The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1925-03-19

cost them as the roads were operated
in former years. This is a tribute
to the ability of the men who man.
age the transportation affairs.
Operating the railroads is the larg-
est industry in the country and those
of the United States are the most
extensive in the world. The huge
steel trust is a small affair compared
with the railroads. That they car
ried without breaking strain the ire
mendous transportation business OF
the past year with an equipment
which only a few years ago would
have been totally Inadequate to the
task. should be sufficient proof OF
the efficiency of the management.
No business in the world commands
higher intelligence and receives more
intensive study than does the railroad
business of the United States. They
should be given credit too for the
fact that S657,OOO,0 900 of the afore-
said amount saved has been given
to the public in reduced freight rates.
Having in mind the wonderful rec
ords of accomplishment and eficlen-
CIV of the various railroad depart
ments. many young men are now
asking what are the chances for sue
cess for a young man wishing to
enter the railroad service today. Is
the field ~overcrowded, as many as
sert?
The individual records of a num-
Der of officials show that men of I'M
usual energy and ability may achieve
success when still young. Within
recent a a man who started In
the railway service as a clerk became
vice president in charge of traffic of
a great system when less than thirty
wears old. Another who also entered
the service as a clerk became vice
president of a great system when only
thirty-eight years old. Another who
entered the service through the en-
g~ineering department, became presi-
dent of a great system when he was
only forty-two. Another who en-
tered through the law department,
became president of n railway at
forty-one and of a large system at
fortv-four. The first two were not
college graduates; the second two
were.
James J. Hill and E. H. Hartman
made large fortunes by improving
and actually building railroads. Mr..
Hill was properly called the Empire
Builder of the Northwest" because
by building the Great Northern rail
way he opened up a vast territory
in that section. But individual men
no longer build railways. or directly
or indirectly own control, as they do
in other businesses. The ownership
of the stock of everv great railway
system is now diffused among MANY
thousands of persons, and railway
DEVELOPMENT has become a matter
Of improviog and expanding exist
inc properties rather than building
new ones.
The d%evelopment and MANAGEMENT
If railroads formerly vas a business,
Tt has now become primarily a pro-
fession. The income of railway of
fcers takes the form almost exclus-
ivelv of salaries. Thew are paid for
rendering what really is professional
services-that Of handling other peo-
ple's r%roperty for them.
While the salaries paid in the rail
road business are small COMPARED
with the incomes made nv many men
from comparatively small businesses
ard umerou men engaged in other
lines of professional work. the in
come. nevertheless of successful
railway men are substantial. 1t is
> fact also that railroad WAGES lead
those of the manufacturing indus
tries. This conclusion was reached
nv the National Industrial Confer
cree board, after making a thorough
investigation of the trends of wages,
hours and employment of railway
labor as a whole from 1914 to the
end of the first quarter Of 1874
Tn the first quarter of 1924 wages
of skilled labor in fnundries and ma
chine shops were 1913 per cent great
err than in 1924, but those of skilled
railroad shop labor at the end of 1923
we're 142 per cent above the 1914
level. and advanced still further tc
1922 cents a hour IN the first quart
err of 1924. In general the boards
investigation showed that railroad
labor as a whole is materially better
off now than in 1914. 1t showed
also that the average working weet
per employee was considerably short
err and the purchasing power OF th'
weekly earnings substantially mucf
o-,ao4ar