Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1921-04-19

Taking up first the lay-off charges
the report presented by Mr.. Lauck
said that railroad shop lay-offs. in
complete, in the past nine months
were more than 100000.
A letter from Ration n. NJ. of March
IL last, charged that on the Santa
Fe. in January, after six machinists
had been laid off. the remaining ma
ch1nfsts were worked overtime 1,216
hours in that month.
Examples of what the report called
1.-The lay-off policy were instanced
from Indianapolis. Los Angeles, Nash
Vile. Oswego, n. Y; Horton. Kan; Du
Bots. Pa. and Ottumwa, Iowa.
A report from Oswego charged that
lin March, 1919, the shop here was
full of steel fiat cars Chat was under
government controD and the foreman
only had about twenty-four men cut
ting them down. The rest of the men
were walking about doing nothing at
all and drawing their pay. but there
was no lay-off then. The government
was paying for 1t. and not the New
York Central Now we have all kinds
OF work and we are laid on.
Tore on bad Order" Tags.
1t was charged that in January. at
, Winston Salem a foreman on the Nor
folk and Western was caught pulling
Tags Oil Dau OTueT cars, " ME DIT
Bluef1eld. on the same line, foremen
were alleged to have orders not to
have defective equipment repaired.
An Eckman. W. Va. letter from
railroad worker read: There are
pulled out Of here every day cars
with no brakes at all
The report carried statement
charging the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad Company with laying off
n do
liberately run with cracked plates.
cracked wheels, broken truck frames"
and twelve other specific kinds of
breaks.
by far the most Illuminating fact"
said the report. lin any attempt to
estimate what lies back Of these
railroad layoffs. is that practically
all of the larger systems have been
contracting with outside concerns for
repair of hundreds of locomotives
and thousands of freight cars which
would normally be repaired in their
own shops and yards.
Outside Repair jobs.
A list of alleged outside repair jobs
included:
Union Pacific, repairs with Pacific
Car and Foundry Company: Great
Northern. with Seims-Strembel Car
Nashville. with American Car and
Foundry Company. Jacksonville,
Ind: Michigan Central. with Illinois
Car Manufacturing Company, at
Hammond. Ind: New York Central.
Ryan Car Company. Hegewisch. Ill:
American Car and Foundry Company,
Depew, N. y. and Merchants Dis
patch and Transfer Company. East
Rochester. n. Y.
repairing cars for railroads, which he
said had been hiring car repair me-
chanics whom the railroads laid off.
He gave names of some of the work.
men and dates of their transfers.
The report charged that the roads
new policy is to subcontract in order
to remove from government control
many of their men. Numerous repair
companies. many of them said to be
new concerns. were named as taking
over railroad repairs. These in
Guided:
Hornell Repair and Construction
Company. Hornell, N. Y. Erie work;
Buffalo Steel Car Corporation work
for eight railroads, including the
Pennsylvania and the Wabash; Mani
small shipyards, Durham Car Repair
Company, work of the Indiana Har-
Dor Belt Line: Siems-Strembel Com
pany. capitalized at 100000. at St.
Paul: Empire Car Company. at Kan
kakee. ILL.,. and Phoenix Transit Com
pany. whose president. the report de-
clared. was the son of President F..
d. Underwood Of the Erie railroad"
The report said that this company
received the Fries harbor' work.
Took Over All Clerks.
The report charged that the r B.
Owens Construction Company. main
tanning tracks between Hornell. N. Y,
and Jersey City. took over an Office
force which consisted Of all the off,
GERS and clerks the Erie had on the
same work. They added Is per cent
to the payrolls as overhead expense,
cleaned up $4,000 a month for a
period of one year. When there ap-
peared to be probability of an in
ished."
Figures were presented which, Mr..
LAuck said. showed that the total
excess cost Of equipment repairs
made under contract by outside con-
Germs has been sufncient to have paid
all the shop employees laid OFF
throughout the country for full-time
erage price charged by Baldwin Lo-
connective Works was approximately
four times the cost of similar work
done in railroad shops. This was
for specific list of repair jobs done
however. estimated that II all the
locomotive repair work in the coun-
try were done by outside concerns
the cost of the railroads would be
about doubled 1t gave the present
national locomotive repair bill as a
little more than 100000. 900. II
charged that many large repair con-
Germs added 30 to 125 per cent to-
the labor costs for overhead The
concerns adding the high overhead
were alleged to belong TO the rail-
road combine" through interlocking d-
rectors.
Charges New York Central.
The report alleged that the New
York Central paid the Merchants
Dispatch and Transportation Com
pany of Rochester. y. y. an average
of Sl37 for repairs for labor per car
which actually cost the Merchants
Company S61 a car in November. 1920.
Tables of figures were presented Civ
ing alleged repair jobs car by car
This repair company. the report said.
was distinctly a New York Central
concern" adding that President
Smith of the New York Central was
until recently president of this COM
pany when he resigned in favor OF his
son.
In detailing the composition OF the
alleged banking combine in control
of the railroads. the report said that
the Vanderbilt directorships were
not included. II said that among
the twelve banks the Guaranty Trust
Company held the largest number
of railroad dirctorships with fifty.
while the National City Bank had forty
eight.
The report covered again the state
ments made earlier in the present
hearing by Il. NJ Jewell. for the
employees. that twenty-five well