The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1910-01-26
Former Well Known Railroad
Statistian, J. Shirley Eaton,
Points Out Immediate Neces-
sity for Reformed System.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 2s.-"The
time will come when railroad en-
ploy for every man in the service
will not mean drudgery. nor sinecure
nor accide- 4 opportunity, but an en-
lightened, stimulating, highly efficient
service of highest earning power
at least uncertainty from accidental
causes, largest freedom for individ-
uaI initiative, entire self-respect, and
thoroughly democratic spirit"
With this prediction j. Shirley
Eaton, former statistician of the Lee
high Valley railroad, concludes a
lengthy monograph for the the Unit
ed States Bureau of Education on
Education for Efficiency in Railroad
Service" which Commissioner Elmer
E. Brown has submitted to the sec
rotary of the interior. In his letter
of transmittal Commissioner Brown
says the subject of educational pre-
paration for the several trades, is un-
der serious consideration in the
United States. The relation of trade
education to general education is one
of the important aspects of that ques-
ton. This relation was summed up
by President Mcclellan Murray Butler,
of Columbia University, in saying:
What science and practical life alk e
need is not narrow men, but broad
men sharpened to the point "
Made Advances Made.
THE advance made in the present
decade in the subject of education
for railroad service is very surprising
to those who may not be informed"
says Mr. Eaton. ideas of practical
men on the subject are now less in
definite and conflicting. The rela-
ton between education and efficiency
in railroad service is coming to be
generally conceded. The large edu-
cational value of the railroad service
itself is being turned to systematic
practical account, and the value o.
educational agencies in preparing for
specific industrial efficiency ia bet
ter understood.
Two Million Men Employed.
1.-THE railroad service in the United
States will shortly reach a total Of
1000, 900 men. 1t is the largest and
most highly organized example of az
sociate effort in an epoch conspicu
concentration. Education in a broad
sense must always be large factor.
I'm the course of railroad devel-
opment, there was a first era, which
was the era of railroad building.
There was next an era of coordina-
ton of the railroad service and fin
ance to the commercial and financial
conditions as whole with which thc
railroads We're called upon to deal.
Internal Adjustment.
Next came the era of internal adj
justment on the physical and mech
anical side-perfection of the ma
chinery cutting down grades streng
thening bridges, increasing the train
unit And now has come the era of
sociological adjustment. The human
part of the machine is quite as vital
as the steel and wooden part in pro-
ducing efficiency and an IN increas
ing the income.
"The most practical and efficient
railroad manager today is now
squarelv up against the problem
which he is attacking in one form or
another, of education, Of himself, his
staff, the individuals in the rank and
file, and the rank and file as a whole.
This is the last and highest and most
comprehensive stage of the function
OF administration. 1t implies. for in
stance, and eager, resourceful, self
respecting individualism throughout
the working forces, coordinated with
a keen appreciation Of the social
character Of the work. which express
SEES itself in loyalty not to a person
hs.f 70 hn fnn -
account of the railroad-nor yet to
one income account, but to the ag-
gregate of @the income accounts of
several years. These income accounts
showing steady, healthy growth over
several years, become at the same
time the terms of largest service to
the community, the stockholder and
the individual employee.
"A note of warning may at this
time seem to be premature, but GER
tain tendencies are already fore
Swallowed which should not go I'M
checked. When the railroad manager
comes fully to realize how his new
found tool of education enables him
to shape almost absolutely to his pur
poses the working body, there may
arise the danger that railroad special
ization in education be carried too
far.
ARRESTED Development"
IF the railroads, when they come
very gradually to instruct their en-
ployees, turn their back upon the pro-
fessional teacher, severely divorcing
their work in subject-mattnr and IN
method form and at the same time
substituting it for the work of the
regular established educational agen-
cies of the grammar school and high
school grades, the result can only
be what the psychologist calls ar
rested development for the learner.
Railroads as a whole, through q
preventative body such as the Am
fcan Railway association, should
comprehensive way take up the
natter Of the education OF railroad
employees. AS they now have COM
mittees devoted to standards of con-
struction. maintenance, and operating
practice, they should also have u
standing CONN ittee Of a character to
command confidence. who should
sedulously foster closer relation be-
tween the railroad and educational
agencies"
Mr.. Eaton draws these conclusions:
Educational Scheme Required.
Railroad financial arrangements
should incorporate an educational
scheme as definite part of their
policy. on the ground Of business pru-
dence. Such policies should be inau-
gnrated for periods of not less than
Ave years, preferably ten, otherwise
the money appropriated will be large
iy wasted.
"Railroads should extend the prin-