The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-06-01
Delegation of Street Car Conductors, Motormen and Repairmen Appeal to the
 Commission for Aid BOARD OF TRADE IN JOINT SESSION WITH
 CARMEN YESTERDAY
Men Must Have More Money or Go Elsewhere-Believe the Company's Revenue
 Should Be Increased

Should Be Increased
 q have no more idea of voting for q 6-cent street car fare in Birmingham than I have of getting into hylng machine and flying to the moon, salo Commissioner Burruss yesterday after noon, before a delegation of street car conductors, motormen and repairmen, employed by the Birmingham Railway. Light and Power company, who urged the city to allow the street railway company to increase their street car fare from cents to cents.
 The fact that you men want more money is full of merit. l think you are entitled to it, but that is not, mat ter for us to consider-that is entirely between you and your company The fact that the company wants to pay you more and is not able to do so IS not our affair. it is between you two also But it does seem than this com pany should arrange 10 run its busi- ness just as other companies are do- ling, and that they should make just as
  as any other business concern. UP TO THE COMPANY q grant you the right to go where you want to- and would not blame you l for doing so if labor brings more | money, and conditions are such as to | make it necessary for you to earn more money-but it is up to the Birmingham Railway, Light and Power company to work out the situation and not up to Ius."
 1 Commissioner Burruss was speaking in answer to the case of the railway em- ployes who appeared before the com mission and through their spokesman | R. P Bernhardt, stated they must make more money in order to live. and | that they were satisfied that the com pany would have to increase their rev enues before they could pay them any more than they were receiving with 1 the 8 cents an hour increase that they received few days ago.
 Ut has just reached this stage, said MT. Bernhardt, that we will have to have 40 cents an hour and upward or we will have to leave the company and go where we are offered that amount with free transportation. We are not making any threat, but asking for help and advice, for we live here, have followed street car work for so long that we don't want to give it up, and we don't want to leave Birmingham, land we know that your service will 1 be much poorer than it is now if we do for green men will succeed us. and 1 it will not be safe for a mans family 1 to be on the cars under such condi- ltions"
 SOLVE THE PROBLEM
 we believe the company is acting 1 fairly but we will have to take care of ourselves, and we believe that the ! commission should take some steps to solve the problem if it is in their 1 power"
 City Attorney Ullman explained the situation from a legal standpoint, and | made it clear that in case the city | called referendum and the people 1 decided to allow the six-cent fare 1 that it would be 10 weeks taohrddl that it would be 10 weeks to three made.
 pr Barrett stated that he would not consent to the city's increasing the fare only under the direction of the majority vote of the people, and thi5 l referendum election could be ordered if the people so wished, but he thought it wise to examine the books of the company and see if they were making or losing money before they asked the people to vote on the question.
 PROFIT AND LOSS
 q want an audit that will clearly demonstrate the profit or loss of the company on all business-in other 1 words upon their operations as whole said Commissioner Brown, J "and I want it made clear whether they are making money on one com modity and losing on another. It is entirely possible that they are making money on their lighting service and gas and losing money on the street railroad, and then making money as a whole. for they are not paying any more for their current now then they did two years ago."
 The commission finally decided that they would take immediate action re- garding an audit of the company's s books with a view to giving the pGb- lie the result of the findings for their information. then allow them to vote upon the question of increasing car fares at a special referendum elec-
 tion. which will be called in the proper petition presented to the commission.
 George McCleery of the Board of l Trade appeared before the commission and stated that he believed the six cent car fare should be allowed. He stated that the Board of Trade had heard the carmen and believed action should be taken at once to relieve q very serious condition.
 BOARD OF TRADE ACTS
 Forty cents and upward an hour, with transportation, and jobs for all the men next Tuesday morning. is the offer made 1 by another company to the conductors and motormen employed by the Birming- ham Railway, Light and Power company, according to the statement before the Board of Trade at the Chamber of Com merce yesterday by R. P. Bernhardt. I spokesman for the carmen.
 At the request of the carmen joint
 meeting of 9 of their representatives and the Board of Trade was held for the purpose of devising some way of meet ing a most serious situation. The -m- ployes say they cannot live on their pres- ent wages and the company says it can not afford to pay any more than at pres ent unless it is permitted to charge 6 cents fare.
 The carmen's spokesman stated that
 company officials had satisfied them
 that it could not pay higher rate of
 wages with the revenues available as 1 long as it was restricted to a scent fare