Henry Ford on Beer Brewing

From American Brewers Review 1917

Henry Ford, the automobile champion is heard on breweries.

Henry Ford may know a lot about the automobile industry and make money out of it, which he has amply demonstrated, but when he transfers his mental activities to other fields, he makes a lamentable botch of it.  But, what does it matter to him when it concerns the question of prohibition?  Here he undoubtedly thinks he may display any amount of ignorance with impunity, browsing, as he believes, on succulent, if unfamiliar, feed in safe pastures.

Here is what a reporter got from Mr. Ford in an interview, as printed in the Detroit Daily News. What he says about the employment of alcohol in the automobile industry as a potential source of driving power may show technical knowledge and insight into matters industrial where dollars may be extracted, but when he says that alcohol can be extracted from cereals and still leave the grain unimpaired for food purposes, he reveals a depth of ignorance not often displayed by those who have reached the heights.  It seems almost incredible that such a statement could possibly come from a man who has headed a peace expedition to Europe.  Or shall we say that we could not expect anything else from participants in that Utopian enterprise?  It is the same kind of ignorance that Billy Sunday and the whole host of prohibition fanatics display, and lamentably finds no refutation in our press.