Evening star., 1916-08-22
Opposing Eight-Hour Day;
Railroad Chiefs Insist
on Arbitration Principle

The railroad heads still Insist that
President Wilson is asking them to sac
rifce the principle of arbitration.
A statement issued by the railroad
executives last night said 1t was i'm
possible to believe public opinion would
favor giving up the principle Of ar
bitration and the granting of 50,oo0,-
600 increased wages to one-seventh Of
all railway employees who belong to the
union brotherhoods without hearing
before q public tribunal"
THAT the railroads should grant, un-
der threat Of a national strike a f1fty-
million dollar wage preferment to a
small minority of their employees, with
out a hearing before a public tribunal,
Is fnconcefvable in a democracy like
ours. All questions at iss0e-wages,
costs. operating conditions-are sub
merged by the greater issue: Shall ar
bitration be abandoned In the settle-
ment Of industIial disputesr'
The statement suggests, however,
that railroads stand ready to take
whatever action the people OF the coun-
try desire. 1t concludes:
The weight of public opinion must
determine this issue. We cannot be-
lieve that it is the calm Judgment Of
the country that we should sacrifice the
principle of arbitration in Industrial
disputes" under q threat to tie up the
commerce Of the country.
Statement for Railroad Heads.
This statement given out by Elisha
Lee. assistant general manager Of the
Pennsylvania system, who is spokes-
man for the managers committee, is az
follows:
IF we are to throw arbitration into
the scrapheap what hopes can there be
o.. 4
future?
"a nationwide strike IA unth,nh.h,.
when the railroads are urging that ali
the matters in dispute be placed before
thority.
final method for settling contro-
versies as TO both hours and wages on
the railroads. The NewIands law of
1913 was enacted by unanimous request
,h Sn tne Iour railroad brotherhoods and
the representatives Of the railroads.
And yet the leaders who urged this law
now take the position that a question
OF hours Is beyond arbitration.
= But wages. not hours. are involved
in these demands. No proposal has
been made to establish an eisht-hour
workday. The demand Is for an eight
hour pay basis, and this is the inter
pretation given by the President in
the proposal now before the railroads.
The employees have emphattcally made
1t known that they do not want ei9hY
hours work for eight hours, say a real
eight-hour day.
How Eight-Hour Day Would Work.
"A simple illustration will suffice to
show how the eight-hour basis of paw
would work out. Take, for exampI.
freight employe paid FIVE cents a mile
with days guarantee OF $500 for
100 miles or ten hours or less II ia
proposed TO make this guarantee the
same for eight hours or less. On a
freight run of say. only sixty miles
in ten hours. he earns $500 for his
time. II Is now proposed that for this
work he be paid $500 for the FIRST eight
hours and s1.25 for the other two
hours. total of s6.25, increasing his
pay 25 per cent.
IF by reason of traffic DELAYS he in
. held idle on sidetrack. that he does
not complete his trip until the end of
twelve hours. he now is paid $500 for
his time. no matter how little work he
performs The demand is 10 pay him
81 5n for this twelve hour service
Meanwhile the employees would con-
tsn1e 10 have the same opportunities an
now 10 make still larger pay on the mile
age basis. For example the man on a s
cent a mile rate, making saw $50 mile.
in only seven hours. earns 81 so for his
days work. II after this he is called for
a short period Of emergency work say.
only two hours, he gets another full DAVIS
guarantee of $500, making sl2 So in this
example. for only nine hours service.
MANY other schedule provisions in
crease the wages of these well paid men
without increase in their hours of service,
IL is because OF these opportunities to
take pay under mileage or arbitrary rule
that their yearly earnings are so far be-
yond those of other workers charged with
no less responsible duties.
Proposals of President.
The proposal from the President
now before the railroads is:
= Il To adopt the eight-hour day 'as q
basis for wages, even where the actual
work to be done cannot be completed