The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-05-09

its men as long az they have been in
the habit OF working under their prt-
vate mnloyers the railroad compa
MES. is to take advantage Of the two
fold EN- barrassment of the govern
mcnt-~its need for work and its in
ability to call in outside men, The
comm ission does not believe that tile
railroad employees want thus TO ham
per the trans portation facilities OF The
country in It's hour of need.
Manifestty. therefore, at thts
time. when men must constantly he
taken from the railroads. as from ali
other industries. 10 FIJI tho CROWNS
needs of the nations army. hours OF
labor cannot be shortened and there
by greater number Of men be re-
CURED for railroad work, \ nation
cannot therefore. IN good faith cam
upon the farmers and tho miners to
work az never before and press them
selves to unusual tasks and a. the
same time SO shorten the hours OF
railroad men as To- call from farm and
mine addition and unskilled men 10
run the railroads. While the
commission is strongly disposed to a
standard day, insofar as the nature of
the service will permit it, it's irm
Judgment consequently is that the ex-
listing hours Of service IN effect on
the railroad should he maintained for
the period of the war.
" But with TINS we earnestly urge
that most exhaustive study be made
Of. this matter Of hours of service, not
with view to the adoption of some
arbitrary and universal policy which
shall have no regard TO the kind of
work done. or to the effect upon the
railroad service. hut with these very
considerations IN mind. And we have
gone into this matter far enough to
justify ourselves the belief that, by
the steady application of such sym
pathetic consideration, the railroad
service may he improved, and at the
same time fuller opportunity be given
for lifting "a burden that falls dtspro-
poFtionatly upon some of the less IA
vorcd Of the railroad workers.
Not Too Highly Paid.
she commission dispels the popu-
lar misconception that railroad en-
rioyes are among the highest paid Of
wage earners and says
lit has been a somewhat popular
mpression that railroad employees are
among the most highly paid workers,
But figures gathered from the roads
dispose of this belief Fifty-one per
cent OF all employees during December,
1917, received SIS per month. or less.
and eighty per cent received 500 per
month or less. Even among the loco
of as highly paid. a preponderating
number receives less than S170 per
month, and this pensation they
have attained by the most compact
and complete organization, handled
with q full appreciation OF all strate-
gle values Between the grades re-
ceiving from $3.50 to $3.50 per month,
there is included less than s per cent
of all the employees excluding offi
cials). and Theses aggregate less than
10000 men out Of grand total of
1000 600.
The greatest number OF employees
on all roads fall into the class receiv-
ing between $50 and $50 a month
1883, while within the range Of
the next $40 in monthly salary there
is total of 3i3,76t persons.
These. IL is noted, are not pre-
war figures; they represent conditions
after a year of war. and two years of
rising prices And each dollar now
represents in its power to purchase
place in which TO live, food to cat
and clothing TO wear. hut seventy one
cents as against 100 cents of January
!, 1915, that there has been such stead
fast loyalty to the railroads and SO
slight disposition to use the lever
of their necessity and opportunity to
compel. by ruthless, action. an In
crease of wages. is not without sig
niticance and should not be passed
without public recognition
HtEh-Prieed Officials 10 60.
What to do with some of the
highly paid officials now that the gov
eminent has taken over the roads, is
indicated by the commission in the
following significance paragraphs
" The commission recommends that
during the period of government con-
duct of the railroads no salaries paid
TO officials who are not essential to
the operation of the railroads shall
be charged a part of the operating
expenses, and that careful study he
made of the proper relation between
the salaries of the higher officials and
those of their subordinates with a.
view to read1ustments in the interest
of the highest efficiency of the SER
vice.
Organized and unorganized en-
ployes are to he treated alike. Women
and men who perform equal service
are TO be given equal pay and Diff
ferences In pay are not to be predi-
Gated unon differences of color
The report of the wage commission
was made public late today at the Of
nee OF Frankiin X, Lane, secretary Of