The New York herald., 1921-01-30
RAIL HEADS PLAN
3 LINES OF BATTLE
Continued from First Page.

vania is chairman of the committee that
will conduct the campaign and has as
| his aids the following railroad presi-
dents: W. G.. Besler of the Jersey Cen
trail. H. Z. Byram of the ST. Paul, Carl
| r. Gray of the Union Pacific, Hale
Holden of the Burlington, ]. II. Hustis
Of the Lehigh Valley, N. ID. Maher of the
Norfolk and Western. c. III. Markham of
the Illinois Central, w. r. Scott of the
Texas and Louisiana lines of the South
ern Pacific. and J. II. Young of the Nor
folk and Southern.
That the application 10 the Labor
Board for a reduction in wages will be
vigorously opposed by representatives OF
the men is evident from the statement
of Warren S. Stone. grand chief engi-
neer of the brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers THE men in railroad work
are not going TO accept reductions In
wages now" said Mr.. Stone. "They have
to pay just as much as they ever did
for what they get"
1t is expected the first guns in the
battle of the railroads for lower wage
scale will revolve about a very small
case. and this will be used as an entering
wedge TO open UP the full case for hear
irg by the Labor Board. The case is
that of the Atlanta. Birmingham and At
.antic Railroad whose officials have ap-
Piled to the Labor Board to reduce the
scale of wages 80 per cent. of the in
creases granted since December 81, 1917.
Railroad executives viii bring before
the board in full detail the miserable
financial showing of the roads in the
year just closed. in which many of them
failed to earn their interest and dividend
charges, and in which several of the
smaller and weaker roads fell far be-
find financially. II will be shown. the
rail executives say, that instead OF earn
ing the per cent. which the Interstate
Commerce Commission has recognized as
the return necessary to enable the roads
TO expand their facilities sufficiently to
give the public adequate service the
roads have earned barely per cent in
1920.
In September the roads earned 81 per
cent. of the expected net return in Oc-
tober II per cent. and in November 5S
per cent. December, whose totals are
not all recorded, will show better rec
ord. 1t is pointed out by the statisti-
clans of the roads that the total net
operating income they should have
earned for those months of September.
October and November to have con-
tributed their full share toward a s
per cent. annual reutrn was 1924. 900,
while the amount actually earned was
s219. 500, 900.
The biggest item of the expense bud
get of the railroads Is in wages, and ac-
cording to the executives this is one of
the sore spots in the present situation
that hae caused them to fall behind.
Samuel Q. Dunn. advisory counsel of
the Association of Railway Executives,
is authority for the statement that the
railroad payroll of to-day Is s3,700,-
100000. as compared with s1,700, ,000, 900
in 1917
In discussing this problem another
railroad authority says: "In 1917, when
the Government took charge of the rail-
roads the number of employees was
placed at 1.703.000 and the annual pay
roll was s1.730,057, 7,o0O BY the end of
1919 the personnel had risen to 1871
600 and the payroll item was s2,744.-
100000 On July 20 last year this was
boosted to the extent of S626. .000, 900 a
year by the award of the United States
Railroad Labor Board. In spite OF re-
ductions In the forces of various lines
recently it is probable that the labor
bill paid by the railroads annually is
approximately s3,250. 100000.
I'VE are at present handling about
the same tonnage on our railroads as
we did In 1917, and We have had no
appreciable gain in the number of cars
and locomotives. But, due to the addi-
tion Of $4,000 men under Government
control and the wage increases. we are
paying a billion and a half more for
approximately the same service
In arriving at its decislcl to grant a
general Increase 20 employees and to
make the new scale Of pay retroactive
TO May I. 1890. the Railroad Labor
Board took into consideration seven fac
tors: first the scale Of wages paid for
similar kinds of work In other indus
tries; second, the relation between
wages and the cost of living: third, the
hazards Of the employment; fourth, the
training and skill required: fifth. the
degree of responsibility sixth. the char
acter and responsibility OF the employ
ment. and. seventh. inequalities OF in
crease In wages or of treatment the re-
suit of previous wage orders or adjust
ments.
1t is on these identical factors that
the railroad executives plan to wage
their fight. with the added factor of
the present financial condition OF the
roads.