New-York tribune., 1922-10-30
Abstract Basis for Fixing
Wages Would Wreck
Roads and Ruin I'M
dustry, Majority Asserts
Family Budget Plan
Figures Disputed
Principle, Basedon Guess,
Would Lead to Public
Ownership, Says Report

CHICAGO, Oct. 20 (By The Asso-
ciated Press the theory of
"the living wage" as a basis for deter
mining wages of railroad workers, the
public and railroad groups of the Rail-
way Labor Board, in an opinion made
public tonight. declared suck course
IF carried to its legitimate conclusion
would wreck every railroad in the
United States and if extended to other
industries, would carry them into com
munistic ruin"
The opinion, in the form of q re-
loaader to a dissenting opinion filed
by A. G. Wharton, labor member, in
the recent decision increasing the pay
OF maintenance Of way employees 2
cents IN hour, declared if employees
were anted i2 to rs cents mini
mr. e for common labor, with
&C responding differentials for othe,
classes, IN increase OF 1857 per cent
III the nations railroad wage bill would
be necessary. This, the opinion said.
would add S3,122.a52.33 to the annual
pay roll, bringing it to S5,589, ,A45 ,3o3
which would mean, it added, an annual
deficit to the carriers Of $2,241, ,639, 9,51a
Ascent Wage Scale Hit Also
Even II the Ascent minimum wage
requested by maintenance of way men
were granted and corresponding diff.
ferentlals were made for other classes
OF employees, the opinion said. an in.
crease OF 5O.so per cent in wages would
be necessary, adding 10000 70
the annual wage bill of the roads
bringing it up to 5,Ss4,54O, thus
forcing the carriers to face an annual
deficit of $S7S,078,125.
The phrase "living wage" was termed
IN the opinion as "a bit of melli1uous
phraseology, well calculated to deceive
the unthlnk1ng. It the contentious
we're that the board should establish q
living wage the majority would read.
liy .accede to the proposition the
opinion said, "and as "a matter of fact
the board in this instance as in ali
others has granted living wage. But
the abstract, elusive thing called Che
living wage confessedly based upon q
makeshift and guess, cannot receive
the sanction Of this board, because il
would be utterly impractical and would
not be Just and reasonable,' as the
law demands"
Pay Raised 2 Cents an Hour
Mr. Wharton's dissenting opinion
and the supporting opinion in reply are
attached to the formal decision increas.
ing the pay of maintenance of wav en-
ployees cents an hour, ESTABLISHING a
m. MINIMUM I1 ranging from 25 to 81 cents
The United Brotherhood of Maintenance
OF way Employees, railway shop labor
ers, held strike order affecting 400
200 men in allegiance last July after the
board had reduced wages pending a re-
quest for an increase based ON the con.
tentlon that the cost of living had adj
vanced and wages in other Industries
had been raised.
When the. case came up maintenance
OF way officials asked the board to sub
scribe to the principle of the Giving
wage based on budget of what was
required for an average family of five
persons TO live In health and reason
able comfort. A majority of the board
refused to subscribe to this principle
asserting that the transportation act
called for establishing "just and
reasonable" wage and that just and
reasonable wage was, in effect, 3 living
wage.
Adds s2o,ooo,ooo Year
The maintenance Of way organization
asked the board to establish minimum,
rates Of pay of 4s cents an hour to re-
place rates then in effect ranging
from 23 to 80 cents After a dead
lock of several days the beard made
public it's decision, formally hande ed
down to-day, increasing rates of pay
2 cents an hour and adding about
s2o,000,000 to the railroad pay ROLL.
The decision asserted that the in.
crease was due mostly to the fact that
higher rates of wages were being paid
for the same classes of work in othe,
industries and that there had been no
appreciable increase in the cost of
living.
Mr.. Wharton in his dissenting opin-
ion maintained that the Fundamental
error of the decision rested on failure
to inquire into "the adequacy of rates
of pay established for section men and
unskiled laborers." He asserted that
rates Of pay in other industries of sim
liar character should be made second
airy consideration and that the prime
factor to be considered was whether
Continued page seven)