The Washington herald., 1916-04-02
i. 5. Will Share
WORLD REACTION
James J. Hill Says Railroad
Revenues Will Suffer Slump
When the War Ends.
AGAINST WAGE RAISE
Business Leader Declares Problem
Will Be Finding Market. Not
Fixing Price for Labor.
BY JAMES j. HILL.

James J. Hill occupies a unique and
commanding position In American
business life. He Is one of the great
railroad builders of the United States.
He constructed and developed the
Great Northern system extending
from Lake Superior to the Pacific and
reaching. through its steamship lines.
to China and Japan. During the past
forty years no other man has played
SO large a part in the development
of the Northwest. Not only is Mr..
Hill recognized as the greatest pracu-
cal authority in the country on rail-
road matters. but his sound sense
and broad grasp of industrial prob
lens give national interest to his ut
terances on questions Of the day.
Railroad employees could not choose a
more inopportune time to ask for gen.
eral advance in wages. When the
devastating war in Europe is over the
question confronting American wage
earners will be that of finding a market
for their labor instead of fixing a price
for It.
We have a feverIsh prosperity that
may vanish overnight. The great bulk
Of the business now taxing the capacity
Of our railroads arises from the war ne
cessities OF Europe. The money our peo-
pie are getting in payment for their
Is Dtlng pIONlOtu on inc lOlttu
credit of the combined nations Of Eu-
rope. They are raising these hundreds
of millions by piling up to enormous
heights the debts of their governments,
thus building up a great financial burden
that must be borne by future genera
lions.
The instant that peace is in sight land
no one can tell how soon this may be,
because Europe cannot go on much
longed destroying lives and property at
the unprecedented rate all this flood OF
orders for war materials at high prices
will suddenly cease. Europe will then
begin tho slow and painful process OF
recovering from the great losses Of the
war.
Paying the Cost of Wa.
Then the. United States, which has
been proftfng by Europe's war necessi-
ties, will have to share her burden OF
the cost Of the war. In these days of
closely related markets one great IA
ton cannot enjoy prosperity for any
length of time while large part OF
the rest Of the world is in financial dis
tresr
With the war over, We will no Longer
see the railroads blocked with merChan-
disc bound for the seRboard, or our har-
bors Choked with freight waiting for
ships to carry it to Europe. How severe
will be the reckoning the world must
pay can only be coniectured, but we all
know it must be paid.
With such situation confronting us
this can hardly be regarded as a happy
moment for railroad employees, and es-
pecially those highly paid employees I'm
the train service, to ask for higher
wages.
Highest Wages, Lowest Rates
American railroads today pay the high
est wages in the world, out of the lowest
rates in the world. after having set down
to capital account the lowest capitaliza-
ton per mile of all great countries OF
the world. No other occupation and no
other employer of labor in the country
can match this record.
The payroll now absorbs 10 per cent OF
the gross earnings of the railways. When
business falls off 1t will be difficult 10
reduce wages CorrespondinglY. The
higher rate OF wages established now
would have to be adhered to in the period
of severe financial REIMBURSEMENT which
must come very soon.
The 10000 trainmen. less than a NTH
Of the railroad workers are now
highly paid, and their working condi-