The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1908-03-07
Nine HOURS Limit.
,u ROADS HAVE MADE AR.
aANGEMENTS TO COMPLY
WITH LAW.
arm Result in Employment Of Large
,,,r,her of Additional Operators and
c,osino Large Number Of Stations
Hearings at Washington on Applica-
.ions for Time Extensions.

washington, March 2-American
railways have made arrangements tc
INV with the provisions Of the
.,;no.bour law" The operation OF the
will mean the employment by
.,road companies of several thous-
u additional operators and the clos.
IF large number of small sta
LOWS on the principal systems. Dis.
thinning of railway services at many
o;,+o will induce at least temporary
convenience to travelling and ship.
l nublic in order to reduce operat'
ing expenses, which now seems neces-
mo INV The operating officials of the
Snu,avs believe that this is the only
nov that they possibly can meet the
a;tration with which they are con
fronted.
n,ring the hearing of applications
Cor an extension of the nine-hour law
Nv the interstate commerce commits.
ION some astonishing statements
wore made by the operating officials
Of important railways. Many rail
rrovs owing to a reduction in the
.oronue and to the inability to com.
mand the cash necessary to meet their
nov rolls, have been forced during the
nost four months almost to the point
Of asking for receivers.
Cause of Difficulty.
In the opinion of railroad officials
evpressed at the hearing under oath
and in private conversation this con.
dition does not seem to have been
due to the enforcement Of regulative
laws or to the incapacity of railway
management Most of the railroad
officials attribute the difficulty to the
unfortunate banking situation which
developed last September. The rail
roads did not feel the stringency in
money until about the first of NOvem-
her. In fact, the month of October
was one of the best in the history OF
the business of American railroads.
Without the slightest warning" H
U. Nudge, vice president and general
manager of the Rock Island system,
expressed it, 1--WE were plunged from
prosperity into adversely. A year ago
our system could not handle the traf-
fc offered US. Today we have 1000
idle cars. Five months ago We sui.
fered from congestion of freight, now
we suffer from a congestion of empty
cars"
What is true of the Rock Island Is
true also of scores of other railroads
One railway official ventured the state.
ment that in the country today there
are 100000 idle freight cars, and one
line which he instances was declared
to be hauling empty cars backward
and forward because it had no yard
room or sidings to accommodate them
Prosperity Expected.
Not single official who appeared
before the commission expressed the
belief that the present industrial de-
preston would be lasting. In the tes
tmony of nearly every witness be
fore the commission there was a note
OF confidence because nearly every
one of them practically believed that
the stringency in the money market
from which the country has suffered
is not due to fundamental causes
Ihey point out that the crops last
year were good; that prices were ex.
eellent; that industrial enterprises
throughout the country were flourish
ing 1t was merely the inability to
command ready cash and the boarding
VI money by panic stricken individuals
which produced so suddenly the re
narkable depression from which all
have suffered.
ihey practically uniformly express
eonndence that the return of prosper
NY Will be almost as sudden as was
'ne coming of adversely and in their
aisuments as to the enforcement OF
ue nlne-hour law they pointed out to
lue commission that such a return Of
nosperlty might seriously embarrass
Nuein IN complying with the law, be
o1uSe II would render it difficult to
WI oonilland the service of competent
opefators in sufficient numbers to
tons.
No Cut in Wages.
with four or five exceptions, no i'm
;S railroads of the country have
.uuicated an intention to reduce the
mases OF their employees. AS Chair
n an Knapp, Of the interstate com
ao commission, expressed it:
90 far as I am informed, there is
Az concerted action on the part Of the
dnu erlcan railway companies. to re
~ wages. Instances of an intention
No. cnange the scale of wages have
bo 'n given, but they can be said t.
III no sense general"
o, such railroad companies or theil
H. p,oyes as may take advantage Of
IT, Hroman act to secure the media
oo Un OF the chairman of the interstate
m;a tlerce commission and the com
era ssioner of labor will be accorded
tbe; s opportunity fairly to present
Il ~ case to the government officials