The Indiana State sentinel., 1894-08-08
THE PULLMAN MONOPOLY.

me Boston Herald, in an attempted
defense Of the Pullman company. says:
1t is undoubtedly true, as the critic
says, that the Pullman company, under
its contracts with the various great
railroad corporations of the country, has
been earning money upon its sleeping
car service during the last year, and
during the time that these industrial
troubles have been going on at the
town Of Pullman. But, in cur opinion.
1t does not follow from that that the
company should treat the losses incident
TO conducting another department of
business as if they were non-eXistent.
The construction Of freight and pas
senger cars for steam railway. street
railway and elevated railway purposes
has been with the Pullman company a
distinct business Of itself
1t viii be in the nature Of news to a
great many people that the construction
of cars other than Pullman coaches was
distinct business Of the company, but
even if we should accept this as true.
why should there have been any reduc-
tion in other departments? The Herald
says that the Pullman company has
been earning money on its sleeping car
service. These cars belong to the COM
ing them. but by using them. So long
as it is making a profit on them it can
not excuse cutting the wages of the men
who make them on the ground Of loss.
This matter is put very clearly by
member of the Pullman committee in an
interview in the Chicago Record, as fol-
lows:
We are told that the company was
losing money on it's contra cts-that il
had TO bid 50 low TO meet its competitors
that a reduction of wages was an imme-
diate necessity. Accordingly the pay of
ali the men in the shops was cut on an
average of So per cent. The whole thing
was a farce. AS a matter Of fact not
10 per cent of the work done in the shops
Is contract work, the rest being for the
exclusive use of the Pullman company
itself. Because it happened 10 be losing
on 10 per cent. of its outside business
and we viii admit for the sake of argu-
ment that it was losing-it cut the wages
all over the shops. In this way the cost
OF manufacturing or repairing a Pull
man car was decreased thousands of
dollars. For instance, the labor On Ger
tain Pullman cars formerly cost $4,000.
Cutting the wages one-third would save
the company 1888, or more on one car
than it probably lost on all of its con-
losses which they claimed 10 have sus-
tanned were simply an excuse to get the
cost Of repairing its own cars and build
ing new ones reduced by one-third.
Furthermore, the talk Of competition is
all bluff. Nearly all the work done on
cars is covered by patents and so thor
oughly protected that competition would
be an absolute impossibility.
This disposes Of the Herald's argument,
as every other argument advanced in de-
fense of Pullman has been disposed of.
1t may possibly be that the Pullman
company has some presents table defense
for its acts, but if so it has as yet failed
to present it. So far as the facts have
been made public, the company appears
to have imposed on its employees through
the piece-work system. as appears from
the following sample statements:
w H. Erwin, one of the employees,
said that last year he did enough piece
work to make the limit of wages Cor a
day--S3. This spring the limit of wages
for a day was cut to S1.60-almOsu one
half. Out Of the 800 men employed in the
department only twelve could work
rapidly enough to make Sl.60 a day. The
others worked as hard as they could and
earned from 80 cents to $3.50 day.
Mnen we saw now IDlnRS were work
ing, said Mr.. Erwin. we sent a committee
10 the company and made the request
that we be given regular labOrers hire
$3.50 per day. We thought we could
make more money in the long run in that
way. We were skilled mechanics. capa-
bic of building patent refrigerator cars
complete, using our own tools, which we
were required to sharpen and otherwise
keep in repair, but Mr.. Pullman had
cut the wages so low that we were will
ing to work for the wages of ordinary
labOrerS.
John Ward. who worked in the iron
molding department, says that last year
he made S4 a day, but after the cut
went into effect his wages were only S2.66
a day. In order to make this amount he
had to finish seven iron pedestals each
day at SS cents each. Many of the old
men were not able to make the full
number and their pay was corresponding
ly less.
Obviously no such cutting of wages as
this can be justified even by the losses
which the Pullman company claims to
have suffered, and if it in fact suffered
any losses voluntarily. as it processes
to have done, its action in so doing is
very different from anything that the
public has yet had occasion to observe
in the management of its business. 1t
is a thing for general congratulation
that the president has appointed a COM
mission to investigate this matter, which
will probably bring all the facts to
light