New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-09

fresh demands for increased bonus
or wages, or general alterations in
conditions Of service, and that they
will not give countenance or support
either 10 a demand on the part of
any Of their members to reopen the
settlement now made or any strike
that might be entered upon in fur
therance of such demand.
Further Wage
Increases Made
Here, however, war conditions
proved stronger factor than formal
agreements. The cost Of living gen.
orally, and particularly the cost of
food, continued to mount up. A sec
ond war bonus of 5 shillings was
added to the first, coming into force
: in September, 1916, and in April,
1917, further agreement was come
to between the Railway Executive
/ Committee and the various trade
unions of the men by which the war
bonus was increased to Is shillings
! Per week for all employees over eigh-
teen and 7 shillings pence per week
for those below that age. 1t was esti-
mated that the total additional ex-
penditure on account of the war
bonus would be f23,OOO,OO0. The
whole of these latter increases were
borne by the government.
These rapid rises in the wages
paid to the men came in for much
criticism. 1t was pointed out that
the increase of 1916 was nearly equal
/ to wiping out the dividends on the
ordinary stock. "The Railway Mag
azine" declared: under no other
system but state control would wGr
bonus be paid on an all-around basis
alike to lads Of eighteen years of age
ard the oldest employe, and single
and married men placed on the same
plane, no matter what may be their
financial responsibilities or compare
tive wages" But here certain con-
s;derations have to be borne in mind.
This rise in wages was not peculiar
to the railways, but was general in
industry. The railway men under
the war labor regulations were not
to leave their employment for other
work. 1t was felt that they could
not reasonably be expected to con-
tinue under far lower wages than
other men in allied industries in the
same districts. Above all, there was
the outstanding fact that the old
scale Of wages was inadequate under
war prices. The average cost of food
Of the kind mainly purchased by
working men had doubled; clothing
was much dearer; all the incidental
expenses Of livin| except rent and
rates had gone up; and men could
not maintain their families decently
on the old wage scale. The idea Of
making the rise the same for all
ranks was to benefit most those who
needed it most-the lowest paid men.
Up to the beginning Of the war
British railways had been very re-
luctant to employ women labor, even
1ol Office details. Booking clerks,
head Office staff, ticket collectors, at
tendants in dining cars, were in
nearly every case men. But the
shortage of men and the desire to re-
lease as many as possible for service
with the colors caused the introduce
ton of women workers early in 1915.
The experiment was a great success.
Women were employed on an ever
growing scale, not only for purely
clerical duties, but for manual work
OF many kinds. Soon everywhere
there were women cleaners, women
pCrters, women ticket collectors,
women booking clerks, and many
others besides. The trade unions
pressed for a definite understanding
about the wages the women were to
receive, and further asked for assur-
ances that the employment Of wom-
en- in capacities where they were not
formerly employed was an emergency
action arising out Of circumstances
created by the war, and would not
prejudice in any way the under
ticking given by the railway COM
panies as to the Unemployment Of
men who had joined the colors, on
tie conclusion of the war. The pay
Of women in grades in which they
were not engaged in August, 1914,