The daily commonwealth. (Greenwood, Leflore Co., Miss.) 1916-1919, 1916-09-13
RAILROADS VS.. UNION LABOR
Editor The Daily Commonwealth,
Greenwood, Hiss.

Dear Sir: The papers of the coun-
try have been so full of articles in
regard to the railroad strike. A great
many of these articles were written
by the railroads, and the papers were
paid to print them. The intention of
each article was to mislead the read
er, as they were so written as to leave
the impression that it was anything
but a one-sided advertisement. One
of the main points made was in re-
gard to the eight-hour day. To any
one who understands the railroad
schedule of pay for trainmen, knows
at a glance that these articles were
written with the purpose of mislead-
ing the public. One hundred miles,
as eight-hours work, is the real eight
hour day; for example, we will say
that Greenwood and Greenville are
100 miles apart. In this case a train
crew making a trip in s hours or less
would be paid at the milage rate; but
in case the time required to make the
trip was 10 hours, the crew would be
paid for 100 miles and two hours ov-
ertime.
Now say the two places were $50
rni1oc a no VI IL GrJ tho 1.-TWO ,n,,,irnl |
before the crew would get any over
time, we divide the distance, $50
miles, by the IL IL, the quotient is
IL, and the crew would have to be on
the road IL hours and IS minutes be-
fore any overtime would be allowed.
In no case are the railroads asked to
pay overtime and milage for the same
number of hours of work. The case
is this; if you hire a man to do a piece
of work, keep him on the job but do
not allow him to complete his part of
the agreement, is it just to tell him
he did not do the work, and, therefore,
had earned nothing? A crew on the
road is responsible for the safety of
the train. The time to them is the
same to them when moving over the
main as when lying in sidetrack wait
ing for other trains, or doing work at
station, such as switching, unloading
freight, etc.
In a good many papers there are
very bitter editorials about the de-
mands of the brotherhoods. While
it is just as true that were the broth
erhoods of railroad employees too
strong they might do as the railroads
have and are now doing. Two evenly
divided powers always tend to bal
ance n another. The trouble has
been that the railroads have had all
the power. But since their power to
fix rates to a certain extent is cur
tailed in a small degree by the In
terstate Commerce Commission, they
wish to gain public sympathy by cry
ing about the demands of their en-
ployes, when the trouble lies way
deeper. This cry of the railroads is =.
only to attract public attention from
the real cause of high rate-water. .
When a railroad that cost about thir- ,
ty to forty thousand per mile to build ]
and equip is bonded for fifty thousand /
at a per cent interest, has a stock is :
sue Of fifty thousand per mile more :
that is expected to carr 4 to 6 per !
cent, it is either the public or employ !
es who have to pay the freight on the !
water. In the early days the rail- j..
roads kindly divided this between the +
patrons and the employees. But as the +;
brotherhoods have grown stronger j
and better able to demand their rights .
the freight on the water was gradu- !
ally shifted to the patrons of the road :
until they could not bear it any long !.
er. The result was the I. B. &C. In the :.
Greenwood News of Sept. 7th, the ed :.
ltor makes the fiat statement that !
Congress had no right to pass the =:
elght-hour law. If not, by what right !
can Congress fix rates !? If the people J.
Of the United States have any rights !:
at all in this case, Congress, as the =.
representative Of the people, must !
have the right, not only to fix freight !
but wages and hours of service I
as well. To have any combination of !.
men or money in this country beyond !
It is only a question of time until we !;
he reach Of the people, is to say that Il
Viii have no United States, but be Y
'uled by the most powerful of two e
:orces-capital or labor-either of 6
which meal disaster. Il
4here Is hardly a railroad in the e
country that has been honesty built. a
They are built to a great extent by n
'ublic subscription, from those who =
i've along the proposed line. This Y
money is called stock, but by the time Y
road has been Intentionally put y
a receivership, this stock is e
inverted into an lou due the rail c
DAD, or is scrap paper. Look up the c
istory Of any railroad in the state a
III you fail to find this statement n
the treats are on me. The Com n
Appeal Of Sept. 9th, 1916, has =
n article in reference to the looting y
I the Tennessee Central R. r., that y