"This Is Our Failure"

A discreet silence has been the chief public response of big business to the ethical questions raised by such recent scandals as the electrical equipment conspiracy. Last week that silence was shattered by one of the biggest of the big: Henry Ford, 43, chairman of Ford Motor Co. and a director of one of the indicted electrical firms, General Electric. Speaking before the Minneapolis Junior Chamber of Commerce, Ford decried the tendency of business caught in dishonest acts to blame "a few bad apples" or to complain about persecution by the Government. Said he: "There is really only one thing for top executives to do at such a time as this. That is to forget the alibis and the explanations and have the fortitude--the plain guts--to stand up and say: "This is our failure. We are chagrined and sorry. It will not happen again.' "

"Too fast and too close together for comfort," said Ford, "we have had a series of falls from grace involving some of our oldest and most respected business firms. I think that what has happened has very grave implications for all of us in business." Ford referred to "price-fixing convictions in the one industry and conflict-of-interest charges in the other," in obvious reference to the conflict-of-interest troubles of a Ford competitor, Chrysler (see following story). To prevent recurrences, said Ford, top corporate executives must take full responsibility for setting up high ethical standards and strict policies and policing "with the utmost thoroughness and intensity." With a mea culpa, as a General Electric director, he also suggested that outside directors should make it their business "to be aware of the pertinent codes and policies of the companies on whose boards they sit." If the companies themselves fail to keep their own houses in order, "the house-cleaning job certainly will be put in less friendly hands."

"I suggest we look not only at the obvious areas of danger, where we may run afoul of the law, but also at those borderline areas of corporate action which might have unfortunate social consequences for our fellow man," said Ford. "Around the world, we are often described as a corporate society. If that is so, and if it is judged that the corporations are corrupt, then it will be assumed that the society itself is corrupt."

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