Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1895-01-09
Number of Hands ON Railway Trains.

a comauose condition. At least two
lodges OF the order met recently in
that city and passed resolutions de-
manding that Governor-elect Upham
shall recommend the passage of a
number OF laws affecting railway
! labor, and demanding that the legis-
lature shall carry the recommends
tions into effect.
The formula of American Railway
union legislation which was adopted
requires that there shall be not less
than one conductor and three brake
men on any freight train; not less
than one conductor, one baggageman
and two brakemen on any passenger
train; not less than one foreman and
three helpers for each switch engine,
and that all railway companies shall
have crew OF not lessthan four sec
ton men for each ten miles of railway
operated six days III a week. Other
requirements relate to blacklisting,
| locomotive boiler state inspection
and weekly payment OF wages Gin
| United ST ties currency" Similar
| legislation will be asked in Illinois.
Among other vagarles OF mem bers
of the American Railway union, they
| appear to think that railways were
constructed principally, not for the
| transportation OF passengers and
| freight, but to furnish themselves
with pleasure and remunerative oc-
cupation. This is an obviOu> error.
Railways are not an eleemosynary
institution. They are strictly bust
ness enterprises. They are built to
carry people for pay from one part Of
the country to another, and to trans
port freight on the same terms in all
directions from the point of shipment
to the point of destination. No other
purpose nor end was involved IN their
construction.
Railways are subject to public law.
They are required to protect the
safety of passengers and to carry
and deliver freight with REASONABLE
promptitude. But the law will no
more say how many men shall be
employed for this purpose than it
will say how many Janitors, engineers,
tiremeu and scrub women the proprie-
tor OF a ten-stOry apartment build
ing shall employ. Enlightened self-in-
terest will dictate to railway man
ayers that they shall not employ SO
few men as to render property and
life unsafe on their trains, 1t loss OF
life or damage to persons property
Is caused by their neglect of proper
precautions they are criminally and
pecun!arlly responsible.
improvements in machinery and
appliances, air bra Ses, electric signals,
running trains in blocks and other
methods make 1t unnecessary to
carry as manly tralnmen as were re-
Qulred when trains were operated en-
tirely by hand work. Vast sums OF
money have been expended by the
railway companies in providing these
appliances, which are a more certain
protection against accidents than
ordinary human vigilance and acCivi-
ty. The railway companies cannot
0e expected to retain the numerous
employees required before they bought
expensive machinery to take the place
of manual labor.
But the total number of employees
was not lessened by the use of mechan-
ical appliances in operating trains
The number of trains has increased
rapidly on all the railway lines and on
new lines. More employees have found
jobs on new trains than were laid off
from the old trains on receiving their
new equipments. Every improve
ment in operating railroads which
has enabled the companies to dis
pense with one man has made a job for
two men elsewhere or in other depart
mentS.
Except for the fact that theextreme-
~ low state of railway business at the
present time has caused a reduction
of railway forces everywhere, there
never before were as many men EN-
ployed by the railroads as are en-
ployed noW-Or as would be en-
pIoyed if the railways were running
moderately up to their capacity.
There are now nearly 100000 men
in the employ of railways. With
their families and dependents they
constitute one-twelfth of the total
population Of the country. The rail
ways employ as many men as can be
useful to them and as many as they
can pay fair wages to without an in
crease in their revenues.
There would be no more common
use in a law requiring railroads to
employ a greater number of train
hands than there would be in law
requiring a farmer to hire more men
for the harvest field, or a sawmill
owner to increase the number of his
mill hands. If the law should under
take to say how many men corpora
tions or individuals shall employ, it
would next be asked to fix their rate
Of wages. In the end the employer
| would find before him the alternative
of going out of business or going into
bankruptcy. Then, the last state of
the employe-the beneficiary of all
these improvement laws-would be
worse than the first, for he would
have no employment at any rate of
wages.-Chicago Herald.