Omaha daily bee., 1889-04-28
To STOP RAILROAD STRIKES
The President of the Union Pacific
Makes Some Suggestions.
A TRIBUNAL OF ARBITRATION.
How Worthy Employees Might be Re-
tained and Useless Ones Got
ten Rid of-The Use OF Hos
pital Fund.
Railroads and Their Employees.


the Union Pacific railway company con-
tributes the following paper on "The
Prevention OF Railroad Strikes" to the
current number OF Scribner's Magazine:
Note--The following paper was pre-
pared for a special purpose in June,
1886, and then submitted TO several OF
the leading officials directly engaged in
the local management OF the lines OPP
Grated by the Union Pacific railway
company, Of which the writer had been
president for two years. 1t drew forth
from them various criticisms, which
led to the belief that the publication OF
the paper Mt that time might easily re-
suit In more harm than good. 1t was
accordingly laid aside, and no use made
OF it,
Nearly three years have since elapsed
and the events OF the year 1SSS-with
its strike OF engineers on the Chicago,
Burlington ~ Quincy-seem to indicate
that the relations Of railroad employees
to the railroad companies have under
gone no material change since the year
1856, when the strike on the Missouri
Pacific took place. The unsatisfactory
condition OF affairs apparently con-
tinues. There is a deep seated trouble
mewhere.
NO SuUlClcub TedSOu, JutTelOTe. SS-
lists for longer suDressing this paper.
Provided the suggestions Contained in
1t have any value at all, they may at
least be accepted as contributions to a
discussion which of itself has an i'm
portance that cannot either be denied or
ignored.
The paper is printed as 1t YVES pre-
pared. The figures and statistics con-
tanned in it have no application, there
fore, to the present time; nor has it
been thought worth while to change
them, Inasmuch as they have little or
no bearing upon the argument. That
is just as applicable to the state of af
fairs now as it was to that which existed
then. The only difference is that the
course of events during the three in
the paper, If it does no good, will cer-
tainly do no harm. G. +. A.
BOSTON, February 4, 1889.
In 1S36-tifty years ago-there were
bat little more than a 1000 miles of
railroad on the American continents,
representing an outlay of some 1856 ,000.-
900, and controlled by score or so of
corporations. There are now about
135, 900 miles in the United States alone,
capitalized at over eight thousand mil
lions of dollars.
The railroad interest is thus the lar
gest single interest in the country.
Probably 100000 men are in its employ
as wage-earners. 1t is safe to say that
directly dependent upon it for their
daily support. The Union Pacific, as a
single and by no means the largest
member OF this system, controls $3.50
miles of road, represented by stock and
bonds to the amount Of $275, ,000, 900.
More than $1,000 names are borne upon
its pay-rolls. It's yearly income has ex-
ceeded $29 900, 900, and in 1885 was
$26 ,000,O0 Large as these aggregates
sound, there are other corporations
which far exceed the Union Pacific both
IN income and capitalization, and not a
few exceed it in mileage. The Penn
eylyania, for instance, either owns or
directly controls 1900 miles of road. 1t
is represented by capitalization of
&870 900, 900; its annual income is $685.
OO0, 900; it carries $4,000 names on its
pay-rolls.
This has been the outgrowth of a sim
gle half-century. The vast and intri-
cate organization implied III the man
agement of such an interest had, as it
were, to be improvised. The original
companies We're small and simple af-
fairs. Some retired man of business
held as rule the position OF president;
while another man, generally civil
engineer, and as such supposed to be
more or less acquainted with the prac-
tical working OF railroads, acted as
superintendent. The superintendent in
point of fact attended to everything.
He was the head Of the commercial de-
partment; the head OF the operating de-
partment; the head OF the construction
department, and the head of the me-
chanical department. But there is q
limit to what any single man can do;
and so, as the organization developed,
It became necessary TO relieve tho rail-
road superintendent of many of his
duties. Accordingly, the working man
agement naturally subdlvided itself
into separate departments, at the head
which men were placed who had been
trained all their lives to do the particu-
lar work required in each department.
In the same way, the employees OF the
are extraordinarily few in number,
held toward the company relations
similar to those which the employees
In fsctories, shops, or on farms,
held to those who employed
them. In other words, there was
in the railroad system no organized SER
vice. AS the employees increased until
they were numbered by hundreds, bet
ter organization became necessity.
The community was absolutely depend
ent upon its railroad service for con-
tinueG existence, for the running of
trains IS to the modern body polite very
much what the circulation of blood IL
TO the human being. An organized
system, therefore, had to grow up. This
fact was not recognized at first; and, in.
deed, is only imperfectly recognized
yet. Still the fact was there; and mas
much as 1t was there and was not recog,
nized. trouble ensued. No nationally
organized railroad service--that is. nS
service in which the employer and en-
ployed occupy definite relations toward
each other, recognized by each and by
the body politic-no such service exists
Approaches to 1t only have been made
A discussion, therefore, OF the form
that such service would naturally
take, il it were organized, cannot bt
otherwise than timely.
IL has already been noticed that II
the process OF organization the railroad
following the invariable law, NATURAL,
subdiyides itself into different depart
msnts. In the case OF every corpora
tion OF magnitude, there are OF these
departments, whether one man is at tn,
head OF one or several of them, at leas
five. These are:
4 !. The financial department, which
provides the ways and means.