Evening journal., 1916-04-20
From the New Republic) J

Practically. therefore. the railway
managers. If they were to grant the
demands Of the men, would be COM
PEELED to adopt the third course and
to pay the greatly, increased wages
which would result An estimate of
this increase. which. while not mathe-
matically exact. is approximately
correct, places it at 25 per cent. of
the present wage bill for train-service
employees. This would mean the addi-
tion Of tens of millions of dollars
yearly TO the financial burden now
resting upon the roads.
The question of a wage advance
for any class OF workers in any in
dustry necessarily is governed by two
considerations One of these is the
Justice OF the demands themselves,
and the other is the employers ability
to pay.
As to the Justice of the demands
submitted by the train-service en-
ployes. there are various considera-
tions which should be taken into ac-
count At the present time they are
the highest-paid men in railway em-
ploy. Although they comprise only IS
per cent Of the whole number OF en-
ployes they now absorb 2S per cent.
of the pay roll Their yearly earnings
are very much higher than those of
the majority of the men in the railway
service. and are more than double the
average earnings of the wage workers
throughout the country
The wages of the train-service en-
ployes have been repeatedly and
largely increased within the past few
years. Between 1903 and 1914 these
increases amounted TO from 80 to AZ
per cent. II has been asserted that
while wages have increased, the So
called productivity of the. men, that
I is to say the amount earned by the
roads as result OF their laboTs, has
increased in much greater proportion,
and that. therefore, the men are not
receiving a fair share of the returns
from their labor. An examination OF
the facts shows that the exact con-
trary is the case. A compilation COW
ering the period from 1902 to 1911,
showed that the operating revenue of
the roads per dollar Of wages paid to
conductors and trainmen had decreas-
ed during this period 1886 per cent.
Undoubtedly a similar condition ap-
| plies in the case Of engineers and fire.
/ men. It may be noted also that since
this compilation was made. further
considerable advances have been
made in the wages paid to these en-
ployes. While the average train load
increased during this period 25 pei
cent. the average annual wages OF
these two classes of train employees in
creased 80 per cent These figures
certainly show that the train-service
employees received more than a fair
share of any alleged increased pro
ductivity from their labor.
AS to the ability OF the employers
to pay the increase demanded there
are also some pertinent facts TO be
considered. In the award Of the In
lter-State Commerce Commission last
year in the case Of the application OF
the railroads for permission to in
crease rates. il was decided by the
| Commission that the revenues OF the
roads were insufficient. and that they
needed more revenue at that time tC
cover current expenses. These ex-
Ipenses represented wage advances as
we'll as other factors increasing the
cost of operation. II is true that
since that time the earnings OF tbj
railroads have improved, but that i'm
provcment is Of a temporary anC
transient nature inasmuch as It is
largely due to conditions created bj