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Show THE PATERNAL EMPLOYER. (Helena Independent) When Ford, the Detroit manufacturer, manufac-turer, arbitrarily established a minimum mini-mum wage of $5 a day for all his em ploye6, he announced It was for the purpose of improving the condition of his worklngmen, not only financially finan-cially but mentally, morally and physically. phys-ically. Mr. Ford did not pretend his motives were altogether altruistic. He admitted that he looked for returns In the form of more work and better I work from men thus favored. He not only looked for such results but he Insisted upon them. His first step was to enforce a rule against drinking and dissipation. He then insisted that foreigners working for him become American citizens. He also made a rule that sending money back to Europe be stopped. Now he Issues an edict that all his employes must live amid moral, decent de-cent and sanitary surroundings. Single Sin-gle men must not live- In questionable rooming houses Men with families must slop lilllng their homes with boarders. All must be clean. This may look like an unusually arbitrary ar-bitrary attitude on the part of an employer and It Is. But so was bis voluntary establishment of a minimum mini-mum wage of $5 a day. He certainly has as much right to be arbitrary In one case as the other. If he raises wageB in order to enable his work ' men to live on a high plane that i a , , would develop their maximum efficiency, effi-ciency, he certainly has the right to demand that they do their share. Of course, they have their right of choosing choos-ing between obeying his rules or leaving leav-ing his employ. But so long as they accept of his minimum wage thej ; should play fair and live up to his rules. |