Newark leader. ([Newark, Ohio]) 1917-1946, 1920-02-20
THE RAILROAD MAN is A
ROBBER

who is not railroad man that, being
business man, shall do my best to
show you that he is a robber.
am a small merchant in a small
town. | sell dry goods, clothing and
shoes. A good share of my customers
are railroad men. In effect, | am their
purchasing agent.
In 1913 the switchmen brought in
their eight-hour wage to me, $3.50.
"Give me a suit of overalls, Sid" |
took his days wages and gave him
back $1.70 in change. Overalls $1.80
the suit. Today he is robbing the
public-he gets $5 for eight hours
work. He comes in today and he buys
overalls from me this way: "Here is
my days wages, Sid, gimme suit of
overalls." l take his days wages and
tell him that overalls have gone up.
He counters with the fact that che
should worry, he is getting more
money"
So l give him his suit of overalls
and tell him that they have jumped
from S1.80 suit in 1913 to $6 suit
now. | tell him to go back and work
over an hour and half more the next
day and bring me that dollar too, and
We will be square with one another.
His wages were raised about 40 per
cent and his overalls 230 per cent.
Somebody gave him 40 cents and
somebody took 230 cents from him.
And he is the robber you hear so
much about.
His wife bought 35 yards of ten
cent muslin in 1913, for her husbands
days wages. When she comes in my
store today with the wonderful in
crease in pay to get the 35 yards of
cotton, / tell her to go back home and
wait until her husband works almost
two days more, then bring me his
THREE DAYS WAGES and will
give her the 35 yards and one dollar
in change!
Somebody let him work one day in
1913 for that 35 yards. Now some
body lets him work almost THREE
DAYS for that thirty-fve yards.
Raw Cotton was 10 cents a pound
in 1913.
Raw Cotton is 40 cents a pound in
1920-a 800 per cent increase.
And he is out working the extra
two days in weather that is sixteen
below zero for that cotton. Weather
that you would not have your pet cat
out doors for over an hour! And he
and his fellow workers are the poor
simps that are robbing the public.
If he is conductor, fireman, en-
gineer or brakeman, it is just the
same. He gets more money it is true,
but the same percentages hold good.
Why? Because every dollar that that
class earns has to be earned away
from home-on the road-and it costs
him So extra per day to live on the
road. And don't you think for a min
ute he has room with a bawthp
And l am the fellow that has to
buy for them. How am l going to
buy for them when they are not MAX
ing enough money to afford the goods
that | have for sale? l must have at
least 7 per cent net profit. q am en-
titled to 10 per cent?. Those overalls
cost me $7.25 when l figure my net
profit and cost of doing business-and
/ am selling them to him for $6.!
read an awful lot of CUFF in the
papers about the common laborer go
ing into the stores and buying half
dozen shirts of pure silk, in a non
chalent manner, just a wave of the
hand and "Gimme them six, at $l5
each"
The railroad man in this town of
Gladstone, Mich, would wave his
hand heluva long time before he'd
get any silk shirts in this store in
half dozen lots. I'm too busy trying
to sell him the old fifty cents shirts
at $1.90-and he is too busy trying to
get enough money to buy them, to
try any of this handwriting stuff that
I read so much about.
And if you think that / am picking
on overalls and sheeting alone, just
try me. I'll tell you about shoes,
gloves, silks, ginghams-any old
thing you want to know in my line of
dry goods, clothing and shoes.
But don't call the railroad man a
robber because you won't be able to
prove it when l ask you to. He brings
me his check for two weeks work and
between himself, myself and the gro
Gerry man, we figure that somebody
ought to pay him just about 100 per
cent more and then he would not be in
the same class by at least fifty per
cent As he was in 1919