Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1921-11-25
RAIL MANAGERS
WAGE DISCUSSED
BY CONGRESSMAN
"a. F. of L. News Service)

Washington. - President Harding
receives $75, 900 per annurn as the
| head of nation of more than l00,-
100000 people and the president of
the Pennsylvania railroad is paid
S75, 400 per annum, said Congress
man Parks of Arkansas.
"Looking back across the years to
the beginning of the 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 la
Dor 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 protec--
ton of the lives and the limbs of
those who drive the locomotive, set
the brakes or direct the train. | re-
call 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 neces-
sary to appeal to the lawmakers, and
the government once more stepped IN
and said that man should not be
required to work more than 16 hours
a day; land; then, when the day of
fast trains with the increased hours
incident thereto came, and with the
terrible responsibilities of life and
property in the hands of the em-
ployes, they again found it necessary
to appeal to the government TO say
what should be days work.
"From the day the first piece of
steel was laid until this hour, the
railroads have demanded from the
laborer all that physical endurance
and the laws of the land would per-
nit; they have taken from the pub
lie every ounce of flesh they. were
Welded 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 enor-
NOUS tracts of land to induce them
to extend their lines, until today
their properties are worth S2O,OOO,-
100000.
Yet, while you and and the
world are safely sleeping after a
davis 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 con
denim 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,
taking out only the four Sabbath
davs of a month, he works 26 days a
month. and earns S11S.04, or $1,416.4S
for a full year. Naturally, some de-
duction must be made for sickness.
II is easy to see that this Is not SUI
ficient to supply a man OF family
with the necessities of life"
Congressman Parks included IN his
speech a long list of high salaries
paid railroad officials and attorneys.
On one railroad-the Pennsylvania
the average salary Of 20 OF these
individuals is 0,722.50,