The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-08-29
Railway Mail Clerks Ask
 Increase In Their Salaries
Want Immediate Action In Order to Meet Living EXpenses-Appeal to Congress To
 Consider Demands.
Dear NIT. Editor:


 We wish to call your attention to the present condition of the Railway Mail Service and to request an early and earnest effort on your part to al- leviate these conditions.
 AS you perhaps know our Railway Service is the most important service Of our Government and a service on which every business of the country depends. It is the chief fundamental on which every business is built and without which no industry could op- crate. It differs in every respect from every other class of labor and differs in evei way from any other position under ,ss jurisdiction of the Post Of flee Department on account of the study scope and the grilling hard work in the car. This service has been made the target of every cruel fling of the Post Office Department and we have had enough stu'ly and grief heaped upon us to discourage the most courageous of men. It is impos- sible to state all these abuses as it would require a letter of extraordinary lenSth, but we will endeavOr to give you a general outline of the situation as it at present exists.
 The salary paid clerks in the Rail- way Mail Service is, and always has been the lowest salary paid for the same amount of mental and physical effort. We are required to do more memorizing and to have more con- crete knowledge of our studies than anyone in the world. yet we do not re- ceive as much salary as an ordina ry labOrer. The salaries of railroad men running in the same trains will show how we are underpaid and a table of salaries paid these men is given be- low:
 Freight brakemen, about $50 to SEQ per month.
 Passenger brakemen, about S17O to S2l0 per month.
 Conductors, about s21o to s3oo per month
 Engineers, about $23o to $50 per month.
 Bremen, about s1sO to S2Oo per month.
 In addition to this these men were granted bonus as back pay from the time their controversy with the gov ernmcnt began. They receive time and one-haIf for overtime Can sc- cure q pass over their line or other lines by making application. These men have again asked for an addi- tional increase of S5 per cent. claim ing it was impossible to live on their present wage as stated above. How d1 you expect the Railway Mail ClerI; who has the same expense a-s these railroad men. 10 exist on his meager salary?
 Not any of these men do One-half the work we do, and they get about one-half time off with nothing to do but rest. The railway mail clerks put in long, strenuous hours on the road, and then during the time oft duty as much as some lawyer prior to trying some big case. But vere few of these railroad men are edu- cated men and they are in no more danger than the clerks. People who know claim that it requires more knowledge to run an autOm Obile than a locomotive. Clerks who have fired some of the largest locomotives in the past, claim that the work in a rail way post office is much more strenu- ous. The only knowledge required q of a conductor is to read a few simple train orders and his book of rules Passenger brakemen riding the cushions with no more knowledge required than to call stations and to sell and resell newspapers on which they make a big additional profit Then compare the foregoing with the salary of railway mail clerk who must memorize more than a college professor drawing a salary of S5,OOO to S15, ,OOO year and work at high speed under severe nervous tension distributing mail matter while the train is in motion.
 Then considering other classes of labor, we find bod carriers drawin2 2
 70 to 75 cents per hour and car penters with a wage scale of so cents to S1.OO per hour. Plumbers s1.OO per hour and other classes of labor ir proportion and these jobs could be considered as child's play in com par!son with the study and service required of a railway mail clerk. The most severe study is required of railway mail clerks than any other class of labor. For example, the writer has been examined on the fol lowing territory which is only an or dlnary case. Committed to memory the exact location of every post office. every railroad asd junction point in the following states: North Dakota. South Dakota, Nebraska Iowa. Illinois and the north one-hali of Missouri. These states have about 7.4OO offices. The time of all train. ! and mail connections were memo orize q i All changes in the supplies of pos , offices and change in train schedules were committed to memory In ad ! dition to this we are examined on the postal laws and regulations and mus | keep mem Orized all the changes il [ law and regulations. In the past ", | have been examined on the pOsta 1 laws and regulations once a year, ana | on other subjects every six months | and the examination requireme ent. | have been as follows: Give the con ! nsctions of all trains and the bes | connection for all post offices. Take | space basis and give all the rules ant | regulations governing space. Talk | examination on circular and parce | FOR SALE