Evening journal., 1918-01-24
REPORT MADE Oi
EIGRT-HOUR DAY
Abnormal Conditions Early
10 1917 Bar Definite
Recommendations
OPERATING COSTS
ARE INCREAED

WASHINGTON. Jan. "a Abnormal
traffic conditions during the first nine
months oc 1917 have made 30 impossible
for the eight-hour commission, appoint
ed TO make study Of the effects OF the
olght-hour day on the railroads under
the Adamson law, TO make any def
mite recommendations Major General
George Goelhsls. the chairman, so de
clared in q report submitted Yesterday
10 Congress. The report says:
"It VIII require further study 10
make anything Ike q lnal showing
Nevertheless. we believe that certain
truths regarding the operation OF the
eighi-hOur law are now apparent, and
The presentation Of such facts as have
been collected will b. Of some SER
vice.
I'VE ind that The railroads IN actual
practice have applied the elght-hour
day as a basis for reckoning compensa-
ton OF the following employees. I'm
ginemcn. ilremen, conductors assistant
conductors. baggagemen. hrskemen anC
flagmen IN road and yard service and
generally hostlers The average num-
Der Of these employees Was 3O8.3l3
which is 1871 per cent Of the total
number Of railway employees.
These figures, the report said, apply
TO railroads having an annual 0pcrat-
ing revenue Of sl00000 or more an-
nually. Tie percentage Of employees
n the Eastern district is i1.69; South
ern, II l5, and Western, l6 81. Taking
the 1916 schedule as the basis, the Law
caused an increased expenditure Of s9S5,
500, or - 80 per cent, in January 1917
/ by railroads having a total mileage o.
i04.355. The report continues.
ITO what extent this change will b'
| permanent we do not know, but a re-
duction in hours means TO the men thai
they do not get the wage increase in.
dlcated above, and in some cases Il
means cons. .derable decrease as wher'
men formerly worked twelve hours
/ they now work eight hours for tht
/ former ten hours pay To the carriers
the reduction In hours docs not neces
sarily mean the escape from all Of th'
/ increased cost shown in January.
THE general change 90 the eight
/ hour shift has been so recent that O
was not practicable for this commits
sion % undertake q special study o
I the effect of reduced hours or ell
cheney. We can make no finding as &
/ how much the percentagq Of increase il
labor cost shown for the yard service
can be reduced
IN road service, actual experience
/ has shown a much less marked chang
In operation, but, considering the re
peated statement Of representatives o
| the railroads that train operation woul
not be affected by the eight-hour law
the replies Of the carriers were some
what surprising In revealing hundred
Of instances Of an actual shortening q
the hours Of road employees"
On the Eastern roads IN slow-freigh
service the actual time of engineers o.
duty IS from twelve TO thirteen hour
Der run. and O. 1siderably less in Oh
south and West. tho report shows. I
both slow and fast freight service th
! engineers are running about ten hour
a day.
Pointing out that the speed basis @
the actual elehthour day rs approx
mately twelve and one-hah miles al
hour, the report concludes:
"A railroad cannot speed up all IN
freight trains 10 tweve and one-hal
miles an hour, including delays, by on
universal method. But by close at
tentlon TO the problem of reducing dt
lays. and with sufficient incentive, th
conditions as 20 hours Of work IN road
train service can be improved only b
local conditions"