El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-09-05
San NarciaI. \. N, Sept l.

san Marcial. y II, Sept l.
Editor FL Paso Herald:
1 have carefully read your recent
editorial, entitled Postponed or
Averted." and as a railroad man and
strictly interested in the sulhe PLOD-
lem, being an engineer IN acLlee -
vice, / desire to call attention ~ a ~
Of the inside facts now eNls .-l.5 ~
the Santa Fe and then leave IL 10 inc
reader, if the men are alloselueL IN
the right concerning the present nv G
ment; or if there are not some 81 I'm n,
stances which the s. OF l. T. - =.
OF L +. and E have failed 20 mehlioA
that will be of interest TO lhe puDLC
In the first place, / desire 70 STATE
my own position. / am an T-ls me-
in the employ Of the SANTA e al
Eav in freight service nave always
been an active member Of the b OF L.
Z since becoming ellglDle 10 mem
bership until the present llIne, Was
chief engineer Of DIVISION 90 OF ne
engineers. but I voted against the
strike DropOsition. because at the pres
ent time 1 consider such a proposition
as demanded by the engineers uhIe
sOnable. and I am free porn AInerl-
can citizen. with a mind OF my own
and a family TO support, and that fam
lily is well supported while L am Work-
ing for the Santa Fe-
In the first place, the santa lie mas
made no effort to reduce the wages
or to lessen the working conditions OF
the engineers or firemen- We are at
present working under the 1913 sched-
ule. The men themselves ursI re-
Quested that this schedule ne re-
moved and n new one was submitted,
and naturally the general managers
association had as much rl9nI as the
men TO submit new scheduIe, Wnlch
IL did. In your editorial you say. The
men assert that the new schedule
WIPES out at one stroke all that has
been won by the men in 80 years Of
organized activity
Now. while I do not agree TO the
period Of service in the general man
ayers schedule, 1 am satisfied with
the 1913 schedule. and when it was
seen that an agreement could not pc
reached for a new schedule You viii
find that the general managers did
not insist on their schedule but re-
quested the men 10 continue % work
under the 1918 schedule with present
rate Of wages and working conditions
until a more favorable time, and then
meet again, and they would then con-
slider the schedule as submitted by
the men
Now. let me ask any fair minded
reader. be he Republican or Demo
craL in business at the present time,
IF the conditions in this country dUr-
ing the past six months have been so
very prosperous that he could afford
10 Increase the wages OF mis- employees,
with war abroad and business appear
ing in a generally sickly condition IS
not the movement at the present time
very inoppOrtuneT'
Now. while do not agree to the
engineers / am going to quote some
OF the checks as paid to engineers on
the Rio Grande division Of the Santa
Fe and ask II YOU think we are so
badly paid that we can afford TO
strike.
Between Albuquerque and FL Paso
there are six engineers in passenger
service They work 90 or q DAYS
month On the daylight run they
work on an average OF 215 hours
month and draw an average Of S226-lg
for the month
On the night runs in the same ter
ritory they work 236 hours or q
DAYS a month and they receive S235.0A.
These men have not one cent in
vested in the railway company Now.
how many men with $4,000 or more
invested in business can show clear
profit Of over a dollar an hour for the
time they are at their places Of bust
ness2 Besides. he has the knowledge
that some unseen circumstance may
wreck his business at a moments no
tice and wipe out his capital
There is one run on this division
that pays the engineer for 81 DAYS a
month the sum of S309.40. This engi-
neer eats breakfast at home and also
a late supper at home and has every
night at home, Vet, I suppose will
say he should have gone on a strike
because he is away from home for din
ner.
I will quote TO YOU few OF the pay
checks drawn by engineers in freight
service for the month Of MAY:
S247.69. S23S-29. S1ega5. S2O6-2q. s21g.75.
S223-3S. S219-6l. S213.95, s2044l, s2O6.17,
S222.23. S21152
The engineer who made S24T-69 has
only seniority on this road since Sep
TENDER %, 1912. and the man who
made S23S.29 has been here since Au-
gust 80. 1912 Both men have been in me
service Of the company on this divi-
sion less than two years, so you see
there is no favOritism. and when there
is business they all get their share.
Furthermore, in addition TO the
wages paid, we all receive from $50
TO 5000 or more If we request II in
free transportation for ourselves and
family How many men would like
to send their family to the coast but
are unable TO do so because they can
not afford to pay railroad fare. Passes
are something we think verv little of
now. but once they are taken away
they would be greatly missed. They