Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1915-01-07

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the man whoris Oh tue farm to-
dayand the faruIet; bows OF the
future to stay, by 4tie piow. |
Much has been. said Recently |
about the fact that the farmer |
does not receive enough for
what he produces-tliat there
is too big a waste IN the chan
neis through which. his products
pass te fore they reac h:the CON
sumer. and tha.s l.e,es:has some
cause for complairt;ih.s this re-
spect is undoubtedly, ttnes
However, the railroads can
face such an inquiry with a
clear conscience-for an. exanst.
i've investigation conducted by
the Lehigh Valley ,RailloadI
some time ago shows that: thali
farmer gets sol cent out or the
average dollars worth of pro
ducts he sells; the packers. loo
al shippers, distributors and res
tai ers get 444 cents between
them; while the railroads res
ceive only scents, or one tswep
tieth of the dollar, for The
transportation services they
render. !, :; ~. ~
So, too, there; has been a
steady advance i'm practically.
the entire reatm sor theachalrf|
disc and manufactured pr1' ]
ducts. whatever their nature.
and the ever increasing toll in i
the cost of lab'r. ste +; +, ; lsl''
products, lumber, cars. loco.
motives, and other supplies
has levied tribute 81. untold:
millions upon the failroa DIS.
which have not only been Tor
hidden to increase theirs rates d
but, on the contrary. in many
instances. compelled to lower
them. '9''
BIG INCREASED COST OF LABOR
To give the reader an exact.
idea of how the. cost Of labor
has advanced in. the operation
of railroads we quote. the fol
lowing increases .iu4 the daily
wage from 1900 tosl9l4-a per-
iod Of only fourteen years: In
the case of engineers it increas-
ed from 50. SO per day to s. rs,
., an increase of &C, per cent;
fireman from 1921 10 So g., or
81 per cent; conductors from
1881 to $4.s3, or As per cent;
station agents from 1913 to /
81. is, or 9 per CENT; other sta
ton men from 81, 62seo,Sas9o az g.
II per cent? ordinary trainmen-
from 81 81 to So 36. or 20 pep
cent; machinists, from 81 % to
$3.50, or 20 per cent; carpent
ers from 1921 to. $3.50, or ~
per cent; other shopmen from
81 .93 to 50 90; or IA per cent: {:
section foremen from 81 81 to
81 s3, or 81 per cent; trackmen
from 81 Is to $f.52, OF 80 per.
cent; telegraph opera tors and
dispatchers from 1925 to $2.b5,
or II per cent This means
general average increase in
wages of 80 29-100 percent-and
all other classes Of railroad OPP.
eratives and employees in
more or less similar degree.
While these advances have.
proven a great boon to- the
nearly two million mensemp1oy:
ed in the railway service and
increased their capacity to buy
from merchant and farmer, they:
have exacted many millions an
nually from the railroads them,
selves-all Of which made the
general public richer, bit the
roads poorer. In 1900 The. rail
roads paid St.44 per ton for.
coal. Now they pay A.s1.
Then they paid 38c for ties.
Now they pay SIC. -. -
OTHER INCREASED COSTS.
But there are many, other
items which have enormously.
increased the cost of railroad.
Operation which we cannot go
into because of lack of. space.
The public IS constantly. dee
handing more efficient aud al
safer service. and hence
the rail a d S have had,
l tO snend vast cninc in ;nc%,1l