The New York herald., 1922-08-02
NATIONAL Rail WAGE
FIXING UNDERATTACK
Regional System Necessary
for Justice, Say High Gov
ernment Officials.
LIVING COSTS DIFFER
Labor Boards Method Is
Declared Serious Eco
nomic Mistake.
MEMBERS NOT TO BLAME
Failure of Railroads and En-.
ployees to Agree on Plan
Is Responsible.
MEMBERS NOT TO BLAME

| AS long as the railroad labor board
continues its attempt to fix and adj
just wages on national scale rather
than on a regional and local scale
high Administration officials who have
made study of the railroad situation
believe there will be no permanently
satisfactory adjustment OF the wage
question.
This statement was made to-day ir
connection with the steps which the
railroad labor board would be expected
to take for rehearing of the shop
mems wage cut, in case the strike is
settled in the near future.
The main essential at the moment, II
vas asserted. is that the board depart
from its national wage fixing policy and
institute a method OF wage fixing for
regions on the basis of living condi-
tions and on the wage paid similar
class of labor In other Industries. The
forecast was made that from now on
/; may be expected that regional zone
scales ana not national scales will he
embodied in the wage awards " the
beard.
Serious Economic Mistake.
Conditions, 1t is pointed out. are SO
widely variant In different parts OF the
country that it is serious economic
mistake to attempt wage fixing .9p a
national scale. The board has attempted
tc take local conditions and living costs
into consideration, but the absence OF
regional machinery. such as the adjust
n.ent boards authorized in the transpor-
tation act. has made 1t practically i'm
possible for the board to devote as much
attention to local differences as the case
demanded.
There is no disposition on the part
of officials to blame the board itself
for this manifest weakness in its meth
DDS of operations. During the last year
several attempts were made by the
board to set up such regional bodies to
have supervision of the. wages and
working conditions within designated
zones. The fact that these We're not
established was due entirely TO the
failure of railroad labor and the
railroads to agree on the question.
This was most unfortunate, 1t Is as
serted, as IL virtually compelled the
board to decree certain wage for a
certain class OF railroad workers and
then arbitrarily apply 1t TO the entire
country.
THE horizontal wage must cease v
the wages decreed by the board are 10
be based on the actual cost OF living" "
said a high Administration official who
has been remarkably accurate In his
diagnosis Of the industrial situation.
Difference In Sections.
Living conditions. he pointed out.
= ~. e. xf
his family comfortably in certain sec
wage, whereas an employee in another
section could not possibly maintain any
thing like the American standard OF
living on the same wage.
In northern New England, for in
stance. a man can rent reasonably
comfortable house for s25 or $40 a
month. In other places. notably In
congested centers OF population, 1t would
be impossible for a man to obtain a
decent residence for his family for
anything like that figure.
While the administration has no de-
tailed plan for zone wage fixing ready
the principle is we'll recognized by the
Government In it's employment OF labor.
The War Department. bases on zone
conditions the wages paid in the ar
senais as does the Navy Department
to the mechanics employed at the vari-
Gus navy yards.
Senator Cummins Uowa) said to-day
when the matter was called to his at
tention that there Is no new legislation
necessary to carry out the idea of wage
fixing zones and added that the trans
portation act fully provides for the
establishment of regional boards over
which the Railroad Labor Board would
have final authority.
In the face OF the apparent failure OF
all efforts to settle the coal or railroad
strikes, President .Harding's coal CON-
mitteeto-day completed the organization
and plan OF operation of Federal coal
distribution.
The plan will not be announced until
IL is passed upon by Secretary OF Com
merce Hoover tomorrow. II provides
in detail for the placing OF cars In the
ALLEGATION OF shipments under Interstate
Commerce Commission orders.
All the members OF the committee sx-
cept Secretary Hoover were at the con-
ference to-day. Coal operators IN tne
organization pledged full cooperation IN
giving preference in distribution wner-
ever great necessity Is shown.
Practically all OF the States threatenec
with a Goa shortage are cooperating, anc
In twenty -four OF them coal administra
tions have been set UP to distribute sup
plies received under preference orders
Reports to the Government indicate
some increascAn production, largely be
cause OF the priority orders issued bl
the Interstate Commerce Commission
These orders and embargoes declared
| under them by some OF the largest Goa
| carrying-rosds serving the non-unior
| fields. have cleared congestion to con
siderable extent and there Is a create
movement from the Son-union fields.
| washington officials are still conf
dent that there will be sufficient Goa
| to meet all absolute requirements, bu
| a ashortage In supply is inevitable.
Further emergency action by the In
terstate Commerce Commission will no
be taken until some further dire neces
sity arises. II is believed by official
here that the orders already in fore
and effect will be sufficient to meet tn
situation for some time to come.