The press of America, judging by comments which have appeared so far in numerous papers throughout the country, is favorably inclined to Sapiro in his libel suit against Ford.
The sentiment in Detroit, where the trial is taking place, is indicated by the observations appearing in the “Detroit Saturday Night” of March 26. Ridiculing Ford’s claim, made through his counsel and Mr. Cameron, the editor of his paper, that he was not aware of the anti-Jewish articles published in the “Dearborn Independent”, the paper says in conclusion:
“Mr. Cameron undoubtedly has reason to believe that he is the supreme editorial authority of ‘The Dearborn Independent’. That places on him a responsibility that the public did not know he had. It may please Mr. Ford to let it be known now. But the paper has hitherto been advertised as Mr. Ford’s paper, not Mr. Cameron’s; and the time may come when Mr. Ford will want it to be advertised again as Mr. Ford’s paper.
“The trial offers Mr. Ford and his editors an exceptional opportunity to generously throw aside all legal protection as witnesses, and candidly tell the country all they know about the ‘Jewish conspiracy’ they have so long been warning it against. That is a public service that means more to national peace and amity than defeat or victory in any private law suit, and should be worth to Mr. Ford, as our first billionaire, far more than anything it might cost in money. Magnanimity, patriotism and sportsmanship will do it.”
Following are comments in other papers:
Reno (Nev.) “State Journal”: “Ford’s narrow prejudice against the Jewish race is well known. Through his paper, the ‘Dearborn Independent’, his editors commenced a slashing attack on the Sapiro marketing plans, going to great lengths in alleging a Jewish plot to control the agricultural industry. Sapiro finally tired of the unrelenting abuse and had the courage to attack Ford and his billion dollars of resources, in the libel suit now pending.”
Miami (Fla.) “News”: “The suit involves tremendous issues. Can a race be libeled? A full exhibit of the forces and causes which led Ford upon his curious crusade against the Jews will doubtless appear as the trial proceeds. Can the machinery of the law stand up and operate successfully under the weight of the economic power of a billionaire defendant? Or will the case prove that a Goliath, in these days, cannot get equal justice?”
Brunswick (Ga.) “News”: “If Aaron Sapiro cheated the farmers as Henry Ford appears to have charged, the automobile magnate is entitled to a vote of thanks for exposing the gentleman. If, however, the assertions were false, Mr. Ford will probably have the satisfaction of paying the damage.”
Phoenix (Ariz.) “Republican”: “It will be hard for Senator Reed in behalf of Henry Ford to make a jury believe that Aaron Sapiro, with any group however powerful, ever set out to control the bread supply of the world.
“Mr. Sapiro has a genius for organization and for many years he has devoted his talents not to controlling the products of the soil in behalf of speculators, but toward giving the producers some measure of control over their products, the exetent of their production and their markets. He has done more to spread the cooperative idea throughout the country than any other man. It will be impossible to make the farmers believe that he had it in the back of his head merely to make them an instrument in a great scheme to limit and regulate production so as to keep it within such bounds that a great combination of capital could calculate nicely the volume of a world corner.”
Lake Worth (Fla.) “Leader”: “Few were the city residents who knew who Aaron Sapiro was until he locked horns with Henry Ford in his $1,000,000 libel suit.
“But out in the country they know him. And in many sections they idolize the forty-two-year-old man, whose rise from poverty is another great American epic.”
Manchester (Conn.) “Herald”: “The trouble with the position of a man like Ford is that folks take him far, far too seriously. It should be remembered that he is a genius–and nobody ever ought to take seriously any genius whatever except in the single department of thought in which his talents express themselves.”
New Britain (Conn.) “Herald”: “Shorn of some of its racial significance the trial gives promise of being a more genuine battle over the rights of muckrackers to rake unmolested if such a muckracking publication can show its activities are in the public interest. This the ‘Dearborn Independent’ editors will have to show.”
Portland (Ore.) “Journal”: “Aaron Sapiro has sued Henry Ford for $1,000,000 because of statements in Ford’s ‘Dearborn Independent’ which Sapiro says were libelous. The case is on trial in Detroit. When the suit is finished the American public may be the real winner, no matter what the verdict. Collateral evidence apparently will prove whether Sapiro’s plan for cooperative marketing is sound or fallacious.”
Reviewing the development of cooperative farming and Mr. Sapiro’s role in this field, the paper concludes:
“What happened proved nothing against the policy of cooperative marketing. The principle of that system still stands as sound, and in many instances confirmed by experience. The Lower Columbia Cooperative Dairymen’s Association in Clatsop county is an outstanding example of what farmers in cooperative organization can do.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
