The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-05-31
RAIL, ROADS.
SWEEPING CUT IN
R. R. LABOR ROLLS
IMPROVEMENT AND Mantle.
r NANCE EXPENSES CURTAILED. {


tinued Falling Off in Traffic - A
Bumper Corn Crop Is Looked TO
for Relief.
The movement toward the cutting
down Of labor rolls on the western
railroads, which was begun by J.. j..
Hill two years ago, will eliminate
within the next month. The net re-
suit of it within the present fiscal
year will be the laying off of over
100000 men, who have earned on an
average about $165,0OO day. The
saving to the railroads and the loss to
the laboring classes will therefore
reach the aggregate of about $50, 000,-
1000 per annunl.
The action of the railroad COM
panies, say dispatches from the east,
is not a movement against union la
Dor or against any kind Of labor what
ever. It is, on the contrary, move
solely in self-defense. It is not di-
rectly related to the labor question at
all. It is simply the laying off of men
not Indispensable to the railroads be-
cause the period of expansion of
heavy improvements and Of lavish ex-
penditures is over for the time being.
| The classes of labor most nearly
affected by the movement are the
classes that draw pay Of from s1.25
| to $1.75 a day. They are the men
that work on the lines, ballasting,
| laying gravel, building fences, sta
TONS remaking roadbeds, etc. They
are the small mechanics and the job
bers. Carpenters who draw their pay
! by the job or by the week will be,
perhaps, the most vitality affected
class. but this class is not numerous
and shovel.
The immediate reason Of the
change in policy on the big roads is
the fact, now no longer denied that
gross earnings are falling off on all
lines east and west. The volume of
tonnage moving is light, and no man
can say how far this decline will go.
they expect it to stop with the mar
keting of the corn crop. They are
clearly hoping against hope. They
are saying the thing they desire,
| namely, that there will be a bumper
corn crop to redeem the earnings Of
the west. Meantime they are provid-
| ing against absolute failure by cutting
off the drains on their revenue.
# Economy in West.
The western railroads will econo-
mize. The edict has gone out from
i headquarters Of Rock Island, Great
/ Northern, Milwaukee, Northern Pa
cif1c, Southern Pacific, Union Pacific
that expenses in all departments shall
be cut down. More strongly has it
been enjoined upon the executive
committees of the. same roads that
the capital expenditures of the sys-
| "a SOD u Z ~
months MT ending June !, 1904, the
reaches over 100000, 900: That is
just an example. Perhaps 500, 900 900
or less Of that amount has gone to
pay for improvements, actual labor
on the lines or in the shops. The
rest. has paid for lands, sites, rails,
cars, engines, ETC., and has, therefore,
the pockets Of the laborers at St.
Louis in the great car works, at
| Pittsburg in the steel works, at Dun
kirk in the locomotive works. This
charge, 1t will be seen, has not been
paid out Of earnings. 1t has been
paid by the investors Of Wall street,
who buy each year over S1,0OO,OO0, 900
OF railroad and Industrial securities.
NOW the market is exhausted There
| 49, eAAS CIp1Id1 dCCOullL expenses or
the railroads must be curtailed.
Capital Curta1lment.
People ask, what can the railroads
cut Off How can they cut down their
expenses without running their service,
an: ana thereby destroying themselves
Ihe answers to these questions are to
pc found In the records Of expenses on
the railroads. Perhaps the best ex-
!. ample Of the cutting down of capital
expenses kind that Wall street
pays sfor-is to be found In Rock Is
land: The best examples of the 9TH
er kind,-the kind the railroad pays
| Southern Pacific, Milwaukee and
Northern Pacific s-.,.s-s--"~, 1N
i One year ago the Rock Island had
just bought Frisco There was under
way a new line between st. Louis and
Shellyville, another between st. Louis
of Choctaw, and a line was projected
Il to cost $10,000,000 from Memphis to
1 New Orleans. To-day, one year later,
the New Orkwans line is abandoned
Land a traffic agreement has taken its
J, would have built that 800 miles Of
road, who would have made that 80
4 600 tons of rails, who would have put
up the dozen or SO bridges on that
4 line, and built it's dozens of staff on
houses, SHOPS, etc, Will not have that
work to do. Instead Of two lines there
! will be only one. The other lines, the
st. Louis lines and the Oklahoma line,
are about finished. They will be open
by September. The thousand carpen-
4 ters and the ten thousand men that
have been working on these roads will
be out Of work.
i Operating Expenses.
4 There are three distinct kinds of
5 expenses on a railroad in its operating
. department. One is in conducting
a transportation. The second is in main
tanning the road and its equip
ment. The third is in general expenses
In the first there is not going to be
much economy. There cannot be with
out injuring the service. Switchmen
I signalmen, engineers, train crews mus
be retained no matter how hard UP
the railroad may be. In this item
Northern Pacific spent on salaries in
1908 nearly $5,00O,000. Southern Pa
ci1c spent over 100000 The
Milwaukee spent over $9,000,00o
. If traffic gets very bad the number OF
men drawing pay is cut down, but
1 generally these the last to
lose their jobs. They are indispens-
able. f.
Other great Items under this head
5 are fuel and station expense. They
cannot be greatly cut down.
Cut in Maintenance.
The great economy is in n1ainten
lance Southern Pacific snent on IFS