The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1919-09-06

snaan Of grievance com mittees and he
man Of grievance committees and he
was perfectly familiar with the rates
of wages paid to railroad workers.
s,-> Wages Below Others. T. .s.~-.A
"In answer to; the question, = said
Mr.. Carss, II will say that the wages
Of train and engine men in this coun-
try have not increased in as great pro-
kportion by, should say, 40 per cent
as has been the increase of other Ia
borers."
/ Mr.. Blanton claimed railroad en-
ployes were asking for wages equal to
that of supreme court judges and
members of congress. Mr.. Garretson
had said that the average wage that
freight conductors received for 100
miles, which constitutes a days work,
is $40. The attention Of Blanton was
$40 day, and that there is a vast dif-
ference between $5.40 and $40 day.
Mr.. Carss discussed the wages Of
engineers and made the statement
that men running switch engines were
paid $5.25 a day for 10 hours or less.
Only about Is per cent Of the engi-
neers are on passenger trains and
these men average about $500
month.
In defense Of the Plumb plan for
the operation Of the railroads Mr..
Carss said:
1.-THE events of the past week have
given rise to great confusion as to
the purposes Of the Railway Brother
hoods and the leaders Of the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor. It is only
natural that there should have been
confusion, for quite suddenly the ma
ton was confronted with spontane-
Gus strikes in the railroad shops, with
wage demands of several Of the raii-
road unions, and with the introduction
of the bill embracing the so-called
Plumb plan for naturalization of the
railroads under tripartite control.
''In the statements of union headers
as to the wage, demands and as to
the commission proposed by the direy-
tor general to the President and con-
CURED in by him a. great deal was
said. The leaders of la Dor did not feel
inclined to accept this commission
because the need Of the workers for
what they considered to be an Ameri-
can wage was acute and a commission
meant delay in a matter which called
for very prompt action. The depreci-
alton of money had left the railroad
employees in precisely the same place
they had occupied before their wages
were advanced by the Railroad admin
lstration.
But while the determination Of the
labor leaders was plainly not to ac-
cede to a. delay in the question OF
Of threat never has been g. vestige
Of a threat Of strik or the desir Of IN
timidation in regard to- the Sims bill.
now before the committee on inter-
state commerce.
II can say Of my own personal
knowledge that in all the conferences
of the railroad union presidents held
during this spring and summer In con-
nection with their advocacy Of the
Plumb plan the subject Of strike, as
means to support the plan, has
never been even broached. These
union leaders felt it incumbent upon
them, as responsible guides in the
American labor movement, to act
without provocation and with all tho
dignity that should inhere to Ameri-
can political life. They did map out
program. They did organize a
league. They did make arrangements
to take to the rank and file Of the;f
nennbership, and 70 the public as s.
whole, all OF the arguments sanQ in4
TURN 10 PAGR FOUR
-