Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1916-08-25
THE TREATMENTS SIDE.
Successful Farming.)

| lE.l
was reading an editorial in your
magazine in regard to the threatened
railroad strike. AS | am subscrib
er, an American and also locomo-
tive fireman, | wish to express upon
YOU that compulsory arbitration is no
good, as we have gotten the worst Ct
it in every wage dispute that has
been arbitrated. The companies will
not do as they promise to do. They
had compulsory arbitration law in
New Zealand and they only had TO-
O00to $4,000 men on strike and they
did not fine or Jail them as they had
the right to do under the law. |
read an article on that in the Wall
Street Journal. 1t went on to say
that that kind of law would have to
go thru he constitution of the United
States and it would take several years
to put it thru and it would not hold
good when 1T was made law as It
did net hold good in Canada, SO what
is the use to put sucha law thru?
We are not asking the railroad
companies to give us the railroads us
some people would believe. What
we are asking for is an eight hour
day and time and half for over
is over time after eight hours. or
after twelve and half miles per hour
On divisions one hundred miles or less.
we want over time after eight hours
and on divisions over one hundred
miles, we want time and a half for
over time after twelve and half
miles per hour. Take hundred
and fifty mile division, we would not
get any over time until after twelve
hours, and two hundred mile di-
vision, we would not get any over
time until after sixteen hours. The
companies could cut out the overtime
without hurting the revenue very
much. They have increased the ton
mage up to better than 100 per cent
in most cases without paying out
anything extra for labor in handling
the trains. They are even getting
them handled for less money. as for
one, am doing three to four times as
much work as | did three to four
years ago for less money, and anoth-
cr thing, this big tonnage and big
engines have hurt the shipper more
than anybody else and they don't
know it. They will hold shipments as
high as forty eight hours to sixty
hours or until they get the tonnage for
the engine. They wont run the train
until they have the tonnage, so you
can see what all this delay at almost
every division point means to the ship
per. So if the railroads don't want
to pay time and half for over time
all they have to do is to get the trains
over he road and not load them down
so heavy that they cannot make over
five or six miles per hour which many
do. | cannot see where ii is Il qucs-
ton of wages that the railroads are
fighting; it is the labor organizations
They don't want TO see us belong to
anything. But they can belong to
the General Managers Association.
Labor has the same right to belong
to an organization as they do.
| don't think there are great many
people who know who the railroads
belong to. If they would look on
the sides of the cars and engines,
they could see Il little iron plate about
three by six inches that would tell
the story. Some trust company name
is on it.
All we want is square deal and
no more. If the press was on the
square with all concerned we would |
get along better.
believe IN government ownership |
of all public utilities, such as rail-
roads, street car lines, telephone and
telegraph lines, water, lights, electric |
gas, oil and coal lands. We would |
all get a square deal then or whole
lot nearer it than we are getting
now.
dom think there will be any strike
am sure of that, but we will have
TO have all we have asked for and |
we won get over much ut that.
A. l.. X.
Comment: Many southwestern |
railroads are now operated under the |
eight hour rule and are not bank
rupt either Eight hours of nerve |
racking strain is enough for the pub
lie safety us well as for the men.
They ought to get their request, but
not by general strike which makes
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