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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1922)
t !v"T' - Y c. " -. MAY, 1922 -- The Ford Interview on Muscle Shoals (From Various Newspapers) Florence, Ala., Dec. 3. Henry Ford says he wants Muscle Shoals to snow the world how to stop all war. This, he declares, is the supreme purpose of his life. It was while the automobile manu facturer and the .inventpr walked about over the great water, .power development, which the Government built here during the war thatf Mr. Ford expressed for the first time what lie declares is. his real purpose in seeking to buy Muscle Shoals from the Government. u , The Government, as yet,' has not completed the development. Several great dams, locks and other works are to be built. To date about $80, 000.000 has been spent on it. Ac cording to Government figures, $30, 000,000 more will be required to complete it so that Mr. Ford can take it over and operate it, developing power and manufacturing nitrates, aluminum and other activities. Congress so far, in keeping with its policy of economy, has been averse to raising the $30,000,000 by taxation. The only apparent alterna tive is for the Government to issue 30-year bonds and sell them to the highest bidder. "If you take over Muscle Shoals," Mr. Ford was asked, "what effect will it have on your Detroit indus tries and Detroit as a whole?" Mr. Ford didn't reply for a mo ment, and then it was a question. "Why do you think I want Muscle Shoals?" he asked. "It can't be money that I want out o'f Muscle Shoals. It can't, be more business that I want. We're now turning out more than a million cars a year, and we are ready any time to put out that number of tractors. So it can't be a greater expansion of , operations that I'm after n bidding for Muscle Shoals. "There must be some other reason --and there is. If Detroit, or the bouth, or any other particular local ity is benefited by my taking over Muscle Shoals, good that's fine but its incidental. My purpose in taking over Muscle Shoals is not to benefit us or our business or Detroit or any other part of the country my one Purpose is to do a certain thing that wi 1 benefit the whole world." In what way?" "Just this way," the manufacturer answered, as he came to the corner oi a great abutment. Pointing his nnger for emphasis, he said: "If the M?7-?nmSnt a-ccePts my, offer for Ah see Shoals as we have made it ana will consider completing tho wh LaTCrling. t0 a financing plan 111 have in mind, we can here 1, ".epochal thing literally, I SS? ran ePhal thing. ' We shall eliminate war from the world." But how?" I queried. thivoV?" SS a8ked in turn. "Just ai-fiX y, Ilrs very toPle when you rnMr' The cause of wars is wnvM ?lla11 demonstrate to the joi id two things first, the practica- ; 'X' second' tne desirability of dis- ?enov g, g?ld as the basis of cur IS "? substituting in its place wealth imperishable natural tured d0Ut qUit0 "fo"ow you'" venr Porfi dnidn,t exPect you would," Mr. in tho i ?ack' 4'Most everybody recoSSiJI0!30 the newspapers tSS? n?e that civilization has en and Xn a n(;w era the newspapers don't 1 bankers. The newspapers SSkori U .?nd tlie international iouiS i don want t0 see it it and hnS cnanees in world finance ?5?rs alWflys oppose changes." can t see the connection," I said, The Commoner "between a river in Ainhnmo ,i i. elimination of war." "But there is a connection," Mr Ford answered. And then abruptly:' You don't want war, do you' Of course not. If you ask your neigh bor, you'll find he doesn't want war, and his ne ghbor and the family next to him feel the same way. "And if you went out and knocked at every door along every street and road in the world, you'd find every grown man and woman in the world giving the same answer: 'No, no God save us from war.' Then, if all the families in the world are 'op posed to war, why, in the name of Heaven, do we have wars did that question over occur to you? Well, there's a reason. There's profit in war. I don't mean moral profit or in creased religious interest or spirit ual uplift, through trial by fire, nor any of that kind of bunk it's money profits I mean, profits in gold that's the one and only reason for wars." "Would you destroy all the gold in the would and prohibit mining any more?" "Not at all you don't get me yet. Gold as a metal is all right. It is not as useful as a metal as many other metals, but there are arts in which it is useful don't destroy an ounce, keep it .for the arts and in dustrial uses. But it has this dis tinction from copper, steel and other metals it is scarce. Hence, through its scarcity it has acquired a fictitious value far beyond its value as a use ful metal. The peoplos of the world made a mistake, which has cost the genera tions of financial slavery, when they consented t'o make gold a basis- for the issuance of currency. They failed to see that, because gold is scarce there is only about ten billion dollars' worth o.f it in the whole world its total supply can be controlled,, can be got under the dominance of the one interest or group of interests, and thus the currency and capital of the whole world controlled. ."And just exactly that thing has happened. There's a group of inter national bankers who today control the bulk of the world's gold supply. They have their members or their agents in every country. No matter to what country they, as individuals claim allegiance, they all play the same game, to keep the gold they have in- their own hands and to get just as much more as possible. "But, having gained control of the world's gold, it has become a curse to them. Hoarded gold earns noth ing they must kesp it turning, mak ing a profit, or lose its control. Peace times with stablo conditions do not' turn it fast enough. The way to make it work hard and often is to create a great demand for it in the form of loans but always of cur rency in lieu of gold. And the way to make a tremendous demand for loans at any rate of interest tho money sellers want to dictate is to create a war. "With the international bankers the fostering, starting and fighting of a war is nothing more nor less than creating an active market for money a business transaction. If the different countries of the interna tional groups are at war that makes no difference, no matter who loses the war there have been a great many loans the gold system always wins. The young men from 18 to 30 fight the war and are maimed or killed; the internationalists are safe and prosperous. "Ten years ago I said I intended to put every ounce of brain and en ergy in me to stopping war. I never meant anything more earnestly, and mat's why I want Muscle Shoals I see a way which, if it can be done, win do more to end war than a thou sand years of agitation. 8 "The essential evil of gold in its ration to war, is the fact that it can be controlled. 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State whtstlior H. a. or CllnnhV." cr Cord or each Fabric is desired. 10 DISCOUNT for full amount with order, ltOYAL TIIIB & SUPPLY CO., 1245 8. MIcIilRiin Av., Ilcpt. II, ChlcAgo, 111. Sire VmtA Cord 30x3 .... 30x3 0.50 32x3 Mt 8.00 31x4 32x4 0.00 33x4 n.no 34x4 10.00 32x4 Mi 11.00 33x4 Mi 11..10 34x4 Mi 12.00 35x4 12.r0 30x4 y. 12.50 85x5 14.00 37x5 14.00 Nen Coril 12.'00 14.00 IfltfO 20.00 20.50 22.50 23.50 24.50 20.50 20.no 28.00 20.00 h trol and you stop war. And tho course not. Well, what, is there be-. single way to break the control of these international bankers, tho way to end their exploitation of humanity forever, is to remove gold as a basis for the currency of tho world. "What did they do a hundred years ago without any gold stand ard? The idea of gold as a money basis is nothing more nor less than a conception of international bankers. They knew that if they could estab lish gold by law as the basis of cur rency they could then control the capital of the world by combining to control the world's gold.", "But what have you to substi tute?" I asked. "That is where Muscle Shoals comes in," said Mr. Ford. "Army engineers say it will take $30,000, 000 to complete the big dam. But congress is economical just now and not in a mood to raise the money by taxation. The customary alternative is 30-year bonds at 4 per cent. Tho United States, the greatest govern ment in the world, wishing a pesky $30,000,000 to complete a great pub lic benefit, is forced to go to the money sellers. "At the end of 30 years the Gov ernment not only has to pay back the $30,000,000, but it has to pay 120 ner cent interest, literally has to pay $G6,000,000 for the use of $30,000,-1 000 for 30 years. Ana an me time it is the Government's own money. The money sellers never created it; they got it from the Government originally. The Government first gave credit, and then must pay for the use of what it gave. "Think o.f it, could anything be more childish, more unbusinesslike? Now, I see a way by which our Gov ernment can get this great work completed without paying a nickel to the money sellers. It's as sound as granite and there's just one thing hard about it: it's so simple and easy that, maybe, some folks can't see its "The Government needs $30,000, (nn That's 1.500.000 $20 bills. hind a bond, or this bill, that make them acceptable? Simply the good faith and credit? of the American peo ple. And $20 bills Issued by the Government to complete this great public improvement would havo just as much of the good faith and credit of the American people behind them as any bond or other American cur rency ever Issued. You see, it's just a question of faith in tho American people." - , "But your plan would upset tho money system of tho world and might work incalculable harm." "Not necessarily; not at all. Wo need not abolish anything.. Wo need' not oven abolish the gold' standard. Simply forget that there is any such thing as a gold standard, and when ever the Government needs money for a great, serviceable and profit able public improvement, instead of thinking of bonds with their heavy drag of interest charges, think of re? deumable non-interest bearing cur rency. "Do you realize how .the interest charges of our Government mount up? Do you appreciate that 80 cents of every dollar raised by taxation is spent in paymont of interest? The national debt is nothing more nor less than the nation's interest liabil ity pile. Every public improvement this country makes means an in crease to the national debt. Hero's a way to get the improvements with out increasing tho debt. The inter est load is breaking down our whole financial system; we've got to stop somewhere." "But, in a sense, there would be no security behind this kind of money," it was suggested. "There would be the best security In the world. Here you have a river capable of furnishing 1,00 0,00 0-horse power. It has been here loo, say 100,000,000 year.s. It will be hero as long as there aro rain and moun tains to send tho rain into the rivers. This energy is wealth in a most pro- Let the Government issue those bills ductlve form. Now, which is the more and with them pay every expense imperishable, the more secure, this nnected with completion of the j power site and its development, or dam. The dam compieieu, we can set the whole works running, ,and within a shorter time than you would suppose, the entire $30,000,000 cur rency issued can be retired out of the earnings of the plant." "But," I asked, "suppose the con tractor would be unwilling to accept that kind of currency in payment?" "There's not that kind of a suppose in the situation at all," said Mr. Ford, smiling. "He would take Gov ernment bonds in payment, wouldn't he? Certainly." "Here," said the manufacturer, pulling a $20 bill from his pocket, "he wouldn't hesitate about taking that kind of money, would he? Of tho few barrels of gold necessary to make $30,000,000? This site, with its power possibilities, will be hero long after the Treasury building is an ancient ruin." "But have you worked out a stand-' ard of values?" Mr. Ford was asked. "Yes, we have. We will have that ready when 'congress wishes to hear about this plan. It's simply a case of thinking and calculating in terms different from those laid down to us' by the international banking group; ' to which we have grown so accus-j tomed that we think there is no. other desirable standard. ' "We should change our minds on- f , i 4 " M -. V VMF Is ' 'ti .1 "n 4 VfiV 4 ( MY, n a '. jr 'A .'? '4j '? i- r" H f '.'iU jUk-