Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1896-08-05
sILvER's EFFECT ON RAILROAD MEN
How 1t Would Reduce the Wages of
Million Employees.

How 1t Would Reduce the Wages OF
Million Employees.
New York Herald: Il can't argue the
case like you said the hired man. 'but
[ know that if Bryan is elected you will
have to pay me SIG for moving this
lawn instead of the 81 you now pay me"
For many years we Americans have
been pluming ourselves on the fact that
"the schoolmaster is abroad" If tins
hired man were the representative OF any
considerable class of labOrers we might
we'll wish that the schoOlmaSter would
come home and attend to business in the
agricultural districts during this presl-
Dental campaign.
1t would, however, be an insult to the
intelligence of the working masses to
assume that their type is to be foun:t
in this thick-skulled mower of lawns.
About AZ per cent. of all the productive
laborers of this country are directly de-
pendent upon the cultivation OF the, SOIL
and these people. if they are made 10
fairly understand the issue, may be
trusted to vote for what is honest ana
right.
Numbers of Railroad Men.
Next to tillers of the soil the largest
group of workers is made up of those
engaged in the transportation industry,
the railway employees. In the state tate OF
New York alone are about 10000 OF
these, and. taking in the whole country,
they number about 100000, or not TAR
from 10 per cent. of the entire voting
population. The various grades of rail-
way workers have their several organlza-
tons, and these are studying the effects
of free silver as is evident from the nu-
merous letters that reach the Herald ask
ing for information; and we will state
here a few suggestive facts by way OF
general reply.
The vast army of railway toilers would
suffer more hardship than perhaps any
other class by unlimited coinage OF 90
cent dollars. All wage-earners, OF
course would be distressed because all
the necessities of life would Immediately
double in price while wages would be
slow to rise, and would make up for the
increased cost of living. But the rail
way worker would find it particularly
hard to secure an advance of wages,
because his employer the railway cor
poration. would Itself be so hurt by the
change in the currency that 1t might be
unable to comply with the reasonable
demand of its employees.
Why it Could Not.
"But why?" asks the brakeman; "why
would the railway company not be IN as
good a position to advance wages as any
other employer For very simple rea-
son. The merchant and the manufactur-
er can instantly mark up the price OF
their goods to offset the lowered value of
the dollar. but you. as brakeman, have
no goods to sell. What you sell is your
service. your labor. and you know from
experience that this cannot be marked up
as merchant can reticket piece of
cloth. Now your employer, the railway
company. is like yourself, n person-an
artificial person, created by laWIanI,
like yourself it has nothing to sell but
its services III transporting passengers
and goods.
More than this. it is under control of
the state that created it. and cannot, like
yourself. quit work if it doesn't like the
pay; it is compelled to keep on working
or forfeit its very existence. With a 90
cent legal tender dollar in circulation the
railway would naturally have to accept
its pay in those dollars. and its income
would thereby be cut down nearly one
half But when it attempted TO double
its charges in order to ''even up the dol
lar, you know what a tempest of Opp0s-
ton would arise. particularly in agrlcul-
tural communities, and the legislatures
would make the company painfully
aware that it is under control of the
states it traverses The railway. Ike
yourself, would find the cost of all it's
supplies nearly doubled, but it would
have to fight for every fraction of a cent
in advance in its rates for transportat ton.
When you and your fellow workers find
that the cost of living has doubled you
will naturally demand double wages; but
how will you get them? You can't get
blood out of Il turnip.
A vote for Bryan would be a vote to
cut your own wages IN half. and rs you
are not a fool we are sure that you and
ali the rest of the million railway en-
ployes will vote for an honest dollar.