Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1914-06-12
RAILROADS, SIDE
 OF CONTROVERSY
Thenholm Attempts to Show Why Demands of 55,000
 Men are Unjust.

Officials of all Arkansas railroads have received a rather lengthy state ment rom A. w. Thenholm, general manager of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha railway, and chairman of the conference commit tee of managers representing western railroads in the recent negotiations with the locomotive engineers and firemen. Copies of this statement, showing why the railroads. among them all those operating in Arkansas, cannot grant the requests of the en- zine, men.
 The statement calls attention to the present condition of railroading, where it becomes necessary to reduce the cost of operation or increase the rates, and most western states are conducting fourt proceedings which tend to reduce the rates.
 There were ninety-eight railroads represented in the conference prior to the suspension of negotiations about tho first of June These roads repre- sent a total mileage of 100000 with 55,000 engine employees and paying them an annual wage of $67,75O, ,000. The engineers and firemen asked for increases which would add approxi- mately 50 per. cent to this annual pay roll. According to the statement, the engineers and firemen first asked for concessions amounting to $27,00O,000 annually, which were increased to $33 100000, before the conference ended Seeing there was no hope for settlement, the conference adjourn ed until July IA, and in the meantime the employees of the western roads will vote on a proposition to strike if their demands are not granted. Mileage vs. Time.
 The employees asked that the work ing day be reduced from ten to eight hours daily. The railroads dec!are that if this demand be granted it would mean the complete readjust- ment of the present location of shops and divisions, bringing them closer together, at cost which is absolute ly prohibitive. Enginemen are paid on mileage basis, and or that reason the employers claim the hourly basis of computation is impractical. The first proposal of the employees contained no clause concerning the shortening of hours, it appearing in the second. The railroad men then asked that the present rates be con- tinued for year, which was refused by the employees.
 Tho managers state they recognize the fact that railroad is a public service corporation and that the en- ployers have no moral right to ac- cede to unreasonable demands from employees, the granting of which would increase the cost of operation, which must be borne by the public. They also say the public must be consider ed in the matter of convenience, real izing the calamity to trade which would be produced through general strike. The demands refused, are given in eleven sections in the company's statement.
 The engine men demand reduc- tion from 10 to , in passenger, with 30 minutes preparatory time for each trip. for terminal delays, for work in yard service, for additional pay for operating Mallet engines, or differ ential scale between local and through freight service, for two firemen on some classes of engines, and addition al pay for operating engines where
 there is considerable grade. 1 The employers claim that passenger. trains are now supposed to go to a
 certain distance day, and in most
 cases the engine men complete their. run in less than ten hours, but draw a | full days time. This change, if grant ed, would cost the railroads $2,16O,-l 900 annually. Switching Costs. | The request that switch engineers be granted the same as through | freight service, is refused because the, conditions are local. and always must be dealt with as such. The same isf
 true to demands for operating elec-I
 tric engines Requests along this
 line if granted, would cost the rail-
 roads $5.327 .o0o annually. To grant. an increase of 10 per cent to local freight men over through freight l crews would cost the companies $2.O75,000 annually. To pay addition
 al for switching service would cost
 $3,4S0,0G0 The employers were will ing to increase the wages of the engi-
 neers with the preparatory time, $421 ,000 annually. but the request
 made would cost $2,64O,O00. The l terminal delay time would add another $2.475,000 to the companies operating expense, according to the operators figures.
 The employers claim that the de-
 mand that the enginemen be paid for
 day. when released, and if called
 back. no matter how long the run, | paid for another day, will cost, if
 granted $1,290,000 and in some in