Evening star., 1899-04-18
INDUSTRIAL INQUIRY
Chief of the Order Of Railway Con-
ductors a Witness.
POLICIES OF COMPANIES CRITICISED
President Gompers of the American
Federation of Labor.
HIS VIEW ARE GIVEN

HIS VIEW ARE GIVEN
Mr.. E. E. Clark of Cedar Rapids Iowa.
grand chief of the Order of Railway Con-
ductors Of America, appeared before the
industrial commission this morning. Mr..
Samuel Gompers, president of the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor, was also present,
prepared to go on the stand later.
Mr.. Chas. ]. Harris presided, and Mr..
John L. Kennedy of the subcommission on
transportation led in the examination.
Mr.. Clark stated that the Order of Rail-
way Conductors had about %, 100 members,
nearly all of whom are employed in the
United States. A few are in Canada and
Mexico. The entire number of conductors
in the United States is about $1,000.
The Order of Railway Conductors had
formerly submitted a paper to the COM
mission, in which they replied to the ques-
tions contained in the commissions syl-
labus, the witness being called to reply to
specific questions.
Hours of Labor.
The conductors had no complaint of long
hours. Their hours of labor were regulated
by the runs of the trains AS trains are
labor are shorter.
In reply to questions the witness said
there is a tendency of railroad companies
not to employ conductors of thirty or more
years of age; some companies fix twenty
eight years the maximum for firemen
and brakemen. They did not dismiss man
of forty too old, but they would not hire
such a man. The reasons for this policy
could not be understood exactly, but there
We're suspicious ON the part of the men.
panies thought they could have longer
term of service from young men, and an
other was that such policy tends to over
stock the labor market for that class of
work.
When asked if the companies had dis
missed men who became forty years OF age,
he replied:
No; if they undertake to dismiss our
members when they reach forty years of
age We will ta..e care of that"
He said that if the railroad companies un-
dertake collectively to refuse employment
to men of forty years of age he thought
some responsibility should rest on these
companies or on the public for the suste-
nance of such men on the basis that they
had become worn out in the service.
A Policy of the Companies.
The companies mad also adopted a policy
Of not employing as conductors men who
had lost finger, which was generally the
result of coupling cars. When these acci-
tied with the men and put them to work
again. If it should become the policy of
these roads to refuse employment such men
in the future settlements for the loss Of a
finger should be on the same basis as for
the loss of a hand. The loss of a finger did
not interfere with the work of a conductor.
A conductor also who had reached fifty
years of age, if in good health would be a
better conductor than one of twenty EIGHT,
because of his greater experience.
moi
extent by the railroads, because of state
and national laws. He had heard charges
that letters of recommendation had been
given to employees leaving a road on paper
with a peculiar water mark, which was
recognized as an indication that he was
black listed, but he knew nothing of such
charges.
Organized labor had done much for the
railway employees in a large area Of the
west, the efforts of such organization hav-
ing resulted in an increase of wages of
from five to twenty-five per cent and had
reduced their hours of labor and improved
their condition generally. In the east the
advancement had been less, for the reason
that the condition there had been better.
Organization had increased the feeling of
Independence on the part of the employees
without making them insubordinate. Dis
charges had been less frequent than when
the organizations were less influential.
Restriction of immigration Needed.
He thought that the commission should
recommend to Congress restrictions of i'm
migration. He saw danger in immigra-
ton to railway conductors because of the
effect of such unrestricted immigration in
depressing prices of labor generally. He
saw no reason why immigrants who were
as undesirable as the Chinese should not
be treated in the same manner.
The public should take great interest in
the welfare of railway employees because
they are public servants in a sense. Ex-
planning the attitude of railway organiZa-
tions on the act of the interstate commerce
commission in extending by two years the
time in which railroad companies should
equip their roads with the automatic coup
lers, he said labor organizations had agreed
to that extension of time fair to the
companies, which were then embarrassed
by the dangers of the panic There had
been a general misunderstanding about the
causes leading to this extension of time,
some people having asserted that 1t came
from influence of railroad companies.
The fact was that the labor organizations
had been perfectly satisfied with that ac-
ton, though they had reduced from five
years, as desired by the companies, to two
years the time in which to equip with the
automatic coupler.
President Samuel Gompers.
Mr.. Samuel Gompers, president of the
American Federation of Labor then went
on the stand.
In explaining the growth of the organiza-
ton of which he is the head Mr.. Gompers
said it was the successor of the National
Labor Union, which went out of existence
in 1868. From that time until 1881 there
was no general organization of labor in
the United States. In 1881 the Federation
OF Organized Trade and Labor Unions of
the United States was founded in Pitts
burg, Pa. In 1856 its name was changed to
that of the American Federation of Labor.
Mr.. Gompers was elected president of the
Federation of Labor in 1882 and served
until 1887 without compensation, giving all
his leisure time to the work
Ia in1ln