Arizona republican., 1920-07-21
Seek Rd9se In Rates To COUer
 S0Idry Boosts
Republican A. p. Leased WIreJ


 has been laid by the $6oO,000,00o
 wage increase granted today to
 more than 1,8oo,OoO railroad en1-
 ployes tonight remained undecided.
 Brotherhood officials made no att tempt to conceal their disappointment that they did not get all of the billion dollar increase they asked. The belief grew, however, that they would sub init the award, probably without rec ommendation, to a referendum of the promised tomorrow by W. c. Lee of Cleveland, grand president of the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen.
 No Outlaw Rebel Strike Likely
 There will be no illegal outlaw, rebel, sporadic or immediate railroad strike" MT. Lee said. Whether tha railroad wage award is accepted or re- jected, the union action will be conI certed and deliberate"
 The various brotherhood groups cons ferred far into the night, but no am nouncement was made by any of them as to what action had been taken. Each group will report at general meeting tomorrow at which it was ex- pected a decision would be reached.
 It was reported tonight that four courses of action were under consider ation. Acceptance under protest; ac- ceptance with a provision that new wage requests would be formulated later; submission of the awards to a referendum vote of members for ac- ton, and flat rejection with 'plenary powers invested in the leaders to call q strike.
 Pass Raise Along to Consumer
 Railroad representatives accepted the award philosophically and imme- diately set about plans for passing the $500, 100000 addition to their wage budget along to the ultimate consumer -in this case the man who pays the freight Armed with reliable advance knowledge as to what the award would provide, the railroads had their figures ready. Judge R: M. Barton, chairman of the United States railway labor board, had hardly handed down his decision when E. T. Winter, rep resenting the more than 400 rail
 roads involved, announced that the
 roads would need an increase of 18
 per cent in freight rates to meet
 the boost.
 The interstate commerce commission will be asked to spread the increase over both freight and passenger rates.
 The $500, 1000, 900 award represents a 21 per cent increase in the pay of the railway men. For the first time in his- tory the roads pay rolls this year will pass the s3.oOO, O0o, 900 mark. MT. Winter estimated the 1920 payroIls at $3,344, 100000, more than double the $1,46S, ,576,394 paid in 1916.
 Get Back Fay Aug. The boards award was made retro active to May 1 with provision that back pay for three months falls due Aug. l, when $50. 900, 900 is to be dis | tributed in addition to the regular pay. In it's decision the board followed the broad general policy laid down by the Lane commission, appointed in 1918. that the men who received the least | should get the most. On a percentage | basis the biggest increases went to the unslilled and semi-sl1illed labor The one notable exception to this general rule was the yard service men. whose IS cents an hour increase | topped all others. Here the board plained, the deciding factors were the extreme hazard to life and limb and the degree of skill required.
 1 Today's award, if it is accepted by
 the men, will bring to q close, at least ] for the present, the board believes. the l seemingly endless cycle of wage de-
 mands from the railway workers. | Starting with the demands of 1916,
 which were met for a time by passage l of the Adamson law, there has been
 many appearance of rail unions before various government boards and conl-
 missions all demanding changes in pay. 1 Many Increases Granted Since 1916 | When the government took control 1 of the roads in December, 1917, it found | pending requests from many unions for
 more money. The Lane committee re- sponded with graduated scale rang | ing from d 43 per cent increase for the | poorest paid men to nothing for those getting above $249 a month. 4 ceries ] of adjustments followed.
 ] In January. 1919, Director General
 McAdoo received a request from tho shop crafts asking that he add another | $500, 100000 to the wage budget to meet
 the rising cost Of living. The request hung fire for many months. In August | of last year President Wilson appealed | to the men to wait and give the gov l eTnment a chance to reduce the cost | of living. They waited until this year,
 then pressed their requests again.
 Again the matter was deferred, as l federal control of the roads was about | to end. Tn February, congress passed ] the transportation bill providing new machinery in the labor board to deal with the case but it was not until the i board was appointed on April 15, that | work was begun.
 This long delay and succession of ! disappointments. coupled with the pressure of a further rise in living costs produced deep and not unreason- able dissatisfa on the part of rail- way employees who felt themselves called upon to make sacrifices. as they believed, far beyond that of any other class" the board said in its report. | Tt is clear that the cost of living ] in the United States has increased ap- proximately 100 per cent since 1914, the decision added Tn many instances l the iUcrea ses to employees herein fixed. ! together with prior increases granted since 1914 exceed this figure. The cost of living and wages pa.d for simi-