200 ALEXANDER H. FORD 



just as good, the manufacturers who can force all middle- 

 men to sell their products at a stable fixed price, still find it 

 hard to believe that in Yankeeland, the moment a new inven- 

 tion renders a piece of machinery antiquated, the American 

 manufacturer relegates it to the junk pile. Foreigners are 

 astonished to learn that it is for this reason and not for the 

 pleasing effect on the eye that American machinery is built 

 as lightly as possible, not a superfluous pound of metal being 

 retained^ In fact, in the states, a machine is often guaran- 

 teed to last but for ten years at most, the buyer and seller 

 both reaUzing that in all probability new inventions will make 

 it obsolete within that period. On the other hand, the Brit- 

 ish or European manufacturer, not converted to the Ameri- 

 can idea, resents the invention of any machinery that will 

 tend to make less valuable his heavy, ponderous plant, in- 

 stalled to last for all time. That is why the foreign inventor 

 receives so little encouragement at home and so invariably 

 sends his model to America and floats the parent company 

 here, being sure of attracting capital if his device will save 

 even a few seconds in the manufacture of any necessary or 

 popular article. In fact, the striking difference in appearance 

 between the American and foreign workshop is in the relative 

 number of men and machines used. In America there are 

 often more machines than men, while abroad it is almost in- 

 variably the other way. Even where the American idea has 

 been received with favor, the daring of American inventors is 

 always a subject of more or less distrust. For instance, our 

 mining machines now being introduced abroad, still astonish 

 the world — accomplishing work declared impossible by Brit- 

 ish machinists until they came in actual contact with the ma- 

 chines. What would they say to our spindles that rotate 

 100,000 times a minute, and other apparatus so delicate as to 

 grind to the thousandth part of an inch with exact precision? 

 These have not as yet found favor abroad, however, as no 

 foreign workshop is so equipped as to make use of our most 

 advanced appliances. As an instance, abroad we install only 

 complete shoemaking plants, which we lease to our British 

 brother manufacturer on royalty, with the understanding that 

 no other kind of machine is to be used in his factory, and 



