National Affairs: Rugged Individualism v. Robust Collectivism

Many a time has Henry Ford used the White House as a national sounding board. The most famed occasion was in December 1929, when he rushed out of a conference with President Hoover to startle other tycoons with the announcement that he was raising wages in the face of Depression. Last week the White House became a sounding board of a different sort for long-legged Henry Ford.

Mr. Ford was balking at the NRA code for his industry. President Roosevelt asked Recovery Administrator Johnson why. General Johnson could have replied that Mr. Ford paid...