The age-herald., 1900-02-11
BY WILLIAM RYAN.

With the exception. of life insurance offi- cials the highest salaried men in the United States are the railroad officials. .Railroad presidents, vfce-presdents, general mana gers and traffic managers receive, as a rule, fiat stipends. It not so twenty five years ago when I entered upon my newspa- per career In the "early days a five thousand dollar railroad president was re- garded as a marvel of thrift and princely luck. The railway companies could not af- ford to pay more. A quarter of a century ago not many of the lines exceeded one thousand miles in length. A railroad com pany operating five hundred miles was thought to be doing pretty well. The word system" had not come generally in vogue, although in exceptional cases, like the Pennsylvania, the term was some times used. For lines of four and five hundred miles salaries were exceedingly modest. If the president got $5O00, the general manager or general superintendent usually got from $3,0O0 to $3,500, and the general freight agent about the same. The title of traffic mana ger had not been introduced.
 But with the boom of 1S7S '79-S0, the rail- roads branched out. Companies consoi- dated, the larger lines acquiring the smaller ones. By 1880 many of the presidents who formerly received 5000 salaries were draw ing $10,0O0; a few of them double that tIuOuilt bul u WAS nOl unIll dDOuI Vne middle of the eighties that the $25 900 and $50.O00 presidents began to appear. The traf- fife managers had then come to the front and they were rated as magnates in rank only a little below the presidents.
 If a freight man could "control the busiz ness he was supposed to be worth great deal of money to the road. And he was, for railroad companies rarerly paid big sal aries unless the officials receiving them earned what they got.
 At one time, $10,000 traffic managers were plentiful. But as competition increased and as these men grew more important in the economy of the railroad business, their sal aries jumped to $20 900 and $25, ,000 Oscar G. Murray was getting $19 900 as traffic mana ger of the Big Four and the Chesapeake and Ohio, but when the Baltimore and Ohio got him they had to pay him $27, 300 year.
 I recently asked man supposed to be conversant with the subject to name the the railroad official receiving the largest salary. He replied that he knew several $50000 presidents, but that Chauncey M Depew, as chairman of the Vanderbilt board was understood to have received $75,- 000 This, he said, was probably the bigges; railroad salary yet paid.
 One of the most rapid rises in the rail- road world that occurs to me at this writ ing was that of J. w. Reinlhart. a native of Petersburg, Va, who was for a short time president of the Atchison, Topeka and Sante Fe. I knew Reinhart well when he was auditor of a little road at $35OO, about ten years ago. He lost his job, but being fine railroad acountant and a young man of splendid address. he was not long out of position. He was elected fourth vice. president of the Atchison, Topeka and San- ta Fe at $1O,0O0 year. One year later he was elected president of that large system at $5o000. His rise from the 8, 800 place tc the s50.000 presidency all happened within the sp3ne of eighteen months.
 As poolngs and consultations are being pushed today on more startling scale than ever 1t is likely that $100 900 officials will be- come numerous. This is the age for billion dollar combines. What Is the matter then with S1OO,0OO railroad presidents? Recent , agreements between some of the great lines