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Show HOLD DOWN PRICES AND RAISE UP BUSINESS SAYS HERNY FORD Wizard Of Motor Industry At Welles-ley Welles-ley Hills Gives Recipe For Prosperity. Pros-perity. Wellesley Hills, Mass. December 8th. Last week while Henry Ford was visiting the Babson Institute, he discussed the business situation , and prescribed a common dose for , American business. This man whose daily income runs into six figures I stated plainly that all this money I, was incidental a bi-product. His' remarks created so much Interest!, that today, he Issued the following!, statement:- , "The trouble with most business men," said Mr. Ford, "is the fact ; that they go into business to make' money as much as they can, as quickly quick-ly as they can: They have a hard time of it because they are trying to get something that someone else has. The principle is wrong and even if it weren't it would be pretty hard because there are so many of them trying to "Get" that the competition com-petition is terrific. "The man who will use hi3 skill and constructive imagination to see how much he can give for a dollar instead of how little he can give for a dollar, is bound to succeed. I cannot understand why people don't see it. "What applies to an individual applies also to the entire country. A nation grows as it serves, as its people give the most they can to others whether in the form of labor material or distribution. We are now in a period when this is very mportant. Business is doing its nest to come back but we must encourage en-courage it in coming back by holding down prices, especially prices of the raw materials which go into our manufactured products. I have iu mind coal, iron, lumber, cement, bricks, etc. It is a great mistake for manufacturers to say that they in not care what they pay as long as all other manufacturers must pay the same price. We do wrong in paying higher prices simply because ve can pass it along to someone else. "Most manufacturers," continued Mr. Ford, "begin at the wrong end They ask the production department how much it costs to make the article, arti-cle, when they add a selling cost ana a -profit. Next they call in the sales department and say, "Here's rhe aritcle and this is the price, go out and get it!' At Detroit we have always figured from the other end. We began' with a human need, then we wanted to give just as much ai we could for a dollar. The product must be right, it must give service. i0 I experimented and tested for eleven years before we were sure the product was as good as we could build it. Then we began to figure out ways to'make it more efficiently to give more for the dollar. "When sales slow up we don't drive the sales force and try to force folks to buy, we cut the price, then more of them can and do buy. W hen the price is out. it Is usually cut below be-low the cost to manufacture at the time. Then the production department depart-ment has to figure out new economies, econo-mies, new short cuts that will deliver the same car for less money and 'they've always done it! "The more you give people for a dollar the more there are ot them who can buy. The larger your production, pro-duction, the more you can give.' , Here we have the rule that has built up one of the greatest commercial com-mercial successes of our day the organization that has supplied cheap, efficient transportation to ever countrv round the world. "Things are coming along verj well " added Mr. Ford, commenting on current business recovery, "and ir tnev will only keep from Jurapln? :.prices" there's no reason why thr 'improvement can't continue. Hold down prices and raise up ..If the merchants and manufacture manu-facture beiu boosting then costs of living will go up, wages will try to keep pace and we'll all go on 'another grand scramble of "Getting" 'only to land in the ditch as we did in 1920. "Maybe I am wrong but I believe these words demand the earnest consideration con-sideration of every business man. 'We certainly do not want to repeat 'the experiences of 1920 and early 1921." j In connection with this statement 'the Babson experts have been check-ting check-ting up commodity prices and find I'that in 1915 prices were traveling .sidewise near that more or less 'famous '1914 level.' Under the steady pressure ol European buying the trend turned ,'upward in October of that year and 'continued to climb steadily for two 'years. After a brief reaction the 'climb started apain and for anothei year prices soared. ? A temporary decline came on the heelsyof the armistice hut this was followed by a speculative orgy and j prices 'skyrocketed' once more to the peak which was reached in July 192 0. At this point prices were 14 0 per cent above pro-war levels. 'What had cost $1.00 now cost $2.4 0 Then prices broke and we experienced experi-enced the most radical commodity 'decline in history- During the next '12 months July 1920 to July 1921 prices dropped to a point but 45 'per cent above 1914. By January of 1922 they had worked down to 'about 40 per cent. Since then prices have climbed about 20 per icent so that the average level today is 60 per cent above pre-war levels. 1 If prices hold at around this level Svith a gradual adjustment lower building materials and higher farm 1 prices there is no reason why improvement im-provement should not cotinue. If, ! however, grasping business interests ' try to raise prices on the strength of ; activity, business will have another 3et back. |