CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Bat'a Pantheon

Next to Henry and Edsel Ford, the Czechoslovak family of Bat'a (pro- nounced Bahtya) continue to be the world's most vigorous "Fordizers." Fifty-seven years ago the spouse of a poor cobbler in Zlin bore Thomas Bat'a. In a heroic life of mechanized striving he made Zlin the "Shoe Capital" of Europe. Because, like Henry Ford, he profoundly mistrusted financiers, Thomas Bat'a took fanatical care to remain the First Working Partner in a partnership which embraced all his employes. No one outside the partnership may own Bat'a stock. In Zlin the Bat'a newspaper is...