The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-08-22

mentalities for backing up any plan Of
national preparedness"
The railroad executives did not enter
into an argument with the President, but
Hale Holden, president of the Burlington,
and spokesman for the roads, promised
deep consideration of the plan and said
the officials would seek to reach an
agreement as soon as possible.
Messages on the situation continued to
arrive at the White House all day. Many
upheld the Presidents position, and many
others urged him to support the railroads
in their demand for arbitration.
Petitions signed by 10000 non-union en-
ployes of the Pennsylvania railroad OPP
posing a strike of the members of
the four great brotherhoods were
taken to the White House during the
day, making total of $4,000 signatures
attached to such petitions.
A. B. Garretson, spokesman for the
brotherhood declined tonight to make
any comment on the railroad managers
statement Any reply to it, he said. would
be in the form Of an official statement
tomorrow.
LEES STATEMENT
THAT the railroads should grant,
under threat of national strike $780,
100000 wage preferment to a small
minority of their employees, without a
hearing before public tribunal, is in
conceivable in a democracy like ours.
All questions at issue-wages, hours,
costs, operating conditions-these are
submerged by the greater issue: Shall
arbitration be abandoned in the settle
ment of industrial disputes?
eff we are to throw arbitration into
the scrap heap what hope can there be
in America for industrial peace in the
future?
"a nationwide strike is unthinkable
when the railroads are urging that all
the matters In dispute be placed before
any tribunal constituted by public au-
thority.
Arbitration is urged by Congress as
a final method for settling controversies
as to both hours and wages on the rail-
roads, The Newlands law of 1918 was
enacted by unanimous request of the
four railroad brotherhoods and the rep
resentatives of the railroads. And yet
the leaders who urged this law now
take the position that question of
hours is beyond arbitration.
WAGES REAL DEMAND
But wages, not hours, are involved
in these demands. No proposal has
been made to establish an eight-hour
work day The demand is for an eight
hour pay basis, and this is the inter-
probation given by the President in the
proposal now before the railroads. The
employees have emphatically made 1T
known that they do not want eight
hours work for eight hours pay real
eight-hour day.
"A simple illustration will suffice to
show how the eight-hour basis Of pay
freight employe paid cents mile
with a days guarantee of IS for 100
miles on 10 hours or less. 1t Is pro-
posed to make this guarantee the same
for eight hours or less. On freight
run of, say only so miles In 10 hours,
he earns IS for his time. 1t is now
proposed that for this work he be paid
SIS for the first eight hours and $1.2o
for the other two hours, total or $6.25,
increasing his pay rs per cent.
IF, by reason of traffic delays. he Is
held idle on a sidetrack, SO that he
does not complete his trip until the
end of IL hours he now is paid IS for
his time, no matter how little work he
performs The damage is to pay him
81 80 for this 12-hour service
meanwhile the employees would con-
tinue to have the same opportunities as
now to make still larger pay on the
mileage basis. For example, the man on
a 5-cent-a-mile rate, making say, $50
miles in oily hours. earns $3.50 for his
days work. If after this he Is called for
a short period of emergency work, say.
only two hours, he gets another full days
guarantee Of S. making $3.50 In this ex-
ample for nine hours service
Many other schedule provisions in
crease the wages of these well paid men
without increase in their hours of serv-
ice. 1t is because of these opportunities
to take pay under mileage or arbitrary
rules that their yearly earnings are so
far beyond those OF other workers
charged with no less responsible duties.
PRESIDENTS PROPOSAL
before the railroads. is:
a. To adopt the eight-hour day as a
basis for wages. even where the actual