 Dupont, makers of better things for better living through chemistry, presents the Cavalcade of America, starring Robert Taylor. This is Robert Taylor. Tonight's Cavalcade is called the interchangeable Mr. Whitney. I have a question. Why should you remember the name of Eli Whitney? The Cotton Gin? Perhaps. But there's something else, something much more important than the Cotton Gin and we're going to tell you about it. Listen, I shall be Eli Whitney. It's 1798, Twilight of a Century. Place Hamden, Connecticut. I am approaching my workshop by the back way, or Connecticut seems to be filled with my creditors. Well, Mr. Whitney, I've been waiting for you. Raleigh, Mr. Raleigh, I wrote asking you to be patient for one more month. I need my money now. But I don't have it to give you, sir. You promised. I've waited months. Please, Raleigh, give me two weeks. Two weeks, that's all. I have my own creditors. They sold me material in good faith. They deserve to be paid. They insist on being paid. What shall I tell them? I'm sorry. I'm genuinely sorry. Ah, that butter's no bread. Whitney, you're just not a businessman. I'm going into my shop now, Mr. Raleigh. You'll see, believe me, I won't let you down. Joel, about those orders, when can you... What's wrong with your lathe? Nothing, sir. But you're not working. That's correct. I'm through with the lathe. What? Through. Finished. I'm taking off my leather apron. Mr. Whitney, I quit. What did you say? Well, if you can hear it again, I'll say it again. I'm done with the mechanics trade. Finish for good. But it's in your blood, Joel. Don't talk like a child. You're the child, Whitney. You invent a machine for cleaning cotton. But I don't care how good an inventor you are. It ain't enough because you're no businessman. You're wrong, Joel. I have an order in my pocket now for two new gins. Wake up, Mr. Whitney. There are blacksmiths in Georgia and Carolina with hundreds of orders. I'll sue them. I hold a federal patent on the cotton gin. They laugh at you and your patent. No, Mr. Whitney. There's no future in manufacturing. So I'm leaving. I'm going back to the farm. You've been talking to yourself. Yeah, thanks. Now, run along. You'll be late for church. I've been watching you for ten minutes. You could have spent the ten minutes to better advantage. So could you. Madam, if you're not careful, you'll grow up to be a monster. How much would you take to go away and leave me alone? My father would deeply resent this ass version against his daughter's character. Nine pence? Uh, Forpins Hape and he will get you in to see the Bicens at Johnson's stage house. Oh, Mama says the Bicens are very hairy and horrid. Moreover, they snail. Nine pence. What's your name? Henrietta Edwards. When you grow rich, I'll marry you. Resign yourself to the life of a spinster, madam. All right. Here's your nine pence. Thank you. Now do go away like a nice little girl. Father asked me to bring an invitation to you. I suppose you've got nine pence for that too. Mm-mm. Threppins. Father is not sentimental. Perhaps I should meet father. Oh, you will. The Honorable Pierpont Edwards requests the attendance of Mr. Eli Whitney at Sunday dinner. Madam, would you mind telling me exactly why I've been invited? Muskets. Say that once more. Muskets. What sort of muskets? Bang bang sort of. Ask a foolish question and you'll generally get a foolish answer. Goodbye, Mr. Whitney. I shall say to father that you will come to dinner. Let me pour you some wine, Mr. Whitney. That's fine, Mr. Edwards. That'll do very well. Whitney, these are bad times. Yes, they certainly have been for me, Mr. Edwards. And for the United States. Seaman are being taken off American ships by the French and the British every day. Yes, I know. It's bad. That's only a strong wind. Across the sea there's a man named Napoleon Bonaparte. Well, I know very little of such things, Mr. Edwards. But I do. In the capital there is anxiety. Our government fears the French. It fears the English. Whitney, your country is defenseless. No navy, no army, not even a musket. I don't wish to be rude, sir, but I'm not a maker of muskets. I'm a manufacturer of cotton gems. Whose business has come to a standstill. That's true, but what do you want with me? I've watched you. There's something you can do. Something constructive. You propose that I manufacture muskets? It is not my proposal. It originates with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Walcott. Why do they select me? Well, I think you were on their conscience. They issued a patent to you, which has been openly flouted. But sympathy isn't the chief reason. Whitney, Mr. Jefferson may be wrong, but he believes you to be the best mechanic in America. He invites you to Philadelphia. Will you go? Mr. Whitney, this committee is satisfied that you are a most ingenious mechanic. We have Mr. Jefferson's word for that. Thank you, sir. But, our Secretary of the Treasury, I ask, can you meet the conditions of manufacture that have been imposed? What conditions, sir? That you manufacture flintlock musket, 59.5 inches long, of .69 caliber. Yes, I can do that, Mr. Walcott. For each musket, you will be paid $13.40. That's a fair enough price for a musket. We're talking about 10,000 muskets. 10,000? Yes. The government has called in the best gunsmiths in America. We'll take them 10 years. And we must have the muskets in 10 months. But that's impossible, Mr. Secretary. All right. Then we'll say 15 months. No, Mr. Walcott, I know your need is urgent, but I cannot do it in that time. No one can. Two years, then. The committee agrees that we can wait a maximum of 24 months. But no longer. That is a condition, Mr. Whitney. It's a condition. I suppose I must accept it. Do not suppose, sir, do you or do you not accept the condition? Very well. I promise to deliver 10,000 muskets in two years' time. And what if you fail to deliver in two years' time? I will convey my apologies to this committee. It's not a joking matter, Whitney. Congress demands a forfeit if you fail. What forfeit? Your bond of $30,000. I've come to Philadelphia just for the fresh air, gentlemen. I do not have $30 to my name. Whitney, what if I told you that the bond has already been furnished in the entire amount? I would say that you have a sense of humor, Mr. Walcott. So? Then how do you explain this paper in my hand? It is a guarantee by a group of merchants in Hamden and New Haven that you will fulfill your contract. They pledge $30,000 that you will not fail. May I see it, sir? May. Fair point, Edwards. Timothy Phelps. Rowley. You smile, sir. It's an amazement. Even my creditors are behind me. They are no longer creditors. They are neighbors and fellow citizens who pledge their fortunes to your success and to the safety of their country. Whitney, this committee expects 10,000 muskets not later than 24 months from this date. Do you understand me? Not later than 24 months from today. If the muskets aren't delivered by then, the bond of $30,000 will be declared forfeit. You are listening to the Cavalcade of America starring Robert Taylor as Eli Whitney, sponsored by the DuPont Company, makers of better things for better living through chemistry. Among DuPont's better things for better living is DuPont Duco. When your walls are painted with DuPont Duco one coat magic enamel, you need only soap and water to keep them bright and sparkling. Kitchen and bathroom walls can now be made as easy to keep clean as the finish on your refrigerator. The white stays white, the colors stay bright, and the hard tile-like surface of DuCont enamel resist stains and grease spots. When it comes to bringing new, lasting beauty to kitchen and bathroom walls and woodwork, another household job has been made easier by DuCo, one of the DuPont Company's better things for better living through chemistry. Starring Robert Taylor as Eli Whitney, we continue the DuPont Cavalcade of America. In the spring of 1799, Eli Whitney turns from cotton gins to muskets. It's a race with America's security and $30,000 at stake. In Hamden, Connecticut, there is gossip in the taverns. And young Henrietta Edwards is troubled. I went to your shop and they said you were home in your room. Go away, monster. I'm very busy with this musket. They are saying things about you in the taverns. Such as? That in these weeks you haven't made a single musket, that you're planning to defy the government of the United States. And what do you say to the gossips? Oh, I don't say. I scratch. Monster, if you were ten years older, I would marry you. Never fear, Mr. Whitney. I shall be ten years older and you will marry me. Meanwhile, people are talking. They say you make cotton gins with the money the government gave you to make muskets. And they also say that you spend too much time in your room. Well, it's easier for me to think here. Madam, if I were to ask you how a gun is made, what would you answer? Go to a gunsmith. Oh, but I have gone to a gunsmith. I've watched carefully. First he carves the stock, then he forges the barrel, then he makes the lock piece by piece, prison, car, trigger, piece by piece. It takes weeks to make a single gun that way. And I have only two years for ten thousand guns. Then don't you think you should begin right away? I am beginning, monster. I am thinking. That is always the best beginning now. Now you'd better go away and let me think. Now dump the rest here. Yes, sir. The name of heaven goes on here. Good day, Mr. Raleigh. Well, sir, we're acquiring a few materials. To make muskets or to make cotton gins? To make machines, Mr. Raleigh. But I understand you're under contract to make muskets, not machines. I shall make machines. Mr. Whitney, those muskets are sorely needed. If instincts of patriotism have no influence upon you, then at least remember that we citizens of this community have posted thirty thousand dollars, which will be declared forfeit if you fail. I'm thinking of nothing else. Now, if you please, Mr. Raleigh, stop worrying and let me build my machines. Forgive me for intruding, for I have no proper place. Oh, Mr. Edwards, come in, come in. You're always welcome, sir. Oh, Whitney. How many months have elapsed since the government contract? Three months, sir. One fourth of an entire year. I suppose you too want to know how many muskets I've manufactured in that time? I do, Whitney. How many? Not a single one. You're joking. I've never been more serious in my life. Then you were a cynical fraud. I'm building machines and training clumsy farmer boys to use them. Get rid of these farmer boys, get skilled mechanics. If it's money you need, I'll give it to you. Your government wants to see muskets. You're shouting, Mr. Edwards. Eli, Whitney, and God's name, what are you doing in this factory? Rush, come here, lad. Yes, sir. Bring your filing box. Yes, sir. Rush will demonstrate what we're doing. Rush, how many parts are there in the musket we're to make? Oh, 45 separate parts, sir. And what part are you to make? Well, I make the firing pin. Mr. Edwards, a trained gunsmith in Waterbury, a spring field, will take several hours to get a firing pin just right. Rush, make a firing pin for Mr. Edwards. Yes, sir. Well, first, I put this piece of iron in the box like that. Tell Mr. Edwards why. Well, that's so it won't slip. You see, this box is better than a vice and a whole lot simpler because the piece of iron fits in snug like. Then I do this way with my file once, twice, twice, and twice more. I show Mr. Edwards the piece of iron. Oh, it's not just a piece of iron anymore, sir. Now it's a firing pin. Take it in your hand, Mr. Edwards. When the file has cut its distance, the hardened iron of the box stops it. It's rough on files, but it's quick and exact. Any boy like Rush can file before his beard grows. Mr. Edwards, come over here. Have you met Grandpa Wellaby? Grandpa can do in five seconds what took a skilled artisan half a day. Can't you, Grandpa? I can. Yep, I do. Show Mr. Edwards. I can. I sure do. Now, watch him. He's boring at diameter. I saw this. Pretty, ain't it? He didn't use his eye. He didn't use his hand. No compasses, no calipers, no measuring, no time lost. The tool stopped the moment the diameter was reached. Any other questions, Mr. Edwards? No questions, Whitney. I've seen as much as I want to see. You go ahead. I'll try to keep Rowley and the others from bothering you. Monster, what are you doing here so late? I brought you some ham and cabbage. I've neglected you, monster. Why do you still think of me? Because each month, this past year and a half, you spend all day and all night in your shop. You never see sunlight anymore or a bird, and you've grown thin. Oh, I'm designing new machines. Each one is an invention. I've even discovered things in myself. Papa says you've got rings under your eyes that you cough like a man with consumption. Some even say that you're crazy. So where will it all lead? To 10,000 muskets. And how many muskets have you now? A few dozen, monster. Isn't that amusing? You do talk strangely. Well, don't let me frighten you. They shall ask for 10,000 guns, six months from now. Yes, so they will. Aren't you worried? No. If you are put in prison now... I know you'll scratch the President of the United States. You'll bite President Adams right on the nose. Mr. Adams may not like that, but I will tell it to Vice President Jefferson. It'll amuse him. Yes, I only wish it would amuse my creditors. He lied with me. You're no more than a common thief. You have defrauded us with thee. We posted bond for you, ma'am. Do you know what day this is? Well, we're talking to you. Don't stand there and look at us as though you're a day's ride away. Yes, Mr. Rowley. Yes, today I'm supposed to be in Washington with 10,000 muskets. Friends, let us return to our home. This man has no soul. Mr. Phelps. I do not wish to speak to you. I'm going to Washington, Mr. Phelps. The government won't take away any of the money you've posted. Why won't they? Are you delivering 10,000 muskets? You are not. No. Listen to me, please. I began at the beginning. I began with a simple bar of wrought iron. It was nearly shapeless. And when I shaped it, I held in my mind the design not of a tool but of the thing I was going to make with the tool. Only then can a tool come into proper form by itself. Gentlemen, let's go home. It's plain deceives that the strain of these two years has taken its toll on the poor man. I lose my money. Eli Whitney has lost his mind. I'm going to Washington. I only hope they have enough imagination to understand me. I wish you to repeat, Mr. Whitney. Repeat to the President of the United States, to the Vice President, members of the Cabinet, and this distinguished committee, what you declared to me this morning. I have manufactured only 500 muskets in these 24 months. Ten of those muskets lie in these boxes on the floor. Mr. Whitney. Yes, General? How much money have you received from the government to this date? A little more than $20,000. Well, don't be so calm about it. You have charged the government $40 per musket instead of $13.40. I have built valuable machines. You make cotton gins. You make muskets. You don't need mill iron, tools, steel, masonry, and lumber to make muskets. You were making cotton gins for yourself. And I recommended this committee that your bond of $30,000 be immediately declared for. General North. The facts are plain, Mr. Jefferson. Nothing you can say offers the plain fact that Eli Whitney has failed to live up to his contract. Mr. President, General North, Mr. Wolcott, members of this committee, I'll show you what Mr. Whitney has accomplished in two years. How will you do that, Mr. Jefferson? With this piece of charcoal. Look, gentlemen, I draw a charcoal line freehand on this paper. General, is it a straight line? It's nearly straight. Nearly is not good enough. I draw a line with a ruler. I draw another line with a ruler. I can draw 100 lines now that each be straight, each be identical because of the ruler. You may go on now, Mr. Whitney. Thank you, sir. Gentlemen, a ruler is an engine, a machine. I've built hundreds of machines. They drill, they grind, they file, they saw, they polish, and they make identical parts for the thousands. There are no brains in the machines, yet each machine contains a replica of my thought. And each part made is standardized, interchangeable with any other part, because there's not a hair's difference. Will someone help me uncover the boxes I have arranged on the floor? Here, I'll help. Don't you bother, Mr. Jefferson? Why not? Will you pass the hammer, Mr. Wolcott? Thank you, gentlemen. Now, here are the parts. The parts of 10 muskets, 10 barrels, 10 stocks, 10 trigger guards, 10 prisons, 10 firing pins. Gentlemen, take any barrel, take any stock, take any part. Choose the parts at random. They are exactly alike and interchangeable. They will fit together like a watch made by a fine jeweler. Mr. Whitney, I don't believe a word you've said. General North, I will assemble an entire musket in 10 minutes, from parts that you will select for me. If you wish, I will do so blindfolded. You're a charlatan. I'm ready to wager upon the outcome. Name your wager. $30,000. Well, what does this committee say? I wager the bond which General North has already declared forfeit, but which I tell you is not forfeit, because I've built you machines to make not 10,000 muskets, but 100,000 muskets, a million muskets, if you wish. Cover my eyes, General North, and choose the pieces at random. We won't cover your eyes, Whitney. We are your friends. We are not children. General, hand Mr. Whitney the pieces. Now this. And notice, General North, I use no force. Each part fits to the other part, like the delicate wheels and gears of a watch. General North, what would you say this is? I would say, Mr. Whitney, that this is an exhibition of magic. No, General. It is an exhibition of a new principle of manufacture that may well be extended to the production of any machine in America, standardized interchangeable parts. Now if a part should break, it can be replaced almost instantly with a like part. Mr. Whitney. Yes, Mr. Jefferson. What manner of bullet does your musket fire? A round bullet of one ounce. By a coincidence, I happen to hold in my hand one round bullet weighing exactly one ounce and a charge of powder. The window is open, Mr. Jefferson. There are woods in that direction and nothing can be harmed. The musket, sir. Thank you. Gentlemen, Mr. Eli Whitney's standardized and interchangeable musket. You're going home, Mr. Whitney? Thanks to you, sir. I go home with a lightened heart. I'm glad the committee chose to return the bond. Your friends in Connecticut will rejoice. I hope so, sir. Whitney, musket, sir, for war. But you mustn't think only of muskets. You must make engines cheap for everyone. A clock for a farmer. A machine for tillage. An engine for planting. Whitney, make printing presses. Whatever I can, Mr. Jefferson. Well, you can do anything. You are now the interchangeable, Mr. Whitney. Eli, you've created an industrial system in which machines will be standardized, in which parts will be interchangeable. But, Eli, let's hope human beings will never be standardized. Each human being must be unique, individual, sovereign, sacred. I pray God, Mr. Jefferson. Thank you. This is Robert Taylor again. Our play is finished, but after a story like this, when I always find myself wondering if boy gets girl, or rather, if girl gets boy. Do you want to know what happened to Henrietta Edwards? Well, I'll tell you. She grew into a lovely woman, not a monster. And she had her way. She married Mr. Eli Whitney. By the way, Robin Morgan played Henrietta. Next week, Cavalcade will present another popular Hollywood star, Edward Arnold, who will be heard in ordeal by fire. Be sure to listen to the DuPont Cavalcade of America next Tuesday night, when our star, Edward Arnold, will enact another of his great American portrait. And let's remember this. Today, more than ever, it's important that our country should not be divided into antagonistic groups. Hatred and strife among Americans are interpreted by other countries as proof that democracy cannot work. Our security and our prosperity demands that all of us unite together, regardless of race or religion, to work for America. This is Ted Pearson speaking. Tonight's original Cavalcade play, The Interchangeable Mr. Whitney, was written by Morton Wishengrad, suggested by Roger Burling Game's whittling boy, Harcourt Bracen Company publishers. Robert Taylor is currently starred in the Metro-Golden Mayor production, Ambush. Music was composed by Arden Cornwell and directed by Donald Voorhees. The program was directed by John Zoller. Cavalcade of America comes to you from the stage of the Belasco Theater in New York, and is presented by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware, makers of better things for better living through chemistry. Next, Baby Snooks. Then stay tuned for Bob Hope on NBC.