Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1905-11-15
RAILWAY EMPLOYEES OBJECT
Labor Organizations Profess to Bee Lever
Wages in Rate Regulation.
ALLtGE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ROADS
Tell the President There IL No More
Reason for Regulating Freight
Rates Than Prices of other
Commodities.


against proposed railroad rate legislation. |
Tho protest was filed by representatives of |
the i've great labor organizations connected |
with rallroading-the engineers, firemen |
conductors. switchmen and trainmen. Tie |
members Of the delegation which called on |
the president represented tho several or /
ganizations. They pointed out TO him tina |
railroad rate legislation logically meant the |
lowering of rates. This they contended will |
be followed by lessening Of the earning
power of railroads and consequently by re-
duction eventually OF the wages Of rail-
road employees.
The statement presented by Mr.. Huntley
was follows
The railroad employees and those depend
ent upon thcm represent upward OF 6O0a.G00
people in this country. and whose earnings
approximately amount to $500 0Coo.C09 an
nually. and We believe there Is no other
class Of American workmon who present a
higher general standard Of citizenship than
the railroad employees. and We also claim
that We are entitled to fair and impartial
consideration in the framing adoption nf
any national legislation that threatens our
general prosperity. We take Keen interest
In all matters that seem to conducc to
, higher and broader standard of conditions
for the workingmcn Of this country and
| therefore II Is not strange that since the
inception of this movement for national
legislation on railroad rates that all rail
road employees haV" from time 10 time and
IN various ways expressed their convictions.
For example tho brotherhood Of Railroad
( Trainmen. with a mem beTship of $1,000
at it's last annual meeting in Bu;falo
/ last spring adopted resolutions Of the most
emphatic nature against any reduction in
railroad rates. The Brotherhood of loComo-
! tive Engineers and the brotherhood of
/ Locomotive Firemen have expressed similar
/ views ny official utteranCes. and the same
can he said of the Switchmens National as
| sociatiOn. The Order Of Railway Conduc-
| tors, at its biennial convention in Portland.
/ ore. last May. endorsed resolutions of the
same nature. The membership of these or
ganiZations Is now a little more than 25ONn
1 and there are stiIl behind us another full
! 1.oOoOCp Of Iaborers in the railroad world
/ vino would be similarly affected by any re-
ductions in the earning capacity of the raH-
| road lines Of this country, and what I'M
| presses us with more force than any other
side of the issue is this:
AIIRge Discrimination Against Roads.
why have the railroad interests in par
! ticular been selected for this attack? Why
| is the Interstate Commerce commission or
! some similar commission not to be clothed
with the same absolute authority TO fix the
| maximum prices of beef, pork. oil. clothing.
| butter and eggs, etc.---in fact, everything
| which one has to buy every day? II seems
to us that such step would be infinitely
! more reasonable than this proposed move
on railroad rates. because all Of these and
/ other commodities have advanced by leaps
and bounds and by methods which we oil
agree would bear investigation, while INC
general average of railroad freight rates
has steadily decreased from cents per 'on
per mile in 1870 down IN three -fourths of
cent per ton per mile today and during the
past ten Years tnf Tar9s1 Fcnnpessions TO
their employees and also anleliorated labor
That the railroads OF the country have
been enabled TO reduce rates and at nc
same time advance wages and spend large
sums I'm the physical Improvement of their
pToperties is due to the reduction and
Elimination Of grades, curves, etc: doublHo
capacities of cars immensely increaSea
hauling power of locomotives and superior
character of general service rendered show
ing in instances an increase OF ~ peI cent
in train Tonnage we pteNT thd INIT ~ has been
reached. therefore we believe that we taEe
) fair and just view of the situation whSn
VIC claim that no national Legislation shoulo
be adopted which shall tend in any degree
to interfere with or interrupt the present or
future prosperity OF the railroad employees
in this country
In presenting to the president the fore
going statement Mr.. Huntley, who is a con-
? ductor on the Lake Shore & Michigan
Southern railway. said
, We are Of the classes which have most 70
in the practical operation naT Jhs seTvse Gss
and that is the train department
; He told the president it was not necessary
| to urge him to consider the trials and re-
sponsibilities. the shadow OF death thai
goes with us step by step in our daily battle
; for bread in our profession" because every
! Iaboring man in the land knows the presi-
5 dents sympathy is with the honest
. worker"
I NO Political COlOring.
Mr. Huntley assured the president that
no taint of partsanship or political color
ing existed in any degree among the mem
bers of the delegation. but they take a
keen interest in matters effecting the social
economies of the country and the speaker
declared with emphasis that the railroad
employees were satisfied that any Legislation
tending TO reduce the earning capacity OF
= the railroads will In the same measure in
70 terfere with the prosperity and generally
{ satisfactory conditions of the railway en-
+ ployes Mr. Huntley stated that it come &c
= be the attitude of the administration and OF
prominent republicans generally that wher
4 a revision OF the tariff is made the changes
should be by Its friends and not by it;
= enemies
n 1--WE suggest" said Mr. Huntley, that
Il similar course be followed in railway rat'
g legislation
t He wound up by expressing the hope tina
i there would be no national legislation tina
g would interfere with or interrupt thu
l. prosperous condition of the railroads or o
l. their employees.
= The delegation which called upon IN,
e president came from twelve different state
n and represented all Of the larger system
Is of railroads President Roosevelt assure,
r the delegation that it WAS not his purpOs
y or the purpose Of those who favored rail
l. road rate legislation to do anything tina
N might injure the railroads of the eountr,
or incidentally the employees OF the rail
roads. He said that it was his purpOs
8 that all classes-railroads, shippers an
empIoyes-should have perfectly fair treat
Il ment
President states HIS Position.
President Roosevelt, in his address said
Gentlemen: l have just a word that
want to say TO you. In the first place
- trust L need hardly say that no delegatio
= I will ever be more welcome al the Whit
u House than such delegation as this Til
T. interests OF the wage worker and the iu
As terests OF the tiller OF the soil must b
l.. 2 peculiarly close To all American publi
}" men: among other reasons FOR the reaso
d. that II they prosper, all other classes wi
" prosper likewise as "A matter OF cours,
D.. As said the other day TO the representa-
~ tive OF organized labor at Atlanta / sha
~ do everything in my power for the labor
in ing men except 70 do anything wrong; Il
the man who will do anything wrong IN N
nominal interest Of another man will ais
d do wrong against this same other man
er ever il becomes 10 his own interest 10 j
H. so. Your associations deserve peculiar r,
gard because you have developed 10
ne marked degree the very qualities that a
ce bodies OF wagewOrkers should develop. III
" Intelligence, the regard for the future, ii
j, self-respect mingled with the respect Il