Activate Javascript or update your browser for the full Digital Library experience.
Previous Page
–
Next Page
OCR
THE
November
I suggest that Henry Ford be made General
Manager of the United States, to occupy the
office for life, or during good behavior, at a
salary of a dollar a day.
This plan will not in any way disrupt the
present machinery of government. It will
simply add one able man over all the rest,
and lubricate, polish, rebuild and put our
government affairs on a practical business
basis so so
The General Manager will be the direct
representative of the people; also, of course,
the servant of the people.
Government is a dual proposition-social and
economic so so
The social side of government is a matter of
necessary piffie.
The economic deals with utilities.
The Greatest Trust in the World
T is universally conceded now by econo-
mists, and by philosophers with a scientific
bent, that the trust is a beneticent institution
when properly managed.
The United States of America is the greatest
trust in the world. It is made up of a parent
corporation, and forty-eight subsidiaries.
We, each and all, own one share of stock in
the institution.
The commission form of government has been
tried out in various municipalities, and in
every instance has been declared to be a
great improvement on former methods where
the idea of party politics prevailed. The
elimination of the Political Boss is quite as
necessary as the elimination of the Ward
Heeler so. so
If the commission form of government is a
good thing for a city, why would it not be a
good thing also for a nation?
We have gotten past the idea that govem-
ment is a matter of governing people. The
intent of all good government is to do away
with the necessity of governing, just as in
education, graduation of the pupil takes place
at the vanishing-point of the teacher.
Once we chose as the governing head of a
nation the man who could kill most.
From that we moved off into another stage
where we selected a lawyer who could talk
most so so
Now, we are pleased to name a schoolteacher
who can instruct most-which is beautiful
and right.
A schoolteacher is an improvement on a
l=l2Fl
Thirty-seven
lawyer, but why not a businessman who can
produce most?
The most important thing in life is to earn a
living. Read Henry Buckle’s History of Civi-
lization.’
Not only should you produce enough to sup-
port yourself, but you should also produce a
surplus, and this surplus, or a portion of it at
least, should be at your own disposal in order
to equalize circulation, give sweet sleep 0’
nights, and prevent premature old age.
If earning a living is the most important
thing in life-as Herbert Spencer and many
other philosophers have claimed-then busi-
ness is really more important than any other
profession so so-
The United States of America is a business
institution, and the head of this institution
should be a businessman. Without business-
men to subsidize and endow colleges and
universities, these things certainly would not
exist so so-
Our custom of electing as President a man
untried and inexperienced in the matter of
business gives us a Government by Experi-
ment, a part of the time, and a Government
by Hysteria the rest.
When we choose men for responsible executive
positions, we hire only men who are successful,
save in this matter of statesmanship.
The fact that President McKinley was a
bankrupt when he entered the office was
never once mentioned against him as a dis-
ability, so dull were we to a great issue.
We all want success. We want food, clothing,
shelter, gardens, good roads, books, auto-
mobiles, pianos, and above all things we want
leisure to take a little vacation every day-
this that we may preserve our sanity and
increase our efficiency, so that when we work
we can produce results.
Under these conditions, is it not the part of
wisdom to select as General Manager of this
great corporation the most efficient, able and
practical man we know? I think, Yes.
Wanted: A General Manager
E EXICO is a failure because she has no
Middle Class. Ninety per cent of the
inhabitants of Mexico are illiterate. The man
who can read and write in Mexico is excep-
tional, and the woman who can read and write
is a curiosity.
The strength of any nation lies in its Middle
Class so so