The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1921-10-18
SEEKING TO AVERT
THE RAILROAD STRIKE

1t is more than likely that Presi-
dent Harding and the influences he
can bring to bear will avert the
threatened tieup of transportation
scheduled by the railway unions for
the first week in next month
While there is no probability of Mr..
Harding advocating wholesale sur
render to the unions, such as Mr..
Wilson mistakenly conceded several
years ago, he is likely to ask the rail
road managers to modify their de-
mands. 1t will be only justice if he
does.
The public has not felt very cordial
toward railroad men as class since
their virtual holdup of the entire
country when it went into the war.
And it regards their threat to gain
their ends by a nationwide strike
very much as the people of England
regarded the German submarine
blockade. At the same time, the pub
lie lis rather disglsted with the rail-
roads, which after being allowed to
raise rates higher than ever before
known, and being aided to the extent
of hundreds of millions of dollars.
from the public treasury, are counting
on the public to back them in break
ing a strike which they might avoid.
IL the railroad managers are not care
full, the pendulum of public opinion
will swing the other way and against
them.
The railroad managers might with
justice and without in1icting hard
ship cut down the wages of a number
of officials and highest paid men. But
a majority of the men are not very
highly paid, and even those who draw
what look like big salaries have big
expenses to meet.
1t is probable that a majority of
railroad employees never attained a
higher wage than FIVE dollars a day.
Some months ago, they had a cut of
twelve per cent. This would leave a
SIS day man with $40. Another cut
of ten per cent would leave him with
1896, which isn't decent wage for
a man with family.
A great many of the higher paid
railroad men are not near so well off
as men in other callings at the same
wages, as their expenses are higher.
This is particularly the case with
transportation men, on long runs. For
instance, the engineers and fremen,
conductors, baggage men and flag
men on the ten trains that run thru
Ccala daily, between Jacksonville at
one end of the line and Tampa or St.
Petersburg at the other. Most of
them have homes at one end of their
runs and have to virtually pay extra
for meals and lodging at the other. A
man who has home in Jacksonville
can't appreciably cut down the ex-
penses of his home by taking half his
meals and half his sleeps at the other
end of his run-not to speak of at
least one meal en- route. So each OF
these men pays extra the per diem OF
1AAO WY
he makes round trip. This is the
lot of the men on every long run in
the country and it cuts their incomes
down by an amount that would sur
prise the public if it knew the figures
It viii not pay the public nor tbs
railroads to hold the noses of the mer
down on the grindstone.
On the other hand, it will not pay
the men to strike. They can tit
things up for a while, and cause ev
e1yhody themselves ant
families great inconvenience ant
considerable suffering, but they vii
lose in the end, for the minute the,
strike they will stand alone The pub
lie will be against them, thousands o
non-union men will flock to man tkl
trains and the government viii insis
that the trains be run. Their grea
majority may be Teaceable and order
", but in this as in every other strik
there wiz be disorder, more thai