The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-09-22
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
U. S. RAILWAYS AND THE LIVING
WAGE.
Northern Pacific Railway Company
Office of First Vice-President

Northern Pacific Railway Company,
Office of First Vice President.
George T. Slade,
First Vice-President.
st. Paul, Mimi, September IL, 1917.
To the Editor:
In the Catholic Bulletin" of Sep
tember 8 there appeared an article
entitled the Right of the Wage
Garner" While credit for this arti-
Gle is given to the Liverpool, England,
catholic Times and it's writer, tn,
Very Rev. Prior McNabb, unquestion-
ably intended it for citizens of the
United Kingdom it's publication in the
Catholic Bulletin" would give to
American readers the impression that
the examples and arguments were as
we'll applicable to the wage situation
in the United States.
feel it my duty to draw COM
parison between the wage situations
in the United Kingdom and in the
United States for your use if you
agree with me that it is proper to pur-
sue the matter further in the columns
of the Catholic Bulletin in order, as
| am sure can show you, to correct
in the minds of the readers of the
Liverpool, England, Catholic Times
article the impression they have prob
ably gained that capital in this coun-
try is endeavoring to overwork and
underpay labor in order to secure for
itself undue and unfair returns.
l shall not, and | am sure no other
citizen of the United States in charge
of important business interests en-
ploying large bodies of men will, at
tempt to contradict the statement
with which the article opens, to the
effect that 1.-THE Living Wage should
be the first charge upon industry
In this article the only wages
quoted are those of railway workers,
and the only industry specifically
named upon which the arguments are
based is the railway business, and this
explains my anxiety that the readers
of the Catholic Bulletin should not
assume that the railway conditions in
Great Britain and in the United
States are so similar that criticisms
of the former are applicable to the
latter or vice versa.
The United Kingdom has approx
mately 23,700 miles of railways, with
a capital or cost of construction OF
6,532 millions of dollars and capital
lper mile of $4,000. In the
4 TInitnd Ctotoc +horo ora ouar 0AQ nn0
miles of line, with 1890 millions OF
/ capital or cost of construction and a
capital per mile of SCI ,98S.0O. In the
United Kingdom there were, in 1918
615,985 railway employees, and in the
United States, in 1916, 1858, 106
E(The figures for 1913 are the last
available for the United Kingdom)
During 1913 in the United Kingdom
the average compensation per railway
Iemploye was $364.17 In the United
States, during 1916, the average pei
railway employe was $859.00, which
will be very much exceeded in 191,
because of the recent increases made
in the wages of all railway employees
either because of specific federal leg
4 islation, collective agreement or vol
luntary increases on account of the in
creased cost of living. Arguments
j therefore, based upon the wages o
railway employees in the United King
dom are in no way applicable to tn,
! 4 wages of the railway employees of thu
United States.
In the United Kingdom since th,
/ war the pay of railway employees hal
been increased by bonuses authorizes
/ by the government, which has t,
make good to the railway companies
! any consequent deficit in their ne
revenues The first Of these bonuse
& amounted to from SO to rs cents pc
4 week and another, effective in Octe