The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-02-15
FOUR RAILROADS
REPRESENTED IN
OFFICIALS VISIT
Rio Grande Posts Notice in
( Salt Lake AbrOgating Shop
Agreements.
SCHLACKS ARRIVES TO
SIZE UP CONDITIONS
VICE PRESIDENT MoHLER OF
UNION PACIFIC DISCUSSES CON-
DITIoN OF THE PROPERTY.

Six prominent railroad officials of
four roads visited Salt Lake yesterday.
They We're A. L. Mohler, vice president
and general manager of the Union Pa
cific railroad; c. A. Schlacks, vice
president of the Denver & Rio Grande
railroad; r. f. Wells. general manager
of the Salt Lake Route; G. z. VAL
Iery, general manager of the Colorado
Midland; R. L. Huntley, chief engineer
of the Union Pacific. andSs. S. Hughes.
traffic manager of the Denver & Rio
Grande
All Of the officials DECLARE that the
fact they were all in Salt Lake on the
same day was merely a coincidence,
and that their visit here was not for
the purpose of a conference. Mr.. Mob
Ter and Mr.. Huntley were in salt Lake
on their tour of inspection of the Union
Pacific. coming to Salt Lake from Og-
den for a talk with Mr.. Bancroft. Mr..
Schlacks and Mr. Hughes said that
their trip was in the nature of a bust
ness and inspection trip. Mr.. Wells
came up from Los Angeles on a short
business trip. Mr. Vallery came to
Salt Lake from Denver to attend the
funeral of Mrs. w. L. Pickard, mother
of Mrs. Vallery.
Shop Notice Posted.
Coincident with the coming Of Mr..
Schlacks TO Salt Lake the following no
tee was posted in the shops of the Rio
Grande:
Effective March IA. the rules and
regulations for the government of en-
plOyes in the car department Of ma
chinists. bOilermakers and blacksmiths.
with their helpers and apprentices. will
be abolished. T. E. PURVES,
Superintendent of Motive Power"
1t was said last night the order to
post this notice came through T. 3.
Purves. superintendent of motive
power of the Rio Grande. and the mat
ter was not under the jurisdiction Of
Mr. Sehlacks. Under the terms of tfEe
contract with the men the agreement
entered into in September, 1906, be-
tween the shOpmen and the railroad
company may be abrOgated by either
side upon thirty days notice.
Company Has Advantage.
The purpose of the company in abro-
eating the agreement with the men is
to bring about working conditions
more favorable to the company. BY
bringing the matter up at this time
and abrogating the agreement, the
company is taking an OppOrtune time
in which to force the issue. Owing to
the large number Of unemployed men
at present, the shopmen can scarcely
afford to precipitate a strike, and will
probably be forced to remain at work
under terms dictated by the railroad
company.
A railroad official said yesterday
that he did not think that the agree
ment was being abTogated for the puT-
pose of establishing an open shop or
reducing the wages of the employees,
but to secure an agreement from the
men under terms which would be
more favorable to the company in the
working of the shops. The shOpmen
at all cities affected by the notice will
meet tomorrow to discuss the situa-
ton and to learn, if possible. the in
tentions Of the company relative to the
matter.
Vice President Mohler Talks.
Vice President Mohler said yester-
day that the Hartman lines had not
contemplated following the example OF
the Rio Grande in abrogating the
agreement with the shOpmen. He said
that all of the shops had been in con-
slant operation with the exception OF
a few days.
"The Hartman lines" said Mr..
MOhler, were never in a better ply
steal condition. Our traffic has fallen
off and business has declined TO a
marked extent owing to the financial
trouble, but I look for an end to this
trouble within the next couple OF
months. I may be wrong, but that is
merely my opinion.
Financial troubles are almost sure
to come every few years, and should
be guarded against. During the pc
Rod of prosperity it has been our poll
cy TO protect the system against just
such a time as this.
Our construction work was stopped
last fall owing, partly. to the setting
in of winter and partly to the falling
off in traffic, due, of course, to the
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