The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-01-28
REGULATING employees.
A Discussion Of The Nolan Bill BY Railroad
Officials.
IT'S SHORTCOMINGS poINTtplY STATED
Railroad Lines Are Rcmodc,iry a.,
n Freight Cnrs I" Conform 10 the
Commissions Requirement.,

There has been considerable animated
discussion among certain railroad officials
of late regarding the introduction of hons.
bill No. 16 for consideration before the
State legislature now assembled at Aus
TIM The bill is more commonly known
as the Nolan bill and proposes to revu.
late qualification OF certain railroad en,-
ployes and to prescribe penalties for vio-
lations of same
Some of the railroad officials think It
is very bold proposition, curtniing rail-
road arrangements, to decided disai-
vantage in their rights to employ whom
they consider as eminently qualified to
fill various railway positions.
A Post reporter found MIR. j. NJ. Lee,
engineer and superintendent of the Hous-
ton and Texas Central, at his Office and
engaged him in conversation on the mat
ter. AS Mr.. Lee has charge of the en-
ployment of great number OF men, he
was thoroughly interested in what he
considered a very vital matter, and ON
being asked for his opinion he spoke as
follows:
After reading the bill over carefully.
am constrained to believe that 1t can not
be treated as divisional measure, but
rather as involving the entire railway
interest of the State in it's industrial rela-
ton to the public, affordfng constant and
never falling source of employment for
the SONS of It's patrons. II Is unnecessary
TO review the bill by sections; the gist
OF its meaning is far-reaching and means,
In al INN railways IF
Texas will be forced TO seek their en-
ployes for the train and mechanical de-
partnents beyond the boundaries of this
State.
"Before man can be experienced he
must have been Inexperienced Why should
he not gain this experience In Texas,
rather than in Missouri or Kansas? In
the pretense of safety under the mantle
Of experience, the smiling hobo seees the
opportunity of grasping the places now
filled by the sturdy youth from our in
dustrial classes On the Houston and
Texas Central land OF this I speak adj
visedly) the policy of recognizing the peo-
pie along its line as the source from
which to draw Its supply Of employees,
has been fixed from the date OF ita incep-
ton, and tho wisdom OF this course III
manifest in the fruits of success.
THE people from one end of the line
to the other speak OF the Houston and
Texas Central as our road Why ie
this? IL is because the hopes and fears
and sympathy aud love Of thousands arc
echoed In the sound of whistle and the
roar OF train. The little boy playing
about the station learns TO set brakes
and to couple cars: his mother watches
him with anxiety but looks upon the rail-
road as his natural heritage and rejoices
when he makes his first trip as extra
brakeman. He is now on the road to the
managers chair, and prayers follow him
for welfare and SUCCESS. Honesty and
integrity of purpose, with high sense
of moral obligation mark the inspiration
of his early training. and its maintenance
| Is interviewer with the reputation OF the
best citizenship of our State. Do the
! people of Texas wish to exchange this for
an irresponsible, shifting set of engine
men. iremen, conductors, etc, having
nothing in common with them and no
reputation other than the hearsay con-
| tanned ON card from some labor organi-
cation? can not believe it,
MIR. a. n. Lcltnaker superintendent Of
! the Austin and Northwestern railroad,
who was in the city yesterday on brief
business trip, had a word to say about
the bill, and in conversation he expressed
himself that IL appeared favorable to the
cause Of strikers. who might at any time
see cause to robel against the manage
mcnt.
The bill provides that tc cntcr the SER
vicc ns a locomotive engineer q man must
have served a certain time as fireman,
and the same principle applies to other
positions In case of strike, the rail-
road would be at decided dlsadvan-
tage finding men in the State who would
have enjoyed these qualifications and the
result would be that in order TO engage
other men Independent Of strikers, mate
rial must come from outside of the State.
which would be to the disadvantage OF
Texas men eminently fitted for the vacan-
cies, but not exactly in line with the pro-
visions of the bill Mr. Lcitnaker could
see no other view OF the matter except
| that 1t was move In favor of the few
probable dissatisfied ones, against the
large numbers of others waiting for pro-
| motion and honest employment.