Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1918-01-10
No Strikes Are Contemplated
by Any Organization, but
Government Is Expected to
Come Across.
DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS
WILL BE NAMED SOON
McAdOO Has No Intention of
Putting Representative in
Each State; Hearing on
COMPENSATION Bill,

thy MORNING JousnAL SPECIAL LsAsgp wIRsI
Washington, Jan. 9.-Higher wages
will be asked of the railroad admins
tration soon by nearly all classes of
organized railroad labor II was learn
ed today that many pending wage dis
putes would be transferred to the
government from railway executives
boards, and in other cases new de-
mands will be formulated for presen-
tation to Director General McAdoo,
who probably will deal with them
through investigating boards.
Strikes are not contemplated by any
organization, it is said, and wage
questions will not be put up to the
director general as demands. Rail
road labor leaders are represented as
not seeking to take advantage of gov
ernment operation to press for more
pay, but rather as pointing out the
necessity of wage increases to keep
employees from being attracted to 9TH
er industries.
Demands Considered.
Tn to the present. the only general
denian0s for wage increases consider
ed by Director General McAdoo are
those presented by the four railway
brotherhoods and the switchmen's
union, whose president, s. e. Heber-
ling, conferred with MIR. McAdoo to-
day. The brotherhoods' case will be
Investigated by board of four to be
named by the director general tomor-
row, and he also may ask this body
to inquire into the switchmen's de-
mand, which now is being considered
by a committee of railway executives
representing all roads.
The director general announced to-
night that he expected to name rail-
road directors for certain sections of
the country to assist him in admins
tering government operation, but said
he had not determined how many
would be appointed nor what territory
Gated leaving the question of return
McAdoo said specifically that he did
not plan to name state directors.
The senate and house interstate
commerce committee today continued
hearings on the railroad bill. Before
the house committee, Interstate Com
merce Commissioner Anderson reiter-
ated that it seemed impracticable to
change the bill to provide for termina-
ton of government control at a spe-
cific time after the war. He advo-
Gated leaving the questio nof return
of the roads to private control to fu-
ture determination by congress.
Representative Moore of Pennsyl-
vania, asked the committee to amend
the bill to provide specifically for gov
ernment control of canal transporta-
ton facilities. Members of the United
States Employees Compensation COM
mission advocated that railroad men
should be regarded as government
employees
Basis for Compensation.
Testifying before the senate COM
mittee, George M. Shriver, vice pres
ident of the Baltimore and Ohio, sug-
gested that compensation should be
based on property investments as of
December 81 1917, rather than June
3O 1917, as proposed in the bill The
average return on investment of the
thirty-eight principal eastern systems
Tor the three year average suggested
by the president was 5.54 per cent, he
said, He argued that the eastern
railroads had added $110,000,000 to
their property investment in the last
half of 1917. Consequently, if pro-
visions of the bill are carried out, he
said, the eastern roads return on
property investment really would be
5.33 per cent.
Officials in colse touch with the
railroad situation in it's new aspects
said today that many rate revisions
would become necessary now that
government operation has removed
competition on which rates heretofore
had been largely based. The inter
state commerce commission is expect
ed to undertake within a few weeks a
special study of rate establishments
for presentation to the director gem
eral.