The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1892-09-22

veritalle pa-acc: attendants. QUICKER and
more willing than even tabled Mercury,
are at his beck and call; station agents,
conductors, brakemen-yea, even the
festive newsboy-bow down before him.
Truly one thinks this mans life is
laid in pleasant places.
And yet, i'll spite of the vain glory sur
rounding it, the lot of the average rail
way official is not happy one. Power
has compensaions, but it brings com
pick care and responsibility.
The tenure Of Office Of most railway
officers is very uncertain. A change in
management, single instance of I'M
sound judgment may result in his being
"let out" His work is never finished,
never up to date. Ills duties are harass-
ing and full of small worries, and,
strange though it may appear, his re-
enumeration is, when compared with
popular ideas on the subject, almost i'll
Significantly small. Moreover it is less
much less-than would be the Gaze
were the same energy and executive
ability directed in other channels.
Some figures will help to cast light on
the matter, but before giving them. it
may be i'll order TO state why the salaries
of railway men are not larger.
1t is pretty well understood, nowadays,
that American railways, speaking gener-
ally, are not run at profit. The causes
for this state of affairs are many, but the
best reason of all is that there are too
many lines.
Think a minute and call to mind, if
YOU can, any two cities, important cities,
that are within 300 or 400 miles of each
other that have not at least three con-
Meeting lines. Competition for traffic,
both freight and passenger, Is necessarily
keen; so keen in fact that the narrow
margin between the figure representing
the actual cost of transport and that adj
hitting of a fair profit is ruthlessly
wiped out. The public constantly de-
mands improvements and the road that
meets its demands gets its patronage, but
sometimes at what a cost!
Operating expenses-be they ever so
carefully supervised-are enormous.
Rails wear out or become too light for
the rigid requirements of modern usage;
bridges get shGky and need repairs;
fences are blown down; collisions occur;
floods sweep out of existence a dozen
miles of track; trainmen, sectionmen,
telegraph operators and clerks constantly
cry for higher wages and must somehow
or other be appeased; new equipment
must be provided; new station buildings
erected. And so it goes.
Happy is the road that in this modern
age does not find itself every year or two
in a receivers hands!
Amid all stand the officials. They
are between two grindstones. On the
one side are the shareholders who think,
or imagine they think, they see rulnous
extravaganza; on the other, are the en-
ployees who know how hard their work
is and cannot understand why their ser
vices are not more fittingly recognized.
OF all classes of men the railway Off
cial is the most improvident. One would
think that, knowing as he must the
frightful uncertainty of his position, he
would feel the necessity for providing
for rainy day. But he doesn't provide.
Living in the full blaze of publicity the
very nature of the post he holds seems
to be too much for him; he's only hu-
man, and cGn hardly be censured If his
success intoxicates him.
But the reader wants figures. Well,
here are some:
The general manager of railroad
of, say, 5000 miles draws from $1,000
to $40, 900 per annum, his remuneration
depending very largely of course upon
the locality of theroad he manages-i.e.,
whether it be in the sparsely settled west
or in the more Tricky populated east.
A general superintendent is paid from
Sc 900 to $4,000 a year. y general
freight agent gets from $4,000 to $4,000;
a general passenger agent from 81 600
to $4,000; an auditor from $4,000 to
Sc 900; a treasurer from 81, 600 to 5000.
Assistants usually receive from one-half
to two-thirds the salary paid their su-
periors.
The remuneration of the president, the
secretary and the legal adviser OF any
of the roads is hard to approximatei IN
formation on the subject is withheld,
but one is safe in assuming it Is nowhere
near the enormous sum of money 1t Is
usually thought to be.
j. NJ. CAMPBELL