The Washington herald., 1916-04-09
dividends to pay stockholders for tn,
use of their capital.
Surplus Essential to Railways.

dividends to pay stockholders for the
use of their capital.
Surplus Essential to Railways.
Surplus and dividends are in their way
as essential to the successful operation
of a railway system as are tracks and
terminals. for without them 1t is impOs-
sible to attract the capital required for
improvements and extensions. What in
vestor. large or small, will voluntarily
put his money in stock that he thinks
has a doubtful future, because of limita-
| tion of income and constant increase OF
expense. That is the principal reason
why railroads are not able to supply
| facilities adequate to the business needs
of the country today.
As the people have a right to demand
adequate facilities, they also have the
right to demand that no body of men,
whether railroad officials or labor union
leaders, shall create conditions which will
make such a demand difficult of real
iZation.
Wages and Cost of Living.
No other wage rate or price question
is so thoroughly imbued with a public
interest as are those connected with rail-
roads. A general increase in railroad
rates affects indirectly the price of every
commodity. IL an increase in wages in
creases rates. as It inevitably must, un-
der present conditions, it will also have
the same effect. Every individual, es-
pecially the farmer and the laboring
man, whether he knows 1t or not, has a
cost of living interest in this present
controversy between the trainmen and
1.-The railroads.
It is true at the present time, owing to
the rush of war shipments and to a re-
sulting increase in domestic trade, that
railway earnings are showing marked
Improvement. But 1t is an accepted
principle of business that peak earn
ings, due to exceptionally favorable con-
ditions, cannot be accepted as a justi-
fication for an increase in permanent
charges such as this advance in wages
would involve.
If It were possible-of course it is not
to fix wages in direct proportion to
earnings, so that they would rise and
fall with the latter, there might be
some reason for adding temporarily to
! the size of the railroad payroll. We all
know that several lean years regularly
follow a good year in railroad business.
If the railroads raise their wages now
because of temporary high earnings. it
will mean that when the next decline in
earnings comes dixie the two lean years
| they have just come through they can
| not lower their wages, and they will be
worse on than they were year ago
There is no sliding scale in railroad
| wages. High wages established in a
prosperous year must be paid in the
lean years that follow, even though this
burden drives the weaker roads into
bankruptcy.
Men Now Receive High Wages.
With the justice of the demands put
forward by the locomotive engineers,
firemen, conductors and trainmen, !
shall not attempt to deal. I have an
opinion on this subject. First, I believe
that punitive overtime as applied to
railroads is absolutely unsound in prSn-
eiple; second. when note from the re-
ports made to the Interstate Commerce
Commission that these men receive
average yearly wages 50 per cent higher
than those of all other railway en-
ployes. and practically double those of
the average American wage-worker. 1t