Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-04-18
PLANS TO REDUCE
RAIL WAGE limited
Wall Street Rumor Says
President Hoover Opposed
Decrease in Scale.
BY CHARLES F. sPEARE.
Lal pispa tch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, April 18.-RumorS to
the effect that delegation of railroad
presidents recently sought the opinion
of the administration in Washington In
the matter of reducing the wages OF
railroad employees have been circulating
in Wall Street for several days. The
story goes that the railroad men re-
ceived little encouragement for a sug-
geStion which Is known to be strongly
in opposition to President Hoover's eX-
messed opinion that wages in all classes
of industry should be maintained.
Not all railroad men are in agree
ment on the question of wages and the
ACCESSIBILITY Of attempting to reduce
operating expenses and thereby to ef-
feet an improvement in net operating
income through the medium of lower
wage scale. Some of them, in fact, are
strongly opposed to any attempt to
change the existing scale of wages, al
though pay rolls on practically all OF
the roads in the United States are
greatly below those of last year at this
season and the number OF unemployed
railroad men at present is the largest
in over 20 years.
Reduction in Employment.
AS evidence of the effect on railroad
employees of the terrific falling of in
railroad traffic are figures published to-
daY showing the number OF railroad en-
T1oSNs on February is to have been, &C
cording to the Interstate Commerce
Commissions records, only 1,316,435.
This compares with the average for
1880 of 100000 and with an average
of 1.686,000 in 1929. The decrease.
therefore, from the average of last year
is about IS per cent and p per cent
compared with 1929. At present the
railroad pay rolls contain 100000 less
employees than they did when the roads
were under Federal control in 1920. Ac-
cording to the statistics presented by
the Bureau of Railway Economics. 1t
Is necessary to go back over 20 years to
find SO few operatives at work as now
in directing the American Transports
ton machine.
obviously, the effect of the depres-
sion has fallen most heavily on that
class of railroad employees engaged in
the maintenance departments. In 1881
the reduction in maintenance OF way
and maintenance of equipment expendl-
lures was 1855 900 900, or ID per cent
below the average of the years, 1925
1929. 1t showed about the same de-
crease compared with the single year
of 1929. It was in these departments
that the railroads were able to erect
their largest and quickest economies,
when traffic returns fell off at a rate
that did not permit Of quick adjustment
in transportation costs. Consequently
out of the total decrease in the number
of railroad employees the highest ratio,
that of 10 per cent. occurs IN the main
tenance group in the past year. Gem
pared with 1929 the falling of has been
nearly 21la per cent.
Time-On Requirements.
The percentages of decrease in the
number of employees do not tell the
whole story of the contraction in rail-
road cay rolls, for il many instances
employes are required to take time Oh
each week or each ninth. which con-
siderably reduces the'r pay envelopes.
There has, however, b Ken no actual re-
auction in the unit scale Of wages. 1t
is doubtful if such a reduction will be
considered or encouraged unless condl-
tions show no improvement and larger
number of railroad dividends are re-
duced between now ana the beginning
of the Autumn season.
The Bureau of Labor statistics indi-
Gates an increase in March, not only in
employment in manufacturing establish
ments, but in the March pay rolls. The
PERCENTAGES of employment and Of pay
rolls reached their lowest in January.
At that time the drop in employment
from the level of 1929 was about Is per
cent while in pay rolls it was over 40
per cent, indicating that many operatives
were not only working on part time but
at reduced rates of pay. The present
condition of employment is regarded by
the Government agency as showing more
signs of stability. There appears TO be
a gradual rise from month to month
in employment in industry and the in
crease in the March pay roll was greater
than the normal average for that
month.
copyright, 1917