Newark leader. ([Newark, Ohio]) 1917-1946, 1921-11-25
Soft For Bosses
RAIL MANAGERS BIG WAGE is
DISCUSSED.
Congressman Parks, of Arkansas,
Sides With OverwOrked, Poorly
Paid Road Men Whose Daily
Wages Average $454.

hington-President Harding re-
ceives $4,000 per annum as the head
of a nation of more than 100,O0O,OOO
people and the president of the Penn
sylvania railroad is paid $75,46O per
annum, said Congressman Parks OF
Arkansas.
Looking back across the years to
the beginning of life of organized
labor and the day of starvation
wages, what do we find ?" he asked.
without organized labor, without
their battle for just and fair wage
and reasonable hours of work, what
would have been the condition of labor
today?
at was only at the command Of the
congress of the United States that the
railroads equipped their trains with
safety appliances for the protection of
the lives and the limbs of those who
drive the locomotive, set the brakes
or direct the train. | recall that again
and again these men, seeking to earn
their bread in the sweat of their faces
men who were free and not slaves
found it necessary to appeal to the
governemnt to say what should be
days work.
"From the day the first piece of
steel was laid until this hour, the rail-
roads have demanded from the laborer
all that physical endurance and the
laws of the land would permit; they
have taken from the public every
ounce of flesh they were able to eX-
tract; they have never yielded until
they had fought every inch OF the
way and exhausted every remedy
known to the law; they have demanded
of communities rights of way, station
sites and bonuses; they have received
from the hands of the government
enormous tracts of land to induce them
to extend their lines, until today their
properties are worth $20,00O,O 1000, 900.
"Yet, while you and and the world
are safely sleeping after days work,
these railroad employees, who are so
severely censured when they stand up
for what they deem to be their rights,
and even threaten to strike, must go
out into the night and into the storm
and rain, doing their part to keep the
wheels of trade moving and to silence
the howl of the wolf at the door.
Shall we condemn the man for using
the only weapon for his defense that
he has?
"Let us inquire if he is really over
paid under present conditions. The
labor board has recently said that the
average days wage for all classes of
railway employees is S4.54. Allowing
nothing for sickness or vacations, TAX
ing out only the four Sabbath days a
month, he works 26 days a month,
and earns $118.04, or $1,416.48 for a
full year. Naturally, some deduction
must be made for sickness. 1t is easy
to see that this is not sufficient to
supply man of family with the ne
cessities of life"
Congressman Parks included in his
speech long list of high salaries paid
railroad officials and attorneys. For
one railroad-the Pennsylvania-the
following names were mentioned:
Samuel S. Rea, president, ,.-.--... S75 ,460
James j. Turner, vice president 4O,62O
w. w. Atterbury, vice pres. 10000
w. Hayward Myers, vice pres. $4,000
Edward B. Taylor, vice pres..... $3.50
G. l.. Peck, vice president. 3O,O3O
George Dallas Dixon, vice pres. 10000
d. T. McCabe, vice president 10000
B. McKeen, vice presidert..-....- 25,O2C
7 M Shoemaker, vice pres.. $4,000
Henry TatnalI. vice president. $4,000
James F. Pannestock, treas. 10000
William Newell Barnard, spe-
cial assistant to general
manager ................................ 25,OO0
Thomas Rodd, chief engineer. 21,O8O
Francis |. Gowen, general coun-
sci ..................... 10000
G.. Heiseman. general counsel. 10000
Henderson & Burr, solicitors. 29,7OO
G. s, Patterson, gen. solicitor 10000