Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1920-05-07

He quoted former President Gar
retson of the Order of Railway Con.
ductors as saying that Railroad
service is peculiar. 1T is a place
where towards resign and weak
lings die"
"Out of every hundred men who
start as firemen" said, Mr.. stone
but seventeen ever become eDgi.
neers. out of every hundred men
who do become engineers only SIX
get to passenger engine. SO II
there is anything in the Darwinian
theory of the survival of the fittest
and his theory of evolution. it is ex-
emplified in the locomotive engi-
neer."
Mr.. Stone said that whereas pre-
viously men were able to get meals
at terminals for 25 or 80 cents and
a bed for Is to 25 cents, he did not
know of single place where n
bed could not be secured for less
than so cents or a meal for less
than so to rs and 80 cents. While
some railway employees now carry
lunches, the modern locomotive is
not built to carry anything, simply
built to pull tonnage, and there is
no place in the cab to carry even
a lunch basket.
Facing Most Critical Period in
History.
"You gentleman of this board are
continually confronted with the
question of what the cost will be
In event wages of railroad employees
are advanced. have wondered
what the cost would be If we did
not find some solution for this
present industrial unrest. l think
] know how thin this social struc-
ture is and this crust we are living
on, and | know what is smo1lder-
ing down underneath, and | repeat
again we are facing the most criti-
cal time in the history of our coun-
try, and we must find some solu-
ton.
I'VE have done everything posi-
BILE during the war and since the
war to keep our men in line and
carry out our contracts in good
faith for these railroad organiZa-
lions regardless of the abuse that
has been heaped upon us during
and since the war. Organized labor
is doing everything possible today
that men can do, and when you
talk about the last four weeks of
these strikes and charge it up to
the /. w. w. and something else,
I want to say to you gentlemen
that ! think / am conservative
when I say that about 95 per cent
of these men here wanted no
strike; they are just as loyal Amer
leans as you and ! possibly can be.
1t is simply a condition. They can
not longer live on their present
wage and 1t is simply an indication
of the trend OF the times, and un-
less we find some solution for it
here, 1t Is not going to be the end
of the disturbance that is coming
into the industrial world"
Heberling Presents Switchmen's
Demands.
s. z. Heberling, president of the
Switchmen's Union of North Amer
lea, appeared before the railroad
labor board on April %, and placed
before the members the wage de-
mands of this organization. He
made profound impression, ap-
parently. He emphasized the haz-
ardous employment of the switch
men and presented statistics to
prove that in 1918, one man out OF
every 6.5 engaged in switching ser
vice was either killed or injured.
The average industrial life of
switchman, according to the rec
ords Of the switchmen's union, is
approximately seven years. The
wear and tear of the switehman's
work places an unusually heavy
burden on him because OF the in