The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-04-04
Santa Fe Conductor Tells of Re.
IatiOn of the Employee.
Believes Their Interests Are
Same as Those of Road.
SANTA FE LEADS ALL.
Meetings for instruction of GEN
eral Public.
Other Items of General Inter-
est in Traffic World,

In the current number of the Santa
Fs Employees Magazine there is an
article by R. P. John, a conductor on
the eastern division of the system,
which should receive the most careful
consideration of every railway en-
ployee, says the Railway Record. 1t Is
entitled Present Situation and the
Part the Railroad Man Should Take"
AT the outset Mr.. John lays down the
tncontrovertible proposition that the in
terests Of the employer and employee
are one and the same, and that to pro-
tect his own interests the employee
must always be prepared to stand out
for the defense of those of his employer.
The two interests are the same. Each
is dependent upon the other, and any
thing which may occur to injure or re-
tard the interests of the one is certain
so to react upon the welfare of the
other in such measure as inevitably
will prove to be a serious detriment
to it.
Every railway employee, therefore,
has a vital interest in seeing to it that
the railway employing him is accorded
the right of charging for the services
which it renders the public in the
transportation of the country's traffic
such rates as will prove fairly re-
munerative. Unless it is permitted to
do so, it will be impossible for the rail-
way corporation to pay its employees
the rates of wages to which in common
justice they may be fairly entitled.
Every railway employees interests
should prompt him to insist upon it
that the corporation for which he
works should have the right to charge
such rates as will afford it sufficient re-
endorsement, after the cost of action In
detail has been deducted, to enable it to
receive a fair profit in return for the
au1O11nf of canifa1 brain labor and
time of meditation expended. 1t is alb
surd for railway employees to sup
pose that their welfare can go beyond
that of the company employing them.
In Mr.. Johns opinion there never has
been a time when the railroads have
been prosecuted and prosecuted like
they have been in the past three years,
all Of which prosecution and perSecu-
ton has been brought about by fanatic
legislation and imaginary wrong Mr..
John is equally positive in the opinion
that railway employees cannot rid
themselves of responsibility for the
conditions affecting the railway sltua-
ton which exist today, because they
have failed to lend their hearts and
hands and last but not least, their votes
in placing men in political office who
would be fair both to the railway COM
panies and their employees.
From the beginning of the worlds
history, Mr.. John points out, capital has
been the all inspiring power which has
kept things moving. By its use the
railways have supplied the country
with net work of tracks which have
practically made the use of the land
possible. The expenditure OF this capt.
tai has Furnished labor with the means
of existence. 1t has also furnished the
farmer with the necessary means OF
marketing his products at such rates as
have enabled him to compete in their
sale in all the markets of the world
Mr.. John pertinently asks what the
farmers have done in return for the
benefits which they have derived di-
rectly from the presence of the rail-
ways at their doors, and he charges
them with having simply listened to the
unfair politician who knew that by in
sist1ng upon his misrepresentations OF
the railways to the farmers, he would
be helped into office where he would be
abe to feather his own nest at the price
of the general welfare OF the people or
the country.
Mr.. John commends heartily the
movement undertaken by the manage
ment of the Santa Fe system in the ar
arrangement of meetings for the instruc-
ton of employees and the general pub
lie in all matters relating to the con-
duct of railway affairs. He believes
that great good would be accomplished
by the campaign which is now being
conducted in this direction. Through
the addresses that are being delivered
the employees of the company and the
general public viii be brought to under
stand more clearly than they have ever
been able to do in the past the peculiar
conditions under which the railways
are compelled to work. These meetings
will AFFORD the employees an opportun-
ity of coming into personal contact with
the representatives of the company,
and of getting better acquainted in a
business way with the affairs of the
company, while they will also afford the
officers of the company an opportunity
of discovering the strong and the weak
places in the system under their. COM
nand. They will afford the representa-
tives of the employer and the employee
alike an opportunity to unite for the
purpose of bringing about the best re-
suits for the company, and for everyone
in it's employ. Whether the position
occupied be high or low, they should
all, without exception, feel a strong
personal interest in the business pros
perity of the company, and should be as
solicitous for it's welfare as each is for
his own.