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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1969-10-02, Page 164 44 GQDER.tc$ SI9x.9,t,.sTgR, THURS.AAY 0GPOeFR a, 19s9: THE . BLUE THU MB BY G: MacLEOD ROSS Ever since Henry Ford. established his kingdom at. ,the River Rouge Plant at Dearborn, and for that matter at the Highland Park Plant before it, deviation by employees from the diktat of the proprietor has never been suffered gladly. When on a recent occasion the present proprietor tried to mix a tiger with a lion he very soon became aware of an uncompromising rule of nature; in this case of human nature. On September the 2nd, Chairman Henry Ford 2nd. walked into the office of the president of the Ford Motor Company and told him he was through. Semon Knudsen was. out an the street after only 19 months, out with only a paltry $200,000 a year to collect until 1973, the termination date of his contract. Mr. Ford said: "Things did not work out." Mr. Knudsen admitted having had pians which "in someinstances he had not discussed" with Mr. Ford and Mr. Ford always says, somewhat cryptically, "My name is on the building." The flow of history. had repeated itself, and in more ways than one. The long knives had flashed again! BIG BILL KNUDSEN VERSUS HENRY FORD It was more than 50 year ago when Semon's father, Big Bill Knudsen began working for old Henry Ford. Henry was one of those rapidly disappearing captains of industry who autocratically interested himself in every . detail.- It was not just that he asserted: "History is bunk," but that he refused any technicality of which he was not personally acquainted: He could be, and was, ruthless when ignored. He never for one second doubted his own judgement, and of course, any man who had risen from a bicycle repairer to build up, unaided by outside financiers, the second largest automobile firm in • the world would hardly be human had he stifled his egocentric confidence. Understandably to those who knew his • character and temperament, Henry would brook no • independence of thought or deed and when, in 1921, Big Bill showed the symptoms, he was fired, only to be hired by General Motors. HENRY FORD 2ND A. - VERSUS SE,MON KNUDSEN The recent clash between the' randson and the son respectively, of the two men who conflicted in 1921 arose for different reasons. Semon followed his father into the employ , of the General Motors Corporation with marked success: He is credited with putting Pontiac several rungs up the ladder at G.M.C. and he moved up the ladder to number fasten your seat belts! STEWA RT ALUMINUM' SALES FOR 12 YEARS serving the people of Goderich and area with quality Alcan aluminum products. -EXIIERT WORKMANSHIP • 20 YEAR GUARANTEE ALUMINUM SIDING, JWALLS, SOFFITTS AND FACEEOARDS ALSO WINDOWS, DOORS, AWNINGS STEWART ALUMINUM . SALES 101 Victoria St., Godericn 524.8821 4 in the' corporation hierarchy. ,But late in 1967, when G.M.C. needed. a new president he was passed over and he quit. When Henry Ford 2nd whistled his ' friend Semon joined him as president of the Ford Motor Co. Now Semon is trot his father's son for nothing; sortie say he js arrogant; some temperamental. It is at least probable that he could not resist the temptation to try to demonstrate to .the G.M. moguls they had made a mistake. It is equally probable that he believed he could show Ford. a thing or two. The situation was on a par with the Mountbatten story. The father, having been unfairly ousted as First Sea • Lord, the son's ambition was to achieve the same position. Now at General Motors it has been an unwritten tradition that seldom, if ever, is anyone brought in from outside and installed in high command. This has not been so 'generally the understanding at Ford. In this particular instance Ford had, as head of his car manufacture, a' 44 -year;'-.- man who has won his spurs quite recently by foaling the enormously successful Mustang and Maverick cars. ° Semon • Knudsen's appointment did not sit well with the successful Mustang team. There were disagreements as to how far, to push the horsepower race and the styling department sulked at some of Knudsen's orders. Harmony, so essential in any undertaking, fled.. Ford has not been noted over the years as a particularly happy ship, and it is not surprising that word of the infelicity soon reached Henry Ford, with the result already mentioned. Nevertheless, it does not redound to "young Henry's" appreciation of human relations to fail to realize that he was playing with explosives. In the result he achieved the inevitable big bang which a shrewder judge of men would have avoided. FORD IN THE -1'930's • For a foreigner, pitchforked into the United States in 1942, topick up something of the reputation which hung to the huge . River Rouge , Plant in Dearborn, it was necessary to sit at the feet of men • who had spent their working lives in the automobile business. My own three-year association with the Ford: Motor Company first became intimate at the- close of 1942. ` The -reason: The Ford • F The flow of history Company had undertaken to produce some hundreds of thousands of tracked infantry carriers for the British Army. In a nutshell, this is what I learned: Ford was the last place to which you would go for engineering. Old .Henry was a mechanic, who scoffed openly at the profession of engineering. While he had some very goad engineers on his staff, and no one could touch his Chief Engineer, Larry Sheldrick, Henry would never allow thern their heads. Sheldrick was being called . to the old man's office several times a day and then had somehow, to try to make the whims work. Of course in the beginning Henry Ford had a magnificent idea. To make the rich man's' fancy the servant of the poor, and it was on this concept that the Model 'T' was born. Between 1903 and 1926, . 15 million had been produced and this privately owned companywas estimated to have made a profit of a billion dollars on sales of close to seven billion. But Alfred Sloan, chairman of General Motors, had also discovered a fallibility of the American public. He appealed to their snobbery. He found they ,would pay more if the car was tailored, ever so 'slightly, to individual taste, so he offered a choice of colors (Ford offered black and you would like black) and of upholstery. With the Chevrolet, Sloan put Ford out of business for a whole year, for Ford was caught with nothing up his sleeve and it took him a year to change to the Model 'A.' Ford went to a V-8 engine which was then expensive and complex. General Motors developed a 6 -cylinder engine which met a lower standard. demanding economy. Ford had only tooled up for his '6' in 1942. There was speculation at that thne�as to what would happen when Henry died. Edsel, his son, was well known to be progressive and would give his engineers their heads, once his father retired. - The Ford Company would then become a dangerous competitor, with its immense production potential: On the other hand, should Edsel sell out to the bankers, it would mean a rise of 10 points in G.M.C. shares. It was said that it only took five years for the bankers to ruin a company, as witness Dodge. When the Dodge brothers 'died, G.M.C. bid -.a.. hundred. million dollars for,their LOOK AT THIS SPECIAL 25" ELECTROHOME COLOR TV x749.00 0 Remarkable, value on a full feature set with picture tube protection up to 6 years. Be sure .to see Zenith Chromacolor TV now in stock. HUTCHINSON TV & APPLIANCES 308 HURON RD•, PHONE 5247831 ¢ Business Directory a Ronald L. McDonald CHARTE R ED,ACCOUNTANT 39 St. David St., 524-6253 Goderich, Ontario 145 ESSEX ST.. GODEhiCh. ONTARIO Available For ,PUBLIC OR PRIVATE PARTIES * BINGOS * CONCERTS' DANCES * CONVENTIONS * Catering to Luncheons COCKTAIL PARTIES BANQUETS, ETC. Special attention to weddings PHONE 524-9371 or 524.9264 Alexander and Chapman GENERAL INSURANc REAL ESTATE PROPERTY MANAGEMENT Canadian-4mperia1Ban -of Commerce Building Goderich Dial 524-9662 THIS SPACE RESERVED ' FOR YOUR AD R. W. BELL OPTOMETR 1ST The Square 524-7661 A. M. HARPER .1 CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT 44 THE.SOUARE TELEPHONE GODER ICH, ONTARIO 524-7562 V • plant, but the bankers bought it for $142 million and later sold it to the public for $182 million. • Five years later; Chrysler bought it for a song. But there was a third possibility. The life blood of the auto business is cu.t-throat. competition. If Ford went ' out of business and the "Big Three" were reduced to the "Big Two," competition might wane. The government, ever hovering vulture-like •over big business, armed with its bagful of - bureaucratic red herrings, might step in, crying their fell call of "collusion," or "monopoly." "Show us the books!" FORD IN THE 1940's In 1942 the Ford Motor Company was developing a V,8 engine for their version of- the - 'Sherman tank. They were doing many other things for the army of course, building Shermans, armoured cars, not to mention the British infantry carrier. Larry Sheldrick was deeply involved in this tank engine project, for this was to provide greater power than any of the three other Sherman tank engines, respectively that by Continental, by Chrysler and by General Motors, all of which were proven and in service. The early pilots of the Ford engine lagged and even as late as May 1st, 1943, trials showed the engine was not developing the designed power output which was expected to be 660. Further there was trouble with failure of the crankshaft. The Americans / were putting all their hopes on this engine and the Britipn did not stand to receive very° ` arty of them. However, we were happy enough with the Chrysler engine which had been allotted to us under Lend -Lease, for the Chrysler engineers looked upon it as a challenge to develop their product to be the most reliable of any tank. engine. This they accomplished. Once again it was a case•of "The engine which the Americans • rejected, becon ing the -corner stone of all available tank engines." This did not increase the popularity of the British. In September 1943 we, in Detroit, had found that we could up -gun the Chrysler tank, with the British designed 174Pounder gun, which was., a mach for the vaunted German 88 millimetre gun. I was recalled home to take charge of this installation and before I left I dined with Sheldrick and the other Ford engineers who were working on British vehicles at Dearborn and at Cambridge, Mass. It was a hilarious evening, though touched with a certain amount of sadness on my own part on leaving the association with, so many superb engineers. When I returned unexpectedly to Detroit in December of the same year I was amazed to learn that Mr. Ford had fired Sheldrick,' after 23 years with- theF•ord Company. The story was that Sheldrick had shown Henry Ford 2nd, who was learning the business, some suspension design• or post-war automobiles. e„ - had been sponsored by Ed 1 and ,were somewhat revolutionary at the time. Old Henry, who had always maintained a perfect GODERICH'S OWN . WELCOME SERVICE would like to call on you with :`housewarming gifts" and information about your new location. The Hostess will be glad • to arrange your subscription to the SIGNAL -STAR. Call her at 524-9525 tapestry of spies throughout his plants, was soon informed: When Sheldrick arrived ,pt, his office one morning he found a uote on his desk informing him he was fired. Old Henry said he was not going to have the "young man's mind perverted with other SP • people's ideas." Sheldrick, a most charming character, apart from his wide reputation as an engineer, was immediately employed by the Detroit Diesel Division of General Motors. The flow .of history seems unfortunately repetitive at Dearborn , aid for -those whp believe unlimited aalariee, stock options, private jets, homes in Acapulco and gracious living deaden the businessman's kl ler instincts, the September message from Detroit contradicts the idea. Isn't it funny ? That so many business men CRAZY, TOO 4. Will get up in the morning - -, Refresh themselves with a dose of advertised fruit salt, Clean their teeth with an advertised brush: and advertised tooth paste. Shave with an advertised razor, Wash and shave with advertised soaps Put on advertised underwear, Advertised hose, garters, shirt, cQIlar and shoes, Seat themselves at the table And 'eat advertised breakfast food and bread Drink advertised tea, coffee or cocoa,. Put on an advertised hat and gloves` Light an advertised cigarette, With an advertised match 6 Go to Work in an advertised motorcar Give letters to a ,typist Who types on an advertised machine, Use advertised carbons, Sign their letterswith an advertised . pen bontaining advertised ink, And Turn down a proposal to advertise on the ground That . Advertising Doesn't Pay ! West Street (!k'brrtr1 GOD ERICH 524$33,1 iagnosis • >Klf 311E, 1.0 'illi • AIE illi il% c ~: VY Introducing the W Diagnosis System. Volkswagen's biggest improvement in Uyears. —4 Now when you buy a new 1970 Volkswagen you get two years' worth of free check ups. 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