The San Francisco call., 1907-03-01

conditions of the service and that they try to
treat their employees today as If they were still
drivers of horse cars.
/ attribute to this cause the fact that the
initial wages of the carmen are entirely too low
II compared with the amount and quality of the
work done. The majority award. indeed, claims
that the contract is 'ncon troYertible evidence of
wages Tor the period OF two years ending on the
LIST of MAY. 1907 l most respectfully submit
or any evidence as to the fairness of the rate Of
wages mentioned therein, or as to the mental at.
utude Of the contracting parties in. regard to
such wages. The board Of arbitration knows
nothing from the testimony about the contract
but its existence The contract was expressly
ruled out on the very first day that the arbi-
why it was entered on. We have not weighed
the justness or unjustness of the wages provided
what the company thought on that matter or
what were the opinions of the men
But 1t does not require any testimony TO show
that to give a. motorlnan conductor less
wages thar common laborer cannot be de
Tended. Counsel for the company has striven to-
show that the occupation Of platform man is
very low In the scale OF labor. Even II we
grant everything that he alleges, he certainly
does not claim, and no man of common sense VIII
admit, that conductor motorman is In the
lowest class of labor. The motorman is prac-
tically an engineer; he controls great and COM
plicated piece of mechanism; 1t may be that it
is easy to learn how TO do it, but everything is
easy WHEN ii is learned. The engineer in charge
Of a locomotive performs his work after time
mainly by instinct or habit even as the seasoned
captain OF an ocean liner directs bis ship.
But these positions are digLifed by the re-
sponsbility that attaches to them. by the care
that must be exercised in them and the judg-
ment that must be displayed by those who hold
them. Now, the motorman on street car is an
engineer and captain on a small scale. He
has on his shoulders the responsibility Of his
passengers safety; ne must exercise constant
care, and his judgment must be always ready
and sure. Is it possible by any. arguments 10
bring down such man TO the class Of: utterly
ulskilied labor-is IL just TO reduce him below
the wages that the poorest workman iii the
streets receives?
UNFAIR TO CARMEN
And then the argument that more than any
as fair wage the amounts awarded by the
ma tortty of the board of ADMIRATION is the
unanimous action of -+Ae- board OF arbitration
itself. In. this decision there are two weights
and two measures, one for the first three cases
and one for the platform In the first
case. the arnature winders get an increase Of
43 per cent on their wages before the strike,
the station shopmen 45 per cent the operators
from 43 per cent TO 52 per cent, and the whole
class average of 46.41 per cent. The COM
mon laborers get an increase OF 80 per cent
their wages before the strike. the handy
get an increase Of 81 per cent and the PAYERS
an increase of 10 per cent, making in all for
the average percentage of Increase of the con-
struction workers wages 81 .35 per cent.
The water tenders receive an increase Of 80
per cent and the wipers an increase of ssh per
cent, making an average of 531a per eeat.
The total average of increase, therefore, for
all the classes comprehended under the first
iuFee cases IS oo-t per cent, While the average
for the carmen is but % per cent. On the face
OF it. and considering only the fact that the
the same agreement to arbitrate. dealing with
the same city and the same period of time, ii
would seem improbable that the rates of award
should be separated by such enormous diff
ference.
But when we recollect the grounds on which
the awards were made and claimed. the award
In the carmen's case grows still more unintei-
gible There were two great for giving
the raise, first, the increase in the of lving
md fha fnarn - s.gr
the increase in the cost of living has come like
the rain on the just and unjust alike. The
with the few exceptions which / have already
mentioned, the carmen have borne alone the
increased burden of toll. As l have shown in
considering the case Of the eght-hour day their
labor has been substantially affected by our
changed conditions and still continues to be
affected. Yet instead of this being a motiYe
TO give them raise above the other raises
the award gives them S1.7 per cent below.
,ort On pases TO- a. ls and H. the majority re-
company in changing its cable lines into cleo
eF tf1e lin lines s. ana gives the company certificate
that | never thought that it was within the
province Of the board Of arbitration to consider
after the IRE. ] must, therefore. not only dis
sent from the conclusions arrived at but /
must also solemnly protest against the action
of the majority of the board in using an argu-
ment In decision aa apology for the actions
Of corporation which have aroused serious DIFF
ferences of opinion in the community and are
not yet out Of the pale of controversy.
COMPANY RECALCITRANT
As far as the subject matter Of this arbitration
is concerned the question that we have to con-
slider are the fact that the changes were made
and the further fact that such changes were vol
untary on the part Of the company
The fact that the changes were made is out
side of all dispute. The company has abandoned
nearly all its cable lines. and by that abandon
ment has reduced its rolling stock practically one
half The used the cable lines could not
be adapted TO the electric system and ii nee
esssry to get new cars That these new cars
were procured with that 'commendable energy
and promptitude' which the majority report
predicates OF the actions of the company neither
the testimony nor experience 1ustfes me in belev-
ing. II is now two months since the new cars
were promised, and the only place that they have
appeared is in the columns of the newspapers.
The analogy drawn between the rehabilitation
of the Market-street system and the rehabita-
tion of the California street line. in my opinion,
timony about the condition of the California;
street line and do not know what were the
conditions that retarded its resumption of busi-
ness. There is much IN the testimony about The
condition Of the cable lines OF the United Rail-
roads, and il all goes TO show that its rehablita-
tion would not have been the impossible task
represented.
NY examination OF the testimony does not ius-
tify me fin asserting TO the statement made in
the majority report at The foot OF page II, that
the United Railroads power houses from which
It's cables operated had all been DESTROYED by
the IRE which followed the earthquake and fhe
ruins of the machinery installed for that purpose
machinery difficult and subject to greater
delay As matter of fact, all the cable
power-houses not destroyed by the fire.
The confagration only touched the power-houses