Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-05-18
ALDERMEN IN MOVE ON
RAILROAD SITUATION
lContInued from page 1)

only are the car cleaners paid a
higher rate of pay. but all classes
of labor arc much higher paid than
these same clean-cut American-born
BOYS. The boys in the train service
do not bcgrudge the laborer their
higher pay. but they do think that
they should at least get as much per
hour as the laborer, especially when
of these same laborers are for
eiRners, and who have no Intention
OF becoming American citizens. h
present situation is very serious n
some steps must be taken to prevent
what may lead TO disastrous results.
The general managers of the railroads
of his country should be given to
understand that they by their arbi-
actions will not be allowed to
stop the wheels of industry of this
country, thereby bringing about a con-
dition of starvation and perhaps anar
ehy. and that since the government
Is guaranteeing the railroad stock
holders fv and one half per cent.
on their investment, that we the pub
lie will insist on having some say as
10 the way The public money shall
be spent.
AS an illustration CT the utter
disregard OF how this contribution
made to the railroads by the public
through their representatives at
w dSIliIikloH is DtlUR SIudilutItu. VIC
find that in their efforts to beat the
men who are struggling for better
conditions. in order to properly sup
port their families, which means ed
ucation that undoubtedly will make
these children militant Americans of
the future, the railroads are now
paying the men who are working in
the places of the Vacationists W.
dollars per day more than were paid
the "vacationists" as well as buying
their overalls and boarding them at
the same standard that a person who
may live in a Fifth avenue New York
hotel, or at an approximate expense
to the government of about $40 per
day per man. The presidents and
boards of directors of the various
railroads are looked on as the cap
tains of industry of his country, and
are now promoting schools of Amer
lcanization (Which is a good move),
but what kind of Americans are they
going to make of the children of the
men now on strike-children born in
this country of parents who were
born in this country, and In thou
sands of cases their grandparents
were born In this country.
when these children grow into
manhood and womanhood, and look
back on the struggle of their parents
and the treatment accorded them by
lItlE BONtIllnitIlI III cIhpiOJ L IL
they realize that that same treatment
prevented them from getting proper
education and foods, that would fit
them for the struggles for an exist
ence, what kind of citizens may they
become? 1t should be the first
thought of the government and m
ployers to properly look after our
q proper example for the foreign
born, and 1t Will prove to be the best
Americanization school hat we can
provide.
An engineer in yard service today
If he works every working day in the
year. taking in all day on Saturdays
and all holidays, which will include
Christmas and Fourth of July and no
vacation, Sundays not included, he
will make $1.742 per OF
course, in slack times. he naturally
will not work all working days, which
will make his yearly pay less pro
rata for the days off. Should a yard
brakeman put in the same time as
just specified in the engineers case,
he VIII receive about 81, $50 per year,
less the number of days off on account
of slack time. The conductor re-
ceives $3.50, and the fireman $1,000.
And these wages at a time when the
Bureau of Commerce of this govern
ment at Washington widely publishes
tIdl nut DItSeIlt CODulllOno 1O L
lily of five can properly live on less
than $4,000 per year.
Is 1t not enough to drive to shame
those very public-spirited citizens who
manned the trains in order to break
the strike; and might we ask what
caliber of man Will h student make,
when at his present age he stoops to
deprive those railroad men of a just
compensation, n what about the
college faculties that allow it? Or
perhaps it is not so much h public
spirit that induces those students to
act as strike breakers. as 1t is the
high wage and the princely keep.
In the interest of economy there
must be a halt called on this waste
of money by the railroads. In the in
terest of the business and the well
fare of the country, there must be
something done to adjust h deplor-
able conditions of the country. In the
interest of tho public in general who
will experience sever suffering,
should the present conditions continue
TO exist but a very short while
longer, we call on the railroad man
ayers to bury their revengeful spirit.
and restore those men to their former
positions.
The maximum wages of railroad
men in yard service: Engineers, 20
cents per hour, $500 per day COZ
eight hourS), $1742.SO per year COR
31S days); Firemen. 52h cents. 1920,
S1314.60; Conductors. Sc 5/S cents,
$3.50, $1642.64: Brakemen, 62a
cents. IS. and $1565: Passenger brake
men. 44k cents. 1856 and s1114.2S;
road brakemen. 81 cents. $4.0S,
$1277.04.
Now, therefore, be it resolved. that
this body go on record as being p
posed to the policy of spending the
pnblic's money to make serfs of
citizens.
And, be II and 1t Is hereby further
resolved, hat a copy of this resolution
be sent to each of the United States
senator's from this state, also to the
representatives from this district,
also a copy to the official, paper of
this board. to President Wilson, State
Chamber of Commerce, State League
of Municipalities, New Brunswick
Home News. with the request hat
they use their good offices with the
newly appointed labor board, to have
the strikers put back to work with
their seniority rights. n thereby end
the strikers vacation.
Following is the resolution, intro
duced prior to the lengthy one. which
was attacked by Alderman Clark as
being a 'camouflage' and which was
lost when laid on the table by a vote
of four to three. Aldermen Waters,
Patten. Clerk n Wester voting to
lay It on the table. while Aldermen