Norwich bulletin., 1919-07-02

A statement and explanation of wh. the Shore < Idne Electric Railwa. ! compary cannot grant any increase Il 1 wages now to it's employees. is givel | in letfer made public by Genera Manager M G. Strstton. This state i naent is given in a letter sent by Pres ideft Robert W. Perkins of the Shor Line to Harry F. McGIone. ci1airna, 1 of the general committee of the en1 l the defnands f5r a higher wage scai hays been presented.
 | President Perkins states in his lettA that it is a financial irnpossibiiitY fo f the company to increase it's operatirs wages as tie System is running be. hind TOW and is not anywhere nea, meeting its operating expenses. Tn a letter aecoanpanyinz the copy of the answer to MT McGlone, Genera Manager Stratton says that '.th, Shore Line Electric Railway cem- pAny, as company and it's official. 1 personality regret extremely that i of its employees. but 1t has reached the point where it is impossible for i to do anything further along thes, lines with it's present revenue ana The following ? is General Manager Stratten's letter to MT. MoSi0ne, th< chaifmsn of the general committee oi ths employees Of the road
 Norwich. Com. June ?. 1919. Russell Read. Norwich, Conn. Dear Sir,=-wifh reference to the conferences held between your gen eraf committee and the writer in con
 nection with the working agreement to be signed for the year ending May sfst, 1899. and your request that the writer ask the executive committee of The Shore Line Electric Railway Company to state whether Or not it ,--<, Aa %l %f of wage schedule up to arbitration.
 would advise that. as . per my agreerfent. this matter was taken tip with Mir. Perkins as soon after our with him. and he has taken up the matter with the directors and the executors of the Morton F. Plant Els tate and has written the enclosed let ter covering the situation. I am send ing this letter to you in this way as shall be out of town tomorrow and Sunday and I wish to get this to you, as per my agreement, as soon after I have received it. as possible. I wish you would carefully look this over and submit it to your committee. and If there is anything further on which you wish conference, I should be glad to meet you at almost any time. I wish to state that we are sending you this letter by registered mail and shall held the enclosure until We'd nesday, July 2, after which it will be given to the press of the territory served by the system with the idea in view of trying to create a better sup port from the public by giving them the financial facts of the road as they exist today.
 If there is anythi---, we can do to shall be glad to do it. and we trust you will use your influence with the men in preventing them from doing anything rash which might put them ii q poor light before the public. In closing, wish to say. that regret. as dc all the eHlcia1s ot this company, that the financial condition of the road is such that its.iss impossible for us to grant the request Of our em- pieyes
 Truly yours.
 (signed) NJ G. sTRATTON,
 General Manager.
 Fresieea4 Perkins Exsiaratfen. $ FFesfdent- Perkins explains the sit- ,Ie etion ih the following letter:
 Norwich, Conn. June 27. Is1e. AIT. Harry Mcdlene, Chairman. Nor
 wich, Connecticut.
 Dear Sif:-In order to make per- fectiy clear the reasons for ouf state- niett tfaat we cannot grant an in- crease of wsEe. or make any chang ge in 4i1f opera ting conditions that would add to operating costs, we feel that the feife~inE facts should be pre- scented to you.
 The shore Line Electric Railway Company is made up of several pro this consolidation being brought about by the purchase Of ssec,,ritiea at the then market vai4se. which wast below par, and, in some instances, ssritiss ~ ef '| ths shers bore Line aeSaa axaisst s these purchases it was possible to very tna teriaiiy reduce the amount Of the of fhe properties asi As matter of fact, sh these securities were reduced ss91,- over sses seoo in cash was placed in he frea snry of the company This reduced the rentals and interest charges to point where it was be- protect the interest on outstanding bonds.
 In addition to the properties owned by the Shore Line. it holds under lease from The Cenneeticut Company what is known as the New London di- tsrfous divisions Of the Sheres Line and was taken over under lease at a -entai that showed for two years al profit of. approximately. s2o.eo0 al Shore Line system. The result of op-- srations, since 1916. has been most lisa ppofntiT1g as applied to the prop srty as q whole, for while gross earn pEs have increased, operating ex- senses have increased very much neTe rapidly, as shown by the follow ng figures: Gross earnings in 191ea ,omittiflg cents) were S1,327.S25. while T 1918 they we're (omitting cents) s1,-l '24-1sS. an increase of s19S,S44. Op- rating expenses in 1916 were $ss1 ,522,
 
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