The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-03-18
SALARIES PAID
 TO RAILROAD MEN
By HOLLAND

l SiN' 4hdTCH li-lSpeclal. J-lf Dlfector-General McAdoo fixes the com
 pensation for the members of his new staif at s2o,000 each, presumably the
 money Will be paid out of the funds over which Mir. MeAdoo has control.
 For Walker D. Hines, Carl R. Gray,
 hd"ard Chambers and Robert s. Lovett are reported to have withdrawn from
 all association with the railroad conlpa- nles of which they were formerly ex-
 eeatlves, and in addition to that have
 parted with corporate or private inter- | ests With which they were formerly
 Identified. Therefore, the railroad com
 panies or the corporations presumably will not pay the reduced salaries which
 Director General McAdoo is understood
 10 have fixed upon as a remuneration
 Tor these members of his staff
 , One at least of the staff has, if com
 mon understanding be accurate. been receiving hundred thousand dollars a year salary and has earned it. Others
 have been receiving fifty thousand. If
 they accept twenty thousand in lieu of
 the salaries formerly received from the
 railroad companies, they will be con tHbuting annually from sSo,000 in one
 case to sSo,0oo in other cases to war | service.
 Some of these men who were formerly railroad executives are reported to have otiered their services to MT. McAdoo without any compnsation excepting the absurdly technical dollar year remun-
 eration. Mir. McAdoo, however. believed 1 that public sentiment and in fact com
 mon justice made it expedient for him
 to pay these men salaries that, although 1 low as compared to their former com l pensaton, are nevertheless excellent l If all of the new staff which has been
 organized by Mir. McAdoo were to serve l without any compensation excepting the 1 be done in accordance with the preee-
 dents established years ago by the chief executives of some of the leading rail- road companies and, in some instances. l by the presidents of various industrial
 or banking corporations. Custom, an l unwritten law, so to call it, was oheyed
 by several of the great railroad execu- 1 tives of the United States with respect
 to salaries. For it was believed that if
 chief or important executive possessed l large income, then he might without I injustice to himself and his family, di-
 rect without compensation the affairs of 1 a railroad company or a great corpora | ton. Oh the other hand. if man be- | gan his employment with a railroad ! company or a corporation at the foot of the ladder and was exclusively oc-
 cupied with that vocation, then it would l be not only proper, but vital. that he 1 receive salary proportionate to his 1 service or position. Many of the rail- 1 road executives of the United States be- gan at the bottom. They we're never occupied With other matters than those
 associated with their railroad service | Some of them at last reached the top | All of these received remuneration be- cause it was recognized that they had I nc other means of support
 THEY TOOK NO SALARIES 1 On the other hand, if any one became
 associated with railroad company as
 chief executive or as president who pos
 sessed large income derived from other
 sources than his railroad service, he was likely to decline to receive remunera- 1 ton in case the directors offered it. l The first instance of this kind was the case of the late John M. Forbes. | He promoted with his own funds and l with the capital which he persuaded
 others to provide. the completion of the | NltncisdD 0tHllHt IdiltOdi, pfihSihSs ~ into Chicago. and the beginning of what became the Burlington system. For this service, which was of inconceivable inn i portanee to the welfare of the nation
 Mir. Forbes declined to receive any money remuneration. He was fortunate i enough to have an income sufficiently
 comfortable to support him and his | family
 1 Commodore Vanderbilt, who was the ! first to teach the lesson of the economy l that underlies the consolidation or uni. | feation of railroad systems, drew nc l salary from the Hudson River railroad and New York Central Railroad com pany, although his service was of kind which would justify payment tt him of as large a salary as any rail road president ever received. His son William II. Vanderbilt, served as presi-
 dent of the Vanderbilt system. succeed | ing his father. the commodJre, withou any remuneration in the form of salary '! Of course. there was remuneration, pu' | 1t was based upon the appreciation o the value of the securities of the New | York Central system
 l James j. Hili built the Great Northern railroad system, a stupendous achieve ment, involving courage, wonderful fore sight and persuasion of men or capita l to furnish millions, without ever havina taken a penny in the form Of salary TOT I his service as president. MT. Hill. o 1 course, found his remuneration in tht 1 appreciation of the securities or the ! Great Northern railroad system.
 I Jay Gould. when serving as presiden l of the Union Pacific and also Of th' Missouri Pacific, system which he ere ated took no salary for that service, no did he accept any salary for service: as president of various corporations witt which he was identified.
 Former Governor Myron Herrick o Ohio declined the offer of q salary fo his services as president of larg' corporation. which he directed with suci skill as to bring to him many tribute of praise. He was content with th' knowledge that he had built up a grea Institution. Governor HerriclSs persona I income was sufficient to support hin and his family in comfort, so that h did not need remuneration for service as president of this corporation. Oc casionally this unwritten law was unob