Milford chronicle., 1919-08-29
UNCLE TED'S
BED TIME STORIES
Current Events for the Children
and Grown-Ups, Too!
JACK LEARNS ABOUT THE
RAILROADS

From all appearances JACK udu Just
been dipped in a coal bin. From his
5sad to his feet he was one mass of
ART and as he ran to the front door
Iote for supper Uncle Ted called to
him. Well, where has my little street
nrchin been this timer"
i've been down to the round house
fr the railroad yards and I'm going to
be an engineer too" answered Jack
with great pride.
so" smiled Uncle Ted, you're go
fnp TO be a railroad man? l suppose
tley have told you lots of things about
t1e railroads down there and what
thew are trying to do with them"
well" said Jack, 'Nlr Jones, that
bfc fat engineer, told me I'd better
learn all about railroads and trains
because the men who run the trains
are going to fix it so that they viii get
half the fares and do just as they
please
Just as I thought" answered I'M
Gle Ted. Now run along and wash
your face and hands, get your sister
ana hurry back here and while you're
eating supper I'll tell you the true
story of the railroads"
JtCh Wd0lGA ilLAlG LlllAt All Washing 3
and. after calling Ruth, the two chill /
dren sat quietly, eagerly. awaiting for
the story.
Now children" began Uncle Ted.
-frst OF all 1 must explain something /
about the clubs that the railroad men
belong to before telling you about their
Dlan to own and run the railroads.
You see. the engineers who run the .
engines, the fremen who keep the fires /
going in the furnaces under the big
engines. the conductors who take your
tickets, the brakemen who take care .
of the red flags and lights and let the4
engineers know what is going on in
the back of the trains. and all the men
who work in the railroad shops, fixing
broken engines and cars, belong to a
club called the Railroad BrOtherhOOds.
These Brotherhoods or clubs are di-
vided into four classes, one for the
engineers, one for the firemen, and
so on"
But why do they have clubs?" ask
ed Jack.
"They have clubs so that they can
decide just how much money they will
get and how many hours they will
work. You see, the railroad men are
paid by railroad companies who have
to pay all expenses of the roads
These companies are headed by Pres
idents and bodies of men called the
Boards of Directors. They are re-
sponsible for what the railroads do
Whenever the men belonging to the
Railroad Brotherhoods want more
money or shorter hours they tell the
railroad heads. If they don't get what
they want they have what is called a
strike. That is, they all refuse to
work until they get just what they are
asking for. Sometimes men from the
heads of the railroad and men from
the Railroad Brotherhoods get togeth
er and make a plan that suits every
body and then the men go back to
work"
Daddy says the railroad heads did
not have much to say during the war;"
Jack.
NO, during the war the Govern :
nent ran the railroads and will con- =
inue to run them for some time or
until the President says otherwise {
When the Government first started +
'unning the roads President Wilson +
put Mr.. McAdoo, who was Secretary \
If the Treasury, at the head of all the +
of the country. That is one !
'eason there is trouble now. You see, \
Turing the war we had to move our !
soldiers and food just as fast as pos
ible. President Wilson thought the
lest way was to have the Government
10 it. Mr. McAdoo had so much to do
lready that he couldn't worry much
bout the railroads. Whenever the
abroad workers wanted more money
e let them have it without any ques-
ion. He didn't want any strikes be-
ause it would look bad for him. But l
ecause he let them have their way
uring the war, whether it was right
r wrong, these men now want the
government to buy the railroads for
hem so they can get all they want and
lst kick the railroad heads out with
ut asking them whether they want .
o 90 or not" -
81 don't think that's nice" said Ruth. n
Not very" replied Uncle Ted. "Now II
ere's what the railroad men want our II
ongress in Washington to do. They II
ant a law passed that was written II
y one of their own men, a man named III
lem E. Plumb, that would cause a II
ew company to be formed to run all !
le railroads in the United States. It II
called the Plumb plan because Mr..
Iumb wrote it. They want the Gov
'nment to buy the railroads and then
I'm them over to the railroad men to
IN They say that half 0f the money
ade by running the roads under this l
aw plan would go into the Treasury h.
Washington, which means it would o.
> to the people of the country, and '
e other half would go to the railroad J'
en- themselves. Just think of that!
here are 100,0O0,000 people in the 10
nited States and if such law were d'
lssed one-half of the profits from the Sc
ilr0ads would have to be divided q.
nong 100,000,000 people while the
her half would so to the railroad
en-. and there are only about 5,OO0,- u
% Of them, even when you count III ~
ch railroad man as representing a Y,
mily Of five people" a;
you mean" said Jack, "that the e-'
ilroad men would run the railroads =
th Government money and that they
luld get half of the money made and
at all the people of the country
lose money would help buy the roads I
'uld have to divide up the other !
lf?"
That's exactly it. And because
ere are one hundred million people
the United States and only five mil
n railroad people you see how un-
r the plan is. Why, if such a plan
re allowed to exist each man be-
lging to the Railroad Brotherhoods
uld get twenty times more Of the