Detroit Free Press/1915/Detroit Free Press statement by Henry Ford II
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"The working man is beginning to realize that it is not the rulers of the nations who make war, be they presidents, kings or emperors. It is the military cliques that surround and sway them it has always been these same parasites, these sloths and lunatics. For I firmly believe that every man who delib- erately devotes his life to the trade of a soldier is either lazy or crazy, and, unhappily, most of them are merely lazy, so we are not permitted to put them in asylums.
"Nor is it always the fault of the young men who go into the army or navy that they do so. In many cases it is the last choice. If the large manufacturers and business men of the world would make it their duty and religion to see that their men are paid a wage that will make them contented, and assure them of steady employment, then the recruiting officers for the militarists would have even a harder job to get disciples.
"Instead, many of these business men are working hand in glove with the military men who start, drive and end the wars. And they are in it for what they can get out of the murder to fatten their wallets. They work for the very conditions that pre- vent good wages and steady work for willing men. What will they do with their surplus of munition-makers when the war is ended? "