The Pageland journal. [volume] (Pageland, S.C.) 1911-1978, 1916-05-17

total of 37,873 employees classiie,,,
as switch tenders, crossing tenders,
and watchmen. These were rec civ.
ing In 1912 an average Of $1.7O per
day, which was actually cents q
day less than they had been receiv.
ing ten years earlier.
At that time there were 4S,201 con.
ductors with whom the statistics
dealt The conductors, therefore,
were only a slightly more numer-
GUS class than the tenders and watch
men; yet while the conductors had
had their wages raised from 1888 to
$4.29 per day, the less fortunate
class Of tenders and watchmen had
to stand a reduction from $1.76 to
$1.7O per day.
II the cost Of living has been stead.
lily advancing for conductors, so as to
justify an increase Of 27 per cent in
their wages, it seems difficult to ex-
plain why that same cost Of living
should have fallen sufficiently to war
rant decrease Of per cent in the
wages Of switch tenders, crossing
tenders, and watchmen.
ohC Sho oluSlC CldSSlHCdU1On Oh
general Office clerks. There were
S7,106 Of these according to the Of
hcial report A much larger number
than Of either engineers, firemen, or
conductors
These general office clerks we're
paid an average Of 1921 per day in
1903, and Of $3.50 in 1912: an in
crease Of only 1s per cent in the ten
year period.
General office clerks, without ex-
ception, are compelled to live in
cities, where the cost Of living Is
high.
Engineers Better OFF
Engineers, on the other hand. are
distributed between large towns and
small towns; on the average, their
living circumstances ought to make
their expenses average considerably
less than those Of office clerks, vet
the statistics show that engineers
have received in the ten-year period
an increase of "a per cent in their
wages, making them average exactly
IS per day, while general office
clerks have received an increase Of
only Is per cent. making them aver
age $3.50 per day
One Of the worst underpafd classi-
fications Of railway employees is that
or the station agents. There are Just
about 10000 Of these in the country,
or nearly as many as the number of
conductors.
In 1903 station agents averaged
S1.S0 a day, and in 1912 they had
been raised to only 1920 a day, while
In that same time conductors had
advanced from $33S to 1920.
That Is. the station agent in 1912
was getting just about half the wages
or the conductor, and in ten years he
had had an average increase of II
per cent, while the conductors ini-
crease had been 27 per cent.
Here are two of the most numer-
GUS - classes Of railway employees:
Trainmen, other than engineers
fremen, and conductors, numbered
l36,S09, while trackmen numbered
337,451. The statistics show that the
trackmen were getting in 1903 an
average OF $1.a1 per day, and in 1912
an average of $3.50 per day, an in
crease Of IA per cent.
What Others Got
On the other hand, the classified,
ton OF other trainmen was getting in
1903 $2.17 per day, and in 1912. 1926
per day, an increase of sc per cent
IN percentage, this is the largest ad-
vance received by any single class of
railway employees during this decade
A general survey Of wage condi-
tions in the railway service and in
other Industries, It is believed would
show that in the last fifteen years
tne mighty organized and favored
classes Of railway wage earners have
mad their incomes increased more
than almost any other class of work.
ers IN the country, while the much
more numerous, but less effectively
organized classes of railway workers
have probably received rather lass
Increases than other Industrial work
ers in general
In view Of the strong feeling that
these most fortunate classes of the
railway employees are now making
excessive and unreasonable demands.
attention is now being called as
never before to these general dis
crepancies. There is a strong dis
position to inaugurate a general and
sweeping Investigation of the whole
question Of railway wages with
view to establishing some sort of pub
Tic regulation not unlike that already
applied to railroad rates, in the in
terest OF employees and public alike,
Meanwhile, there is marked indis-