The Washington herald., 1921-03-26
CONDITIONS DEFY
UNIFORM RAMPAY,
LEADERS DECLARE
National Agreements Are
Held Impractical to
Roads.


agreements by railroads. involving
100000 employees. is said upon
high authority to be close at hand
Executives of the railway sys-
tens have, had the matter under
consideration and declare these
agreements cost the roads ,soO.ooo.-
900 a year.
Judge william l. Chambers.
chairman of the United States
Board of Mediation and concilia-
ton. said yesterday:
OBSTRUCTION of these agreements
would mean a calamity. lam in
clined TO agree. however. with
, Judge W. w. Atterbury. the vice
president of the Pennsylvania Rail-
road. in his statement that, al
though these agreements have
formed a structure upon which so
much that is vital to the masses
depends. and though they may be
all right in principle they are
utterly impracticable.
Where Geography Figures.
in my opinion railroad workers
of the South where living expenses
are cheap. should not receive the
same pay as railroad workers Of
the Northern sections of the coun-
try where expenses are high The
Southern railroader . requires less
clothes and less fuel, has the ad-
vantages of longer crop seasons.
produces eggs, chickens and pota-
toes in his own yard In many cases,
while the Northern railroader uses
more clothes in quantity and quail
ity. buys fuel and other necessaries
and has greater responsibilities.
-On a Southern road. say from st.
Augustine across Florida, there
may be one train out a day. and
the trainman gets back at night.
On a Northern road. say at AL
toona, Pa. there are several hun
dred trains a day. the work Is
harder, the trainman's vitality Is
taxed to a greater degree. his re-
sponsibility is greater, and he
doesn't know when he is going to
get back home. maybe never.
don't see how national agreements
can apply alike to these two en-
ployes-"
Atterbury's View.
In testifying before the Railroad
Labor Board at Chicago March %
Judge Atterbury said:
The Ten Commandments are
principles and one of them says
Thou shalt not steal 1t Is steal
ing for a man to take an hours
pay and not do an hours work. A
principle may be all right. but a
rule that works in Mackinac may
not Mt at all on the Paciffc Coast.
No rule laid down by a board is
admissible of national application
verbatim In 1917, 1,206,520 persons
were employed by the railroads.
In 1920 there were 1,436,4sS, an
increase of 229,96S. This increase
was caused by the eight-hour day,
more business and decreased produc-
tion per man. Earnings in 1917 were
sIO1O.596,751. or Ss37.s1 per man. In
1920 the earnings were s2.444.74s.441
or 20 per man. Assuming that
the increase in the number of en-
ployes is proportionate to the in
crease in business it would require
53,0S6 additional men to handle the
increase in the business. In reality
the roads required 22s.96s additional
men, 176,SS2 more than the number
worked out by principle. These ex-
cess men cost s30O,911, ,65s excess ex-
penditure."
The<estimate was prepared by the
Association of Railway Executives,
Judge Atterbury said, but the ma
terial was taken from figures sup
piled by the Interstate Commerce
Commission.
Wage Law Under Test.
7, A. n. ID PaiI.ooa st-;l-o
in Georgia, the railroads decisions
in answering wage questions were
delayed for advice from the railroad
executives. il Is said. Whenever
railroad wage disputes have arisen
recently. the local situation has been
submitted to the association of exec
utives, and in the case of the Erie
Railroad, which reduced the wages
of its employees. the wages were re-
stored upon advice of the executives
association
At Atlanta the law which requires
the railroads TO give twenty days
notice of wage reductions, Is being
tested before the District Court. The
railroad is in the hands of a receiver
as the result OF the strike of 1900
men and the plea Is made that II
costs the road "a 500 a day to pay
the wages under the old agreement.
The law requiring the twenty days
notice is Section of he Media
tion act.
Judge Chambers explained yester-
day that the strikers will be entitled
back pay covering the time the lfti-
cation Is in progress and the twenty
days required for the notice. In
fighting the case the railroad re-
ceiver charges that the law COM
pelling the road to pay the wages.
which means a loss of $500 a day,
Is confiscatory.