New-York tribune., 1920-03-07
Rail Wage Gain
More Than Rise
In Living Cost
Lines Under Government
Control Increased Scale
Of Earnings Faster Than
/ Amy of Other Industries
Figures Unsatisfactory
Translated Into Cash, Prices
Have Outdistanced Paw
Advances Since 1914
By Stanley Frost
Special Dispatch to The 7ribuns

Special Dispatch to The Tribune
WASHINGTON, March g. Under
government control of the railroads
wages increased faster than the cost
Of living did.
In the period from 1914 to 1919, also,
wages on the hourly basis increased
faster than the cost. Of living, but ow-
Ing to the shortening Of hours the
earnings Of employees have not in
creased quite so fast as prices have.
In the same period railroad wage
scales have gone up faster than those
in other employments, but average
earnings again here Jagged behind. be-
cause the railroad men have not shared
the big overtime payments Of other in
dustries.
Figures Unsatisfactory
Translated into the real cost Of liv-
bought as a result Of an hours work,
railroad men as a whole are better off
than they were in 1914. But translated
into cash earnings, the railroaders can
actually buy a little less than they
could in 1914. In exchange they have
something more than an hour and q
half increased free time each day.
These are the general conclusions
that stand out from an investigation
things that will have to be taken into
consideration in settling the billion
dollar demand for increased wages
which Is now pending. Figures on all
these points are a little unsatisfactory,
as statistics are sometimes lacking on
which to make the direct comparisons
which are desirable, but these lacks
are not serious enough to make the
conclusions uncertain.
It must be remembered that these
figures are for averages. They do not
mean that all railroad employees have
benefited to this extent. Some have
gained far more than the average;
many far lesss. There have been many
inequalities and some injustices in re-
cent wage increases, and there are
thousands Of railwaymen who can come
before the tribunal with far stronger
case in support Of their demands than
these figures indicate.
The main facts are theses
In 1914 there were 1,640, ,029 railway
employees who were paid $1.337 ,344,136,
an average of $sos each. BY 1917 the
average had Increased to $1,000 each.
an increase of 24.3 per cent. In the
same period, during which this reduc-
ton Of hours already was going on,
the average wage per hour had IN
creased from 26 to 96 cents, or SO per
cent. But during this period, accord
ing to the statistics Of twenty-one
cities, gathered by the Department o.
Labor, the cost Of living had gone VI
]].63 per cent.
So when the government took con
troll on January l, 1918, the wages o
railroad men had Jagged behind tn
cost Of living. Incidentally, Americ,
was already in the period Of the cost
plus contractor and railroad pay wa
Ear behind that which the war wor
was paying.
Big Government Increase
Then came the big government wage
increases. These were enough to pu
the wage-scale increase ahead Of the
cost of living, figuring from 1914, but
they were not enough to bring tn
leverage earnings level with prices
though they were greater than tn
price-rise in the last two years. Il
1919-the figures are partly estimate
there were about 1891 900 employees
and wages were about 2,750, 900 900, o
an average Of 81 ,451 per man.
This gives an increase over 1914 o
1915 per cent, while the cost Of livin
had risen about 83 per cent. The per
hour scale, however, which shows wor
done in proportion to earnings, ha
risen to an average Of 53 cents an houl
an increase over 1914 Of 1898 pc
cent, or 20 per cent better than tn
cost of living.
30 the railroad man to-day is gettin
considerably more for his work and
little less for his day than he di
In 1914, if his. reward Is figured Il
what he can buy with the money b
receives.
There are no complete tables show
ing how much the increase in wage
has been In other lines, but the Burea
Of Statistics of the Department o
Labor has complied the union wag
scales for several standard trades fror
about forty cities in the United State:
These scales, comparing 1914 wit