East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1922-08-02
RAILROADS NOT TRYING
CONTINUED from page u


that demand became more and more
insistent. Business depression, or al
least the failure of business to resume
its normal volume, was attributed
persistently to what were called ex-
.cessively high transportation charges.
1t was quite apparent to the railroad
arrangements that rate reductions
would be ruinous unless operating ex-
penses, labor, materials and supplies,
We're lowered proportionately,
AN exhaustive survey of employ
ment conditions throughout the coun-
try showed conclusively that the wa
ges of railway employees were Ia,
above those being paid for compar-
able work in other industries. and out
of line with the cost of living, which
was steadily falling. Confronted with
demands for rate reductions and the
knowledge that these demands could
not be met without further reductions
IN operating expenses, with the proof
that railroad labor could contribute
to the inevitable readjustment with
cut violating any measure of fairness
or reasonableness in the transporta-
ton Act, the railroads took their case
before the labor board Just as the em-
ployes did when the conditions were
reversed. The whole case of the rail-
roads was based on the relevant fac
tors in wage fixing as enumerated in
the law. The result was the ordering
by the board of comparatively small
reductions in the wages of shopmen,
IN N To- Of,
ton and signal employees and station
airy enginemen and boiler room work.
ers. These wage reduction orders
have been the subject of great dea
of bitter criticism, but it should be
kept in mind that all three of the
public's direct representatives on the
board have concurred in Them and
one of the public's representatives the
chairman of the board, has repeated
ly defended the actions.
"The assertion widely circulated by
labor leaders that the railroads have
cut the pay of their sectionmen to 20
100. 900 such men, is not true Indeed
cents an hour affecting more than
The average wage by the hour is 32.7
cents. The 23 cent rate actually af-
fects fewer than 1000 yaborers, and
his only on a few roads in the south
and southwest where the railroad adj
itself believed lower pay
justified because of the difference in
living conditions. This class of labor.
received an average hourly rate of g
cents in 1915 and an average hourly
rate Of 1913 cents in 1917. The hourly
rate of this class of employees has in
creased therefore 69.4 per cent over
1917 and II per cent over 1915. The
average pay of section foremen under
he new decision is $119.7 per cent
higher than it was in 1915, and the
power of a section fore
mans wage is more than 3S per cent
greater than it was in 1915. His av-
srage hourly rate in 1915 was 1913
,ents, and under the new decision it is
,1.2 cents.'
Labor leaders, Mr.. Dillon said, had
an economic impossibility in
demanding for all their members a
living wage" of between $2,133 and
s2,637. This amount, if paid to all
the railroad employees as a minimum
would cause the roads to show q loss
every year in hundreds of millions of
dollars which the public of course
would have to make up in some way.
The railroads, the speaker declared,
had accepted the decisions of the In
ierstate Commerce Commission maxi
ng rates so much lower that the roads
would lose about 400 million dollars
l year, compared with the earnings of