No Jewish Ring

A long distance Bell Telephone operator last week plugged a Detroit and Chicago office into connection. In the Chicago office was Lawyer Aaron Sapiro, organizer of farmers' co-operative associations, who had a $1,000,000 libel suit pending against Henry Ford (TIME, March 21, 28). Interconnected with his office telephone so that his long distance talk with Detroit could be witnessed were the telephones of his associates and representatives of Mr. Ford. In the Detroit office was a similar arrangement. The telephone of Clifford B. Longley, general counsel for the Ford Motor Co. was "hooked up" with those of Lawyer Sapiro's witnesses.

Said Counsel Longley, in effect: "Mr. Ford retracts all that the Dearborn Independent has said about you and the Jews."

Said Lawyer Sapiro, in effect: "Because of that I withdraw my litigation."

Retraction. Thus Mr. Ford, handsome in the extent of his apologies, followed up his general apologies to all Jews a fortnight ago (TIME, July 18) by this particular apology to Lawyer Sapiro. The gist of this retraction:

"The suit was based upon statements appearing in a series of articles published in 1924 and 1925 by the Dearborn Independent upon the subject matter of co-operative associations organized on the Sapiro plan. ... It has since been found that inaccuracies of fact were present in the articles and that erroneous conclusions were drawn from these inaccuracies by the writer.

"As a result of this Mr. Sapiro may have been injured and reflections cast upon him unjustly. Such statements as may have reflected upon Mr. Sapiro's honor or integrity, impugned his motives or challenged the propriety of his personal professional actions are withdrawn. Likewise the charge that there was a Jewish ring which sought to exploit the American farmer through co-operative associations is withdrawn.

"Mr. Henry Ford . . . deprecates greatly that any facts that were published in a periodical so closely associated with his name in the minds of the public should be untrue."