The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-03-08
PLANT OF TRAINMEN
CHAIRMAN HOPKINS GIVES
 THEIR SIDE.
President Ramsey Says the Griev- ances He Mentions Were Not Brought to Him by the
 Employesi Committee.

St. Louis, March 7-Counsel for the firenen and trainmen of the Wabash Railway spent the day in preparing the answer to the writ of injunction secured by President Ramsey. This answer prob ably will not be finished before Tuesday.
 President Ramsey said tonight that pending the final decision of the court on the injunction he was willing to meet the men regarding the matter of the questions at issue regardless of the in- junction. If the injunction is dissolved and a strike is ordered. there will be nothing left but to i'll or endeawor to fill all places made vacant by strikers. says President Ramsey.
 John Hopkins, chairman of the General Committee, Order of Railway Conductors, has made a written statement detailing the grievances held by the Wabash em- ployes. He says that the real grievance is not a case of wages, but Is a violation of the old schedule. His statement fol- lows:
 '-The real grievance is not a cause of wages. A violation of the old schedule is one of the causes of complaint This Is done by the company putting on prefer I6O EuIlS WlAu ItkuldI CIOWS LnrbI 5SS 1 monthly salary. This cuts the pay for brakemen from cents to about 1-4 cents a mile; conductors from cents to 2 cents, while engineers and firemen re- ceive the same. After the company had these runs well established the managers commenced to pile on the abuses so fast that one could hardly believe the orders posted on the bulletin boards. Crews on Detroit and Chicago runs, after running 270- miles, were made to switch out the merchandise and take 1t down town with out additional pay. The next was 10l miles each day, added to the St. Louis merchandise run, making it 2O2 miles in the round trip additional with an in- crease of about s per month. This addi- tional mileage alone would make brake | man $6060 per month.
 But this is the straw that broke the camers back. Not satisfied with all this for nothing, they put on two engines and make them handle a dead freight train outside of the high class and now they wonder what we are kicking about. After we work like slaves all winter in all kinds of weather without rest, often for sixty hours at a stretch, We are told we have nothing to complain of.
 Tn the spring when navigation opens up and business drops off, these preferred crews, with the pig engines and double headers, can handle about half of the business and the rest of us can eat friend snow balls or wait until nice, cold stormy winter comes around again, with its sleet' and ice on the running boards on top of the cars.
 ''The Adams injunction even takes away the right to quit the company s service, and if made permanent they can hold men as bonded slaves. Now I for one, an O. R. c. man, and who voted against a strike, believe in upholdIne the B. of R. T. and B. of l.. F. to the last ditch.
 John Hopkins, Chairman Central Committee o. R. e.
 The statement of Chairman Hopkins was shown to President Ramsey tonight. He said:
 'I do not wish to discuss the matter other than to say the alleged grievances mentioned by Chairman Hopkins were not referred or brought up by the commit tee in their meetings with the Wabash officials. The trouble with MT. Hopkins l ,s that he is not on a preferred run.' a position they are all after. These runs are part meat and high class freight trains which make passenger train | time.p