The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1903-10-23

Wages Which Is Their Object
Workings of Stock Market Exposed.
New York.-An organized agree
ment exists among the great railroad
companies of the United States in re-
gard to the policy to be pursued in
making retrenchments and reducing
the forces of employees, just as there
was an understanding among leading
financial interests in regard to adj
vancing wages during the last two
years. This statement is made on
the authority of a man identified with
leading corporation. While no formal
association exists, because such a
body would be contrary to the inter-
state commerce law, there is a gen.
tlemen's agreement which is binding
on all of the members and which has
been fruitful Of beneficial results ever
since it was put into operation. It's
primary object is to deal with the Ia
Dor problem, so that employees of one
railroad can not use another as
club to bring the first named into sub
lection.
The word has now gone forth on all
large railroads that retrenchments are.
to be made in certain lines where the
companies can most easily reduce
forces-such as car shops, repair
shops, maintenance of way depart
ment and improvement corps. BY lay
ing men off instead of reducing wages,
those who remain can not we'll find
fault, although, to be sure, some of
them will be called on to do more work
than they did before. 1t is understood
here that the reduction of forces will
go on for some little time, all depart
ments in turn being taken up. The
results to the company will be much
the same as if wages were cut, for it
matters little whether a railroad with
a wage list of $1,OOO,OOO lays off one
tenth of it's men, resulting in a re-
duction to 100000, or made a reduc-
ton of 100000 in the wages of it's
men and allowed them all to remain.
1t may be that less work will be done
after the forces are reduced, but it is
the policy of all of the companies to
scale as traffic warrants.
j. j. Hill in the Deal.
James ]. Hills conference with the
Pennsylvania railroad officials in
Philadelphia was primarily in regard
to the labor problem and the policy to
be pursued in making retrenchments.
1t is understood here that reductions
in wages will be taken up later, if
business conditions warrant it; but
leading railroad men would much pre-
fer to keep up wages as long as pos
sible. The policy of reducing wages
will not generally be tried by the rail-
roads until after industrial corpora
tions have led the way.
Wall street has been much inter-
ested this week in a theory which has
received wide currency, namely, that
the Rockefellers began buying stocks
a considerable time before they reach
ed the present level and that the mar
ket has gone against them a number
Of points in such issues as United
States Steel, Amalgamated Copper
and the grangers. The same story
had it that j. Pierpont Morgan was all
out Of stocks and was watching things
from the fence. Morgan is alleged to
have been suspicious of the stock
market attitude of the Standard Oil
people for long time, and he there
fore began selling out last year, keep
ing it up ever since. If this assump-
ton is correct he now has a larger
balance in bank than ever before in
his life. Those who advanced the
above theory say that the United
States Shipbuilding scandal upset the
calculations of the Rockefellers; that
they did not foresee these develop
ments, but had laid all their plans to
lift the market before that incident
came up. Close observers on the stock
exchange find no difficulty in recog-
nizing Standard Oil orders when they
see them, but it is barely possible that
large buying orders were offset by
| corresponding ones to sell through
secret channels. The course of United
States Steel shares all the week have
no sign of the alleged Rockefeller abb
sorption.
"Your husband" said the doctor,