, and (2) the slump market for cars, which would follow the failure to bring out new models would bring about curtailment of production and heavy lay-offs so naturally and normally that nobody could say the motor industry was not doing its best to maintain production and distribution at high levels...
...1,740 average family income in 6 states AND not content with even these vast inroads upon the national resources, these dangerous wage workers are demanding more...
...How little you know about the arcana of genuine and scientific economics...
...The Street groupings had uaider-*too<i that Ford would play ball on * Jfogrmn which entailed no new •»»« for 1938...
...ItiddleW ester n I ekes, strong jftn o: the Cabinet, narrowed the i^jictment down to sixty families, ytoge exercise of throttle control frtr the nation's finance is de-leribec in Ferdinand Lundberg's grw exaosure, "America's 60 Families...
...Auburn) were alarmed JJ» evidence that Ford had J?*8...
...Shall we say Alcatraz...
...Then all but the most die-hard employers threw their lawyers overboard and began to recognize labor's right to organize and bargain through "representatives of their own choosing...
...I agree that the blame should not entirely fall upon the British government...
...Sitting as a "kangeroo court," they declared both the Wagner-Connery Labor Relations Act and the Wheeler-Rayburn Utility Holding Company Act "completely unconstitutional," and told the bosses to defy these laws...
...You see, it is like this...
...In the two years since the Labor Relations aad Holding Company acts were paesed, employers end utility concerns paid ffifHto— - of dollars in attempts to kill these laws...
...He'll be glad, if the scheme works, but gladder still if it costs General Motors the market while Henry grabs it...
...Wolman, professor of economics at Columbia University, that noble citadel of reaction and conservator of the ideals of the Permian period, and sticking his head for a moment out of his cage he blasts all this as nonsense...
...So employers started over 80 law-suits against the National Labor Relations Board, and confidently waited for the courts to kill the Wagner Act...
...To be rid of these infernal labor unions, to he able to reduce wages to a level where the country will be safe, to keep the working class properly subdued and quiet, to have at last industrial peace—this will be worth any cost...
...That is the next question...
...That is obvious- And as to their physical well-being, having too much money they eat too much and so become ill and we have to support them in hospitals...
...the League of Nations was steadily growing in importance and authority and international agreements were made with a view to facilitating the preservation of peace...
...Still smarting under charges by tfce President, who alleged considerable wilful misinterpretation by t kept press, the press itself—and pot af the commentators who ^intap clese association with the National Association of Manufacinars—demanded that names be gamed, -toe of them, Mark Sullivan, used the automobile industry at an "tar1* to refute Ickes, even u General Motors Corp, was lay-inc off SO,000 wage earners...
...It required only this single policy change, a change that would let the auto market rest—from used cars to new cars—to bring about a slump of Industry No...
...Having won to these huge incomes, the workers naturally take on extravagent notions of their own importance, become unruly, are receptive of rebellious suggestions, forget their station, and all that sort of thing...
...What can a working man do with all thai wealth...
...Germany—then living under a democratic constitution—was being appeased...
...Wolman well points out, the origin of all this trouble are the detestable labor unions...
...Those two models have entirely changed the relative positions of Ford affd General Motors in the market...
...But the national duty is now clear enough before us...
...For the first time in years, Ford is back in» first .position, with Chevrolet (General Motors) second...
...He is a manufacturer and a manufacturer must produce...
...Whither are we drifting...
...Ah, hew great a thing indeed is Science...
...Besides, I hope Alcatraz may be reserves for that wild Red Communist, Robert Jackson, and that task demagogue, Harold Ickes, who are preaching so much treason against our Best Citizens...
...British and American ships have been damaged...
...DUT dii^ctly the warlike Powers became convinced that the rest of the world would be relatively or absolutely inactive in respect of their aggression, they naturally became worse and worse...
...And so we enter upon 1938 with our hearts hoping that things will get better and our heads telling us that we have little to hope for from the Tory governments in the realm of foreign affairs...
...They found that Congress had put real teeth in the law, making it impossible for any utility system to issue new stocks or bonds until it registered with the SEC...
Vol. 21 • February 1938 • No. 2
