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MARTIN P. CATHERWOOD
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i

RAILWAY CONDUCTORS
A Study in Organized Labor
STUDIES IN HISTORY, ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC LAW

EDITED BY THE FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE OF
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

Volume LXT] [Number 1
Whole Number 148

RAILWAY CONDUCTORS

A Study in Organized Labor

BY

EDWIN CLYDE ROBBINS
Instructor in Economics and Sociology, Mt. Holyoke College

 

New Dork
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
LONGMANS, GREEN & CO., AGENTS
Lonpon: P. S. KING & SON
I9gI4
rave
CopyRIGHT, 1914,

BY

EDWIN CLYDE ROBBINS
CONTENTS

PART I
HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT

PAGE
CHAPTER I
Introduction: «sv... seins weer er eva etweee<+ 74 xarevinexeewane 9
CHAPTER II
Formation and Growth ........... 2 cc cee cece nce e ee erent eens ener 15
CHAPTER III
GOVERNMET tics crn eire estes sed pais ice bos eV eeareeee een enes 25
CHAPTER IV
JUFISMICCION: 6556 eroscig een Steere oes Hanan eee aes lotsa a eased 33
CHAPTER V
Feéderation sc eccscavide st opowetegewe ewe iva wetsns we eames des Seles 44
PART II
TRADE REGULATIONS AND MEANS OF
ENFORCEMENT
CHAPTER VI
Wages.and Hours). .oc ices sesvawadens aaacieee tees cmeeee seg ose 57
CHAPTER VII
Present Day Arguments concerning Wages and Hours........... 81
CHAPTER VIII
Negotiation, Mediation, Arbitration, Strikes.................0... 93
CHAPTER IX
Tse Bt Slab OFM seca ects ned cae oceposoiid avsncdavaiean ate wets pealoehes a tinaeenne ace . 115

5] 5
6 CONTENTS [6
PART III
BENEFICIARY FEATURES
PAGE
CHAPTER X
Establishment of Mutual Life Insurance Department ............- 123
CHAPTER XI
Present Plan of Mutual Life Insurance ........... 2. ccc cece cu enee 136
CHAPTER XII
Other Mutual Benefits: 2x55 cvsnsewes eves yeuawa sc ateese sev ove aien 150
APPENDICES
A. Grand Chief Conductors and Presidents, 1868-1913. .......... 165
B. Railroads upon which System-Federation has been Entered
Inte: by the: Orders s.s.c.cscacccsvese teeta cavacese terdiavas oo avecscean eiecseh doverdsous ave 166
C. Conductors’ Wage Schedules, 1890, 1900, I9I0............... 170
D. Cases of Mediation and Arbitration under Erdman and New-
lands Acts; 1898-1010 s s<esscve3 occ senewey or eeereere cava wees 173
E. Strikes Engaged in by the Order.................- aha acasbcusotess 176

INDEX @ 46@8 2 eo od ‘ de ok oe) eink Yea te lie S 181
PART I

HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT
CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

THE railroad industry of the United States has been
from its inception an object of peculiar interest to the
public. Nearly every phase of its activities has now come
to be a subject for state or federal legislation. One of the
latest developments of this policy of supervision has to do
with the relations between the railway and its employees.

In the early days of railroading questions arising be-
tween master and man were of little public concern. The
men were hired individually and differences of opinion be-
tween them and the company were settled individually.
Concerted movement among the men in such cases was
unknown. With the growth of powerful trade unions
among railroad employees, however, the situation has ma-
terially changed. By means of their power to strike, rein-
forced by well-planned systems of federation between the
various unions, the organized employees have come to oc-
cupy a position of great strategic strength. Thus a threat-
ened strike in the summer of 1913 would have tied up, had
it occurred, roads comprising 25 per cent of the total track-
age, and representing nearly 40 per cent of the aggregate
revenues of all the railroads in the United States. Nearly
40,000,000 people would have been deprived of the means
of transportation for themselves, their goods and the very
necessities of life.

The possibility of such an interruption of an industry
upon which all depend has caused so much apprehension

9] 9
Io RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [10

that Congress has from time to time enacted measures aim-
ing to induce the companies and the men to settle their dif-
ferences peaceably. The latest feature of this legislation is
the creation of a National Board of Mediation and Concil-
iation to deal specifically with these railroad problems.
Attention is also being drawn to the railroad brotherhoods,
and their acts are coming to be more closely scrutinized
every year. The history of these unions, with their aims
and purposes, has thus become a topic of public interest.

Organization among railroad employees did not begin
until after 1860. The engineers were first in the field,
forming, in 1863, the Brotherhood of the Footboard. A
year later this name was changed to the Brotherhood of
Locomotive Engineers, the title by which the union is still
known. Five years later the conductors formed the or-
ganization which was eventually to develop into the Order
of Railway Conductors of America. The Brotherhood of
Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen was formed in 1873,
and the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen in 1883. Sub-
sequently unions were started among other railway em-
ployees, including the switchmen, carmen, trackmen, ma-
chinists and telegraphers, but no one of these organizations
has attained the degree of power and prestige enjoyed by
the four principal unions.

These four brotherhoods have important features in
common :

1. Each union includes practically all the men employed
in its field. The Trainmen, with 134,000 members; the
Engineers, with 73,000; the Firemen, with 91,000, and the
Conductors, with 49,000, comprise respectively 65 per cent,
go per cent, 75 per cent, and 90 per cent of all the men
in these four occupations employed by the steam railroads
of the country.

2. The work of conductors, engineers, firemen and train-
11] INTRODUCTION Il

men is similar in many respects. It requires physical en-
durance, mental alertness and a capacity for responsibility
unusual in ordinary industrial pursuits. An apprenticeship
of several years is required for proficiency in any of these
four lines of work. This condition, combined with the re-
sponsibility devolving on the railroad for the safe trans-
port of passengers and goods, makes it exceedingly difficult
for a company to fill the places of these employees in case
of a strike or lockout. So unique, in fact, is the position of
the four railway brotherhoods in this regard, that they have
persistently refused to affiliate themselves with any of the
larger labor federations, such as the American Federation
of Labor, on the ground that such an alliance would be of
little benefit, while it might embroil them in needless sym-
pathetic strikes and boycotts.

3. Each of the four unions has extended its jurisdiction
throughout the entire continent, and has been successful in
withstanding the encroachments of rival organizations both
in the United States and Canada.

4. All four unions deprecate the use of the sympathetic
strike, and are advocates of the open shop; that is, they do
not insist upon the exclusive employment of union mem-
bers.

5. In addition to trade activities proper, much emphasis
is placed by them on fraternal and benevolent features, all
conducting life-insurance associations for the benefit of
their members.

The present monograph is confined to the Order of Rail-
way Conductors. It is intended neither as a denunciation
nor as a eulogy of that organization. It is not even a criti-
cism. Rather, it is a recital of facts, giving the aims, pur-
poses, and activities of the Order, based upon official rec-
ords, and supplemented by such explanation as has seemed
12 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [12

necessary to connect the study with the problem of organ-
ized labor as a whole. Many questions which would find a
proper place in a more comprehensive survey of railroad
conditions have been purposely omitted.

This study has naturally divided itself into three parts:
(1) history and form of organization, (2) trade-regulating
activities, (3) beneficiary features:

1. While many facts in the history of the Order, its
form of organization, and its relation to other brother-
hoods are common to all trade unions, others relate specifi-
cally to the conductors. Thus it should be noted that the
Order did not begin as a labor organization, but essentially
as a temperance and benevolent society in which fraternal
and ritualistic features were emphasized. Not only did it
resist for over twenty years every effort of an active minor-
ity to precipitate the organization into labor controversies,
but so emphatic was its opposition to strikes that up to 1890
members engaging in them were expelled. After a strug-
gle, the Order developed into a highly efficient trade union
in which much time, effort and money are devoted to trade-
regulatory functions. In its external relations, also, the
Order has broadened its activities. The growth of feder-
ations indicate unmistakably the development of class con-
sciousness among the brotherhoods and the gradual elimi-
nation of petty jealousy and bickering, which in the early
years did much to weaken the power of organized labor in
the railroad industry.

2. Part II discusses trade regulations and the means by
which they are enforced. In it the development of a stan-
dard rate of pay, uniform hours of service and similar con-
ditions of work is traced somewhat in detail. The “ Pres-
ent-Day Arguments for and against Increased Wages” are
given primarily to acquaint the reader with what the union
and the railroads consider the pivotal points in the wage
13] INTRODUCTION 13

controversy. Then follows a description of the elaborate
machinery to enforce trade agreements with the roads.
Beginning with the simplest forms of negotiation, methods
have been extended to include mediation, arbitration, strikes
and legislation. The facts that the Order has utilized these
complicated means, that it has even favored Congressional
legislation to encourage mediation and arbitration, and that
it is constantly resorting to legislation rather than to strikes,
substantiate the view now widely held that the railway
brotherhoods have in reality been agencies making for in-
dustrial peace in the railway world.

3. The third division of this monograph is concerned
with the beneficiary activities of the Order. It includes an
account of the establishment of a system of mutual life
insurance, with a description of the insurance department
as it exists to-day. Other mutual benefits make provision
for the sick, the indigent and the infirm. In recent years
there has been a tendency to transfer all such relief from
the local unions to the national body, which to-day not only
maintains a general relief fund and a special fund for the
families of insane conductors, but is considering the estab-
lishment of a system of old-age pensions, and the adoption
of a plan of accident insurance. Much assistance also, es-
pecially in case of sickness, is given by the Ladies’ Auxil-
iary to the Order.

The writer was attracted to the subject of the “ Railway
Conductors” by a realization of their growing importance
and influence, and of a desire on the part of the public to be-
come conversant with their aims and purposes. Notwith-
standing their recognized importance in the history of
American trade-unionism, no one of the brotherhoods has
up to the present time been made the subject of scientific
investigation. In compiling data for the monograph, the
writer has had access to all of the official records, both
printed and unprinted.
14 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [14

The work was undertaken and completed under the
supervision of Dr. Henry R. Seager, Professor of Eco-
nomics in Columbia University. Invaluable assistance has
been given by President A. B. Garretson of the Order, who
has shown a kindly interest in the work at every stage.
The writer is also under obligation to Charles E. Wil-
kins, Chief Clerk in the office of President Garretson, for
help in verifying a mass of detail; to Hon. John H. Finley,
for the use of material presented before the Board of Arbi-
tration in the controversy between the Eastern Railroads
and Conductors and Trainmen in 1913; and to Hon. E. E.
Clark, Chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission
and formerly Grand Chief Conductor of the Order, for
reading and correcting parts of the manuscript.
CHAPTER JI

FORMATION AND GROWTH

THE first well-authenticated instance of organization
among conductors on American railroads took place in the
spring of 1868, when the men on the Illinois Central Rail-
road formed ‘“ The Conductors’ Union” at Amboy, IIl.*
Favorable reports of this organization reached the con-
ductors of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad,
and in June of the same year twelve men so employed met
at Galesburg, Ill., and effected the “ Galesburg Division No.
2 of the Conductors’ Union.” A constitution and by-laws
were adopted, officers elected, and a committee named to
confer with the division at Amboy relative to uniting the
interests of the two lodges.’

This proposal being favorably received at Amboy, it was
agreed that three representatives from each union should
meet at Mendota, IIl., on July 6. These six men decided
that the interests of the two societies would best be served
by the formation of a central body. Accordingly, they
adopted a constitution and by-laws and elected Grand Offi-
cers for the “ Conductors’ Union,” an organization which

1 Preface to Proceedings of the First Regular Session of the Con-
ductors’ Brotherhood, 1869, p. 1.

Hereafter the annual sessions are referred to as Proceedings.

2 The accounts of these first meetings are taken from a brief history
compiled by W. P. Daniels in 1888 at the request of the Grand
Division of the Order of Railway Conductors. The information was
secured through correspondence and interviews with men living at
that time who had actively participated in founding the organization.

15] 15
16 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [16

should have power to form locals. The lodges already ex-
isting at Amboy and Galesburg were immediately desig-
nated as Divisions No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, and by
the end of September two additional locals had been estab-
lished.’

Evidently the time was ripe for a movement of this kind,
for in the following November, conductors on the Pitts-
burgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad addressed a cir-
cular “ To All the Railroad Conductors in the United States
and British Provinces,” requesting their attendance at a
convention in Columbus, O., on December 15, for the pur-
pose of “forming a Brotherhood of Conductors.” This
meeting was in no way a rival of the one previously held
at Mendota, but merely a broader expression of the idea
which had there been promulgated. Representatives from
the earlier body participated in the work of the Columbus
meeting, which is usualy referred to as the “ Reorganiza-
tion Convention.” ?

The first annual convention was held at Chicago in June,
1869.° Little can be learned from the meagre records, ex-
cept that a representative from a ‘‘ Conductors’ Association
of the New York and Erie Railway” was present and
sought admittance to the convention, asking also that his
association might be consolidated with the Brotherhood.
He was admitted to membership but the records say noth-
ing about the proposed consolidation. It is interesting to
note, however, that the convention adjourned to meet in
October at Buffalo, N. Y., which was in the territory logi-
cally belonging to the Association.

1 Shortly after the organization of these four locals, the Grand
Secretary was killed and the records which he had in charge at the
time were lost.

* Proceedings, 18609, p. 4.

* At this convention the name of the organization was changed to
the “ Conductors’ Brotherhood.”
17] FORMATION AND GROWTH £7

A third convention was held in 1870, and annual meet-
ings thereafter until 1891, when a biennial plan was adopted.
In 1913 triennial conventions were instituted. In 1878
the name of the Brotherhood was changed to the “ Order
of Railway Conductors of America,’ by which title it is
still known.’

For a number of years the national headquarters was
officially located at Elmira, N. Y., although the business of
the Order was so light and the records so meagre that the
offices in reality were, as one writer expresses it, “ located
in the pockets of the Grand Officers and followed them
wherever they went.” * In 1878 a member living in Cedar
Rapids, Ia., was elected Grand Secretary and Treasurer.
As most of his work was done in his “ lay-over”’ hours at
Cedar Rapids, he moved his records there. By 1884, the
Order having become so large that it was deemed expe-
dient to have all the Grand Officers in the same city, it was
decided to make Cedar Rapids the headquarters. Two
years later the offices were moved to Chicago,* but when, in
1887, it was decided to incorporate, the Illinois laws were
found to be unfavorable to such a project; and accordingly
Cedar Rapids was again selected for the location of the
central offices and no change has since been made.*®

The progress of the Order may be seen in its increased
membership. Galesburg Division No. 2 had an enrollment
of twenty-seven when it became defunct in 1868. The three

1 Proceedings, 1913, p. 1326.

2 Proceedings, 1879, p. 30. Hereafter in this study the organization
will be referred to as the Order.

8.4 Bit of History and a Few Facts, unpublished MS., author not
given (concerning Valley City Division No. 58, Cedar Rapids, Ia.).

4 Proceedings, 1885, p. 765.

5 In 1913 St. Louis was selected as the permanent place for holding
the triennial conventions of the Grand Division. National headquarters
still remain in Cedar Rapids.
18 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [18

divisions remaining probably totaled less than 100 mem-
bers. In 1869 the president reported twelve active locals,
although making no mention of their individual or aggre-
gate membership. Three years later there were twenty-
three divisions located in different parts of the country
with an estimated enrollment of over 1000.

This prosperity, however, was short-lived. The panic of
1873 and subsequent hard times caused a constant fluctua-
tion in membership and as late as 1879 the Grand Secre-
tary reported less than 1000 members.

With the return of prosperity in the eighties, however,
came a rapid increase in membership, the executive in 1885
reporting 150 locals with an aggregate membership of
8,000, which by 1890 had increased to 14,000. The growth
since then has been even more marked as indicated by an
enrollment of over 24,000 by 1900; 45,000 in IgIo, and

49,255 to-day (1913).

MEMBERSHIP GROWTH BY YEARS

TB 72s wieitee es 1,000 (estimated) 1803).-icavceass 20,356
1874...... us ~ 9BF TRO4 sence 19,827
W875 sn sane: 774 1805% sean 19,737
TO7Omzrnauainiei 1,108 1896........ 19,810
TO 7 Pease wes os 1,058 ISO7 -s2ancpac 20,697
1878........ 849 1898........ 21,950
IB7O ocareio acs 045 1800. « e634 a8 23,253
TOBO sccavevaiyty 1,050 I900........ 24,563
TOS ce sisivexns 1,420 TOOB soccer 25,854
1882 soscicicccs 2,014 TOO 2 seta saves 27,899
1883........ 3,298 TOO S aisinie'sccave 31,333
TBBAR ee nscceee 6,109 IQOA wesc cen 33,353
1885... 0005 7,044 I905........ 35,083
T886i 22 ee cen 10,330 TOG. cscs0ea 38,430
TOOT. sa sa-ctins 11,947 LOO 7 aceileees-a-ai 41,436
TOSS i ucenaes 13,224 TOOB kc ccee. 42,379
1889........ 13,720 IQ09........ 43,764
1890........ 14,453 TOO scscssxt 45,092
TB9QL. 26 seen 17,906 TOG sacd eas 47,339
T8O2yiae enna 20,224 TOI vipecnccs 3 47,893

AOL ucr eee 49,255
19] FORMATION AND GROWTH 19

The full significance of these figures is recognized only
when compared with the total number of conductors em-
ployed on American railroads. In 1889 the Interstate Com-
merce Commission reported nearly 21,000, of whom about
14,000, or over 65 per cent, were members of the Order. In
1900 the total number employed had risen to but 30,000,
while membership had increased to 24,000, or 80 per cent.
In 1910, 90 per cent of all conductors in the United States
belonged to the Order.

Another view of the progress of the Order may be ob-
tained from the expenditure records. In the year 1870,*
the total expense of conducting the Order was $77. In ten
years expenditures had risen to $1,700, and another decade
brought the amount to nearly $48,000. The expense ac-
count in 1900 read $78,000; in I910, over $280,000; in
1913, the latest record, over $460,000. It is interesting to
note that in 1870 no salaries were paid and no expenditures
made for office help. In 1913 the salaries of the officials
and office employees were nearly $50,000.

EXPENSE OF CONDUCTING THE ORDER

TS 70s ce 5 cae $77.00 1888....... 27,103.82
1872....... 300.49 1889....... 36,501.47
107337 see, 439.68 1890....... 47,983.58
1890.4 nace 383.56 I8QI....... 48,205.61
1877 setae 2,422.52 T8Q2: acaeaes 18,968.62
1878: <x aveien 1,842.73 1893.....65 $51,361.05
T8970! s Scans 958.56 TSO4 cst yin 61,111.59
1880....... 1,755.24 1895....... 74,713.08
TOO Perc vandeaits 868.94 1896....... 136,862.37
TESS scien < 2,461.94 TSG7aasaces 44,639.26
1883......- 4,579.63 1898....... 57,107.76
TESA ssocsis ied 14,049.93 18090805 62,506.51
1885.0... 18,234.53 I900....... 78,204.03
1886....... 27,088.44 IQOI....... 53,444.23
TOOT utetiaets 30,580.77 IQ02....... 63,115.92

1 Financial records were not kept before this date.
a6 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [20

1903.....-. 127,068.53 TOOG sstsoeaes 270,919.63
TOOAs cssiy ces 85,519.29 TOTO: ccc 280,468.57
TOOS i dusisecrs 157,220.85 TOW xeeeevs 396,372.04
1000... sass 100,856.27 IQI2. nccevs 312,131.77
TOO Fie i.5 300s 195,382.14 IQI3....--. 461,647.01
1908....... 157,245.82

While the membership and financial records indicate the
growth of the Order, there yet remains another aspect of
its progress, i. ¢., the enlarged scope of its activities. The
Order began as a fraternal, beneficiary and temperance
society. For many years much attention was devoted to
the ritualistic work common to fraternal organizations; *
beneficiary activities in the form of a mutual life-insurance
department were inaugurated as early as 1870; while tem-
perance was emphasized so strongly from the very begin-
ning that President A. G. Black, in 1869, declared that it
constituted the corner-stone of the Order. Trade policies
in every form were carefully avoided. From 1877 to 1890
members were actually prohibited from engaging in strikes
upon pain of expulsion.

By this course of action the early leaders hoped to pro-
duce an organization which would meet with favor among
both railroads and conductors. As a matter of fact, it did
neither. The railroad officials failed to discriminate be-
tween the Order and the trade unions of the time; while,
on the other hand, the majority of conductors felt the need
of an organization which could and would enforce trade
regulations.

Scarcely was the association formed in 1868 when it en-
countered almost fatal opposition from the railroads. In
October of that year the superintendent of the Chicago,
Burlington and Quincy Railroad issued the following order:

. .. I am satisfied that all the influence of the Conductors’

1 Proceedings, 1874, p. 92.
ar] FORMATION AND GROWTH 21

Union is hurtful, and unless conductors employed on this road
give up the association, we will employ others in their places
who will be satisfied to rely for success and prosperity wholly
upon their individual determination to square their conduct
by what is true and right and the regulations of the road.*

The effect of this bulletin was immediate. Two of the
more enthusiastic union members withdrew from the ser-
vice of the company, but the great majority preferred their
jobs to membership in the brotherhood. Within a very
short time the lodges at Galesburg and Aurora were defunct
and the two remaining divisions, at Amboy and Centralia,
were severely handicapped by loss of members.

For a number of years opposition on the part of eastern
railroads was a constant menace to the growth of the Order
in that section of the country. Some companies be-
lieved that the brotherhood was implicated in the rail-
way strikes afd riots of 1877, and opposition became so
pronounced that at the annual convention held in the fall of
that year a resolution was passed to appoint a committee to
wait upon the officials of the Pennsylvania Railroad, the
Philadelphia and Erie Railroad and “ others in the east,”
for the purpose of explaining to them the objects and prin-
ciples of the Order, “‘ after which,” the resolution naively
continues, “ they will undoubtedly assist us.” *

The railroad officials, however, showed no inclination
even to become acquainted with the principles of the Order,
as indicated by the report of Grand Chief Conductor
Wheaton, who had been appointed on the committee. After
setting a date for an interview with the president of the
Pennsylvania Railroad, and journeying to Philadelphia to
keep the appointment, he was twice refused admittance, and

1 Proceedings, 1860, p. 40.
3 Proceedings, 1877, p. 242.
22 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [22

he returned home and wrote the entire principles of the
Order to President Scott, requesting a reply. In Mr.
Wheaton’s words:

It came, and in substance this: he sympathized with and en-
couraged all men in laudable enterprise, but cautioned me
against bad men. “ Your principles are sound and good,”
said he, “ but to endorse a brotherhood I cannot, having had
much more experience with brotherhoods than you, but as long
as you stand by the principles you have written me I will not
oppose you, and we will wait and see.”

After the adoption of the anti-strike clause in 1877 many
members of the Order were employed as strike-breakers.
This naturally brought severe criticism from all the other
railway brotherhoods. Engineers, firemen, brakemen and
switchmen vied with each other in placing obstacles in the
way of the Order, which was nearly wiped out of existence
by their combined opposition.

Meanwhile the Order failed to receive hearty support
from a majority of the conductors. Those who were inter-
ested in ritualistic ceremonies found them more elaborated
in the purely fraternal societies, while there was little in-
ducement to join the Order for the sake of the life-insur-
ance department since other insurance companies already
existing were selling policies at much lower rates. But most
important of all, conductors throughout the country desired
an aggressive trade union such as was found among the en-
gineers, trainmen and firemen. These conductors objected
‘to the disregard shown by the Order to questions of wages,
; hours of employment and general conditions of work, and

‘they bitterly denounced the anti-strike clause which put
them in the class of strike-breakers. As one result of the
leaders’ steady adherence to the original principles, a rival
organization sprang up among the disaffected conductors
23] FORMATION AND GROWTH 23

which laid great stress on these trade regulations.» The
Order survived the struggle with this newer brotherhood
but was compelled to face the necessity of incorporating
trade-union features if it were to become truly representa-
tive of the great body of conductors.

A beginning was made in 1885 when the Order directed
its executive to assist members in settling their disputes
with the railroad companies.” This radical innovation oc-
casioned a conflict within the Order which lasted several
years. In 1890 most of the old leaders were deposed, the
anti-strike clause repealed and the Order definitely com-
mitted to aggressive trade-union policies.

The effect of this change was immediate. Membership
increased rapidly throughout the country and despite the
years of panic and hard times from 1890 to 1897, when
most trade unions lost ground heavily, the progress of the
Order was but slightly retarded. Rival organizations were
either absorbed or crushed. The opposition of the engi-
neers, trainmen and firemen gave place to a cooperative
federation. Railroads found it inadvisable to continue
ignoring the demands of the Order, for it was understood
that such neglect might lead to a strike.

To-day the Order stands as a typical trade union without
having sacrificed any of the objects for which it was origi-
nally founded.* Fraternal and temperance aspects still re-

4 The rival organization was the Brotherhood of Railway Conductors,
organized in California, 1885.

2 Proceedings, 1887, pp. 10-16.

3 Although the Order always insists upon a recognition of the union
as a prerequisite to entering into a trade agreement with the railroads,
it neither employs nor advocates the closed shop, that is, the exclusive
employment of union men. It does, however, demand that unionist
and non-unionist be paid the same rate of wages, thus preventing any
possible undercutting of wages by non-union conductors. It should
be borne in mind, also, that the Order is naturally well protected
24 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [24

ceive emphasis. The mutual benefits have grown to include
numerous features in addition to life insurance.

But the most important activities of the Order at the
present time are connected with trade policies, such as the
regulation of working conditions, standardization of wages,
etc. Local grievance committees on every railroad of the
country are kept busy adjusting minor matters of dispute
between companies and conductors. The leading officers of
the national body are chosen primarily for their ability to
negotiate trade agreements, and to this work they devote
their entire time.

against the employment of non-unionists in case of a strike, by the
long and rigorous system of apprenticeship demanded in railway
service. Neither does the Order use force to secure members, depend-
ing chiefly upon “moral suasion,” the advantages of collective bar-
gaining and numerous beneficiary features.
CHAPTER III

GOVERNMENT

THE idea of establishing a well-defined system of govern-
ment for the Order was in the minds of the early leaders
from the very beginning. As we have already seen, the
plan adopted at Mendota in 1868 provided for a central or-
ganization which was nation-wide in extent. This was to
be known as the Grand Division. In addition to this body,
conductors all over the country were to organize lodges in
their respective communities which were to form the local
divisions of the Order. The “ reorganization convention ”’
at Columbus confirmed this plan and no succeeding conven-
tion has altered it.

To trace in detail the many changes which have taken
place in the government of the Grand Division and of the
locals would take a volume in itself. All that we can hope
to accomplish in this chapter is to point out the general ma~-
chinery of government that has been instituted and note the
ways in which it has been molded to suit the peculiar needs
of the Order. We shall first consider the government of
the Grand Division.

The original constitution provided that the Grand Divi-
sion should consist of delegates elected by the various local
divisions.» Each subordinate was entitled to one represen-
tative for its first seven members and an additional repre-
sentative for every fifteen members above that number.”

1 Constitution of the Grand Division of the Conductors’ Brotherhood,
1869, art. i, sec. 2.

2 Tbid., art. i, sec. 3.
25] 25
26 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [26

All Grand Officers and Past Grand Chief Conductors were
considered members of the Grand Division; from 1878 to
1889 it was customary to permit any conductor who had
represented his local at four consecutive Grand Sessions to
become a permanent member of the Grand Division. With
the growth of the Order, however, it was found necessary
to restrict membership in the Grand Division in order to
prevent it from becoming too large for effective work. Ac-
cordingly, the representation of locals has gradually been
limited until to-day each subordinate division, irrespective
of its size, is entitled to but one delegate, and no additions
to the list of permanent members have been made since
1889. Even with these restrictions, membership in the
Grand Division at present totals over 600.

The Grand Division holds sessions at regular intervals.
From 1869 to 1891 these conventions were held annually;
since that time a biennial plan was followed, until 1913,
when the triennial meeting was adopted. The by-laws
originally provided that no Grand Session should last
longer than four days, though for many years this
maximum was not reached, but as the business of the Order
has increased it has been found necessary to eliminate the
time restriction entirely. Sessions frequently occupy the
greater part of two weeks, while the one held in 1913 lasted
sixteen days.

The authority of the Grand Division was not set forth
specifically in the early constitutions but from the beginning
its supremacy over the locals has been tacitly accepted. As
a matter of fact, the central body proceeded at once to regu-
late the conduct of the subordinates. It provided the man-
ner in which they were to be created; it furnished them with
constitutions and by-laws; it sold them supplies; it pre-
scribed the qualifications necessary for membership; it stipu-
lated their initiation fees and assessed their members. In-
27] GOVERNMENT 27

deed the fixing of local dues was the only matter left to the
discretion of the subordinates.’

The circumstances surrounding the formation of the na-
tional union made it possible for the Grand Division to ap-
propriate these extensive powers without protest from sub-
ordinate divisions. It will be recalled that but two local
organizations participated in the “ constitutional conven-
tion”? at Mendota. Hence the Grand Division then formed
was not obliged to face the problem that confronted the
central organization in many other unions, 7. e., that of deal-
ing with old and well-established locals, each of which was
jealous of its own powers. In the printing trades, for ex-
ample, a large number of local unions had been in existence
for half a century prior to the formation of the national
body, and for years they opposed every attempt on its part
to restrict their powers. The Grand Division, on the other
hand, without raising any question of overstepping its au-
thority, enacted laws for the guidance of the locals, even
before the latter were brought into existence.

Despite the extensive powers which it assumed to assert,
the Grand Division actually interfered but little with the
every-day work of the subordinates. For over twenty years
its time was largely consumed in an earnest endeavor to
bring locals into being, to replete membership of waning
divisions, and above all, to get its own work upon a firm
foundation —a task which was not finally completed
until 1890.

The supreme authority of the Grand Division has never
been questioned. Its powers, as the more recent constitu-

‘For a number of years locals have been permitted to pass by-laws
that are not in conflict with provisions laid down by the Grand
Division. Such regulations, however, are not operative until after
they have received the approval of the national president, and in actual
practice are of little consequence.
28 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [28

tions definitely provide, are: “ first, legislative; second, ex-
ecutive; third, judicial.” *

The legislative functions of the Grand Division are ex-
ercised only when the division is meeting in Grand Session.
The mode of procedure is much the same as that found in
an ordinary legislative assembly. The president in his re-
port to the convention, read at the beginning of the session,
sets forth such matters as he thinks should be acted upon
by the Grand Division. Representatives suggest measures
on behalf of their respective locals, or in their individual
capacity. Sometimes there are from a dozen to fiiteen
measures bearing on a single subject.

Obviously for the Grand Division to consider the merits
of each proposal would consume weeks, if not months.
Hence committees of all kinds are appointed to deal with
questions of insurance, constitutional amendments, griev-
ances and appeals, jurisprudence, efc., until each of the pro-
posed measures has been submitted to some one group.

Each committee has its own separate meetings at which
the measures referred to it are thoroughly considered. Any
member of the Grand Division can appear before a com-
mittee and state his views on the proposal it is considering.
As arule, the committeemen find it necessary to work night
and day. All the proposals bearing on a given subject are
carefully investigated, and, so far as possible, the good
features of each are incorporated in one definite measure.
When this task is completed the committee reports its find-
ings to the Grand Division. Frequently, if the measure be
an important one, there is a minority report as well as one
by the majority. Committeemen are often called upon to
defend their report upon the floor of the convention.

Sometimes discussion over a committee report will wage

1 This began with the constitutional revision of 1881.
29] GOVERNMENT 29

for hours or even for days. In recent years it has become
customary to limit the time allowed for discussion accord-
ing to the importance of the subject-matter. In most cases,
except constitutional amendments, legislation is passed by a
majority vote. Measures thus enacted are binding upon all
members of the Order.

Although empowered so to do, the Grand Division per-
forms practically no executive or administrative functions.
In the very nature of the case these duties must be per-
formed continuously throughout the year. Hence, it has
become customary for such duties to be turned over to the
Grand Officers. The officials who actively participate in
the work are the president (formerly called Grand Chief
Conductor), a senior vice-president, six vice-presidents, and
the Grand Secretary and Treasurer. The president, as-
sisted by the six vice-presidents, devotes a large part of his
time to settling disputes concerning wages, hours of work,
etc., which, because of their importance, have been referred
to him for final adjustment. The Grand Secretary and
Treasurer keeps the records of the Order and has under his
immediate charge the insurance department. For a com-
plete list of Presidents (Grand Chief Conductors) the
reader is referred to Appendix A.

As the Order increased in size, however, it was found
difficult for the president and vice-presidents to perform all
the duties of administration. Consequently, in 1887, the
Grand Division created a Board of Directors. This board
meets in semi-annual sessions at the national headquarters.
It decides certain questions delegated to it by the supreme
body, with which the administrative officers are not em-
powered to deal.

In matters requiring judicial decision the Grand Division
has again found it necessary to delegate its powers. In the
majority of cases the president performs the judicial duties,
30 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [30

but in some instances appeal can be had to the Board of
Directors. An Executive Committee, now known as the
Trustees, was created in 1876. It has power to call a special
session of the Grand Division to try Grand Officers against
whom charges have been preferred. It also has power of
suspension and removal from office, for cause, and can fill
vacancies, except that of president, created by such suspen-
sions and removals, pending a meeting of the Grand Divi-
sion. The Grand Division, however, reserves the right to
review all important judicial decisions.

For many years the local divisions paid the expenses of
their delegates to the Grand Division. This plan is common
among trade organizations generally, but contains certain
defects, as the Order soon discovered. Subordinates did
not always see to it that their representatives met the tech-
nical requirements for admission to the Grand Division,
with the result that these delegates were sometimes refused
membership in the central body. Often because the ex-
pense of sending a delegate to a distant point seemed heavy,
no one would be elected to represent the subordinate. From
the delegate’s standpoint, also, the system was unsatis-
factory, for in actual practice he usually found it necessary
to pay his own expenses and present an itemized account to
the local upon his return. Sometimes it was months before
the bill was finally paid.

To remedy these defects, the Grand Division, in 1901,
voted to pay the expenses of all delegates, assessing the
whole Order to meet the expense involved. This has not
only obviated the difficulties just mentioned, but has served
to put the sessions of the Grand Division upon a more sub-
stantial basis.

Taken as a whole, the plan of having a Grand Division
composed of delegates from all the locals and meeting in
regular sessions has proved suitable to the needs of the
31] GOVERNMENT 31

Order. In recent years, however, because some members
believe the Grand Division is becoming so large as to be
unwieldy, and because of the very heavy expense of holding
sessions, there is some talk of abandoning the plan. In
1909, for example, it was proposed to abolish the present.
Grand Division and substitute in its place a comparatively
small board of directors, composed of the chairmen of the
general grievance committees of the various railroads. It
was pointed out that such a scheme would reduce the Grand
Division “ to a compact, efficient body of men, experienced.
in all matters pertaining to the welfare of . . . members
as a whole and bring the enormous cost under the present
system to that commensurate with the business transacted.

” The proposal was not given serious consideration
at the time, but it is likely again to claim attention in the.
future.*

The regulations which the Grand Division drew up for
the subordinate unions enumerated practically all the requi-
sites for organization.” Seven conductors was the mini-
mum number necessary to organize a local. General meet-
ings were to be held at least twice a month. All members
were permitted to discuss and to vote upon measures which
came before the local. To prevent a subordinate from being
used for any purpose not strictly in accord with the frater-
nal and beneficiary objects of the Order, no political or re-
ligious discussions were permitted.

Membership provisions were also specifically set forth.’
To become a candidate it was necessary that the conductor’s
name be proposed by at least two members of the division,

1The chief reason for adopting the triennial plan was to reduce
expenses of holding Grand Sessions. The convention held in 1913:
cost the Order approximately $114,500.

2 Constitution to Govern Subordinate Divisions, 1869.

3 Ibid., art. iii, sec. 4.
32 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [32

who certified that the applicant was a man of good moral
character and that, in their opinion, he would make a worthy
member. As soon as a name was proposed, the president
(Chief Conductor) appointed a committee to investigate
further the record and the character of the applicant. The
committee reported at the next regular meeting, after which
a ballot on the application was taken. Favorable majority
vote admitted to membership. These general provisions,
with but few alterations, still constitute the framework
upon which locals are organized.

The position of president in the local is honorary and
carries with it no stipend. The work of the secretary and
treasurer, however, includes checking the membership roll,
collecting dues, both for the local and the Grand Division,
and carrying on the general correspondence of the local.
Frequently the local dues of the secretary and treasurer are
remitted, and in some of the larger divisions it has been
found necessary to employ a person for the work who can
devote his whole time to it.

Much of the actual work of the subordinates is performed
through committees. As a rule these committees do their
duties gratuitously, but in recent years it has become cus-
tomary to reimburse members who in the discharge of their
committee work have found it necessary to take time off
their “ runs.”
CHAPTER IV
JURISDICTION

“THE primary aim in the formation of a trade union,”
according to Professor Barnett,’ “is to obtain unity of ac-
tion among the workmen in that trade. For the attainment
of effective unity it is indispensable that within a given ter-
ritory there shall be but one, union.’ Accordingly, it has
become customary for each national union to lay claim to
the territory it wishes to control and to the class of work-
men from which it expects to recruit its membership. These
claims are known respectively as territorial and member-
ship jurisdiction. Every national organization must see
that its own claims and those of its locals are carefully de-
fined both as to territory and membership.

The conductors found little difficulty in defining the terri-
torial jurisdiction of subordinates. Railroad “ divisions ”
(that part of the road under the control of a local superin-
tendent) were already recognized. The territory assigned
to each local was made coextensive with the railroad “ divi-
sion” in which it was located and doubtless the term “ sub-
ordinate division’ had its origin in that fact. The lodge
itself was always located in that town or city known as the
“ division point.” This was the place in which the superin-
tendent had his offices and in which conductors employed
on the division naturally resided.

This simple plan of grouping proved particularly fortu-

1George E. Barnett, The Printers, American Economic Association
Quarterly, third series, vol. x, no. 3, October, 1909, p. 41.
33] 33
34 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [34

nate since it prevented conflicts between locals as to their
respective territories. Even in the larger cities where sev-
eral roads maintained “ division points,” but few difficulties
arose because each subordinate was confined strictly to con-
ductors employed on the “ division” of a single road.

The problem of defining membership jurisdiction for
locals proved even more simple. By reserving to itself the
right to decide what classes of employees should be eligible
to membership in the locals, the Grand Division virtually
eliminated the question of membership jurisdiction so far
as the locals were concerned.

In case of the national jurisdiction the situation has not
been as favorable. Not only has the Order had its terri-
torial claims disputed time and again, but it has been coim-
pelled to carry on an almost constant struggle to preserve
its membership jurisdiction.

It will be recalled that the circular issued in November,
1868, calling for the convention at Columbus, was ad-
dressed ‘“‘ To all the Railroad Conductors in the United
States and British Provinces.” Thus at the very beginning
of its history the union claimed the right to organize in all
the territory embraced in the United States and Canada.
Later the Republic of Mexico was added.

It is evident that with such extensive jurisdictional claims
no new union could enter the field without invading the
‘rights claimed by the Order; but the mere assertion of an
‘exclusive right to this vast territory has not been sufficient
to keep out rival organizations. The Order was still feebly
‘feeling its way along, when, in 1876, a proposed “ Train-
‘men’s Union ” threatened to usurp parts of the coveted ter-
‘ritory. The movement, however, was short-lived. In 1883
the United Trainmen’s Association of Canada laid claim to
the “ British provinces,” but within a short time was com-
pelled to give up the territory.*

1 Proceedings, 1884, pp. 655-6.
35] JURISDICTION 35

In 1885+ the Brotherhood of Railway Conductors was
organized in California in direct opposition to the anti-strike
attitude of the Order of Railway Conductors. It proved
so popular that it caused much alarm in the ranks of the
older organization, but after the adoption of the protective
policy by the Order in 1890, the newer brotherhood grew
weaker, and in 1893 was absorbed by the Order.?

It was in 1893 also that the American Railway Union
was founded. Its chief moving spirit was Eugene V.
Debs. He sought to unite all the railway employees of the
United States into one gigantic organization. For a short
time it seemed as if he might succeed, but after the dis-
astrous Pullman strike of 1893, in which the Railway Union
was involved, the organization soon passed out of existence.*

In 1901 the Canadian Order of Railway Men was
launched.* This scheme contemplated a federation of Cana-
dian engineers, firemen, conductors and brakemen. In
many respects it resembled the American Railway Union
just described. The Canadian employees, however, showed
no general inclination to withdraw from the International
brotherhoods, and after a few months of manoeuvring the
project was abandoned.°

In Mexico the equivalent of a territorial dispute has ex-
isted for anumber of years. The trouble has not been prim-
arily with a rival organization (although a union composed
of native employees now exists) but with the Mexican gov-
ernment which has sought to equip its lines exclusively with
Mexican labor.

1 Emory R. Johnson, Brotherhood Relief and Insurance of Railway
Employees, in Bulletin of Bureau of Labor, no. 12, July, 1898, p. 557.

2 Proceedings, 1893, pp. 9-67.

3 Proceedings, 1895, pp. 9-85.

4 Tbid., 1903, pp. 19, IOI.

5 Proceedings, 1903, pp. 19, IOI.
36 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [36

The Order asserts that the Mexican government has con-
stantly discriminated against American labor and upon the
ground that such conductors were still citizens of the
United States, it has attempted from time to time to secure
relief by petitioning the State Department at Washington.
One such memorial drawn up in 1905 * stated that American
conductors in charge of trains by which persons were killed
or injured were often “ confined in loathsome dungeons for
days and weeks and in some cases for months, denied the
presence of friends, fed upon the coarsest of foods, com-
pelled to sleep upon hard floors covered with vermin, de-
nied speedy trial, for which the Mexican law provides, and
in some cases have finally been released with no word of ex-
planation.” Upon receipt of the petitions the State Depart-
ment has, through its Mexican ambassador, investigated
conditions, and in some instances has been able to secure
the release of the men actually in prison. Such assistance,
however, did not remove the cause of the difficulty.

With the growth of revolutionary conditions in Mexico,
the position of American conductors became steadily worse,
and in 1912, despairing of the success of all other efforts,
the Order declared a general strike on all Mexican lines.
This was, in fact, equivalent to relinquishing the jurisdic-
tion of Mexico, since it was realized from the beginning
that the strike could not be won. The charters of nearly all
the subordinate lodges were declared forfeited, and Amer-
ican conductors urged to leave the country. The most ser-
ious aspect of the situation so far as the Order was con-
cerned was the fact that a large percentage of the men who
went on strike found it impossible, either because of age
limit or physical incapacity, to secure positions in the United
States and as a result many of them are still on the relief

1 Proceedings, 1905, pp. 297-299.
37] JURISDICTION ae

rolls of the Order. During the first year approximately
$55,000 has been expended in their behalf, and there is
every indication that many of the men will become perma-
nent charges of the union.

The disputes over territorial jurisdiction have never been
so serious as those that concern membership, although the
latter are of more recent origin. When the Order was
founded membership jurisdiction was not important be-
cause the engineers were the only other class of railway
employees who were organized, and their work was so dis-
tinct as to make conflict very remote. But the question at
once came to the fore with the formation of other unions,
especially among the switchmen and trainmen, since men
from these classes are frequently promoted to conductors
while retaining membership in their former unions.

In solving membership difficulties the Order has faced
three distinct problems: (a) the question of jurisdiction
over members who have ceased to work as conductors but
who still retain an active interest in the Order; (b) the
question of deciding upon applications for membership re-
ceived from persons not conductors; (c) the question of
dealing with unions that have sought to regulate conditions
of employment for conductors.

(a) In point of time the problem of dealing with a mem-
ber who changed his occupation from that of conductor
was that first to engage the attention of the Order. This
question, which at first appears insignificant, involves a
very important trade-union precept. If a union attempts to
regulate conditions of employment for members who change
their occupation, it is very likely to encroach upon the juris-
diction of some other union.

The conductors early foresaw such dangers, and have
tried to avoid them. The right to retain membership, after
changing occupation, has been recognized, but with certain
38 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [38

restrictions. If the occupation be outside the immediate
work of train service, the Order makes no attempt to con-
trol or to care for the activities of the member. If, how-
ever, the transfer be made to some other closely-associated
line of work, such as that of brakeman, baggageman,
switchman, yardmaster, etc., the union is willing to handle
all cases of grievances and appeals which such a member
may have against the railway company, but it is not willing
to arrange his wages or hours of employment. By holding
strictly to this policy the Order has avoided many disputes
over membership.

(b) The question of what to do with applications for
membership received from railway employees who are not
conductors is frequently considered by the, Grand Division.
At first the Order met the problem by restricting member-
ship to conductors in charge of trains on steam railways.
This sufficed for many years, but more recently the advent
of new classes of railway employees who perform duties
similar to those of conductors has caused the union gradu-
ally to recede from its original position.

The introduction of electricity, for example, as a means
of transportation has created a class known as electric and
interurban conductors. These men often ask for admission
into the Order. For some years their requests were re-
fused upon the ground that they were not “ bona-fide con-
ductors.” By 1907, however, pressure for admission had
become so strong that the rules of the Order were modified
so as to admit conductors employed on surface railways
where both steam and electricity were utilized as motive
power, and where the operation of trains was governed
by standardized timetable rules. This change was intended
to protect only conductors who were employed on railroads
where electricity was being introduced to supplement steam.
It did not contemplate the admission of conductors on
39] JURISDICTION 39

purely electric roads, but at the very next session, President
Garretson, in anticipation of this latter issue, devoted con-
siderable space to the subject. He said, in part:

While the acceptance of men engaged in such (electric) ser-
vice is, in the opinion of many members of the Order a direct
violation of all the traditions that have governed the organi-
zation, the fact remains that large numbers of our members
are engaged in lines of that character; that the spread and
extension of these properties (interurban) have been so great
and their methods of operation so closely approach the methods
that obtain in the operation of railways in adjacent territory,
that the existence of large bodies of men trained in that school
renders it an absolute necessity for us either to provide for
their incorporation with us or see them form organizations of
their own, or affiliate with other organizations that may not be
as able as we to create for them wage conditions that will
not be a menace to our own wage rates. Objectionable as the
theory of their acceptance may be, it is a condition and not a
belief that confronts us, and one which calls for the very best
thought on the part of our membership.*

The gravity of the situation solely from the viewpoint of
jurisdictional membership is apparent. If the interurban con-
ductors formed a separate union, disputes on railroads
where steam and electricity are intermingled would be bound
to arise sooner or later. On the other hand, should this
rapidly-growing body of workers affiliate with some other
union, it would be necessary for that union to invade the
field of wage regulations now claimed exclusively by the
Order, if it made effective its protection to the interurban
conductors.

The position taken by the Grand Division was in the
nature of a compromise. Outright membership to inter-

1 Proceedings, 1911, pp. II-122.
40 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [40

urban conductors was refused, but provision was made
whereby conductors on “ railroads operated by power other
than steam” should be eligible to membership, whenever
the president of the Order should decide that such employees
were within the intent and purpose of the laws which gov-
ern admission. Acting under the authority vested in him
by this law, President Garretson has from time to time ad-
mitted conductors on specified electric roads, but the num-
ber so admitted forms only a small portion of the total num-
ber of electric conductors. Hence, it is probable that the
question will again come before the Grand Division.

In addition to applications received from employees
whose work is similar to that of conductors, the Order has
received numerous requests for membership from groups
whose duties are quite distinct. In 1907 a petition was re-
ceived from the Order of Pullman Conductors,* an organi-
zation composed of men in charge of Pullman cars, but
whose duties vary materially from those of train conductors.
The organization asked the Grand Division to be permitted
to join the brotherhood as an auxiliary. At the time they
petitioned for membership the Pullman Conductors had
locals established in New York, Boston, Jersey City, Phila-
delphia, Washington, Pittsburgh and Chicago. The com-
bined membership was 400, and they claimed a “ very good
possibility of securing 3,000 inside of one year,” provided
the alliance was effected. The Order did not give serious
consideration to the request of the petitioners. In fact the
request never passed the preliminary reading stage at the
Grand Division.’

1 Proceedings, 1907, p. 402.

°’ In 1913, another petition was received from the Pullman conductors
asking for admission, which was refused on the ground that the
existing laws of the Order did not provide for members engaged as
Pullman conductors.
41] JURISDICTION 41

In I9I1I a number of train dispatchers petitioned the
Order to revise its constitution so as to admit this class to
membership. The Grand Division by an overwhelming
vote refused to grant the request. At this same session,
however, when a group of switchmen filed a similar petition
for admission, some members were favorable to granting
the application. Discussion of the question grew spirited
until the whole subject was put at rest by a vigorous speech
by President Garretson, in which he exclaimed: “Do it,
and you will have as damnable a situation as confronts the
city of Chicago now where the steam-fitters and plumbers
are tying up the business of that city, not because of any
grievance against their employers but because they are
fighting with each other over jurisdiction.”

(c) The third class of jurisdictional disputes arising over
membership is related to the encroachments of rival organi-
zations. The Order has always insisted upon the exclusive
right to legislate for all conductors, irrespective of whether
or not they belonged to the union. In his report for the
period ending September 1, 1906, President Clark wrote:
“We resent the idea of any one encroaching on our
rights in that connection.” In 1911, President Garretson
said: “I sincerely hope that we will retain that which we
have always retained, the right to legislate and fix rates of
pay and conditions of service for conductors.”

These two references to the Order’s claim of exclusive
jurisdiction were occasioned by unusual activity on the part
of the Trainmen to secure certain “rights” for conductors
who were members of that organization. The reader will
recall that the Trainmen’s brotherhood was formed among
brakemen in 1883. Its growth was remarkable from the
very beginning and it soon took a place beside the Engineers
and Firemen as a powerful trade organization. In 1889 it
passed an act providing that a brakeman, on being promoted
42 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [42

to the position of conductor, did not by such promotion relin-
quish his membership in the union. Following the passage
of this measure jurisdictional disputes between the Order
and the Trainmen occurred with increasing frequency.
Conductors who retained membership in the latter organi-
zation naturally expected that union to secure for them the
advantages which organization brings. The Trainmen will-
ingly acceded to the requests of such members, but in at-
tempting to carry out their wishes came squarely in con-
flict with “rights” that for years had been exclusively as-
serted by the Order. To recount all these disputes would
fill a volume.

The situation was further aggravated by the fact that
the two brotherhoods could not agree upon uniform senior-
ity rules, which relate to promotion, determined upon the
basis of seniority or length of service. Under such an ar-
rangement the employee who has been in service longest is
entitled to the most desirable positions open to his class.
Both unions advocated the principle of seniority as applied
to railway service but disagreed as to the manner of appli-
cation. For instance, the Order, whose members for the
most part were older in point of service than those of the
Trainmen, advocated a strict enforcement of the rule, which
was equivalent to saying that members of the Order would
have their choice of runs and vacancies. The Trainmen,
on the other hand, wished a rule, whereby vacancies should
be filled by the promotion of brakemen, and for several
years they pressed their view. The railroad companies,
anxious to secure younger men, were inclined to favor the
Trainmen.

By 1899, however, it had become evident to both the
Order and the Trainmen that, if the promotion of brakemen
to conductors were allowed to continue unchecked, the num-
ber of conductors would soon be so large as to menace the

~
43] JURISDICTION 43

wage scale of all conductors. Consequently, an agreement
was reached on a considerable number of lines whereby one
conductor was to be hired outright for every two promoted
from the ranks of the brakemen.* Such agreements are
generally still in force.

With the settlement of seniority troubles, jurisdictional
disputes between the two unions became fewer and fewer.
Both organizations are anxious to supplant the former spirit
of animosity by one of co-operation, and at present im-
portant differences of opinion are largely settled in joint
committees.

1 Proceedings, 1899, p. 378.
4 Proceedings, 1901, pp. 328-34.
CHAPTER V

FEDERATION

Ear.y in their history, trade unions learned the advan-
tage of uniting in federations for the purpose of securing
their demands. In some cases alliances are formed between
unions engaged in the same general class of work. For ex-
ample, societies of plumbers, painters, plasterers and stone
cutters often create building-trades councils. Sometimes
unions combine irrespective of occupation, as in the Amer-
ican Federation of Labor, where organizations of all kinds
are cemented into one gigantic body.

The purpose of such combinations is, on the one hand,
to give greater solidarity to the ranks of organized labor;
on the other, to enable union leaders to drive home certain
trade-union principles. Thus so fundamental an idea as
recognition of organized labor made little progress so long
as each union worked individually, but when all, through
the American Federation of Labor, took up the work and
made the movement nation-wide, recognition was rapidly
attained. In much the same way, the plea for an eight-
hour work day received scant attention either from em-
ployers or public until trade unions through alliances pre-
cipitated a general movement in its favor.

Among the railroad brotherhoods, the idea of feder-
ation seemed natural from the very beginning. Not only
were the men in the train service all engaged in much the
same kind of work, under the same conditions, same bases
of pay and same hours of service, but, what was much more

44 [44
45] FEDERATION 45

important, they were all arrayed against the same em-
ployers.

As early as 1889, representatives of the firemen, train-
men, switchmen and conductors+ formed an association
called the United Orders of Railway Employees. Its
chief object was to unite the brotherhoods in obtaining the
adoption of written trade agreements insuring a standard
work day, uniform basis of payment, higher wages and
shorter hours. The working part of the federation was a
small body, known as the Supreme Council, composed of
the presidents of the unions. It initiated all the movements
carried on by the federation and, in case its demands were
refused, had power to call a strike of all the brotherhoods
party to the agreement.:

It is seen that the underlying idea was to combine the full
strength of each organization into a single force to act
upon the questions that were made an issue by the Supreme
Council. This form of alliance has been frequently called
the association plan of federation in contrast to the system
plan described below.

The fact that the Order was still a non-striking organi-
zation prevented it from taking part in this movement at
the outset. President Wheaton declined an invitation to
join the federation, on the ground that he did not feel liked
co6perating in such a project because of “ certain legisla-
tion on the statute books.”” When, in 1890, however, the
protective policy was adopted, the matter of membership in
the federation became important, and the Grand Division
appointed a special committee to consider the question and
report at the following session.”

1The conductors were represented by the Brotherhood (not the
Order) of Railway Conductors, which, it will be recalled was a rival
organization which had been formed in 1885.

2 President’s Monthly Circular, July, 1800.
46 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [46

[- This same year the engineers, who had refused to join
in the association plan of federation, went on record in
favor of the system plan of federation.* Under the system
plan the chairmen of the grievance committees of the
various unions of a system (or railroad) were to form a
federated board for the consideration of questions of mutual
interest to the brotherhoods. The idea was fundamentally
different from the association plan in that it made each sys-
tem of road a complete unit of federation, whereas the asso-
ciation plan involved each union as a whole. Brotherhoods
joining the federation had equal representation and voting
power. In case of a dispute between a road and an em-
ployee, the chairman of the organization where the com-
plaint originated was to seek an agreement with the rail-
road. In event of his inability to secure this, the grievance
was to be referred to the federated committee. This board
was to make every effort by negotiation, mediation and ar-
bitration to settle the difficulty. Should all these means
fail, the executives of the unions were to be called into
council with the federated board. If deemed expedient, a

| joint strike of all the employees on the system could be
ae
President Clark, who came into office in 1890, was a firm
believer in codperation of all kinds among the brother-
hoods. In a bulletin devoted entirely to the subject,? he
urged the adoption of the system plan of federation, sug-
gesting that in case the unions belonging to the Supreme
Council declined to enter into such an alliance, the Order
ought to make arrangements with the engineers. He also
believed that the federation would become something more
than a mere weapon for forcing concessions from the rail-

1 Proceedings, 1801, pp. 43-6.
* President’s Monthly Circular, October, 1890.
47] FEDERATION 47

roads, and expressed the hope that it would be a potential
agency for industrial peace, creating conservatism on the
part of both unions and railroads.* Speaking of the effect
of such an alliance upon the brotherhoods, he said, “ It will
be easier to handle those who are headstrong when they are
under an agreement than when they are not.” On the
other hand, he believed that the power of such a federation
would be sufficient to make the railroads willing to settle
disputes by peaceful means. “It is almost absolutely cer-
tain,” he wrote, “that so long as members are reasonable,
it will never be necessary to go to the extreme of striking,
after such an alliance is in effect on any road.”

No alliances were made, however, and in the puitecuee
spring (1891) the matter of petitioning for membership in
the Supreme Council again came before the Grand Division.
Opposition to such a course rested largely upon two
grounds: First, the well-known proclivities of the switch-
men “ to declare war” might involve the Order in an end-
less turmoil of strikes. Second, as the Brotherhood of Con-
ductors was already a member, it would doubtless be im-
possible for the Order to maintain harmonious relations in
the Council.

The burden of defending the federation fell largely on
the shoulders of President Clark. He explained that under
existing conditions every time the switchmen “struck”,
they unjustly regarded the conductors as strike-breakers if
the latter “‘ put away their trains’, even though they were
accustomed to do so normally. He believed that member-
ship in the Council would not only eliminate this misunder-
standing, but that through its vote as a member of the fed-
eration, the Order could go a long way towards stamping
out unauthorized strikes, which each year were becoming a

1 Proceedings, 1801, pp. 118-20.
48 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [48

greater menace. As to the second objection, the president
announced that while it was distasteful to him to be com-
pelled to associate with the Brotherhood of Conductors,
even in the Supreme Council, yet he believed that the best
way to get that organization out of that body would be for
the Order to join the federation.

Largely through his influence the Grand Division voted
to ask admission to the Council.* While the former re-
mained in session, no information could be obtained whether
the application for membership would be favorably consid-
ered. Accordingly, the matter was referred to a committee
“with power to act’’; and in case admission to the Council
were refused, the committee was to “ make such articles of
confederation with such other labor organizations as may be
deemed to the interests of the Order.”

Events were rapidly shaping themselves to make mem-
bership in the Council undesirable. Bickerings and jeal-
ousies had always existed, and soon after the Grand Divi-
sion adjourned serious disagreements broke out between
the switchmen and trainmen which finally ended in the
withdrawal of the latter union from the Council.

At the same time the Brotherhood of Railway Con-
ductors was exerting every influence to keep the Order
out. In fact, it decided that the federation should be
wrecked rather than permit its rival to become a member.
Fairly typical of the attitude of the Brotherhood is the fol-
lowing letter which was written by its vice-president to a
member:

“You can bet, Brother ...... , that the B. R. C. [Broth-
erhood] are hooked up all right. The O. R. C. [Order]
now admit that ‘if you don’t let us into the Council, we
are gone.’ Well, we won't let them in, if we bust up the

1 Proceedings, 1891, pp. 465-6.
49] FEDERATION 49

works. . . . There will be hell in the Council. Watch our
smoke.”’ *

A copy of this letter fell into the hands of President
Clark. Realizing that, with affairs in such chaotic condi-
tion, no real progress in féderation could be made, the mem-
bership committee from the Order abruptly stopped all
efforts to gain admission.” In July (1891) representatives
from the firemen and switchmen met in Chicago and for-
mally dissolved the Supreme Council.

With the breakdown of this method of federation, there )
remained only the so-called system plan proposed by the
engineers. This was impracticable, however, because of x
the existence in the engineers’ constitution of an incidental
provision stipulating that in case of a strike on one system,
engineers on all connecting lines were required to boycott
the property and business of the affected road. To this the
conductors refused to agree, since any effective federation |
would involve adoption by the Order of a similar clause. ")

Of the failure of federation during the period just de-
scribed, Emory Johnson, writing on “ Brotherhood Relief |
in Railway Organizations,” says: “ The time was not then
ripe for successful federation. The brotherhoods did not
have the requisite degree of confidence in each other, and
the leaders of the federation movement were too radical.”

Although wrangles and distrust had put an end to the
first codperative plan, the need for federation still existed,
and the brotherhoods at once declared in favor of the sys-
tem plan. In December, 1892, representatives of the engi-}
neers, firemen, conductors, trainmen, switchmen and teleg-
raphers met in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and adopted what
has since been known as the Cedar Rapids Plan of Feder-

1 Proceedings, 1803, pp. 9-67.
2 Tbid., 1893, pp. 9-67.
50 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [50

ation. This was in fact nothing more than a modified
form of the proposal originally made by the engineers, with
the objectionable boycott provision eliminated. The plan
jwent into operation in April, 1893, and continued in force
| for four years.”

Suitable as was the system plan for meeting the needs of
‘any particular railroad, it was not effective in reference to
questions of a general nature. For example, it was useless
in determining a course of action relative to compulsory
arbitration of railway disputes, legislation on safety devices,
etc., yet these matters were becoming more important each
year and in regard to them the leaders of the various unions
wished to act as a unit. This desire lead to a conference
of the executives of the five brotherhoods in 1897 when a
new plan of federation was devised which combined fea-
tures of both the system and the association. Grievances
on the various roads were to be handled in much the same
way as heretofore, while in addition there was to be a cabi-
net composed of the executives. By means of this cabinet
it was hoped that a powerful influence would be brought to
bear on legislation affecting interests of the brotherhoods.’

All previous system federations were declared terminated,
except those in force with the engineers. The latter brother-
hood could not officially ratify the new plan until its con-
vention in August, 1898, so the agreements to which it was
a party were continued until that date.* At their meeting
the engineers refused to endorse any plan other than sys-

1 Proceedings, 1893, pp. 521-4.

? As a result of the defalcation of its Grand Secretary and Treasurer
and of American Railroad Union troubles, in which many of its mem-
bers were implicated, the Switchmen’s Union passed out of existence
in 1895.

3 Proceedings, 1897, pp. 9-19.

4 Article of Federation Governing the Federation of American Rail-
way Employes, issued by general committee, October 14, 1897.
51] FEDERATION SI

tem federation. This unexpected action caused much ill-
feeling on the part of the other brotherhoods and existing |
agreements with the engineers were promptly abrogated.*

But the new plan of federation did not prosper. The old. )
rivalry between members of the unions persisted, despite
the utmost efforts of the executives to bring the organiza-
tions into harmony. This lack of unity on questions of gen-
eral importance proved fatal, and in less than two years,
the executives were compelled to meet and formally dis- uf
solve the federation. Thus the third attempt at codpera- \
tion among the brotherhoods proved a failure. =

The executives, however, were not discouraged. In the
signed statement of dissolution, they said that the step
should not be understood to indicate any friction between
the organizations; that their faith in federation was un-
shaken, and that eventually some plan of direct coopera-
tion would become a permanent fixture among the brother-
hoods.”

The situation may be summed up by saying that while the
leaders of the unions now fully realized the advantage of
federation in securing common ends, the rank and file of
the members were still unconscious of it, except in indi-
vidual instances. For example, whenever the employees
on a given system wished higher wages, they were perfectly
willing to codperate and make the necessary sacrifices to
secure them, but the idea that the unions as a whole should
adopt this as 4 principle was still beyond their thought.
Consequently, the leaders reluctantly returned to the system ay
plan.* For acomplete list of federations to which the Order™
is a party, see Appendix B.

With the formation of the western, eastern and south-

1 Proceedings, 1800, PP. 554-7. 2Tbid., 1901, pp. 9-120.
3 Ibid., 1903, pp. 19-I0I.
*

52 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [52

ern associations (described in Chapter VI), necessitating
_concerted movements on a large _ scale, | ‘the system plan
again proved inadequate, and in 1907 it was provided that
the General Adjusting Committees in each association might
coéperate for the purpose of carrying on concerted move-
ments relating to wages, hours and other important gen-
eral working conditions." The plan was immediately suc-
cessful, and most of the wage movements for the last few
ears have been conducted in this manner. A conspicuous
example of its operation was seen in the year 1913 when
the joint committee of the Conductors and Trainmen in the
gastern territory carried on a movement for higher wages
affecting fifty-two railroads.
The success of the association movements has led the
executives to believe that the time is now (1913) ripe for
a further extension of the codperative idea. Thus at the

_ conventions held in 1913 each union * was asked to vote on

‘the proposition of establishing a central bureau of statistics

for the purpose of collecting statistics relative to wages,
hours of work, etc. The brotherhoods not only approved
the plan, but voted to contribute annually for the upkeep of
the bureau.®

In speaking of the codperative movement, President Gar-
retson expressed his belief that the time would come when
one fixed Board of Appeals, composed of representatives
from the four brotherhoods on the one hand, and of officers
of the railways on the other, would sit in continuous weekly,
monthly or quarterly sessions, as the case might be, listen-
ing to the demands of both employers and employees, and
adjusting all differences that might arise.*

1 Proceedings, 1909, pp. II-106.
+ Engineers, conductors, firemen and trainmen.
* Proceedings, 1913, p. 489. * [bid., 1913, p. 861.
53] FEDERATION a

As indicative of the trend of federation, President Stone, /
of the engineers, in 1913, appeared before the Grand Divi-
sion of the Order urging codperation. He announced that
the engineers and firemen had just reached an agreement
which would do away with the friction that had previously
existed between those unions, and that the codperative
movement would doubtless make rapid progress in the j
future.

Largely as a result of the attitude taken by President
Garretson, the Grand Division passed a resolution recom-
mending that in all future association movements relative
to wages, hours and general conditions of work, the general
committees of the Order work in harmony with committees
from the other brotherhoods, and, if possible, the unions
make one general agreement for all the roads, irrespective
of size or location. It is yet too early to tell how success-
ful will be these latest, but very important, phases of the
federation movement.
PART II

TRADE REGULATIONS AND MEANS
OF ENFORCEMENT
CHAPTER VI
WacEs And Hours

As already noted, for many years the Order either
ignored trade policies or expressed sentiments hostile to
them. Only when driven to it by the necessity of changed
conditions and the menace of a rival organization, did the
union take up those trade-regulatory functions which to-day
form such an important part of its activities.

To understand why the Order was obliged to change its
policy, it is necessary to examine conditions of employment
during the early years of the organization. By 1868, some
railroads recognized as many as five distinct classes of con-
ductors. In the vernacular of the railroads these were
known as: through passenger conductors, local passenger
conductors, through freight conductors, local freight con-
ductors and yard switching conductors. A through passen-
ger conductor is one who is in charge of a train which runs
through from one principal division point to another. Or-
dinarily this train does not stop at small stations, thus dis-
tinguishing it from a local train. As a rule the run made
by the local train is for a comparatively short distance; so
short, in fact, that it not infrequently happens that the local
leaves a given station in the morning and returns to it in the
evening. In the main, the same distinction holds true be-
tween through and local freight trains. In yard switching
service, the conductor does not have any regular “run”,
but his work is confined to switching and making up trains.
Not all roads recognized these classes as distinct. Some,

57] 57
58 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [58

for example, had but two, passenger conductors and freight
conductors, who performed the work of all five; others
maintained three; still others four.

There were absolutely no general rules regarding wages.
Pay varied according to the number of classes of conductors
that a road recognized, as well as by the length of time the
conductor had been in service. Quite as often, however,
promotion, and consequently pay, were governed by fav-
oritism, and demotion or dismissal was made in many in-
stances only for the purpose of furnishing an opportunity
for the advancement of a favorite. Rules of pay, more-
over, for the same classes of work varied materially—not
alone in different divisions of the country—but on different
roads in the same territory, and sometimes on different sec-
tions of the same road. Neither was there a uniform basis
of payment. A large number of the roads paid stipulated
monthly salaries. Some paid by the “trip”’, still others by
the day, and a few by the number of miles which the con-
ductor “ran”.

Although the varying rates, standards, and bases of pay-
ment make any conclusions as to wages received by con-
ductors quite impossible, nevertheless some general state-
ments may be attempted. Conductors on through passenger
trains received higher wages than those employed on local
passenger trains, and through freight conductors received
more than local freight conductors. Men in charge of pas-
senger trains received higher wages than those in charge of
freight trains. Both passenger and freight conductors were
paid higher wages than conductors engaged in yard
switching.

Statistics as to wages during this period are not avail-
able, but from estimates made on the basis of interviews
with conductors who were in service during these years it
would appear that passenger conductors were paid from
59] WAGES AND HOURS 59

$65 to $70 per month and that freight conductors received
on an average about $60. This condition remained practi-
cally unchanged throughout the 70’s, except as wages were
temporarily affected by the hard times in the latter part of
that decade. With the return of prosperity in the 80’s
wages rose. It is estimated that by 1883 passenger con-
ductors were receiving from $70 to $80 per month and
freight conductors from $60 to $72.

Unstandardized as were conditions regarding wages of
conductors, those relative to the length of the work day
were even worse. There was apparently no connection be-
tween the wages paid and the number of hours that a con-
ductor worked. As already explained, payments were
made on a basis of the month, the day, the trip, or the mile.
The amount remained the same whether the conductor
worked 8 hours or 16, since it was an unwritten law that
he must make his trip. It might be that the regular time
consumed was but 10 or 12 hours, but, if, as frequently hap-
pened, it took 15 or 18 to complete the run, the conductor
received no extra compensation for the additional hours.
In cases where payment was on the mileage basis, 100
miles was generally counted a day's work, but, if, for any
reason, the time consumed in making this distance was 16
or 18 hours rather than 10 or 12, the conductor received no
additional pay. Furthermore as there were no regulations
restricting the length of the work day, even regular runs
consumed from 10 to 12 hours, irrespective of delays.

The number of causes which contributed to a long, tedious
workday were legion. Time schedules for the trains were
poorly compiled. Neither officials nor employees felt any
strong pressure to run trains exactly on time. Methods of
dispatching were crude, with the result that trains often
stood for hours merely waiting for “running orders”.
Engines were frail; hence “engine failures” were fre-
60 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [60

quent. Sometimes this would mean sending many miles
for a new engine. Water tanks and coal chutes were not
properly located, so that often a train had to be stopped out
in the country while the engine was run to the nearest sta-
tion for coal and water. Heavy grades were common, with
the result that “ doubling hills ’—taking the train over the
grade in two sections—was a common practice. The lack
of air brakes necessitated a “rough handling” of trains.
In consequence the frail link and pin couplings frequently
snapped, and the “ pulling out of drawbars ” was almost a
daily occurrence.

Delays of this character played a large part in the life of
every conductor. It meant being on duty for continuous
periods of 14, 16 and even 18 hours. Stories are not un-
common, based on authentic information, of conductors
who, having taken out their runs one day, arrived home
barely in time to take out their runs on the day following.

The result of such conditions was inevitable. Tired from

! overwork and loss of sleep, conductors either grew careless
of, or else forgot, their “ running orders”. In consequence
‘railroad accidents multiplied rapidly, and the loss in lives
and property each year grew larger. The conductors, on
the other hand, sought relief through stimulants. Intem-
» perance grew at a rapid pace, and in its turn became a con-
tributing cause to greater inefficiency and to more accidents.

These were the conditions which confronted the con-
ductors when the Order began its trade-regulating functions
in 1885. The first regulation was a simple provision that
the Grand Chief Conductor should assist members in settling
their grievances against the companies.‘ Encouraged by
the hope of such assistance, occasional attempts were made
by conductors, especially on the western roads, to come to

' Executive Committee Circular, issued at Milwaukee, Wis., Nov.
18, 1885.
61] WAGES AND HOURS 61

understandings with their employers relative to wages and
hours of work. Such agreements when successful were
generally mere verbal contracts, and did not play an im-
portant part in the life of the Order. It was not until 1890,
when the union became “protective” through the adoption
of a strike policy, that it entered actively into the work of
trade regulation.

Under the general plan adopted by the Order, conductors
on each road endeavored to make agreements with their
employers which would regulate conditions of employment
on that road. There were to be uniform wages for all con-
ductors in given classes of standard work, pay for work
in excess of that day or run, and such minor regulations as
the men could get incorporated into their agreements.

The contracts which the conductors sought to obtain pro-
vided that all men in freight service should be paid on the
mileage basis. Payment was to be made at the rate of three
cents per mile. One hundred miles, or ten hours of service,
were to be considered a day’s work, and service in excess
of that amount was to be paid at the rate of thirty cents per
hour. Any run less than 100 miles was to be considered
as being 100 miles. Wherever possible passenger service
was to be paid on a mileage basis, with a maximum monthly
salary to be paid irrespective of the miles run.

The task of getting uniform regulations enacted on the
different roads proved an exceedingly difficult one. Each
railway was still an independent, competing unit. The com-
bination of little properties into large lines, and of these
lines into gigantic systems, so common to-day, was still
unknown. Consequently, each road preferred to retain its
own classifications of work and methods of payment.

The general situation was further complicated by the fact
that each road was developing classes of trains to suit the
peculiar need of the community which it served. Near
62 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [62

large forests, logging trains were numerous. In mining
regions, ore trains became important. Near cities, milk
trains, meat trains and suburban trains of all kinds were
tapidly developing. Between large cities there were ex-
press trains. In sparsely-settled districts were combination
or “‘mixed” trains. In the north, snow trains were essen-
tial. In mountainous regions, special: mountain trains were
necessary. Practically every road maintained its corps of
gravel trains, dirt trains, work trains and wreck trains,
and had to be in readiness to furnish circus trains, funeral
trains, picnic trains and extras of all kinds and descriptions.

Thus it happened that even after the trade agreements
were signed vast differences still existed regarding work
regulations on the various roads. As fairly typical of the
situation the agreements in force on 18 roads in 1890 have
been compared.* This study shows that on 13 of the roads
pay in passenger service was by the month. Two roads
paid on the mileage basis, one by the trip and one by the day.
The schedule of the remaining road contained no provision
relative to passenger conductors. On through freight runs
four roads paid by the month, ten paid by the mile, two paid
by the day and two by the trip. In way freight or local
freight service all of the roads retained a monthly wage,
two paid by the mile and two by the day.

Regulations relative to a standard day and overtime pay
were equally heterogeneous. Provisions as to what consti-
tuted a day’s work in passenger service were so confusing
as to defy unification. One road definitely stipulated that
ten hours should constitute a day’s work. Another pro-
vided that 200 miles should be the standard. Other roads
provided that the conductor should run a given number of
miles per month. Still other roads made no provisions

‘

1 Copies of these
headquarters.

“schedules” may be found in the files at national
63] WAGES AND HOURS 63

whatever. Only four of the agreements provided definitely
for overtime pay in passenger service. Of these, one road
paid overtime for Sunday work only, one for work in ex-
cess of ten hours per day, and two for work in excess of a
given. number of miles per month.

In through freight service 16 of the roads called 12 hours
a day’s work, and two considered 10 hours the standard.
Thirteen of the roads paid for overtime on the hourly basis,
three on the mileage basis, and two, both of which paid
monthly salaries, listed overtime “pro rata”. In local
service 16 of the roads called 12 hours a day’s work, one
used 11 hours as the standard and one paid on the basis
of 14 hours. Twelve of these roads paid overtime by the
hour, five by the mile and one “ pro rata”.

This general confusion in wages and manner of pay-
ment continued throughout the nineties. The making of
trade agreements was somewhat checked by the panic of
1893, but with the return of prosperity in 1897, the work
was taken up with renewed activity. By 1900 something
approximating the desired standard had been reached on
roads running west from Chicago.

No sooner had this goal been achieved than the Order
found itself confronted with an unexpected difficulty.
Thereafter when conductors on any of the western roads
asked for an additional advance in wages or for shorter
hours, they were immediately met with the reply that the
company was already paying the standard rate for that ter-
ritory, and that competition made it impossible for the com-
pany to pay higher wages than its competitors. For some
time this policy rebuffed every effort of the Order to obtain
increases. In 1902, however, some of the members con-
ceived the idea of forming a western association for the
advancement of wages. An imaginary line was drawn
from Duluth to Chicago and thence southward along a
64 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [64

branch of the Illinois Central railroad. All roads west of
this line were said to be in the western association. In
July of this same year representatives of conductors on all
these roads met in Chicago and drew up a joint demand
asking for higher wages, shorter hours and other valuable
concessions. The following month copies of this petition
were presented simultaneously to the managers of every rail-
road included in the western association. At first the
railroads refused to consider such a concerted demand, but
the conductors held firm, while the fact that they had been
joined in the movement by the trainmen made the position
of the men doubly strong. Both organizations promptly
voted to strike, if their demands were refused. This gave
a gravity to the situation that had been absent so long as
each road dealt with its employees as an individual group.
After several months of parleying, a compromise was ef-
fected which gave an increase in pay and other important
concessions to both conductors and trainmen.

The success of this movement encouraged employees in
other parts of the country to attempt something similar. In
1906 the eastern association was formed. It includes all
the territory east of Chicago and north of the Chesapeake
and Ohio railroad. In 1909 the southern (sometimes called
southeastern) association was organized. It comprises the
territory not included in the western and eastern associa-
tions. In each of these territories successive increases of
wages and better work conditions have been granted and in
each approximate uniformity has been effected.

From the foregoing survey, it is obvious that any general
estimate of wages for the entire country is open to error.
President Garretson, who assisted in negotiating the first
trade agreement ever made by the Order, and who since
1890 has spent his entire time in that work, says that any
attempt to average wages is nothing more than “ scientific
6s] WAGES AND HOURS 65

guess work”’. In fact, in all the controversies between the
Order and the railroads there has been a notable lack of
definite information in this regard. The Board of Arbitra-
tion for the controversy with the eastern association in 1913,
professed its inability to compute an average compensation,
and recommended that Congress appoint a committee to in-
vestigate the subject. Consequently, the reader is warned
that the statistics which follow only approximate the truth.

President Garretson, in a calculation based on personal
experience and an intimate knowledge of wage conditions
during the past thirty-five years, estimates that in 1890, in
the territory now included in the western association,
wages for passenger conductors ranged from $100 to $125
per month. He believes that the average compensation was
about $115. In freight service, rates on nearly all the
larger western properties were three cents per mile. One
hundred miles was considered a day’s work. This, figured
on the basis of 26 days, would give a monthly salary of
$78. The 1o-hour day was becoming general but was by
no means universal.

In the territory now embraced in the eastern association
both passenger and freight conductors were paid by the
month. There were no uniform regulations either as to
wages or conditions of work. Very few of the roads paid
for overtime. On the whole, wages in the east were prob-
ably not more than 75 per cent of those in the west. In the
south almost the same conditions existed as in the east.
Pay for the most part was by the month and no provisions
for overtime were made. Wages generally speaking were
somewhat lower in the south than in the east.

At the present time (1913) the average rate in western
territory for passenger service is $165 per month. Freight
service in that territory is paid at the rate of 4.18 cents per
mile or $108.68 per month. Rates in the east and south
66 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [65

(as a result of the 1913 arbitration award) are equal. The
average pay in passenger service is $145 per month. Freight
service is paid at the rate of 4.1 cents per mile, or $106.60
per month.

From the foregoing figures it is seen that during the
twenty-three years from 1890 to 1913 wages in passenger
service in the west have increased 43 per cent. In freight
service the increase has been 39 per cent. In the east and
south the percentage of increase is not computable, but it is
probable that the percentage in the east has been greater
than in the west, while in the south the percentage has been
slightly greater than in the east. The figures furnished by
President Garretson have been corroborated by Chairman
E. E. Clark, of the Interstate Commerce Commission, who
was Grand Chief Conductor of the Order from 1890 to
1900.

The general course of wages as estimated by President
Garretson is also substantiated by a comparison of the
schedules on 18 roads from 1890 to 1912. This comparison,
which appears practically impossible when one first glances
at the various methods of payment in 1890, can be made by
reducing the rates of pay to monthly wages. Through ex-
perience and custom 155 miles has come to be reckoned as a
day’s work in passenger service, and 100 miles as equiva-
lent to a day in freight service. By counting 26 days as a
month’s work, wages paid by the hour or by mileage can be
approximated. Then, by grouping the railroads in their
respective territories, western, eastern and southern, the
changes according to territory may be noted. The reader
must bear in mind, however, that the results thus obtained
are only indicative of the trend of wages during the period.
It may easily happen that other roads may show changes
quite at variance with the particular figures here given.

From a study of the eighteen schedules it appears that the
67] -WAGES AND HOURS 67

average monthly compensation of passenger conductors on
the ten roads included in the western territory in 1890
was $103.19 per month. Through freight service on
these same roads paid $80.21 per month, and local freight
$89.72 per month. On the six roads located in the eastern
territory average monthly compensation of conductors in
passenger service was $96.42 per month, and local freight
$86.02. On the two roads embraced in the southern terri-
tory pay was as follows: passenger service, $96.50 per
month; through freight, $80.25 per month, and _ local
freight, $88. For a detailed study of the schedules the
reader is referred to Appendix C.

In 1900 the roads in the western territory averaged
$109.72, $79.36, and $90.71 for passenger service, through
freight, and local freight respectively. In the eastern group
the figures read: passenger service, $97.91 ; through freight,
$81.10, and local freight, $87.14. The figures for the two
southern roads were: passenger service, $96.50; through
freight, $88.08, and local freight, $97.50.

In 1910 the western roads were paying $147.48 for pas-
senger service, $108.11 for through freight, and $118.61
for local freight. In the east, passenger wages averaged
$120.66, through freight $96.34, and local freight $109.12.
In the south, the compensation for passenger conductors
averaged $112.08, for through freight $94.93, and local
freight $109.20. In other words, wages on the ten roads
in the western territory increased from 1890 to IQIO as
follows: passenger service 43 per cent, through freight 35
per cent, and local freight 32 per cent. In the east the in-
creases read: passenger service 25 per cent, through freight
26 per cent, and local freight 27 per cent. In the south, the
percent of increase was as follows: passenger service 16
per cent, through freight 18 per cent, and local freight 24
per cent. Since 1910, conductors in the west have received
68 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [68

one general advance in wages. In both east and south two
separate increases have been granted, which would bring
the average on these eighteen roads fairly close to the esti-
mate already given.

AVERAGE Montuiy WAGE oF CONDUCTORS
COMPUTED FROM SCHEDULES IN EXISTENCE ON EIGHTEEN RAILROADS
IVestern Association

%, of Increase

1890 1900 I9QI0 1890-1910
Pi Ee eaaatets 103.19 109.72 147.48 43%.
Ete unyaanaa 80.21 79.36 108.11 35%
cases 89.72 90.71 118.61 32%
Eastern Association
Pi Roca 96.42 97.91 120.66 25%.
Ae Aden diester 76.51 81.10 096.34 26%
To Pisyaiesateat 86.02 87.14 109.12 27%
Southern Association
Pe Teosiehgunness 96.50 96.50 112.08 16%
To B easier 80.25 88.08 94.93 18%
iTiserl re a alee 88.00 97.50 109.20 24%

The writer wishes to call attention to the fact that the
figures given in the schedules just quoted represent merely
the rates of pay for conductors, and when the annual wage
is determined by multiplying the number of work days in a
year by the rate per day, it is assumed that the conductors
are employed each day. Asa matter of fact, few conductors
work continuously throughout the year. The hazardous
nature of the calling means that a certain percent is always
incapacitated by accidents and other injuries. Sickness is
constantly thinning the ranks of the employed, while the
nervous strain which accompanies the work makes it impos-
sible for the conductor to continue at his task with a regu-

* P. T.—passenger train; T. F.—through freight; L. F.—local freight.
69] WAGES AND HOURS 69

larity common in industries of a less exacting nature. Al-
though it is true that the conductor is not employed every
work day it frequently happens that when he is employed
he works for longer hours than the stipulated work day.
Thus pay for overtime plays a very important rdle in con-
nection with wages actually received by the conductor. The
amount of overtime naturally varies with the busy and dull
seasons of business. It also varies in lightly and thickly
settled communities, being more common in the latter. It
is also found in greater abundance on those roads that
operate single tracks, as compared with those that have
double or triple tracks. On an average, overtime forms from
7 per cent to 15 per cent of the conductor’s wage. It is in-
teresting to note that overtime constantly tends to make his
yearly earnings approximate what he would receive
were he employed daily for the regulation number of hours.
For instance, the present rate for conductors in through
freight service on western roads is 4.18 cents per mile,
which is equivalent to about $1,300 per year. The amount
annually received by western freight conductors approxi-
mates this sum. Although the wage as computed from the
schedule thus practically coincides with the sum actually
received, this equalization is due to the large amount of
overtime work performed by the conductor.

Since 1892 the Interstate Commerce Commission has
published statistics of the average daily compensation of
railway employees. But the computations are open to criti-
cism. For example, the average daily wage is secured by
dividing the total amount paid a given class by the total
number of days worked by the employees of that class.
Such a method not only makes no distinction as to over-
time pay, but it averages passenger, freight and yard con-
ductors in one group irrespective of the fact that they all
receive different rates of pay. Neither do the figures make
70 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [70

any distinction between the regular wage received and the
amount paid for overtime. Lastly, the average daily wage
thus obtained can not be used as a basis for estimating
monthly or yearly incomes, because it includes a very large
number of men who are employed as conductors only part
of the time. In fact, as the commission itself points out,
the figures are of little real value, except as they show the
general course of wages over a period of years, and they
are so used in this monograph.

According to the above reports the average daily com-
pensation for conductors in 1892 was $3.07." In 1911, the
amount was $4.16, a gain of $1.09 or an increase of 35
per cent over the wages paid in 1892. During these same
years the average daily compensation of engineers rose
from $3.68 in 1892 to $4.79 in 1911, a direct increase of
$1.11 or a percentage gain of 30. Wages of firemen in-
creased from $2.07 in 1892 to $2.94, a positive increase of
87 cents or a percentage increase of 42. Other trainmen
during this period advanced their wages from $1.89 in 1892
to $2.94 in I9IT, an increase of $1.05 or a gain of 56 per
cent. Thus it is seen that the course of wages for con-
ductors has been midway between those of other members
of the train crew. The actual wages paid engineers has at
all times been greater, while the firemen and trainmen have
both shown a larger percentage increase.

Compared with increases granted to railway employees
other than those who are members of the train crew, the
wage position of the conductor is interesting. He receives
a much higher money compensation than any class outside
the train crew. His daily wage, for example, in I9QII, was
33 per cent larger than railway machinists, 63 per cent more
than railway carpenters, 71 per cent more than telegraphers,

1 Annual Reports of Interstate Commerce Commission, 1892-1911.
71] WAGES AND HOURS 9

86 per cent more than shopmen (other than machinists),
g2 per cent more than station agents, I00 per cent more
than section foremen, 120 per cent more than station men
(other than agents), and 177 per cent more than trackmen
(other than section foremen).*

AVERAGE Datty CoMPENSATION OF ENGINEERS, ConDuCToRS, FIREMEN
AND OTHER TRAINMEN *

 

 

Year ’92 | '93 | ’94 | ’95 | 96 | ’97 | 98 | ’99 | ’oo | ’or
Engineers. ..../$3.68 |$3.66 $3.61 |$3.65 (63.65 |83.65 |83.72 (63-72 |$3.75 [63.78
Firemen ...... 2.07 | 2.04| 2.03] 2.05| 2.06] 2.05 | 2.09] 2.10] 2.14] 2.16

Conductors ....| 3.07] 3.08) 3.04} 3.04] 3.05] 3.07] 3.13| 3.13| 3.17) 3.17
Other Trainmen.| 1.89 | 1.91 | 1.89) 1.90] 1.90] 1.90] 1.95] 1.94] 1.96| 2.00

 

Year ’o2 | ’03 | ’04 | ’05 | ’06 | ’o7 | ’08 | ’og | ’ro | 711

Engineers ..../$3.84 |64.01 [$4.01 $4.12 184.12 |$4.30 |84.45 |84.44 |#4.55 |84.79
Firemen ...... 2.20| 2,28] 2.35] 2.38] 2.42] 2.54] 2.64] 2.67] 2.74] 2.94
Conductors ...-] 3.21] 3.38] 3.50] 3.50) 3.51] 3-69] 3.81| 3.81] 3.91] 4.15
Other Trainmen.| 2.04] 2.17} 2.27] 2.31] 2.35} 2.54/ 2.60/ 2.59| 2.69! 2.88

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* The term “other trainmen” includes brakemen, flagmen, baggage-
men, switchmen, etc.

Compared with increases granted to employees outside
of railway work, the wages of conductors also appear to an
advantage. Statistics for the entire period are not avail-
able for the various trades, but beginning with the year
1897 it is seen that while conductors’ wages have increased

1 Report, Board of Arbitration, in the matter of the controversy be-
tween the Eastern Railroads and the Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers, Nov. 2, 1912, pp. 58-75. Hereafter referred to as Engineers’
Award r912. y
72 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [2

on an average of 35 per cent, those of workers in the bak-
ing trades have increased by 29.8 per cent; those in metal
trades 12.3 per cent; those in the building trades 10.2 per
cent; those in newspaper printing trades 8.8 per cent; and
those in marble and stone trades 3.5 per cent.’

As already suggested, the only fair computation of con-
ductors’ wages would be one which would properly distin-
guish pay according to classes and separate overtime from
the regular wage. Up to the present time no such study has
been made. It would be possible only by the most ex-
haustive investigation into the actual pay rolls of the var-
ious railway companies and would be a task that would
take the entire time of a large corps of statisticians for
many months. Such a study is obviously beyond the scope
of the present monograph.

As a result, however, of the voluminous statistics pre-
sented in connection with the 1913 arbitration controversy,
it is possible to ascertain what were actually the wages paid
the various classes of conductors in 1912. The study is
confined to the 52 roads included in the eastern association,
and is for but one year, 1912, and does not separate the
regular wage from overtime, yet it presents a very accurate
picture of what conductors in the east actually received in
that year.

Of the total number employed in passenger service, 5.4 per
cent earned less than $1,200; 73.81 per cent received $1,200
but less than $1,800; while 20.79 per cent received $1,800
or over. The average annual compensation in passenger
service was $1,596.69. In freight service, 27.68 per cent
received less than $1,200; 66.26 per cent earned $1,200
and less than $1,600; 6.06 per cent received more than
$1,600, while but .74 of one per cent earned $1,800

1 The periods extend only to the year 1910, except that for conductors

which is to 1911. Buletin Bureau of Labor Statistics, no. 131, Aug. 15,
1913, p. 6.
73] WAGES AND HOURS 73

or over, The average compensation paid in freight service
was $1,299.83. In yard service 41.66 per cent received less
than $1,200; 57.11 per cent earned $1,200 and less than
$1,600; while but 1.23 per cent received $1,600 or over.

ActuaL Waces Pain ConpuctTors IN THE EASTERN TERRITORY, FROM
NOVEMBER, IQII, TO NOVEMBER, 1912, INCLUSIVE

 

Per Cent. Earnings.

 

Total Average
Number | Yearly Less
Employed.| Earnings.) than |$1200-1600|$1600~1800
$1200

 

Over $1800

 

 

Passenger

Conductor.| 4,017 {$1,596.69 | 5.40%] 45.60% 28.21% 20.79 %
Freight

 

 

Conductor.| 7,685 1,299.83 | 27.68%] 66.26% 5.32% 74%
Yard Service

Conductor.| 4,073 1,112.02 | 41.66%| 57.11% 1.23% | seecee
Total 155775 1,356.22 | 25.60%| 58.66% 10.08 % 5.66%

 

 

No yard service conductors received as much as $1,800.
The average annual compensation in yard service was $1,-
112.02. The average compensation for conductors irre-
spective of class was $1,356.22.

It must not be assumed, however, that these figures repre-
sent the actual wages of all men. citployed as conductors on
these roads during the period named. For example, only
15,775 men were employed exclusively as conductors, while
13,473 additional men were employed partly in the capacity
of conductors and partly in the capacity of other trainmen.
The average annual earnings of this latter class were $1,-
112.02, or $484.67 less than the average annual earnings of

1 Statements prepared by the Conference Committee of Managers,
Eastern Territory, for the Board of Arbitration, New York, September,
1913. Exhibit 6.
74 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [74

bona-fide conductors. Of the average received by those who
performed service in double capacity, $437.74 was earned
as conductors and $674.28 was earned as “ other trainmen ”.
The average annual compensation paid other trainmen
during this period was $1,062.64, or $295.58 less per man
than the wage received by conductors. If we accept the
computation made by the Board of Arbitration previous to
its award in 1912, engineers on roads in the eastern asso-
ciation were receiving average annual wages of $1,400."

Basis of Wage Payment

We have seen that for many years several different
methods of paying conductors were in vogue, but that more
recently the tendency has been distinctly towards the adop-
tion of the mileage plan. The fundamental idea underlying
this method was expressed in the Clark-Morrissey award of
IQIO, in a sentence that has since become classic in railway
literature. It reads: “The theory underlying a mileage
schedule of pay is that the employee will be paid for all the
service he renders and the company will not pay for any ser-
vice that it does not get.” *

There is, however, one very important exception to this
statement. The element of time often modifies the basic
idea of the mileage plan. That the framers of the above
definition were fully conscious of this is evident since they
added: ‘“ Unlike men in ordinary industrial trades em-
ployees on trains must, in order to enjoy any of the com-
forts and advantages of home life, have their runs so ad-
justed as to give them the greatest practicable amount of
time at home. . . . On the other hand, the exigencies of

1Exhibit 6. Op. cit.

? Award, Arbitration between the Eastern Railroads and Order of
Railway Conductors and Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, Nov.
10, 1913, p. 23. Hereafter referred to as The Award of 1013.
75] WAGES AND HOURS 75

the business are such that the responsible managing officers
of the road must have reasonable leeway within which to
adjust the number and time of their trains, and the points
between which they will run in such a way as to best and
most satisfactorily serve the public.”

It is thus seen that the necessity of public service puts
the time element to a large extent beyond the control of
both railroads and men. From the very nature of the work
it is not possible for a man to leave his home in the morning
and return to it again at evening, as does the worker in or-
dinary industrial pursuits. It very frequently happens that
the conductor’s “lay over” period is away from home.
This not only means that he is thus away from his family
during much of his leisure time, but he is subjected to a
continual expense for board and lodging. On many runs
the actual time employed by the conductor in going from
one point to another is considerably less than a full day’s
work, yet the hours consumed in “lay over” periods, and
the payment of board and lodging may easily bring the ex-
penses of the trip to a point higher than it would be, were it
possible for him to be employed for longer hours but have
his “lay over” periods at home. The place and extent of
these ‘‘ lay over’ periods are subject to such variation as to
make it entirely impracticable for the conductor to move his
family to the point of “lav over”. Often, too, the time is
about evenly divided between two cities. In such instances
the time element becomes a factor of equal importance with
the labor element.

The present tendency of boards of arbitration is to em-
phasize the time element. The Board in the 1913 contro-
versy, in commenting upon the factors which underlie
wages, said: “ The trainmen have but two things to sell,
their time and their labor; and it is fair that they should
receive remuneration for the time they place at the disposal
76 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [76

of the railway as well as for the labor they expend in its
service.” *

Standardization of Wages

From the statistics that have been presented, it is seen
that there has never been a standard wage for conductors
in the United States, but that the tendency is distinctly in
that direction. The movement toward standardization was
begun when the western, eastern and southern territories
were created, and wages on the various roads in each of
these territories were made uniform. A second stage was
entered in 1913 when rates of pay for the eastern and
southern districts were equalized. But one more step re-
mains to be taken. Wages in the west still vary from the
uniform rate now existing in the east and south.

This situation brings up the interesting question of
whether or not a standard wage for the whole country is
desirable. The Order answers such a question in the affir-
mative. The railroads deny the practicability of such a
scheme. The public, so far as it has asserted itself through
boards of arbitration, has taken the ground that the plan is
desirable, but only under certain conditions.

The first contention of the Order in favor of standard-
ization is that (with the exception of desert and mountain-
ous regions) conductors in all parts of the country have
approximately the same tasks to perform, that is, the work
of passenger conductors, for example, is about the same,
whether it be performed in Maine or California. Conse-
quently there is no valid reason why all conductors should
not be paid at the same general rate.

Not only does the union believe that conditions of work
are the same, but also that the circumstances which affect

1 The Award of 1973, p. 28.
77] WAGES AND HOURS 77

living conditions of conductors are year by year becoming
uniform. President Garretson, in his testimony before the
Arbitration Board in 1913, expressed the belief that a con-
ductor could live anywhere within a radius of 1,000 miles
from Chicago, and, with the exception of a few local varia-
tions, enjoy practically all the comforts and opportunities
of life that are open to conductors in any other part of the
territory. Under such circumstances standardization can
not work injury to any class of conductors.*

As illustrating the absurdity of the present method of
paying by territory, one witness testified to conditions on
the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad and on the Chi-
cago, Indiana and Southern Railroad. These lines run par-
allel from Chicago to Danville. Both are “coal roads”.
Both are affected by the same conditions of employment
and business. Yet the Chicago and Eastern Illinois pays
western rates, while the Chicago, Indiana and Southern
pays eastern rates.”

The Order argues that standardization would work no
injury to the railroads themselves. Not only are all tasks
the same on the various roads, but, through the adoption of
the Book of Rules by the American Railway Association,
the railroads are actually operating under the same general
regulations, while through the efforts of the Master Car
Builders’ Association the work of standardizing cars is
going on rapidly.”

Lastly, the Order points out that the practicability of
standardization has already been demonstrated. This is
true not only on a small scale in the western, eastern and
southern territories, but for the country as a whole. Rail-
way mail clerks, who work under conditions strikingly

1 Award of 1913, p. 12. 2 Tbid.
78 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [78

analogous to those of conductors, are paid uniform rates
(according to the class they are in) irrespective of the par-
ticular part of the country in which they live.

The railroads, on their part, deny that standardization is
possible. They assert that there is a “natural” rate ior
various parts of the country. -A\s illustrative, they point out
the fact that wages have always been higher in the west
than in the east. This is due partly to the fact that gen-
eral wages have always been higher in the west than in
the east, and partly to the fact that runs in the west are
longer, and that the risk due to more meagre equipment, is
greater. On the other hand, they explain lower wages in
the east upon the ground that where there is a dense popu-
jation necessitating shorter runs, greater double trackage
and higher standards of equipment making for safety and
ease of work, wages should naturally be lower.*

They point out that railway postal clerks are not fair ex-
amples of standardization, for mail clerks are paid by the
government, which not only has a monopoly of its business,
but does not even try to make profits from carrying the
mails. Hence, it can afford to pay wages that would be out
of the question for private companies.

The argument on which the railroads lay most stress
is that a road’s ability to pay wages is governed prim-
arily by its earning capacity. This capacity 1s not a uniform
factor. It is different in mountainous regions and in
prairie lands, and vastly different in thickly-populated
regions, and sparsely-settled communities. Some roads
naturally have large receipts per mile; others have relatively
small receipts.” Some roads, due to advantageous location
or exceptional management, are naturally strong. Others
are naturally weak. Under such conditions, to make all

1 Award of 1913, pp. 13-14. 2 Ibid.
79] WAGES AND HOURS 79

roads pay uniform wages would be decidedly unfair both to
the big and to the little.

To this argument the Order replies that while it is doubt-
less true that such conditions once existed among American
railroads, it is not the case to-day; that within recent
years the consolidation of roads into great systems, and
the unification of rates by the Interstate Commerce Com-
mission have done away with the great differences that once
existed. Where actual consolidation has not taken place
the same result has been secured through interlocking di-
rectorates. Little roads to-day are nothing more than feed-
ers for big lines. In the eastern wage controversy of 1913
the Order presented statistics which showed “that of the
52 roads in the east only 29.8 per cent were independent
of stock ownership by or in other roads of the 52; that
only 24.56 per cent were free from intercorporate relation-
ship, and that among the remaining companies there exists
an extensive system of intercorporate ownership of stock”,
which was found not only in the various systems of roads,
but between the systems themselves. With ownership so
centralized, the Order asserts that any argument based on
the assumption of weak and strong roads falls to the
ground.”

Public sentiment in the controversy so far as it is re
flected by boards of arbitration has been favorable to the
contentions of the Order. At the same time, barriers have
been found to exist which have made the immediate adop-
tion of any standardization plan impossible.

The Board which handed down the award in the engi-
neers’ dispute of 1912 said, in part:

‘Exhibits submitted before the Board of Arbitration in the Con-
certed Wage Movement, Eastern Territory, 1913, by the Order of
Railway Conductors and the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen,
September, 1913, pp. 190-223.
80 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [80

The Board hold to the view that the nature of the service ren-
dered is the paramount factor, and that if any standardization
takes place, the fact must be recognized that where there is
greater responsibility or greater strain there should be larger
pay, and this without respect to whether the division operated
belongs to a large system or is controlled by a large system
or is “ independent ’’.+

The Board in the controversy of 1913 went even farther.
It said: “In the universal conception of the day interstate
railroading is a national public utility; being such, uniform
rates of pay for the same class of service are likely to pre-
vail, sooner or later, in all parts of the United States where
permanent natural conditions do not forbid.” *

Both boards, however, expressed their inability to set a
standard rdte both because of lack of information upon
which to form conclusions, and because the employees re-
fused to entertain any proposition to standardize ‘“ down-
ward ”’, that is, where two rates exist for the same class of
work, the Order insists that the higher rate shall be the
standard.

Partly to do away with these obstacles the Board in 1913
recommended the appointment of a committee to study
wages with special reference to standardization. It also
recommended that the Order put itself officially on rec-
ord as favoring a standard wage. With these two things
accomplished the Board believes that in future controver-
sies the problem of a standard rate will not be so difficult
of solution.

l Engineers Award of 1912, p. 36.
7 Award of 1913, p. 15.
CHAPTER. VII

PRESENT-DAy ARGUMENTS CONCERNING WAGES AND
Hours

In the controversies relative to wages and hours which
are to-day carried on between the Order and the railroads,
both parties have developed definite lines of argument.
Some of the contentions are those common to trade-union
disputes in general; others relate specifically to railroad-
ing. The considerations usually conceded to govern wages
are substantially as follows: (a) The hazardous nature of
the calling, (b) the responsibility of the conductors, (c)
the long terms of apprenticeship required, (d) age-limit
rules, (e) the increased productivity of the conductors, and
({) the increased cost of living.

Present-day wages and hours of service depend in a
large measure upon the ability of the Order to present these
points effectively, and to reénforce them by its power to
call a strike. Obviously, however, the view points of the
railroads and at times the public, do not coincide with that
of the conductors. In the present chapter an attempt is
made to give the three points of view taken by the Order,
the railroads, and the public respectively.’

1 As illustrative of the public’s point of view the writer has used the
awards handed down in boards of arbitration. Some railroad officials
have criticized such a plan upon the ground that such awards are mere
“compromises”. Even granting this contention, the writer is still of
the opinion that the “compromises” are fairly representative of the public
attitude up to the present time. The writer has also avoided giving his
personal opinions or arguments, it seeming more proper merely to
present the arguments commonly used by both sides, and to allow
them to stand uncriticised in regard to points both of weakness and

of strength.
81] 81
ne cr

82 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [82

(a) Hasardous Nature of the Calling. The Order calls
attention to the fact that conductors are engaged in an oc-
cupation where accidents and death are of frequent occur-
rence. As illustrative of these dangers, figures are pre-
sented from reports of the Interstate Commerce Commis-
sion showing that each year one in every ten trainmen is

‘either killed or injured while in the discharge of his duty.

Since 1890 the number so killed and injured totals over one
million. As showing the growing hazards it is pointed out
that the number annually killed and injured increased from
24,847 in 1890 to 92,128 in 1907. The Order claims that

' this increase has been due to longer trains, greater speed,

and the larger volume of business transacted by the roads.*

Even the figures published by the Commerce Commission.
are said by the conductors to understate the facts, one rea-
son for this being that these reports have to do only with
those injuries or deaths officially reported to the claims de-
partment of the railroad. ‘‘ From this mere statement,”
said the men in the 1913 wage controversy, “it is very evi-
dent that thousands and tens of thousands of railway em-
ployees have been injured annually of which there is no
official record in the Commission’s reports.”

The reason is obvious. If an injured employee presented

a claim against the company and attempted to enforce it by

action in court (which until the advent of workmen’s com-
pensation laws was his only recourse) it was equivalent to
losing his job, for railroads dismissed from their service
anyone bringing suit against them. Consequently, the in-
jured employee would not file a claim for damages unless
convinced that he was permanently incapacitated.

1 Exhibits submitted before the Board of Arbitration in the Con-
certed Wage Movement, Eastern Territory, 1913, by the Order of
Railway Conductors and the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen,.
September, 1913, pp. 116-120.
83] CONCERNING WAGES AND HOURS 83

Furthermore, each road is permitted to form its own in-
terpretation of what constitutes an accident or an injury to
its employees. “It is to be assumed that different roads
have interpreted these words differently and many acci-
dents or injuries to employees might not be officially re-
corded because they did not come within the road’s defini-
tion of an accident or an injury.” *

The only instruction given by the Interstate Commerce
Commission is that an employee is not “ officially ” injured,
unless incapacitated “from performing his accustomed ser-
vice for more than three days, in the aggregate, during the
ten immediately following the accident.” Those injuries
or accidents which do not fall within these provisions are
officially ‘‘ as if they had not occurred ”’, yet it is very pos-
sible for a man to be severely injured, as by the loss of
fingers, by bruises, etc., and still not be incapacitated for
duty, or, as is often true, the injury does not develop symp-
toms of a serious nature until after a number of days has
elapsed. Moreover, a man is not “ officially dead”, ac-
cording to the Commission, unless he dies within 24 hours
following the accident, yet it is obvious that many die only
after an interval of several days or weeks.

The Order gives as another proof of the dangers of rail-
roading the fact that the conductors are either excluded
from participation in ordinary life insurance, or can obtain
policies only as “extra hazardous”’ risks, which means
payment of a premium so high as automatically to exclude
the great majority. Hence, the Order is compelled to oper-
ate its own insurance company, which it does only at great
expense. Moreover year by year the Order is being forced
into the work of social insurance. Sick and injured mem-
bers must be cared for. It urges that these burdens are in-
cident to the business of railroading and should, therefore,

1 Exhibits, op. cit., p. 116.
84 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [84

be borne by the industry, and asks for additional compen-
sation to cover expenditures for such purposes.

In answering these arguments the companies do not deny
that the risk to employees is increased by longer trains, more
business, etc., but maintain that these are more than offset
by new safety devices. Patent couplers, air brakes, auto-
matic signals, double tracks, and, more recently, steel cars,
are every year reducing the likelihood of injury. The com-
panies point out that while the total number of killed and
injured has increased, yet the proportion so killed and in-
jured to the total number of men employed is constantly
decreasing. They explain that a large percent of injuries
occurs during busy seasons when inexperienced men are em-
ployed—a fact for which the railroads are not primarily
responsible, especially to the extent of increasing the salaries
of all conductors. As to the expense of insurance and other
social benefits, the companies insist that such facts are al-
ready considered in determining the wage scale. Lastly,
they emphasize their own attempts to provide insurance for
their employees on practically a cost basis.*

The boards of arbitration have almost uniformly recog-
nized the hazards of railroading. They have favored high
wages and increased use of safety devices. At the same
time there has been no disposition to place the burden of
relieving hazards entirely upon the railroads. Thus the
Board in 1913, after urging the greater use of safety de-
vices, advocated an increase in freight rates in order that
the railroads might install safety appliances. It said, in part:

All these things cost in the aggregate an immense sum of

1The fact that the arguments given in this chapter are of a most
general character makes it almost impossible to give proper citations
as to where they may be found. Any of the “Proceedings” of the
various boards of arbitration will contain many of them in one form
or another. A number have been secured by the author through in-
terviews with officials, both railroad and union.
85] CONCERNING WAGES AND HOURS 85

money. Any policy that would make it impossible for the
railroads to command this money would be a profound mis-
fortune to the whole nation. Such a policy would be criminal
in the sense that it would make the great army of railroad
employees, who are numbered by the hundreds of thousands,
follow their hazardous occupations under conditions more
hazardous than are necessary, and, indeed, more hazardous
than are justifiable in a country like this.?

(b) Responsibility. Closely associated with the fore-
going argument is that relating to the responsibility placed
upon the conductor. The Order argues that much more is
demanded of its members than of the average industrial
worker. Not only is he obliged to see that the train makes
its time and that the train crew performs its duties, but in
a very true sense he is guardian of the passengers. The
welfare and even the life of the traveling public depend upon
his judgment. If the passengers are injured through negli-
gence on the part of the conductor, he is not only dismissed
from service, but may be held criminally liable and, if found
guilty, may be sentenced to prison. It is obvious that the
nature of the conductor’s calling necessitates the most ex-
acting attention to duty, with ability to act intelligently in
an emergency. The Order claims that the high grade of
service required of its members entitles them to relatively
short hours and liberal remuneration.

The railroads admit the responsibility placed on the con-
ductor, but they claim he is already paid in due proportion ;
that his compensation, in fact, is larger than in other indus-
trial pursuits where responsibility is also an important
factor. The roads also assert that by means of double
tracks, automatic signals and improved methods of train
dispatching, less and less is being required of the conductor.’

1 Award of 1913, p. 31.
2 Reply Brief of the Railroads, Arbitration, Eastern Territory,
1912, p. 6.
86 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [86

The public is inclined to place great emphasis upon the
argument of responsibility and on that ground demand that
railroads pay wages sufficient both to attract men capable
of intelligent action, and to keep those men at the highest
point of mental and physical efficiency. As a consequence,
not only have boards of arbitration generally sanctioned
movements for shorter hours and increased wages, but a
large number of state and federal laws have been passed
limiting the hours of service for men engaged in railway
work.

(c) Long Terms of Apprenticeship Required. Because of
the arduous nature of the work, a young man can not enter
it at the age of 14 or 16, as is true in trades like bookbind-
ing, printing, plumbing, etc. Thus not only is he compelled
to begin his chosen work later in life, but the term of ap-
prenticeship is relatively longer than in the average in-
dustry. An employee must serve about six years as
brakeman before becoming a freight conductor; and as
freight conductor another six years before being considered
competent to enter the passenger service. The Order argues
that under such a system the conductor becomes especially
valuable to the railroad, and should be paid accordingly.

The railroads admit the long term of years required to
attain the position of conductor, but claim it is due to trade-
union regulations. The railroad brotherhoods all insist that
promotion shall be governed primarily by seniority rules.
Hence, the companies are prevented from promoting skill-
ful employees over the heads of less competent men who
have been longer in the service. The railroads argue, fur-
thermore, that the whole apprenticeship system is more ap-
parent than real. The work of a brakeman, for example,
is not a boy’s work, but a man’s, and he is paid regulation
wages from the very beginning. The work of a conductor
is regarded as better employment and is more highly paid
87 | CONCERNING WAGES AND HOURS 87

than that of a brakeman. Thus the system is not one of ap-
prenticeship but of promotion in that it affords opportunity
for advancement in the service.

(d) Age-Linut Rules. The Order argues not only that
the term of apprenticeship for the conductor is unusually
long, but that the railroads are continually limiting the
period of his industrial activity. This is accomplished
through the enforcement of rules governing age, physical
and mental qualifications. Thus if an old, experienced con-
ductor loses his position for any reason he often finds it
impossible to reénter the train service, owing to the prefer-
ence of railroads for young men. Some members of the
Order estimate the maximum age at which men are taken
into the service as conductors to be 35 years. Moreover,
older conductors are continually being dismissed because
of failure to pass new eyesight and hearing tests, new ex-
aminations on “books of rules”, and similar stringent
regulations. The Order insists that if the companies,
through age-limit rules and other restrictions, wish to
shorten the period of industrial activity of the conductor,
then they should be compelled to pay him relatively high
wages for the years that he is employed.

In reply the railroads assert that public safety demands
the enforcement of adequate age-limit and similar restric-
tions. They claim that efficient conductors have little diffi-
culty in retaining their positions or obtaining new ones."
Moreover, faithful employees who become unfitted for train
service are provided with less exacting work, or are retired
on pensions paid by the company.

(e) Increased Productivity of the Conductor. The Order
maintains that the conductor is entitled to higher wages be-
cause his productivity is constantly being increased. This

1 Rep'y Brief of the Railroads, Arbitration, Eastern Territory,
1913, p. 9.
88 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [88

is proved by the fact that the men do more work to-day than
formerly. At present a passenger conductor frequently
“handles” from five to six hundred passengers per trip,
whereas formerly it rarely exceeded half that number.
Freight conductors were formerly in charge of trains of
twenty-five or thirty cars, while to-day freight trains often
contain three or four times that number. Still another
evidence of increased productivity is seen in the practice of
using three to five engines on one train. This enables the
company to transact more business with the employment of
but one conductor.

Railroads generally pay little attention to such arguments
except to insist that the present wages fully compensate the
conductor for his work.

Boards of arbitration, on the other hand, have interested
themselves in this subject. The Board in 1913 was favor-
able to granting higher wages to conductors because of the
additional work due to longer trains, but denied that his
productivity was effected by the use of more than one en-
gine to a train. Under such conditions, said the Board, the
increased productivity is due to the engines, not to the
conductor.*

(f) Increased Cost of Living. The fact that during
recent years nearly all prices have risen rapidly fur-
nishes the Order with an argument for higher wages to
cover the increased cost of living. Each rise in the price
of necessities reduces the purchasing power of the con-
ductor’s wage and tends to lower the standard of living,
thus affecting his efficiency.”

1 4ward of 1913, p. 22.

2 Exhibits submitted before the Board of Arbitration in the Con-
certed Wage Movement, Eastern Territory, 1913, by the Order of
Railway Conductors and the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, Sep-
tember, 1913, pp. 169-176.
89] CONCERNING WAGES AND HOURS 89

The railroads generally admit the force of this argu-
ment but insist that they have raised conductors’ wages suf-
ficiently to cover the increased cost of living.

The public has attached great importance to this consid-
eration. It has practically taken for granted that wages
should at all times be raised to an amount sufficient to cover
the increased cost of living due to higher prices. The only
question has been to determine the relative rise in wages
and in cost of living. The Board of Arbitration in 1913
went so far as to make its award correspond to its estimate
of the increased cost of living. Its investigation, how-
ever, went back to the year 1910 only.’

Since the Order began its active policy for securing in-
creased wages in 1890, we have endeavored to obtain figures
for this longer period. Unfortunately there is a dearth of
reliable information regarding the cost of living for these
years. Government and private investigations of family
budgets as a whole cover only the last few years. Conse-
quently it has been impossible to decide definitely just how
far the cost of living for conductors has risen since 1890,
but by utilizing such information as was available and by
supplementing it to some extent with original investigations
applying specifically to conductors, the writer believes that
a fair estimate has been secured.

In making this study, expenses of an average family of
five were used as the basis. Expenditures were propor-
tioned among given items as follows:

1 Award of 1913, pp. 17-8.
90 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [90

Percent of
Total Expenditure
FOO aie tetssy sierdaashevngubatesty Seay aden Bad he Howe ae eaves 40%
Rent, wands ted vod weer ed 046 ee Sew ea ew ea sant Laces Ig
Clothing ssc eden agains suet Gce ele 4 ose eae ane 15
TUE) swasad lean wh set avoanmicleudl att, che a aldicnedaid hae oS ea a 6
PIG AUNE: sveuqcasns gargs yx BE taNS mua eed tide clsecuel onde ena Garay 1.5
Organizations (fraternal, labor and insurance)........ 5
Incidentals (including books and newspapers, amuse-
fMENts, CHafity ; SICKNESS, ELC.) - ienmaesaseos cheese yeees 13.5
100%

Since these apportionments vary in some respects from
those commonly made for families with incomes ranging
from $1,000 to $1,500 per annum, some explanations are
in order. The percent of the total income spent for food,
for instance, is slightly in excess of the amount ordinarily
allowed. Yet when it is recalled that the conductor is
at almost constant expense for board caused by “ lay-
overs’? and the like, the percent here given appedrs
to approximate the truth. In much the same way some
critics may feel that the amount allowed for clothing is ex-
cessive. Again it must be borne in mind that the nature of
railroading puts heavy toll upon the clothing expenditures
of employees. In freight service the conductor finds it
always desirable to carry with him “ work” and “ street”
clothes, while in passenger service the number of uni-
forms that a conductor must buy each year (both winter
and summer weight) is generally specified by the railroad.
In case of. rents* the percent is higher than that com-

1 To secure information on rents, the writer sent out a questionnaire
to 1,000 members who were conductors as early as 1890, asking for
their monthly rent for the years 1890, 1¢00 and 1913. The fact that
replies were received from only one-third of the inquiries greatly im-
paired the usefulness of the information. The questionnaire revealed
gt] CONCERNING WAGES AND HOURS QI

monly allowed, but the statistical data at hand seem to war-
rant such an apportionment.

It is seen from the foregoing chart that the largest single
item of expense is that for food. Studies have been made
(1890-1913) by the United States Department of Labor,
to determine the average price of fifteen articles of food,
constituting two-thirds of the food-expenditures of the
average workman’s family. These figures are not compre-
hensive, as they have been gathered from large industrial
centers only, but accepting them as the best available, and
assuming that conductors continued throughout this period
to buy the same kinds and quantities of foods, the expense
for this item increased 59 per cent.

PERcENT or IncrEASED Cost oF Foop (Retait Prices) 1890-1913 1

Food % of Food % of
Increase increase
Sirloin steak ............ 60.8 Hens: ind here tare ves 5e 5 66.6
Round steak ............. 84.5 Flour, wheat ........... p 27:4
Rib roast’ 2.4 seccaseasars 62.7 Corn meal ............... 56.1
Pork? Chops:.ccsidechacacciee 80.4 Eggs, strictly fresh ...... 56.0
Bacon, smoked .......... II1.6 Butter, creamery ........ 63.5
Plans gtaidepinvg aideeiatnd 4 eas 69.1 Potatoes (Irish) ........ 23.6
Teated: snaienianc ac sicuube carats 62.3 Milk, fresh ............. 40.1
Sugar, decrease of ....... 4.9 :

1 This table is taken from p. 175 of Employees Exhibits, Arbitra-
tion, Eastern Territory, 1913, and is summarized from Bulletin 115,
U.S. Bureau of Labor.

the interesting fact that about 60% of the conductors who replied
own their homes.

Other factors have also greatly interfered with the use of these
figures as a basis for scientific conclusions. For instance, the con-
ductor frequently moved from one town (and state) to another; if he
remained in the same place the house sometimes deteriorated or
was rebuilt. Again the period covered was sufficient for the con-
ductor to rear a family and receive aid from them either in paying
rent or buying property. The figures, however, at least show the
tendency of conductor’s rents during the last quarter of a century.
g2 RAILIVAY CONDUCTORS [92

= <

The advance of rents, which constitute the second largest
item of expenditure, has been even more pronounced.
From computations based upon the information collected
by the writer, the amount paid in rents by conductors has
advanced over 66 percent during the period named.

AVERAGE MonTHLY RENT oF CONDUCTORS
Year Amount Year Amount Year Amount
TSG see aes $15. + TOO nyse $17. + LOLS sence $25. +

It has been impossible to secure the actual increase for the
other items in the list, but there are good reasons for be-
lieving that they will average about the same as food and
rent. Clothing, for instance, if complete data were avail-
able, would doubtless show a greater increase than either
food or rent. Light, on the other hand, has doubtless de-
creased. Taking into account all the varying factors, it
seems that a conservative estimate would place the increased
cost of living, from 1890 to 1913, at 60 percent, while
wages during that period rose 40 percent.’

1 Although, as has appeared in the present chapter, the Order is even
now placing emphasis on conditions of work other than those re-
lated to wages and hours, it has never, in a strict sense of the term,
attempted to extend its regulation beyond wages and hours. The
tendency at present, however, is irresistibly in that direction. Every
year sees greater attention directed to questions of age limit, physical
and mental examinations, bonding of conductors, ctc. In 1913 the
Grand Division went so far as to recommend that in future negotia-
tions with the railroads the grievance committees should place chief
emphasis upon “conditions of work” rather than on questions of
wages and hours.
CHAPTER VIII
NEGOTIATION—MEDIATION—ARBITRATION-—-STRIKES

Every trade union finds it necessary to adopt certain
measures by which it can enforce its demands. Broadly
speaking, there are three such means in common use. These
are known as the method of mutual insurance, the method
of collective bargaining and the method of legal enact-
ment * or legislation. Mutual insurance, when used by a
trade union as a regulatory measure, includes primarily the
payment of out-of-work benefits. The chief object is to
prevent a member from being forced by adversity to accept
less than the union rate of pay. Collective bargaining is
said to take place when a union through its authorized rep-
resentatives bargains with the employer on behalf of the
whole union or trade collectively, and is to be contrasted
with individual bargaining wherein each employee deals
alone with his employer. By means of legislation, trade
regulations are made enforceable by law.’

So long as the Order remained a fraternal and bene-
ficiary organization it did not need elaborate administrative

‘For a detailed explanation of these three methods the reader is
referred to S. and B. Webb, Industrial Democracy, chaps. i, ii, and iv,
respectively.

2 Under legal enactment the regulation usually applies to the entire
industry, including all employers and employees whether union-
ized or not. A good example of legal enactment is the so-called
sixteen-hour bill passed by Congress prohibiting the employment of
men engaged in train service for longer periods than sixteen con-
secutive hours.

93] 93
04 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [94

machinery, but when it undertook to regulate its trade ac-
tivities, some means by which this work could be performed
effectively was imperative. The method of collective bar-
gaining was first employed. From a feeble beginning in
which the railroads were dealt with in a most haphazard
way it has been extended and amplified until there is now a
definite mode of procedure including the following steps:
negotiation, mediation, arbitration and strikes.* Collective
bargaining antedated by only a few years the general use
of legislation which is constantly growing in importance.
On the other hand, the mutual insurance features of the
Order have never been used as trade-regulatory measures,
but have pursued persistently their original purpose, namely,
that of ministering to the needs of members in times of
“ sickness, accident and death ”’.

1. Negotiation. The first step in the direction of collective
bargaining was provision for direct negotiation. By this
means the Order sought to secure a settlement of its dif-
ficulties with the railroads without the use of force. In
1885 the Grand Division stipulated that controversies
should be settled in this manner.’ It provided that when a
member of the Order had a grievance against the railroad,
he should notify the local in which he held membership. If
the case appeared to be valid, the subordinate was to appoint
a committee of three, called a grievance committee, to in-
vestigate it in detail. These men reported their findings
back to the local, and, if so instructed, took the matter up
with the division railroad officials. In case they failed to
effect a settlement, they could call to their aid the Grand
Chief Conductor, who brought the influence of his office to

1 The counterpart of the strike from the standpoint of the employer
is the lockout. Cases of lockouts on American railroads are, how-
ever, extremely rare.

2 Executive Committee Circular, issued at Milwaukee, Nov. 18, 1885.
95] NEGOTIATION—MEDIATION, ETC. 95

bear on the matter. These provisions, however, did not
prove entirely satisfactory. The temporary nature of each
committee made it impossible for the members to become
experienced in the settlement of disputes; hence, they fre-
quently failed to make adequate investigation before tak-
ing up the grievance with the railroad officials, and in case
a favorable decision was not at once forthcoming, either
became discouraged and dropped the matter, or summarily
appealed it over the heads of the division railroad officials.

To obviate these difficulties the Grand Division in 1891
made important changes which in the main are still in force.
A degree of permanency was given to the grievance com-
mittees by providing that the term of office should be two
years. To prevent hurried investigation, it was stipulated
that no grievance should be taken up by the committee until
the facts relative to it had been submitted in writing to the
local division and ratified by that body. Hasty appeals
over the heads of local railroad officials were prevented by
prohibiting such appeals until the committee had secured
from the railroad officials a signed refusal to settle the con-
troversy. It was further provided’ that members of the
local committees should receive pay for their services, and
other regulations were passed which tended to put the work
on a stable basis.

The most far-reaching change was the creation on each
road of a General Committee composed of the local chair-
men. Cases which the local failed to settle might be ap-
pealed to this committee. It might also negotiate wages,
hours, and other important matters for the entire road.

‘If, as is sometimes the case, the road is under the management of
more than one general superintendent, a separate committee is formed
in the territory controlled by each superintendent. The chairmen of
these committees constitute a System Advisory Board and act in
matters affecting the entire road.
96 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [96

The chairman of the General Committee was to receive an
annual salary and to devote his whole time to the work.
Other members were to receive pay for the actual time
used in performing committee work. To prevent possible
delays by the locals in paying their committeemen, the
Grand Secretary and Treasurer was empowered to pay all
such bills, and charge the expenses to the locals of the re-
spective roads involved. A fund of $30,000 was placed at
his disposal from which bills were to be paid pending the
collection of such assessments.

With the formation of the western, eastern and southern
territories, the use of grievance committees was further
extended. In each of these territories the chairman of the
various general committees banded together in an “As-
sociation of General Committees’ to consider all matters
affecting the welfare of the territory as a whole. The con-
certed wage movements of the last few years, described in
Chapter VI, have all been conducted by such associations.

These changes put negotiation on a firm basis. The
questions settled by this means grew from a few trivial mat-
ters to include many issues of vital concern. In his re-
port for 1913 the president enumerated nearly 400 im-
portant questions that the general committees had negoti-
ated during the two previous years, while the number of
minor matters adjusted annually totals well into the
thousands. The by-laws of the Order now provide that
committeemen must attempt to settle all grievances by
negotiation before resorting to other means, and only the
more important matters pass this stage. The extent to
which grievance committees have been developed is seen by
the fact that the expense of conducting this work has in-
creased from $961.20 in 1891 to over $380,000 in 1912.
The total amount expended during the period has been
over two and one-half million dollars.
97] NEGOTIATION—MEDIATION, ETC. 97

Expenpitures oF ApJUSTMENT CoMMITTEES

Year Expenditure
TSO Svauwioa a gain actue rian eaee $961.24
T8OB, <a ilslin Sed hadaeth een ay seeneets 20,697.76
LEO Saad Weck eames Samana 9,098.42
TBO vv whoticnne 0) waiatcama Dea ec ties 8,592.65
TOO ech 2c anaes earn abate 5,901.89
TOOS Naess eecketae a Mh 18,634.88
1800 os crdiane seeks cereal is ayatelaecs 17,113.03
TQOO S45 spina ov. dareindide ale erelwia aelaieds 30,579.44
TOOL cs ewan vise stabi Oe ax bananas 30,523.76
1902's seis waee 93 4.4 tha 8 orem aysleue 58,512.14
LOO 3}: tts again’ pa pereetn eA nom danees 150,779.36
TQO4 is en sesecabanes: caclale eaeace Sparel sts 97,511.85
LOOS sisicuied cases voadonaekesnin 74,030.47
POOO caval vs came ’Ae fecerven Raa eine 166,213.43
DOO Fin. ova oe axl saison we Sanaa sels 269,945.18
TOOS Noes eee Gaius Rae een eee 4 196,095.14
TOOO seis Secs alge s 2eak RoReSN TTS 149,125.36
TQ TO siuceiace neque actus ve S mb atone aes 270,593.47
TOL s cnsusce Suan miaeoa ku teath Goel 242,938.02
HOI wilt aiea mais yen sean oleae 387,016.47
TOLG, s woss eeous Ghee nsec s ements 343,812.92

2. Mediation. In case negotiation fails, usually the next
step in settling a controversy is mediation, which takes
place when some person not a party to the dispute en-
deavors to persuade the contestants to settle their differ-
ences amicably. The third party represents interests which
would be greatly injured in case of a serious rupture be-
tween the railroads and the employees. At first, mediation
was carried on solely by private citizens who for one reason
or another wished to avert the threatened trouble, but the
great Pullman strike of 1893 awoke the general public to
an acute realization of its interest in the matter. Senti-
ment grew so strong in favor of preventing further rail-
road strikes that in 1898 Congress passed the Erdman act
providing for mediation and arbitration proceedings in case
of railroad disputes, and in recent years most of the im-
98 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [98

portant examples of mediation involving the Order have
been settled under the provisions of this law.

The act stipulated that some member of the Interstate
Commerce Commission’ and the Commissioner of Labor
should constitute a Board of Mediation and Conciliation.
Though this board was not given the power to offer its ser-
vices, it might be summoned by either the railroads or the
employees. Upon request, the mediators went at once to the
scene of the trouble. The customary mode of procedure
was for the member of the Commission to meet with rep-
resentatives from the railroad and the Commissioner of
Labor with those from the union, each endeavoring to per-
suade the contestants to settle their differences without
friction.

For a number of years neither the railroads nor the
unions showed any inclination to ask aid from the media-
tors,” but in the closing days of 1906, the Southern Pacific,
on the eve of a strike by the engineers and firemen, sought
the assistance of the law. The settlement effected was so
satisfactory to both sides that other requests to the Board
were made in 1907, and thereafter its aid was asked in al-
most every serious trouble. During the period from 1808
to 1912, the Order was a party to eight disputes which were
settled by mediation in accordance with the provisions of
the Erdman act.

Two other applications under the law were made during
this period, one of which was refused by the railroad and
the other by employees.’

1 Later changed to a member of U. S. Commerce Court.

* Just one year after the law was enacted the Trainmen endeavored
to invoke the aid of the law but the railroads refused. Following
this failure no further attempts were made until the one in 1906
noted above.

* A total of 43 cases came before the board from 1898 to 1912. In
all but 12 settlement was reached by mediation.
99] NEGOTIATION—MEDIATION, ETC. 99

The plan, however, did not prove entirely satisfactory.
The fact that the mediators were powerless to act unless
specifically requested to do so by either the railroads or the
dissatished employees, was felt to be a serious weakness.
It meant that even a strike or a lockout might be called be-
fore the public’s advice or opinion had been asked, though
the law was intended primarily to safeguard the interests
of the public. On the other hand, the services of the
mediators were at times in such demand as to interfere
with their other official duties. In addition to acting as
mediators, the two government officials spent much time
in defining terms of settlements which had been agreed to
under previous mediation proceedings, but which had been
referred back to the mediators for official interpretation.

To remedy these defects, Congress in the Newlands act
of 1913 made two important changes in the mediation
provisions. It created a permanent board, the members of
which should devote their entire time to the work of medi-
ation and arbitration; and it provided that in any dispute
where an interruption of traffic was imminent, the board
might volunteer its services.

3. Arbitration. If the two parties cannot be persuaded
by mediation to come to an agreement between themselves,
the next recourse is to induce them to submit their griev-
ances to a third party for settlement. This is called arbi-
tration. Each side presents its case in full before the
arbitrators, who decide upon the merit of the various claims
and make an award, which is binding upon both parties.
Former Grand Chief Conductor Clark was a firm believer
in this method and under his influence the Order on several
occasions in the early go’s submitted its grievances to
arbitration.

As already noted the Erdman act of 1898 contained
provisions for arbitration as well as for mediation. The
100 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [100

act stipulated that in case mediation failed, the Board
should attempt to induce both sides to arbitrate their dif-
ferences. In event of arbitration, the roads and the Union
were each to name one arbitrator. These two were to
select a third, or, if they failed to do so within five days,
the third was to be named by the original mediators.

The hearings of the arbitration board resembled those of
an ordinary court, the arbitrators sitting as the jury.
Both railroads and union were represented by counsel. All
witnesses gave testimony under oath and were subject to
cross examination by the opposing party. The arbitrators
listened to the testimony for both sides, after which they
prepared their award. The maximum time allowed for
conducting hearings in any case was thirty days, during
which period both parties were to remain in statu quo.

The award made by the Arbitration Board was filed with
the United States Circuit Court and ten days were allowed
for either party to take exceptions to it. Such exceptions,
however, could relate only to an “ error of law apparent on
the record.” If none were taken, the decree became bind-
ing on both sides for one year. If exceptions were taken,
the circuit court passed on them much the same as in a case
appealed to it from a lower court.

In the controversies to which the Order was a party,
the arbitration provisions of the Erdman act were em-
ployed only once.

These provisions, as well as those concerning mediation,
contained certain weaknesses which appeared when put
to practical test during the years 1910 and 1911. For
example, a committee of three was found too small
for the work. In actual practice, the arbitrators chosen
by the railroads and the unions clung tenaciously to the
demands of their respective sides, thus leaving the issue to
be decided by the third arbitrator alone. When it is re-
101] NEGOTIATION—MEDIATION, ETC. 101

called that some of the disputes, such as those concerning
the whole eastern association, involved over fifty different
roads, each with its own peculiar conditions of work, it is
evident that enormous responsibility was placed upon the
shoulders of the third arbitrator. Both roads and unions
came to agree that this condition of affairs should not be
allowed to continue.

It was also found that in many instances the maximum
period of thirty days was too short for adequate hearings.
The complex nature of the cases necessitated longer state-
ments on both sides than were possible within the speci-
fied time limit. The result was that hearings were sum-
marily cut short and on the partial evidence thus obtained,
the Board based a hasty decision as best it could, protesting
at the same time its inability to do full justice to the situ-
ation. It was obvious that this defect should be remedied
for the sake of the arbitrators as well as for that of the
contesting parties.

Another weakness was the one already referred to in
connection with the mediation provision, namely, that either
party to the controversy could render the act useless by
declining to accept its aid. This unwillingness might be
based on any of the foregoing defects of the law, since it
obviously might prove unsatisfactory to entrust an im-
portant settlement to the judgment of one man who would
have insufficient time to hear the peculiar conditions of the
situation explained and whose decision might be rendered
valueless by an ambiguous expression.

There were so many instances of refusal to arbitrate
under the provisions of the Erdman act that at last in
1913 public opinion crystallized in the form of the New-
lands act, intended primarily to remedy the defects of the
former. The new law provided that the board of arbitra-
tion should consist of either three or six members, to be
102 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [102

chosen in the same manner and in the same proportions as
under the Erdman act. The hearings could last more than
thirty days whenever the two parties agreed to such exten-
sion of time. In case of dispute over the interpretation
or application of the award, the original board could be
reconvened to explain its meaning.*

A complete list of all controversies to which the Order
was a party, 1898 to 1911, settled under the Erdman and
Newlands acts, will be found in Appendix D.

Not all of the disputes which have arisen in recent years
between the Order and the railways have been settled under
the provisions of the Erdman and Newlands acts. Very
often the roads and the Order voluntarily agree to arbitra-
tion. Thus in 1910 when the conductors and trainmen
were carrying on a concerted movement for higher wages
in the eastern territory, President Brown of the New York
Central suggested that the matter be left to a board of
arbirators consisting of Honorable E. E. Clark and P. H.
Morrissey. The offer was accepted by the unions. This
selection of arbitrators proved fortunate. Mr. Clark had
been grand chief conductor of the Order previous to his
election to the Interstate Commerce Commission, while Mr.
Morrissey had but recently left the presidency of the Train-
men to assume an official position with the “American Rail-
toad Employees and Investors Association,” in which or-
ganization both employers and employees were represented.
Thus was combined in these two men a thorough knowledge
of the technique of railroading, together with adequate un-
derstanding of the points of view of the men, the railways

"For a full account of the mediation and arbitration proceedings
under the Erdman and Newlands acts, 1898-1911, see Mediation and
Arbitration of Railway Labor Disputes in the United States, Charles
P. Neill, in the Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor, no. 98, January,
1912, pp. I-63.
103 | NEGOTIATION—MEDIATION, ETC. 103

and the public. The award which they handed down re-
flected their exceptional training. It was immediately used
as the basis of settlement by the other fifty-odd roads that
comprised the eastern association.

The fact that either the railroads or the unions can ren-
der the Newlands act useless by a simple refusal to accept
mediation or arbitration has given rise to much discussion
relative to compelling the companies and men to submit
their differences to arbitration. Persons advocating such
a plan point to the fact that in a railroad strike of any
magnitude the public suffers more than either the roads or
the men. If a week’s strike were called on all the leading
railways of the country, it would but slightly reduce the
annual earnings of the companies, while the unions, with
their huge reserve funds could easily tide over the period.
But the stoppage of mail, express, freight and passenger
traffic even for a week, would paralyze the business of the
entire nation. Not only would the general loss reach many
millions of dollars, but so dependent are the large cities on
the daily arrival of meat, milk, flour and coal trains that
real privation and suffering would occur soon after trans-
portation had ceased. Advocates of compulsory arbitra-
tion urge that under such conditions it is the duty of the
public to prohibit railway strikes. They point to the fact
that in foreign countries compulsory arbitration has been
in successful operation for a number of years.

The Canadian industrial disputes act is frequently men-
tioned as a law that has virtually eliminated strikes in
transportation business, and the adoption of a similar meas-
ure is urged for the United States. The act, which was
adopted in 1907, grew out of the great Alberta coal strike
of 1904, which for a time threatened seriously to interrupt
Canadian industrial activities. The measure is restricted
to employees and workmen in public service corporations
104 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [104

such as railways, gas and electrict light companies; to oc-
cupations subsidiary to transportation and to coal and
metal mining.

The principal feature of the act is a provision making
it unlawful for either a strike or a lockout to be declared
until after a government board has investigated the cause
of the trouble and published its report. It is thus seen
that the law prescribes compulsory investigation, the idea
being that the public has a right to know the cause of the
difficulty before permitting itself to be inconvenienced and
injured by a strike or lockout. What the law really does
is to hold the threatened trouble in abeyance until public
opinion has had an opportunity to assert itself. The ef-
fectiveness of the act is seen by the fact that from 1907 to
IQII, 109 boards made investigations, and in 105 of these
cases strikes and lockouts were actually averted.

More radical advocates of compulsory measures turn to
countries like New Zealand and Australia. The success
of rigid compulsion in those countries, they argue, is suffi-
cient proof of the desirability of the plan. The New Zea-
land law, which is typical, was passed in 1894, as an out-
growth of the great ocean transportation strike which for
a time threatened the industrial life of the island. At first
the act applied to a few industries only, but it has since
been extended to include nearly every occupation on the
island.

The law, as since amended, divides the country into in-
dustrial districts. These districts are provided with minor
councils of conciliation, and over all is a single court of
arbitration. In case of a dispute between employer and
employee a council at once attempts to settle the matter by
mediation or voluntary arbitration. Failing in this, the
council then examines both sides and drafts a report and
recommendations to be forwarded to the court of arbitra-
105 | NEGOTIATION—MEDIATION, ETC. 105

tion to which the issue must next be taken. The court re-
views the evidence and the report, then hands down an
award which is binding on both employer and employee for
a period usually of three years. During the twenty years
the law has been in force many hundreds of disputes have
been settled, and the measure is now highly regarded not
only by the public but as well by employer and employee.

The railroad brotherhoods in this country, however, have
always been hostile to any proposal of a compulsory nature,
and the Order has proved no exception to the rule. Dur-
ing the popular agitation for a compulsory law, following
the Pullman strike of 1893, former Grand Chief Conductor
Clark expressed the fear that any permanent board with
compulsory powers would soon degenerate into a mere
political machine.* During the more recent discussion the
Order has again manifested its disapproval of the idea.
In his 1913 report President Garretson, in referring to re-
cent agitation over the subject, said:

So far we have been able to defeat many efforts which were
made in the direction of pressing for the enactment of such
measures or for the enactment of measures similar to the In-
dustrial Disputes Act of Canada, which makes investigation
and arbitration compulsory... 2

At its last session the Grand Division voted to “ go on rec-
ord as being unalterably opposed to compulsory arbitration.”

The opposition of the Order to compulsory arbitration
does not arise primarily from the fact that it fears adverse
decisions by such a board, but rather because it believes
that any compulsory measure is essentially unjust to the

1 President’s Monthly Circular, January 15, 1804.

21t should not be assumed, however, that President Garretson advo-
cates extensive use of the strike rather than arbitration. It is the
compulsory feature to which he objects.
ets RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [106

conductor and dangerous to the very existence of the Order.
While admitting that public interests ought always to be
safeguarded, members of the Order deny that the public
has a moral right to protect itself at the expense of the
conductor. They point out that his relationship to the rail-
road is purely a private, not a public matter, and that
any connection which he may have with the public because
of his position is secondary to this basic consideration.
To illustrate, he is engaged, governed, paid and dismissed
by the railroad without comment or even interest on the
part of the public as to whether or not he is being fairly
treated. In a word, his relationship in regard to his em-
ployer is just the same as that of a workman in any
private industry. The fact that the conductor is en-
gaged in an employment that is closely concerned with the
public welfare has already added to his burdens. It has
increased his responsibility, multiplied his personal hazards,
and made him subject to a whole train of restrictions rela-
tive to age limit, physical condition, etc., many of which
have seriously impaired his earning capacity. Now, sim-
ply because of its own selfish interest, the public wishes to
stipulate how he may and may not settle his disputes. The
conductor thinks that the injustice of such a situation is
obvious.

But of more importance than his feeling of unfairness
is the conductor’s belief that compulsory arbitration would
be dangerous, if not fatal, to the welfare of the Order.
He states that the basic idea underlying every present-day
trade union is its power to strike. So generally recognized
is this principle that both courts and legislatures have pro-
tected the worker in this power. To attempt to operate
a trade union without power to strike would be, in the eyes
of the conductor, nothing short of sheer folly. No better
example of the futil'ty of such an experiment is needed
107 | NEGOTIATION—MEDIATION, ETC. 107

than the history of his own weak and vacillating organiza-
tion as it appeared from 1868 to 1890. Not only would
the railroads promptly refuse to grant concessions, once
this power was taken from the Order, but the public would
soon lose interest in arbitration proceedings, leaving the
men to fight their battles weaponless against their more
powerful employers.

Moreover, if the right to strike were taken away, mem-
bership in the Order would soon dwindle. Conductors
would not care to invest their savings in an organization
which could not protect them in time of need. Thus its
career as a trade union would be cut short. At best it could
survive only as a beneficiary and fraternal society. In a
word, the conductor believes that in opposing compulsory
arbitration he is fighting for his very economic existence;
and he has no intention of sitting idly by and watching
those whom he regards as sentimentalists and theorists,
experiment with an organization which he has been over
a half-century in perfecting.’

4. Strikes. When negotiation, mediation and arbitra-
tion fail the Order uses its power to strike. By concerted
refusal to work the conductors can often force the rail-
roads to grant concessions which are denied when less
forceful means are employed. In fact, in the last analysis,
it has been the fear of a strike that has given effectiveness
to the other three methods.

The Order for many years was opposed to strikes in any
form. This opposition appears to have been based on three
assumptions: (a) that the Order was not a labor organi-
zation; (b) that the strike, as a practical measure, was a

1TIt must be remembered that the foregoing arguments against com-
pulsory arbitration are those set forth by the Order, which is only
one party to the controversy. It seems hardly the place here to rep-

resent the employers and the public, but their views would obviously
not coincide with the case as here stated.
108 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [108

failure; and, (c) that it was contrary to the principle of
individual liberty.

(a) As before noted, the organization was founded
primarily as a beneficiary and temperance society, and the
early leaders did not wish to see the Order assume trade
union features. Hence, one of the first resolutions ever
passed by the Order provided that the brotherhood was
“opposed to all strikes or combinations to produce
strikes.” * In 1877 the Grand Chief Conductor referred
to intemperance and strikes as the two great evils of the
railroad labor world, and at the grand session held in that
year it was provided that any member engaging in a strike
would be expelled from the Order and his name published
“under ban” in the Conductor’s Monthly.? Each division
secretary was instructed to keep a list of all such members.
In 1881 restrictions were made still more severe by the
stipulation that the names of members who engaged in
strikes should be sent to the various railway super-
intendents.*

(b) Strikes were also opposed on the ground that they
were failures and brought great loss upon those who
initiated them. In 1882 the Grand Secretary and Treas-
urer wrote: ‘I venture the assertion, without fear of suc-
cessful contradiction, that there is not a striker in the
United States that is not poorer on account of his con-
nection with a strike.” * Two years later the editor of the
Conductor’s Monthly wrote: “We assert that there has
been no strike within the past ten years that has been a
permanent success.” ° In 1887 the Grand Chief Conductor
said:

1 Proceedings, 1868, p. 15. * [bid., 187%: Ps 242:

3 Ibid., 1885, pp. 739-40.

* Railway Conductors’ Monthly, vol. i, no. 2, February, 1884, pp. 78-9.
5 Ibid., vol. i, no. 8, August, 1884, p. 307.
109] NEGOTIATION—MEDIATION, ETC. 109

It has been demonstrated to a nicety by the other organiza-
tions in the field that strikes are not successful. . . . Look, for
instance, if you please, at the late strikes of 1886, and you will
find a uniform failure from all quarters. You will find hun-
dreds if not thousands of women and children going about the
country and crying for bread; objects of charity, dependent
entirely upon the charity of a heartless world.1

(c) But the strongest opposition was upon the ground
that strikes were wrong in principle. For years leaders
in the Order adhered tenaciously to the idea that every
member had a right to work where, when and with whom
he pleased, and that no majority vote could compel an in-
dividual member to cease work against his will. In 1889,
when the adoption of a strike clause seemed imminent,
President Wheaton announced that he had rights as an
American citizen which stood above those of any organiza-
tion, and that rather than submit to an abridgment of
those liberties he would first resign from the Order.

The records show clearly, however, that the activity of
leaders was not merely confined to opposing strikes. They
even encouraged members of the Order to fill places vacated
by strikers. As illustrations of some of the advice offered
on this subject to inquiring members, the following are fairly
typical. In 1886 the Grand Chief Conductor wrote: “ If
you see an opportunity of earning an honest dollar (and
can do so without hazarding your life) go to work.” The
editor of the Monthly, writing also in that year, said:
“ The writer would not hesitate to take any striker’s place,
no matter who that striker might be, unless deterred by
fear of bodily harm.” ?

Evidence is available to show that members were not

1 Proceedings, 1887, pp. 10-6.
2 Railway Conductors’ Monthly, vol. iii, no. 3, March, 1886, pp. 159-66.
cee RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [110

slow in acting upon such advice. During the switchmen’s
strike in 1886, for example, the conductors at Milwaukee
openly offered to fill any position made vacant by the
strikers. The local union at Rock Island, Hlinois, even
published a resolution extending its sympathy to the rail-
ways.*

Throughout the memorable engineers’ strike on the
“Burlington Route” in 1888 members of the Order did
not hesitate to act as strike breakers. In a circular, sent
out with the approval of the Grand Chief Conductor, ap-
pears the following relative to the action of conductors
during the struggle: “They ran engines, fired engines,
acted as pilots, and performed police duty . . . seemed to
vie with each other in showing their loyalty in this time of
trouble, and tendered their services when needed.” *

Whatever may have been the reason which prompted the
conductors to work under such conditions, matters little.
The results of the policy were unmistakable. It brought
down a perfect storm of criticism from the other railway
brotherhoods. The Grand Officers were abused both pri-
vately and in public press, while the very name of the Order
became a word of opprobrium among railroad employees.

On the conductors’ offer of aid in Milwaukee, the Switch-
men’s Journal sarcastically commented: “‘Some can be
used in helping water railroad stock, others as section
hands. Some of them will be ‘handy to have about the
house’ when a state legislature is about to be purchased,
and others can be used as ‘ wipers’ at round houses, freight
handlers, switch tenders, etc.” *

The resolution of sympathy issued by the division at

1 Railway Conductors’ Monthly, vol. ii, no. 8, August, 1886, p. 490.

? Circular issued by conductors employed on the “ Burlington Route,”
Burlington, Iowa, March to, 1888.

3 Railway Conductors’ Monthly, vol. iii, no. 7, July, 1886, pp. 421-2.
IIT] NEGOTIATION—MEDIATION, ETC. III

Rock Island was met by a counter proclamation by the
switchmen in which they expressed “ contempt and detesta-
tion of the . . . conductor who drafted the obnoxious re-
solutions, for groveling at the feet of the railroad officials.”

When the conductors began to act as strike breakers on
the “ Burlington Route,” the engineers in a resolution of
protest said: The difference between a scab and a [O. R.
C.] conductor who pilots him over the road is so small
that a miscroscope is not strong enough to find it.”

Not all members of the Order, however, favored the
policy pursued by the leaders. From the very beginning
there seems to have been a small minority who wished
to see the organization assume trade-regulatory features.
In the Grand Sessions held in 1883 and 1884 resolutions
were introduced recommending that a “strike clause”’ be
adopted. By the very next year this sentiment had be-
come so strong that some of the conservative members
urged a law stipulating that any person introducing a re-
solution favoring strikes should immediately be expelled.
Following the strikes, however, of 1885 and 1886, senti-
ment in favor of a strike clause grew by leaps and bounds.
The next year the Grand Chief Conductor sorrowfully
noted that “the number of those in favor of making a
change in the principles of the Order has been steadily
increasing.”

The situation became acute, when, in 1885 dissatisfied
conductors of the west and southwest formed the Brother-
hood of Railway Conductors, an organization founded pri-
marily on a strike basis. henceforth the Order had to
fight for its existence. For five years it withstood the
most venomous attacks of the other railway brotherhoods,
and internal discontent that was nothing short of civil
war. The climax came in 1890, when after a tumultuous
session, the Order adopted a “ protective policy ’’ and took
its place among the trade organizations of the day.’

1 Proceedings, 1891, pp. 8-19.
112 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [112

Two changes remained to be made, however, before the
protective policy became really effective. Definite ma-
chinery had to be installed for inaugurating, conducting
and “ calling off” strikes, and some plan had to be devised
for assisting members “out on strike,’ so that the rail-
roads could not starve them into submission. Provision
for both these contingencies was made in 1891.

In case of a strike the President or his legal representa-
tive (usually a vice-president) is the recognized leader.
Working directly under him is the General Committee of
Adjustment of the road involved. No strike can be called
until the proposition has first been submitted to all mem-
bers on the road affected, and passed by a two-thirds vote.
Any member who neglects or refuses to obey the strike
order may, upon conviction, be expelled. The strike may
be terminated whenever the President and Committee of
Adjustment deem advisable.

To protect the men on strike the Order created a
“strike” or protective fund. This is a sum of money
kept constantly on hand out of which striking members
may be paid. At first the maximum limit of the fund was
set at $100,000. In 1907 the amount was doubled, and
in IQII it was increased $500,000. The money is raised
by direct assessment on each member. Benefits are paid
from the beginning of a strike but not for a longer period
than three months unless payments for a longer period are
approved by the Board of Directors. In no case will pay-
ments exceed a period of six months. Members on strike
are paid at the rate of $50.00 per month.

In actual practice the power to strike has been used
sparingly. This seems to have been the result of two
causes: first, the leaders have shown no inclination to re-
sort to extreme measures until convinced that their de-
113] NEGOTIATION—MEDIATION, ETC. 113

mand was just,’ and, second, the mere fact that the Order
has had power to call a strike has proved sufficient in many
cases to insure a careful consideration of their requests.
Although members have been “ polled’ at various times,
and all preparations made for declaring a strike on a mo-
ment’s notice on all the railroads in the United States,
Canada and Mexico, the official call has been issued but
twelve times in the twenty-three years from 1890 to 1913
in which the brotherhood has approved of strikes.

Of these struggles the Order has regarded two as un-
successful; three as only partly successful; and seven as
completely won. The causes range all the way from the
dismissal of a member “ without cause” to a refusal to
grant higher wages. The total cost to the brotherhood of
these strikes in round figures has been $230,000.

The duration of the strikes has varied all the way from
twenty-four hours to several weeks. It has been impos-
sible to compute the total number of days lost, or the
average time of each struggle, for the reason that in some
cases the struggle has not been officially terminated until
long after it has practically ceased. For instance, the

”

1 The attitude of present officials of the Order toward the use of the
strike is well set forth in a speech made by President Garretson in
Grand Division, 1913. In opposing a measure which he believed
might lead to the increased use of the strike he said in part: “ Never
make it easier to strike. It is the outgrowth of my experience.
Strikes are the weapon we have yet to wield, but we have never struck
yet that we did not leave the dead on the field, and we never will.
Industrial war is just like material war. No matter how brilliant
the victory, there is always the list of dead, wounded and missing
published after it. And in the years I have dealt with these proposi-
tions, I have always believed the right time to settle a strike was
before it was put on. And I have been always ready to sacrifice
everything except honor to bring about such a settlement. And I
say to you, don’t put in the hands of your present officers nor of any
men who may succeed them, greater power to make trouble than
they have at the present time.” Proceedings, 1913, p. 860.
114 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [114

strike on the National lines of Mexico, declared in 1912,
is officially still in force, although, as a matter of fact, the
men involved left the country soon after the contest
began.

Each of the twelve struggles was confined to a single
system, and for the most part they have occurred on the
smaller railroads of the country. The only one which
threatened to effect any considerable extent of territory was
the Grand Trunk strike of 1910, which included not only
the trunk line, but subsidiary properties in both Canada
and the United States. In all but one of the contests the
conductors declared the strike in conjunction with one or
more of the other railway brotherhoods.

Appendix E contains a list of the strikes in which the Or-
der participated, together with the dates, stated causes, names
of roads, organizations involved, and the result from the
standpoint of the men. It will be seen that five took place
prior to 1907, the year in which the Erdman act came into
general use. While the Order has also struck seven times
since then, eleven controversies, in which it was fully pre-
pared to strike, have been settled under the provisions of
the federal law. Consequently, it seems reasonable to
assume that government intervention has averted at least
fifty percent of the probable strikes involving the Order.
CHAPTER Ix
LEGISLATION

As already suggested, in addition to the method of col-
lective bargaining the Order for many years has worked
to secure trade regulations by means of legislation, both
state and national.’ Such legislation has been sought upon
two grounds: First, that the conductor, in a very true sense,
is a guardian of public welfare, and just as higher wages
have been demanded of the railroads because of this guar-
dianship, so also the Order has asked for public support in
securing shorter hours of service, protection from acci-
dents, and general regulations favorable to railway labor.
Second, the union has repeatedly urged regulatory measures
wholly upon the ground of public expediency.

The idea of obtaining government assistance appears
to have first occurred to the Order in 1879. At that time
its officers were much interested in a scheme to have all
engineers and conductors licensed by the federal govern-

1The advantages of legislation as a trade-regulatory measure
can be seen at a glance. When an act is thus passed it is im-
mediately invested with all the power of statutory law. It is nation-
wide in extent (if a congressional act), thus applying to all employers
and employees in the trade or occupation. Such a measure generally
has the support of public opinion, and the work of enforcement
falls, not upon the union or the employers, but upon the govern-
ment. On the other hand, the method of legal enactment can scarcely
ever be used successfully unless the following conditions exist: (1)
The union must be strong and well advanced in conducting trade
negotiation; (2) there must be a pronounced public opinion on the
measure; or (3) the act itself must be of such a nature as to appeal
to public sympathy or imagination.

115] 115
I16 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [116

ment, as are pilots on vessels, before being permitted to
engage in their work. Some of the Grand Officers believed
that public support for such a law could be secured.
It would only be necessary, they said, to point out
that the measure would insure greater public safety on
trains. ‘The manner in which they arrived at their con-
conclusion was as follows: A license that provided for a
given degree of competency before employment was se-
cured, and relative continuity of employment afterwards,
would necessarily attract a better grade of men into the
train service, which in turn would result in more efficient
operation of trains. As a matter of fact. the framers of
the measure hoped that by means of license boards (to
be composed of experienced engineers and conductors) so
to regulate the available supply of men legally qualified to
fill positions that the railroads would virtually find it im-
possible to dismiss either engineers or conductors upon a
“wholesale basis,” thus preventing a lockout by employers.

Members of the Order were urged to influence their
congressmen to support a license law.* This unorganized
work proved inadequate, however, and in 1887 a legislative
committee was appointed which drafted a bill embodying
the fundamental features desired,’ and succeeded in having
it introduced into Congress, and the committee itself went
to Washington and worked in support of the measure.
Congress, however, showed no particular interest in the
matter, and after several futile attempts to secure passage
of the act, the committee gave up discouraged.

Practically nothing further in the field of legislation was
attempted until the early nineties, when the idea of
protecting the traveling public by means of legal enact-
ments began to attract general attention. Seizing upon this

1 Proceedings, 1885, p. 786.
? President’s Monthly Circular, July 1, 1887.
117] LEGISLATION 117

opportunity, the Order initiated a movement both state and
national for “safety laws.” In 1896 provision was made
for the creation of state legislative committees, whose duty
it should be to attend sessions of the state legislatures, in-
troducing measures favorable to railway labor and oppos-
ing those inimical to its interests.*

At the same time the Grand Officers began to in-
terest themselves in national legislation, frequently ap-
pearing before the Interstate Commerce Commission ”
and congressional committees to urge the adoption of laws
compelling the installation of safety devices by the rail-
roads. In 1897° the Order joined the other railway
brotherhoods in maintaining a paid representative in Wash-
ington during the congressional sessions, who was virtually
a paid lobbyist spending his entire time working on legis-
lative matters. He not only seeks legislation favorable
to the brotherhoods but gives much attention to laws affect-
ing labor as a whole.

in attempting to arrive at a conclusion as to just what
the Order has actually accomplished in the field of legisla-
tion, three difficulties are encountered. First, the records

‘For many years the Proceedings have been full of bitter complaints
against the railroads because it was alleged they often virtually com-
pelled conductors to appear before legislative committees in support
of measures which were designed solely to aid the railroads. Often
they were compelled to testify against the very bills that were being
urged by the Order itself. It is now an offense punishable by dis-
missal for a member to oppose a measure that has received official
sanction by the union.

7It is the belief of President Garretson that much has been accom-
plished by presenting evidence and arguments at hearings of the Inter-
state Commerce Commission. Appearing before the Commission was
a favorite plan of former Grand Chief Conductor Clark, and it is not
without significance as to his influence that he subsequently resigned
from the office of grand chief conductor to accept a position on the
Commission.

3 Proceedings, 1897, PP. 9-49.
He RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [118

contain very little data relative to the work of the com-
mittees. Second, in practically all important matters the
Order has codperated with one or more of the other rail-
way brotherhoods, and, third, even when the work of the
brotherhoods can be closely traced, it is next to impossible
to gauge accurately how much influence the unions really
exerted. It has seemed wiser, therefore, merely to enumer-
ate some of the more important measures in which the in-
fluence of the brotherhoods has been strongly felt. Among
the national laws are the Safety Appliance acts, first
passed in 1893* and since modified from time to time,
stipulating that all cars be equipped with air brakes and
patent couplers; the Erdman act of 1898,’ and its suc-
cessor, the Newlands act of 1913, providing for mediation
and voluntary arbitration in railway disputes; the Hours
of Service act of 1907,’ which limits the time for con-
tinuous employment of railway employees in train service;
and the Employers’ Liability law of 1908, which permits
a railway employee to recover damages from the company
when injured, provided it can be proved that the injury
was caused either by negligence of the company or one of
its employees.

Other questions to which the unions have given much at-
tention include laws providing for workmen’s compensa-
tion,* industrial insurance and the adoption of standard
signals in railway service.

1 Proceedings, 1893, pp. 9-67.
* Bulletin Bureau of Labor, no. 98, January, 1912, pp. 58-61.
5 Proceedings, 1907, pp. 48-76.

The question of a Federal compensation bill was discussed at great
length in the session of 1913. The Grand Division appeared to be
about evenly divided on the question. Many favored the passage of
such a measure, while others preferred the employers’ liability law.
President Garretson strongly favored a compensatory measure, assert-
ing that in the majority of cases injured employees lost their cases

4
119] LEGISLATION 11g

On the other hand, the brotherhoods have constantly op-
posed all measures looking toward compulsory arbitration,
more liberal immigration laws, the application of the Sher-
man anti-trust law to labor organizations, and many other
acts, the effects of which would in any way be unfriendly
to the cause of labor.

At the Grand Session in 1913 two measures were
passed to strengthen the work of legislation. The or-
ganization of state legislative committees was made com-
pulsory in each state. Heretofore, the matter had been
purely optional. Second, a national legislative committee
was created. The latter committee is to work under the
direction of the president of the Order. It is believed by
members that these two acts will give greater impetus to the
work of legislation.

in the courts, and even when recovery was made the bulk of the money
went to the lawyers who conducted the case. The Order finally voted
in favor of the passage of a national law which would leave it
optional with the employee as to whether he should accept the benefit
of compensatory provisions or recover by suit as now provided under
the employers’ liability act.
PART III
BENEFICIARY FEATURES
CHAPTER X

EsTaBLISHMENT oF Mutua Lire INSURANCE
DEPARTMENT

THERE are good reasons for believing that the Order
was founded as a beneficiary organization. To form an
association that will ‘‘ protect ourselves and our families
in case of sickness, accident, or death”? was the object set
forth in the call for a national convention in 1868.1 The
early leaders never lost sight of this purpose, and the fact
that it received constant emphasis for over twenty years
to the exclusion of trade policies leaves little doubt as to
its paramount importance.

The plan of benefits adopted by the conductors embodied
two distinct features: care for the sick and temporarily
injured, furnished by the local lodges; and support by the
national organization of persons left dependent through the
death or permanent disability of members.

It was believed that the requirements for national bene-
fits could best be met by establishing a mutual life-insur-
ance association. Accordingly, the constitutional conven-
tion, at Columbus, in November, 1868, made provision for
such a company. It will be recalled that at this time there
was but one labor organization in the United States which
had entered upon an undertaking of this nature. The year
previous (1867) the Brotherhood of the Footboard had
introduced a crude’ plan of life insurance. Thus with

1 Preface to Proceedings, vol. i.

2 The Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners began paying
funeral benefits in 1860, but such benefits were not life insurance
proper.

123] 123
124 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [124

virtually no model to follow and with very little under-
standing of the principles underlying insurance, it is not
strange that the proposals first adopted by the conductors
were ill-defined in the extreme. The whole scheme was
confined to one short article of four brief sections. Mem-
bership in the association was to be separate from mem-
bership in the union. The chief provision was that upon
the death or permanent disability of any member an assess-
ment of $1.00 should be levied upon all members, the pro-
ceeds thus received to be paid to the heirs of the deceased
or to the disabled conductor.

No members apparently ever enrolled and the next year
the ‘“ Cruzen amendments” were proposed.* These are of
interest chiefly because they sought to make insurance
compulsory for every member of the union and because
they contained a tentative plan for the establishment of a
reserve fund. The amendments, however, were not
adopted.

Undaunted by these two failures, the Grand Division
in 1870 appointed a committee to “draft a plan of in-
surance.” With characteristic vigor this committee took
up its task. Within less than twenty-four hours a plan
had been formulated and reported back to the Grand
Division, and the Mutual Insurance Association of the
Conductors’ Union was established.’

The organization thus summarily created contained the
general features of the two preceding schemes. Any mem-
ber of the brotherhood could take out a policy by simply
making application and paying $1.25, of which $1.00 was
held in trust to meet the first assessment and $0.25 went
towards defraying the expenses of the association. Although

1 Proceedings, 1869, p. 36.
4 Tbid., 1870, p. 48.
125 | MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE DEPARTMENT 125

organized under a separate title, the only officers were the
secretary of the national union, who was the official head
of the insurance company,’ and the secretaries of the sub-
ordinate divisions, who acted as its local secretaries.

Actuarial statistics, reserve funds, regular premiums,
and similar provisions common to the ordinary life in-
surance company were ignored. The plan was thus one
of simple assessment, ill fitted to weather the storm in years
of heavy mortality.

The association began business in November, 1870.” Be-
fore long three difficulties were encountered: (1) the con-
ductors refused to join the association; (2) the benefits
paid were insignificant; and (3) the forfeiting of policies
was proportionately very large. During the first years
only 48 certificates were issued. Later, although the esti-
mated membership of the union was 1,000, enrollment in
the insurance association was only 68. The high water
mark attained during the first ten years was in 1874 when
156 policies were outstanding. Three years later mem-
bership had fallen to 51. At the annual session in 1878
there was serious discussion relative to abandoning the pro-
ject altogether. In 1881 the membership was 155 out of
a possible 1,400.

As a consequence of the failure of conductors to join,
the amounts paid in death benefits were mere pittances.
One policy of $48 was paid in 1870, another of equal
amount in 1873, and the total sum paid from 1870 to 1880
was $586, an average benefit of $73. As freewill offer-

1 The organization which had charge of the insurance was officially
known as the Order of Railway Conductors’ Mutual Life Insurance
of North America, until 1887 when it was changed to the Mutual
Benefit Department of the Order of Railway Conductors of North
America.

2 The year following it was provided that the maximum policy to be
paid by the association should be $2,000.
126 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [126

ings in times of distress such amounts might be regarded
with favor; but as benefits paid by an insurance company
they could scarcely excite anything but derision.

Not less disappointing was the large number of forfeited
policies. Membership would rise steadily enough until an
assessment was due, when there would be a sudden shrink-
age, sometimes reducing the membership from 100 per cent
to 30 per cent. This constant fluctuation not only under-
mined what little business standing the association had, but
it was manifestly unjust to the holder of a matured policy.
For example, a Mrs. D. A. Ritchie in 1881 held a matured
policy of her husband; the benefit should have been $155,
but 42 members defaulted.

At first the union did not appear to be greatly disturbed
by the apparent backwardness of the insurance feature.
All seemed to believe that conditions would soon right
themselves—an optimism revealed in the public utterances
of the grand officers. In 1873, the Grand Chief Conductor
assured the members “if you will but return home with
a firm resolve, before the coming of the 17th annual session
we will see more than 2,000 members enrolled.” ? Gradu-
ally, however, this spirit was superseded by one of anxiety.
The Grand Division frequently directed the local secretaries
to use every effort to increase membership, and impassioned
pleas on behalf of the insurance plan became commonplace.

Slowly a feeling gained headway that the methods of
the association were faulty. In 1880 the Grand Chief
Conductor wrote: “The laws are defective in many in-
stances and I most urgently request your honorable body
to give them a searching and thorough revision.” A year
later the executive reported “our insurance is in a very
unsatisfactory condition and a complete revision can no

1 Proceedings, 1873, pp. 572-73.
127] MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE DEPARTMENT 127

longer be postponed, if we keep it from going to pieces
altogether.”

Forced into action by the seriousness of the situation,
the Grand Division appointed a revision committee. Some
idea of the thoroughness with which these men did their
work may be gained from the fact that in place of the
half-dozen meagre provisions with a few patched amend-
ments which they had been given to revise, the committee
reported to the Grand Division a set of well-codified in-
surance laws comprising twenty-six articles. Provisions
formerly vague were clarified; laws relating to assessments,
forfeitures, remittances, application blanks, etc., which had
been barely mentioned in the original draft, were amplified.

The plan of managing the association was also changed.
General supervisory power was placed in the hands of an
executive committee, which was to approve all claims, and
in case of dispute its decision was to supersede that of the
Grand Recording Secretary. It inspected the books, made
reports, and carried on the general advisory work of the
association in much the same way that a board of directors
supervises the business of a corporation.

An attempt was also made to remedy the forfeiture of
policies. The revised laws provided that each application
for membership should be accompanied by a fee of $2.50,
of which fifty cents went toward the expense of the as-
sociation, and two dollars was held in trust to pay death
claims. It was hoped that by thus providing for two as-
sessments in advance the temptation to allow policies to
lapse would be overcome.

Although the revised statutes went into effect January 1,
1882, the association showed no increased signs of activity
until after the meeting of the Grand Division in the fol-
lowing fall. Then a remarkable development began. From
October, 1882, to October, 1883, membership rose from
128 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [128

147 to 504.1. A year later the enrollment reached 1,200
and the president announced that the union had one of the
largest conductors’ insurance association in the United
States. In 1885, 2,700 certificates were in force and the
executive was able to report “the association now stands
preéminently the largest, and we believe the best, of its
class.” In 1888, 4,685 members were enrolled.

The amount paid in benefits showed a response to the
changed conditions. From two insignificant payments of
$35 each in 1882 the benefits rose to six of $283 each in
1883; to six of approximately $1,000 each in 1884; and
the next year claims were paid of $2,000 each—the
maximum limit prescribed by the laws of the Benefit De-
partment. It was evident that the insurance association
had at last entered upon a period of real usefulness.

In accounting for this sudden growth two explanations
may be advanced. Some view the expansion entirely as
a result of the revision of 1881. The conductors, them-
selves, are in the habit of saying that the insurance de-
partment did not become “really operative” until 1881.
The United States Commissioner of Labor, in his annual
report for 1908, goes so far as actually to set the date of
organization as 1882.

While the writer wishes to give ample credit to the
thorough revision made, he can see no reason for ignoring
the twelve years of experimentation which preceded. The
insurance association had a small beginning, just as other
departments of the union which are now strong were once
weak and struggling. The writer believes the true ex-

1 The greater part of the statistical information given in this chapter
was taken directly from the records of the Grand Secretary and
Treasurer at National Headquarters. As citations to those records
would prove unsatisfactory, comparatively few references have been
inserted in the footnotes of this chapter.
129] MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE DEPARTMENT 129

planation is to be found in the changing circumstances which
surrounded the conductors from 1870 to 1880. A few of
these may be briefly noted.

In the first place the period from 1870 to 1880 was one
of excessive competition between mutual insurance com-
panies. Just as in the days prior to 1835 unsound banks
multiplied rapidly throughout the country, so during the
period following the Civil War private mutual insurance
associations, unrestrained by state or national laws, sprang
up with mushroom rapidity. The brilliant futures pictured
by many of them appealed with peculiar force to the con-
ductors, uninitiated in the intricacies of “ high finance,”
so that the field of railroad insurance was already pre-
empted when the Order came on the scene.

Furthermore, there are good reasons for believing that
the Order failed to appreciate the importance of starting
with a large membership—so essential to provide an at-
tractive benefit, based on an assessment of only one dollar
per person. Thus we see the association beginning busi-
ness with but 48 members, which meant that in case of
death the face of a policy would amount only to $48, al-
though the premiums paid were as large as those in
similar companies paying policies of $1000 or more.

‘Contrast with such a beginning the opening years of the
United States Railroad Conductors’ Life Insurance Com-
pany, a privately managed association. It began business
in 1868. Three years later it had a membership of 4,000
and was paying benefits of $2,500 each. The explanation
of its success lies in the fact that it did not commence to
pay benefits until it had attained a membership of approxi-
mately 1,000. Thus from the very beginning its policies

1 Annual Report of President of U. S. R. R. Conductors’ Life
Insurance ‘Co. published in Locomotive Engineer’s Journal, October,
1870.
130 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [130

were so attractive as to work autoniatically in securing a
still higher membership.

Another reason for the failure of this early attempt on
the part of the Order was the condition of chaos which was
allowed to exist within its very borders. Scarcely had the
plan of national insurance been proposed before some of
the subordinate divisions conceived the idea of starting
insurance associations of their own. The idea proved
popular and soon every subordinate division of importance
was conducting its own mutual life-insurance association.
As a result the source of membership for the national or-
ganization was effectually shut off. This condition existed
until 1877 when the Grand Division forbade subordinate
unions to operate local associations.

Although the Conductors had to learn by sad experience
the business principles upon which mutual insurance is
based, yet no one can read the record of their struggle
from 1874 to 1882 without being impressed with the fact
that they possessed an advantage which no amount of
finely adjusted business organization could give to a private
concern. The union was more than a mere labor organi-
zation. It was more than an insurance association. It was
a fraternity. And gradually that vague, indefinite thing
called fraternalism began to assert itself. More and more
individual members began to look beyond the confines of
their own particular needs and observe “the good of the
whole order.” The desires of subordinate lodges gave
way to the wishes of the Grand Division. When this
spirit had permeated the union the battle for mutual in-
surance was won.

The prosperity which followed the revision of 1881 put
an end to all fear among the Conductors as to their ability
to conduct a system of life insurance. Henceforth their

efforts were directed toward adjusting the plan to their
neciliar needs
131] MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE DEPARTMENT 131

As money gradually accumulated in the treasury, two
changes were decided upon. Assessments were deferred
until the funds already paid in should be exhausted; and the
amount of the death benefit was arbitrarily increased from
$2,000 to $2,500.

These changes were scarcely made before the unex-
pected happened: the boom in membership suddenly col-
lapsed. From 1887 to 1890 the number actually decreased.
The total amount paid out in death benefits, however, con-
tinued to rise—from $117,000 in 1887 to $157,000 in 1890.
As a result premiums were raised from $12.00 per $1,000
of insurance in 1887 to $14.40 in 1888 and to $15.40
in 1890.

The whole situation was one of extreme gravity. The
Conductors were facing the same condition that was prov-
ing fatal to many other fraternal insurance societies where
membership was declining while premiums, due to a grow-
ing death rate, were continually growing larger. If the
Benefit Department was to survive, it was evident that
some plan must be adopted whereby the decrease in mem-
bership could be stopped and the payment of premiums
insured.

Fortunately the Order had at its command a most ef-
fective weapon for accomplishing both results. It simply
provided that thereafter every person who joined the Order
must take out a policy in the Mutual Benefit Department
unless ineligible by reason of age or other specified dis-
ability. This compulsory feature at once checked the fall-
ing membership and made the premiums collectible as regu-
lar dues of the Order.

Two other important changes were also made. First,
the $2,500 policy was discontinued. In its place three kinds
of policies, known as Series A, B and C, were adopted.”

1In 1913 series “A A” paying a benefit of $1,500 was adopted.
132 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [132

NuMBER OF CLAIMS PAID BY MUTUAL BENEFIT DEPARTMENT, 1868-1913

 

i
Number | Number
est of Claims ; Year of Claims

107
137
179
158
160
Ig
235
238
257
300
304
351
431
423
427
459
472
477
626
544
631
587

. .
om me

 

DADNKHKWHHRD:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Series A paid a benefit of $1,000, Series B of $2,000, and
Series C of $3,000. Eligibility to obtain a given certificate
was dependent upon the age of the applicant. Thus, mem-
bers not over thirty-five years old could take out any of
the three. Members over thirty-five but not over forty-two
were eligible to Series A and B only. Members over forty-
two and not over fifty were entitled to Series A only. No
member over fifty was allowed insurance. Second, the
manner of paying premiums was completely altered. In-
stead of an assessment whenever a death occurred, the
amount of premium was determined in advance for a year,
and was made payable in the form of monthly installments.

Response to these fundamental changes was immediately
noticeable. Compulsory membership transformed a wan-
ing enrollment to one of steady increase. The issuance of
133] MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE DEPARTMENT 133

three classes of certificates satisfied the demand for small,
medium, and comparatively large policies. The levying of

COMPARATIVE GROWTH OF THE ORDER AND THE MUTUAL BENEFIT DEPARTMENT

 

 

Year Membership of Membership of Benefit
. Order, Department.
unknown 48 (Nov. 1)
1,000 (est.) 68
751 156
774
1,108 11g
1,058 51 (Oct. 1)
849 99
945 104 (Sept. 1)
1,050 155 (Oct. 1)
1,420
2,014 147 (Oct. 31)
3,298 504 (Oct. 1)
6,109 1,185 (Oct. 1)
7:944 2,752 (Jan. 1)
10,330 4,586
11,947 4,768
13,224 4,685
13,720 4,380
14,453 3,933 (Dec. 31)
17,906 5844
20,224 9,942
20,356 12,266
19,827 12,704
19,737 13,582
19,810 14,619
20,697 15,807
21,950 17,403
23,253 19,057
24,563 20,592
25,854 22,296
27,899 24,488
31,333 27,875
33,353 30,171
35,083 31,988
38,430 34,142
41,436 37:075
42,379 38,323
43,764 39,589
45,992 41,692
475339 439333
47,893 44,052

 

 

 

 
134 | RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [134

monthly assessments in advance enabled the conductor to
pay in amounts best suited to his convenience, while the
modifications all combined to give an air of security and
permanency to the transactions of the association.

Despite the years of panic, membership rose steadily
from 5,800 in 1891 to 20,000 in 1900, over 30,000 in 1905
and over 40,000 in 1910. In December 1912, the member-
ship was 44,052 out of a possible 47,893."

The amount paid in benefits has shown a corresponding
increase. From $153,000 in 1891 it rose to $825,000 in
1905, and to $1,139,000 in 1911. The amount of the
premium was changed several times during the nineties.
In 1899 it was fixed at $16 per $1,000 of insurance, and
it has not been altered since that date.

To those who looked forward to the day when the
Department should be quoted as a model for other brother-
hoods, the revision was lacking in one respect,—it had made
no definite provision for a reserve fund. The idea of
setting aside a sum from which deficits could be paid, in
the minds of some from the very beginning, was incorpor-
ated in the proposed “ Cruzen Amendments’ of 1870; and
set forth still more in detail in the proposed “ Martin
Amendments” of 1882. From that time there was constant
discussion relative to such a fund, but not until 1899 did
sentiment crystallize sufficiently to allow the proposition to
be carried.” In that year a fund of $500,000 was created,
increased to $1,000,000 in 1905, and to $1,500,000 in I9I0.
This money is raised by direct assessment, at the rate of
$1.00 per each $1,000 of insurance carried. When a mem-
ber has made twenty such payments he is relieved from
further assessments.

1The members of the union who did not hold policies were made
up of those who belonged to the union prior to 1891 and those who,
for various reasons, have not been allowed to take out policies.

2 Proceedings, 1899, pp. 486-7, 525.
135]

MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE DEPARTMENT

 

 

 

135
AMOUNT PAID IN CLAIMS BY MUTUAL BENEFIT DEPARTMENT, 1868-1913
Year Amount | Year Amount
1868-1870 ....ecceeeeee| eevee | TSO 2oic.e svn oerinetetiews $241,513.40
1871" 2 secses cede iacen $48.00 || 1893-.-... cece ceeeee 315,029.60
1872 cecceescsarescnens 48.00 |) T8Q4.6 + cess sicsaeewees 390,491.00
1973) baiec te geweacce ews], Su daze V T8Q5e oss sesieste vexis 347,000.00
1874 cece cece eee e eee! scenes i 18960... eee cece cece 339,000.00
ISHS) wishin = cs e'nees. ede oh 163.00 || 1897---- + e000. cee e ee 416,000.00
1970 ckenet ss hee ss sone 3A4,00° || TSOB. 6 sees vasa nse ss 482,200.00
18977 secsccceccecncsvce 60,00 |; 1899..-.seeeeeeeeeee 505,500.00
1878 eee cece eee eens 63.00 |) 1900... sec eeee vance 524,900.00
1899 seseceivicseeedecece|  aevees IQOT sacks agewee seas 603,000.00
ISSO: bas awleswvdaae se dows BIOiO0: | 1902s as scssisrenesiee! avs 603,000.00
US8L vicsacowarkss eos 320.00 || 1903---+ scene enccee 697,600.00
1O82 so ccnmieiieres Saddle 70.00 | TOQOM sc: he5 siete 3.5 835,500.00
1883 sie ie eoree se eodceesivo save T,JOO.0O || 1G05--++ cece cece eees 825,000.00
1884, Mstesigiay eds Meats 5,939.00 || 1906...-.-+- ere eeee 828,000.00
TSS5, ie 'viesigacee-s ee esiseaicis 25,130.00 || 1907.--. + eee eeee eee 880,000.00
1886 «dat eaae xs Sa-sieiesios 89,068.00 || 1908...---.-eeee eee 942,000.00
1889 cssiasiewe seers 117,005.00 || 1909. esses eser cece ee 909,000.00
TOOS "5s aienavaara dale: ssaitsmeaes ave 155,000.CO || IQIO.- +. ee ee ewer eee] 1,204,000.00
1889 .ceceeeeeeeeeeeeee 157,500.00 || IQIL.--+--eeeeee eee 1,1 39,000.00
1890 sGsuisishemes vssesaee 157,505.00 || 19012.---+eeeeeee eee 1,234,000.00
PEQE 66 sisieic ieee aaaicse 153,000.00 || 1913+ ---eseeceee eee 1,135,000.00

 

 

 

 

* 1871-1879, benefits allowed, dates of payments uncertain.
CHAPTER XI
PRESENT PLAN oF MuTuUAL LIFE INSURANCE

THE creation of a reserve fund was the last important
change made in the insurance scheme. The situation to-
day (1913) may be said to be substantially as follows.
During the fifty-five years of its history the mutual Benefit
Department has paid losses on 8007 persons aggregating
over $16,260,000. Each member is paying $16 annually
for every $1,000 of insurance carried. The “death rate”
(which includes permanent disability)* for a number of
years has been somewhat less than $16.00. Thus the total
assessments each year have been slightly more than suff-
cient to cover all claims. In 1908, for example, the as-
sessment amounted to $1,066,725, while the claims totaled
but $942,000, giving an excess for that year of $124,725.
The total surplus in the mortuary fund on December 31,
1912, was $635,359 with claims of 97, unpaid or pending.
It has been already noted that since 1900 members have
paid $1.00 per $1,000 of insurance into a reserve fund,
amounting on December 31, 1913, to $1,143,481.30.

From the foregoing description it is seen that the in-
surance department of the Order is substantially different
both from that of the ordinary fraternal society, and from
the so-called “old line” or legal reserve insurance. It is

1 According to the Mutual Benefit Department Law total disability
includes: (1) loss of hand by amputation at or above wrist joint;
(2) loss of foot by amputation at or above ankle joint; (3) total loss
of eyesight; (4) total loss of hearing.

136 [136
137] PRESENT PLAN OF INSURANCE 137

unlike the former in that the Conductors now have a posi-
tive means of keeping up the membership and compelling
the payment of premiums. As long as the Order continues
to prosper as a trade organization and retains the com-
pulsory provision, there is no danger of decreasing member-
ship in the Insurance Department.

Cost PER $1,000 or INSURANCE In Mutua. BENEFIT DEPARTMENT,

1887-1913
Year Premium
TES Aisi cee Sere ashe tah $12.00
1888. ac pusk erean oes ake tals 14.40
TS8O ss sated sate wagandAees saws 15.20
TBQO 5a. sccusasSe parce ebiehe a atau 14.80
TSOT pn cwhas eahwageies ss ae 15.40
1802) cate ea ga neucre cu ands 14.00
TSOB aie sasect Seca gaan emer I5.cO
1804.) coniadimieeaseness Meee 16.00
BOOS ica nici Be epi ameeal oe ve 208 14.00
T8064 devas esas vaueceaies 14.00
BOOZ ccars idicccdnoe aah RO ead 14.00
TS808hee cae ecetanteas een eee 14.00
TSCO=10T 3 ieiy on cad ota eeaws 16,00

On the other hand, the fundamental concept of the plan
adopted by the department differs materially from old line
or legal reserve life insurance. The former is essentially a
year to year affair wherein premiums are collected during
each year in an amount sufficient only to cover the claims
for that period. At the end of each year the slate is wiped
clean, so to speak, and the premiums for the following year
are computed to meet the changed conditions, if any, in
membership and age. The member’s premium depends not
at all upon his age on joining the Order, or upon his at-
tained age but only upon the average, roughly speaking, of
the membership during the particular year. Under this
plan the tendency is towards increasing the premiums from
138 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [138

year to year for all the members, especially if new members
enter the department at higher ages as time goes on.*
There is no provision for the future, except through the
nominal payment of one dollar per thousand of insurance,
as noted above, and this, of course, is of comparatively
small importance. In legal reserve insurance, the mem-
ber’s premium would depend upon his age at the time he
entered the department, and he would pay the same
premium throughout his life regardless of the membership
of the department or of the ages of the other members.

Under the department method, a young member pays a
higher premium than his age naturally calls for and later,
although he may pay the same as at the beginning, he pays
less than would be required at his advanced age. In legal
reserve insurance, the same condition exists, except that
under this plan his rate would never increase. The essen-
tial difference between the two is this: that under the de-
partment method, the excess which the young member pays
goes each year towards meeting the death claims of the old
members, who during that year paid less than the rates
which would be normal at their ages; under legal reserve
insurance, the excess which the younger member pays is
held in reserve and accumulated at interest until he and the
surviving members of his class reach the higher ages when
the deficits are met from this reserve fund and not from
the contributions of the young members in the Order at that
time. It will be noted, of course, that under this method,
there is always a fund attaching to each member's policy
which he would have a right to claim provided he ceased
to be a member for any cause other than death.

There are four grounds on which the ‘plan of insurance

1 As suggested elsewhere, however, under normal conditions there is
an average membership age which will tend to remain fairly constant.
139] PRESENT PLAN OF INSURANCE 139

conducted by the Order is often adversely criticised :! (1) It
is said to be defective in that insurance is conducted in con-
nection with trade-union and fraternal activities. (2) It
does not permit the conductor to provide for the future.
(3) It throws a heavy burden on the younger members.
(4) It is subject to constant increases in cost. These ob-
jections will be considered somewhat in detail.

(1) Those who urge that this form of insurance should
not be conducted in conjunction with trade-union and fra-
ternal activities insist that the fundamental essential of
life insurance is ‘‘ certainty’. They maintain that after a
man has paid premiums for a number of years no condition
aifecting the certainty of his receiving the full amount of
his policy should be allowed to exist. There are two
agencies they claim which may detract from the stability
of this kind of insurance, one of which is related to the
trade union aspect of the Order, and the other to its fra-
ternal features. Thus a prolonged strike might deplete
the treasury of the organization, and present a great temp-
tation to the Grand Division to appropriate for strike pur-
poses the accumulated funds in the Benefit Department.
The long list of failures among British trade societies, in
attempting to operate insurance in connection with trade
union activities, gives added emphasis to this criticism.

On the other hand, the very spirit of fraternalism exist-

1 The above criticism is confusing to the extent that it does not
entirely separate for comparison: (1) the Order’s plan of insurance
as now conducted; (2) the Order’s insurance as it might be conducted
under a legal reserve plan, and (3) commercial insurance, which is,
of course, legal reserve conducted by private companies for com-
mercial gain. With such a distinction, plan number one could be
compared with plan number two and the advantages and disadvantages
of each noted. Then plan number two could be compared with plan
number three and points of strength and weakness emphasized. Such
a comparison, however, would involve minutiae of detail that have
seemed to the writer quite out of place in the present monograph.
140 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [140

ing in the Order often prevents the Insurance Department
from being conducted on a business-like basis. Take, for
example, so fundamental a matter as physical examinations
as a requisite for membership in the Insurance Department.
The regulations of 1870 made no mention of such a matter,
the Order assuming that anyone who was able to work was
a good risk. In 1880, however, The Grand Chief Con-
ductor succeeded in having a requirement for medical ex-
amination inserted in all insurance applications. Within
two years we find that same official urging the repeal of the
law ' upon the ground that ‘“‘we, a band of brothers, pledged
to give aid when needed regardless of insurance, ought not
to be as rigid in our qualifications for membership as com-
panies that insure to make money.” Opposition to medical
examination continued strong throughout the eighties upon
the ground that it was anti-fraternal in spirit.

Acting in accordance with the authority granted them,
the insurance committee of 1891 adopted a reasonably
stringent medical examination. The reaction was pro-
nounced and vigorous. The committee was beseiged with
letters protesting against the action, the following excerpt
being a fair sample: *

Now, Billy, this form of insurance application is a big bull-
dozing fraud, and not in the spirit of what the Grand Division
desired. While the law gives the Insurance Committee full
scope, they can make out any kind of a form they desire.
Now what we like is when three brothers who have been ac-
quainted with a man ten years and know that in that time he
has not been laid up sick for ten days, when la grippe and all
such epidemics are around, he comes pretty near being a fit

1 Proceedings, 1882, p. 520.

2 The conductors could now do away with medical examinations, and,
provided they continued to take in only young men in active service,
their rates would not be very materially increased.
141] PRESENT PLAN OF INSURANCE 141

subject for insurance. I made out an application and refused
to answer these questions and W. P. D. returned it to me.
Now if I hadn’t carried one of the old certificates, No. 724,
since May 4, 1884, and never been delinquent a minute, I
should have said “to hell with the O. R. C. insurance.” I
actually believe the Insurance Department is rotten to the core.
It costs about $8,000 a year to run it while Mr. Huntington
ruins one just as good for about $3,000. Too damned much
goes for salaries and legal expenses. Billy, I shall prepare a
roast for Toledo as it is outrageous how the Ins. Dept. is run.
I certainly shall hold all concerned responsible for such a state
of affairs. While you may not be responsible for the law and
precedents, yet your not recognizing reform places you in a
responsible position. Am in Az health and trust you are the
same.

This same tendency to let the spirit of fraternalism stand
in the way of good business methods is seen in the allow-
ance of claims by the Grand Division.’ At each convention
many petitions are presented which technically do not come
within the insurance regulations. Perhaps a deceased
brother allowed his policy to lapse a short time previous to
death, or perhaps a conductor is afflicted with a particular
kind of injury that does not come within the specific pro-
visions of the disability clause. The ordinary life insur-
ance company would give such petitions scanty attention ;
but the Order receives them all with sympathetic in-
terest. Whenever a plea of this kind is made upon the
floor of the convention the response is almost instantaneous,
and despite the protests of the insurance officers and with a
fine disregard for the business side of the matter, the Grand
Division will vote to pay large policies which legally are

1 This criticism cannot properly be directed against the plan used
by the conductors, rather it relates specifically to the looseness with
which it is sometimes conducted.
IA2 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [142

r

non-collectible. Such payments not only cripple the finances
of the association but create a spirit of irresponsibility
among members who feel that, even though they are negli-
gent in their payments, the Grand Division will not see
their families suffer. The conductors point to such acts
with pride, as exemplifying their fraternal spirit.

(2) The plan of insurance is said to be faulty in that it
does not permit members to provide for the future.
While it is true that the insurance is issued under a con-
tinuing contract, it is nevertheless only a temporary affair.
At the end of each year the accounts between the members
and the Department balance; the members having paid the
assessments due for that year and having received pro-
tection during the year of a value substantially equal to
their total assessments. The members are “‘ square” with
the department, and, on the other hand, the department is
free from all liability to them. It could close its books the
next day and members would properly have no claim against
it except in the case of the accumulated surplus of the re-
serve and mortuary funds, which would provide only a
small dividend for the surviving members.

It is thus seen that the department plan of insurance
provides for no accrued liability on the part of the Order,
corresponding, for example, to the paid-up or surrender
values in “old line” life insurance. Regular insurance
companies collect premiums much higher than $16 per
$1,000, and the excess thus obtained (over current losses,
expenses, etc.) is held to accumulate. Out of this money
the paid-up or surrender values are allowed, each member
receiving from the fund a sum in due proportion to his con-
tribution. The Order, however, collects only the $16 and
pays practically all of it in claims the same year.

(3) The plan is said to throw an unduly heavy burden
upon the young man. That is, although all members, young
143] PRESENT PLAN OF INSURANCE 143

and old, pay $16 per $1,000 of insurance, the combined
death and disability rate for members under fifty years of
age is from $10 to $16 per $1,000, while from fifty years
to seventy it increases from $16 to about $50 per $1,000,
and above the latter age the death rate advances very
rapidly. Thus it is apparent that the younger members, at
$16, are paying approximately 50 per cent more than their
share, the older members one-half or one-third of their
share, and the oldest only a fraction. A member as he
grows older may, within certain limits, increase his insur-
ance. In such cases the extra burden falls largely on the
younger men.

(4) It is claimed that the plan is subject to constant in-
crease in cost to the individual, since the amount of his
premium necessarily tends to rise, for as the Insurance De-
partment grows, the average age of its members increases,
resulting in a corresponding rise in the death rate. Under
present methods, where the living pay for the dead, a prem-
ium enough larger to cover the increased death rate is un-
avoidable. As indicative of this general situation figures
are given for the years 1891 and 1913, showing that dur-
ing the intervening eighteen years the average age of mem-
bers in the Insurance Department rose from 37.73 to 43.8
years.

INCREASE IN AverAGE AGE oF Mempers oF Mutuat BENEFIT
DEPARTMENT, I89QI-1913

Year Age Year Age Year Age
TSQT .acevace 37.73 T8002 cae eee 40.05 IOO7 je cani gin

TOO 2 ics saes 36.71 TOGO a2 eeacs 40.39 1908........

1803) aedens 37.01 TOOTes ices 40.66 TOOO22 thane 41.84
LOOM ctgcanaes 37.60 TO02. eeee5% 40.91 IQIO........ 42.28
TOOS nannies 38.14 TQO3 ses sa nes 40.80 IOUIesssis es 43.4
T806i4 sae 38.74 1004. canvas 40.96 IQI2. cence 42.3
TOO Zine ganirets3 39.27 TOOS esa cees3 41.24 IOT3.ccceess 43.8
144 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [144

With reference to the objections noted above:

(1) Those who favor the present method of conducting
insurance are always eager to answer objections. For in-
stance, they deny the danger of transacting insurance in
conjunction with trade union and fraternal activities.
Special emphasis is laid upon the fact that the funds of the
Benefit Department are always kept separate from those of
the Order, a condition which for all practical purposes is
sufficient protection they claim against misappropriation of
funds.

They point out that, even in case of an emergency, such
as a prolonged strike, it would be practically impossible for
the Grand Division to use insurance funds unless this was
the desire of a majority of members, in which case, it is
argued, the transaction would be perfectly valid, on the
ground that the members have a right to do as they see fit
with their money.

The conductors also declare that fraternal features are
not a disadvantage when conducted in connection with in-
surance. In fact, they insist that the primary object of the
benefit department is “to give assistance in time of need.”
The feature distinguishing their insurance from that of
private companies is that the operations of the department
are not a mere matter of dollars and cents, but depend on a
spirit of fraternalism which even though it does at times
run contrary to accepted business methods, is nevertheless,
the great driving force of the Order. “ What difference
does it make,” asks the conductor, “if the Grand Division
does allow technically illegal claims, so long as the spirit of
fraternalism makes each member willing to contribute his
mite toward meeting any deficit that may result?”

But the spirit of fraternalism goes farther than merely
voting to pay non-collectible claims. For instance, a mem-
ber of a certain local was taken to a hospital for the feeble-
145] PRESENT PLAN OF INSURANCE 145

minded, although protesting his normality. For twelve
years the subordinate division of which he was a member
fought both doctors and courts to secure his release. Fin-
ally they accomplished their purpose. The man returned
to his home to find that during the twelve years of absence
his local had been faithfully paying the monthly assessments
upon his policy. Such incidents, which are constantly oc-
curring, show that in fraternal insurance there is a bond of
union stronger than any a private company could hope to
possess.

In addition to its strictly beneficiary service, the advocates
of the plan point out the various ways in which the insur-
ance department is of advantage to the union. They em-
phasize the fact that it brings recruits who join to share
the advantages which the insurance department offers; that
it is an instrument for the maintenance of discipline in the
hands of the officers; that the whole insurance scheme, in
fact, is so bound up with the other aspects of trade-union-
ism that the conductor works for the welfare of the in-
surance department in the same spirit that he strives for
increased wages or shorter hours.

(2) In reply to the objection that the Benefit Depart-
ment does not permit conductors to provide for the future,
supporters of the plan assert that such a belief arises from
a misunderstanding of the purpose of the insurance features
of the Order. The plan is not to provide insurance which
in itself will prove protective to each individual member.
They frankly admit that such a plan would lead directly
to the adoption of some scheme of endowment insurance
which would cost more than the average conductor can af-
ford to pay. Consequently the Order has been forced to
adopt some other plan of securing protection for its mem-
bers. By consolidating his insurance with his trade activi-
ties and fraternal interests, the Order believes it has se-
146 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [146

cured the strongest safeguard for the future. Under such
a plan the very basis on which his economic prosperity rests
—the union—must be destroyed before his insurance can
be greatly impaired. Under such conditions defenders of
the plan argue that it is entirely unjust to say that the con-
ductor is not safeguarded for the future. To be sure, in
cases where he withdraws from the Benefit Department he
has no “ paid up ” or “ surrender values’ due him, but it is
pointed out that he has already received protection equiva-
lent to all the money he has paid.

(3) In answer to the criticism that the plan tends to
throw a large burden on the younger members, adherents
of the method reply that this burden is more apparent than
real. While it is true that the young man does pay assess-
ments, larger in proportion to the risk assumed than those
paid by the older members, such an arrangement is really
advantageous in two ways. It prevents the older members
from paying proportionately larger assessments at that
period in life when they are least able to bear them, and on
the other hand, the larger burden which the young man
assumes is fully offset by the fact that when he grows older
he is, in turn, relieved by those younger than he.

(4) Finally, members of the Order deny that the cost
of their insurance will go on increasing indefinitely. As al-
ready stated, an increasing premium presupposes a con-
stantly increasing death rate, but the conductors point out
that death rates do not continue increasing year in and year
out. There is an average maximum age in every stable
organization, depending upon the average entrance age.
When this age is once reached there is no general change
in death rates unless the average age of entrance is altered.
Judging from the fact that the Insurance Department is
now over fifty years old, and that during the last twenty
years the average age of entering members has remained
147] PRESENT PLAN OF INSURANCE 147

fairly constant, it would seem that the maximum is now
being reached.

Nor is there likelihood of an increase in the maximum
due to a higher average entrance age; on the other hand,
the prospects are good that this average may be actually
lowered. For example, if the Order should take in inter-
urban (electric) conductors on any extensive scale, it is
probable that the entrance age would be reduced, for these
men, as a rule, are younger than conductors on steam roads,
due to the fact that they have no long term of apprentice-
ship to serve. Again, the gradual decrease in the number
of hours that constitute a day’s work with its consequent
demand for a larger number of conductors is likely to create
a tendency on the part of railroads to shorten the term of
apprenticeship for conductors employed on steam roads.
Under such conditions, it is claimed there might easily be a
marked decrease in the average age of entrance.

Not only do the conductors claim that there is no danger
of constant increase in the amount of premiums paid, but,
on the other hand, that there is a saving over commercial
companies in two ways:(1)by offering a more liberal policy;
(2) by furnishing insurance at lower rates. It will be re-
called that the insurance laws of 1870 provided for the pay-
ment of a claim under one of two conditions,—either by
death or by permanent disability. The matter of per-
manent disability has become one of increasing importance
to railroad men. The average life insurance company in-
terprets permanent disability to mean incapacity for “ prose-
cuting any and every kind of business pertaining to a
regular occupation.” The conductors, on the other hand,
have constantly broadened the scope of their disability
clause until to-day it provides that any member who is in-
capacitated from performing the duties of a conductor is
considered permanently disabled. When it is known that
148 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [148

approximately one-seventh of all the claims paid by the
Order are for permanent disability, it is seen how important
this provision has become.

The matter of the cost of insurance to the individual is
even more fundamental. As already noted, during the
early years of the association the matter of expense was
inconsequential. The membership was so small that the
assessment of $1.00 per death came with comparative in-
frequency. Following the rapid increase in membership
in 1883 death assessments rose rapidly until in 1886 they
were $19.00 a year per thousand. Complaints of exces-
sive rates were made, and as there was a surplus in the
treasury assessments were arbitrarily reduced to $12.00.
Beginning in 1891 when the ante-mortem premium was
adopted, the rate was fixed at $16.00. With a constantly
increasing membership the conductors have found this rate
more than ample to meet their needs.

Compared with insurance maintained by other railroad
brotherhoods, the conductors insist that their Department
appears to advantage. Their policies range from $1,000 to
$3,000 with a flat rate of $16.00 per thousand. The En-
gineers issue policies in amounts from $300 to $2,500 at
the rate of $17.80 per thousand. The trainmen’s policies
range from $400 to $1,200 at an average rate of $18.00 per
thousand. The switchmen furnish policies at $22.50 per
thousand.

Compared with rates charged by regular life insurance
companies these premiums appear strikingly low. For ex-
ample, the rate for a $1,000 policy in the Aetna Life In-
surance Company for engineers, firemen, trainmen and
switchmen, is $27.23; the rate for conductors is $22.23—
nearly 25 per cent more than the rate of the brotherhood.
Nor can it be said that these great differences in rates rep-
resent mere good-will on the part of the brotherhood to-
149] PRESENT PLAN OF INSURANCE 149

ward its members. The lodge-room method of conducting
insurance is admittedly more economical. There are no
commissions to pay, and no dividends to be declared, no
high salaries, no advertising, and many of the operations
necessary to the insurance companies are here carried on by
the other departments of the Order, or by the locals and at
no extra cost. Then, too, the Order does not have the
expenses of the insurance companies that are occasioned by
lapses.

The reader should be warned, however, that while the
lodge-room method of insurance affords distinct savings,
that any general comparison of rates and policies is very
apt to be fallacious. For example, the ascending scale of
rates for conductors, firemen, engineers, trainmen and
switchmen is largely due to the increased hazards of the
particular occupation and to the character of work per-
formed, that of conductor being least dangerous, while that
of switchmen is considered ‘extremely hazardous.” Again,
any just comparison as to the “cheapness”? of insurance
should involve not only a minute comparison of the policies
issued, but the various policies should all apply to a given
man at a given time and age and while engaged in a given
occupation. Thus most of the railway brotherhoods, and
some private companies, pay for permanent disability the
same as for death, and some of them have accident pro-
visions that are not found at all in the policies issued by
the Order.*| In justice to all the railway brotherhoods it
should be said that the rates of each are as low as condi-
tions in the particular occupation and the terms of the
policies warrant. All of the brotherhoods, moreover, effect
the savings of the lodgeroom method of conducting in-
surance.

1In 1913 the Grand Division appointed a committee to devise a

combination accident and death policy. This committee, however, does
not report until the Grand Session in 1916.
’

CHAPTER XII

OtTuHerR MutTuaAL BENEFITS

As seen from the foregoing chapter, the Mutual Benefit
Department of the Order has always been restricted to ad-
ministering a system of life insurance. All other bene-
ficiary activities were left to the local divisions—a plan pos-
sessing certain advantages with regard to ordinary relief
functions, since the relatively small size of the subordinate
afforded an element of personal knowledge and interest not
possible through the central organization. Where members
were sick, injured, or temporarily out of employment,” the
local frequently gave financial or other assistance. In case of
death, it was customary for the division to take charge of
the funeral, sometimes assuming its expenses, and contri-
buting to the support of the bereaved family. In all im-
portant respects, the beneficiary features of the subordinates
corresponded with those of a purely fraternal society.

While this plan proved thoroughly efficient wherever in-
timate personal knowledge and a brotherly helping hand
were all that was required, it was soon seen that the re-
sources of the locals were too slender to withstand any
severe or long-continued drain. For instance, while the
local could give all needed aid in cases of temporary illness,
it was frequently unable to cope with the situation where
death left the family destitute. Thus it happened that at

1 The assistance given to those out of employment was merely a
relief measure. It was not done in an effort to maintain a standard
wage, thus distinguishing it from insurance as a trade regulatory
measure.

150 [150
151] OTHER MUTUAL BENEFITS I51

a comparatively early date, sentiment arose in favor of
having the Grand Division assume such burdens, and vari-
ous proposals were submitted for the creation of a death
benefit fund under the jurisdiction of the national body.
From this fund the families of deceased members were to
be aided. Although easily confused with a matured life
insurance policy, this benefit was in effect quite distinct and
was to be given irrespective of membership in the Mutual
Benefit Department. As late as 1889, President Wheaton
proposed the adoption of a plan whereby a death benefit
of $300 per member should be assured—the money to be
raised by direct assessment on all the surviving members of
the Order for each case as it occurred. These suggestions
were not followed, however, and the whole question was
virtually closed in 1891 by the passage of the law compelling
membership in the Mutual Benefit Department.

In addition to the expenses incident to death, other
heavy and unexpected burdens often fell on subordinate
divisions. Thus, following the creation of grievance com-
mittees in 1885, it was alleged that the members serving
thereon were in many cases discharged by the railroads.
The Order felt a moral responsibility to support such
members but the task proved entirely too large for
the locals. As a result the Grand Division in 1886 made
provision for a national “ protective fund.” This sum of
money, raised by direct assessment, derived its name from
the fact that it was to be used in “ protecting the men in
their positions.” The discharged conductor was to be
given relief until he could again find employment, and in
case it could be shown that he had been dismissed for serv-
ing on a grievance committee, he was to be furnished funds
with which to institute a suit for damages against the
railroad.

The scheme proved only partially successful. From
152 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [152

1887 to 1890 relief to the amount of approximately $4,000
was given, but the plan of collecting damages from the
railroads proved an utter failure. In 1891 the money in
this fund was used as a basis for the present protective or
strike fund already described in Chapter VIII.

PROTECTIVE FUND

Year Receipts Expenditures Balance

TOSZy shsl-agitiieas $2656.00 $468.57 $2187.43

TOCOs aeons 1204.01 983.42

TE OBO 5 carthreses tne 3314.75 1674.52 2823.65

TOOOs annedensde: 983.05 1840.06
Totals s22<0 4338.15

A third weakness of relief as administered by the locals
appeared in connection with the care of aged and infirm
members. At first the problem was not serious, but as the
Order grew older, a constant increase occurred in the num-
ber of those incapacitated through age, the support of whom
required a continuous outlay of funds far beyond the means
of the locals. For many years the sole recourse of the
subordinate lay in appeal to the Grand Division, where
speeches on behalf of decrepit members, when made on the
convention floor, were almost certain to bring forth in-
stant and generous response, especially if the member mak-
ing the appeal possessed capabilities as an orator.*

Such methods, however, possessed obvious defects.
Often the amount voted depended on the eloquence of the
person making the plea rather than on the merits of the
case, while it not infrequently happened that the Grand

1This plan has by no means been abandoned. Thus at the Grand
Session in 1913, one speaker in making a plea for special relief for
a disabled member not entitled to compensation under existing rules,
exhibited the man himself on the platform, pointed out his afflictions
and distributed photographs showing him undergoing various oper-
ations of a painful nature.
153] OTHER MUTUAL BENEFITS 153

Division in a fine glow of generosity would vote to give
more money than would later be found available, making
necessary reconsideration of the action. Each local tried
to secure as much assistance as possible for its afflicted
members, irrespective of the amounts granted others in
similar circumstances, and quite as naturally each felt ag-
grieved if its particular pleas were not granted. As a
logical result of a system so wasteful of time and energy
and so unevenly efficient as to result, a feeling of discon-
tent became general throughout the Order, from which
developed a sentiment in favor of placing the relief of aged
and infirm members on a systematic basis in the hands of
the Grand Division.

The first practical suggestion for such relief that appealed |
to the Order was made in 1897* when it was proposed to
establish a National Home for Aged and Infirm Conduc-
tors.” This plan met with favor and for several years it
was repeatedly brought before the Grand Divisions, where
committees were appointed and elaborate reports prepared.
Since the engineers, firemen and trainmen were facing the
same problem, it was suggested that all four organizations
join forces in establishing a National Home for their aged
and infirm members. The way for such a scheme opened ~
in 1g01 when the trustees of the Home for Aged and Dis-
abled Railway Employees of America, at Highland Park,
Ill., offered to turn the home over to the four brotherhoods,
on condition that each union should contribute $15,000
immediately to a building fund and make proper provision
for the future support of the Home.* The idea proved
popular and by 1910, the firemen, engineers and trainmen

1 The question of a Home had been brought before the Order in 1878
and again in 1889, but had attracted little attention.

* Proceedings, 1807, Dp. 397-404.
3 Tbid., 1901, pp. 695-6, 720.
154 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [154

_ having voted the required amount, the arrangements for

\ the transfer were completed. It had been rather taken
for granted that the conductors would also join, but when
the question was put to a vote, unexpected opposition
developed. Many members, while anxious to secure old
age benefits, objected to being sent to a ““ Home” and pre-
ferred to remain with their families, where it was claimed
that in many cases, they could be provided for more cheaply
and more satisfactorily. In 1911, after several years of
discussion, the Grand Division definitely refused to vote
the $15,000.

While the discussion relative to a Home was thus drag-
ging along from year to year the Order took a most
important step towards relieving the condition of its
needy members. It will be recalled that in connection with
operating the Mutual Benefit Department there had always
been a certain portion of the membership who favored a
“liberal insurance policy ’’, that is, one which would cover
disabilities other than merely death and permanent in-
capacity. In 1901 those who believed in such a policy
made a determined effort to “liberalize” the Benefit De-
partment with special reference to paying disability claims.
The movement was unsuccessful, but partly to satisfy the
clamor for such a policy and partly to meet a real need,
the Grand Division created a relief fund.* This is a sum
of money raised by a direct assessment of $3.00 per year
upon each member of the Order. It is under the control
of the Board of Directors. From this fund needy mem-
bers are assisted irrespective of whether they live with
relatives, in hospitals or in “ homes ’’.?

1 Proceedings, 1901, pp. 509-I0.

2 Under this arrangement about a dozen men have chosen to enter
the home at Highland Park.
The other brotherhoods have been much dissatisfied with this ar-
155 OTHER MUTUAL BENEFITS 155

This plan proved popular from the very beginning.
From 1901 to 1913 nearly 2,000 applications for relief
were made, of which approximately one half have been
granted. The total disbursements from this fund have been
$839,865.76. It was planned originally to allow each one
on the relief roll a monthly stipend of $45, but so great has
been the demand that the directors have been obliged in
nearly every case to scale down this amount. The allow-
ances have actually ranged from $5 to $45 per month ac-
cording to the need and funds available. In 1913, 415
were receiving an average of $28 per month, only a little
over one half the sum at first intended. This reduction
has caused much dissatisfaction among the members, and
within the last few years the relief system has been dubbed
the “pittance fund” because of the small amounts paid.
With reference to the limited sum at the disposal of the
directors for this purpose, President Garretson suggested
in 1913 that the number receiving relief should be reduced
one half, thus allowing the remaining number to obtain the
maximum benefit. The Grand Division, though recogniz-
ing the inadequacy of the present amounts in some cases,
did not see fit to remedy it by the means proposed.

rangement, not only because the Order refuses to contribute its share
to the building fund, but also because the relief granted the conductors
at the home has been sufficient only to pay for their actual main-
tenance, making no provision for the general upkeep of the institution.
It is further claimed that conductors who receive no assistance from
the Order are kept at the home. The explanation offered by the
Order is that private donations from its members are sufficient to
cover such expenses. The other three brotherhoods respond that the
sums thus raised are inadequate, and in 1913 the president of the Board
addressed a letter to the Order stating that the present arrangement
for admitting conductors was so unfair to the other brotherhoods
that it would no longer be tolerated.
156 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [156

Revrer Funp

Year Receipts Expenditures Balance
TOO Teiee.y's 2s $25,486.00 $4,386.60 $21,099.40
TOO2 accesses 27,298.00 16,801.60 31,595.80
WGO3 e0eeccxe 30,069.00 23,853.00 37,841.80
LOOM taisres g's! 33,203.00 30,390.25 40,714.55
LOOS eax eyes 34,922.00 35,360.45 40,270.10
1906........ 37,394.20 35,405.50 42,198.80
19071...... 65,074.00 49,048.90 38,223.90
LOS isin, ey 85,484.00 67,759.20 75,048.70
19092 ...... 104,936.50 80,533.15 100,352.05
TOTO cleo 22 93,864.75 93,226.00 100,990.80
LO Pliwis alalnites 97,050.25 III,995.28 86,645.77
TOUS disci v's 144,947.00 135,935.05 95,056.82
TOL zwen ee ys 145,831.50 155,103.88 86,384.44

Referring to the relief fund, Mr. Charles Wilkins, for a
number of years a vice-president of the Order and now
Chief Clerk in the President’s office, writes as follows:

Personally, I am of the opinion that this law is the best piece
of legislation the Order of Railway Conductors ever enacted,
and I am constrained to believe that more good results from
the disbursement of this money than could possibly result
from the same amount of money disbursed in any other way.

There were a large number of our members who were in
favor of paying men disabled, as many of those are who are
drawing relief, the full amount of their insurance policy, and
I am of the opinion that the creation of the Relief Fund has
been of great benefit not alone to the Brother disabled, but
to his family who are dependent upon him, and who in the
absence of any insurance accruing to them upon the Brother’s
death, would in many cases become a public charge.

To illustrate what I mean, if we had, instead of enacting the
law governing the Relief Fund, changed our Mutual Benefit
laws to pay these same men the full amount of their policy,
the amount so paid would have been frittered away in a com-
paratively short time, and when they were taken away their

1 $25,000 from general order fund.
2$15.000 from general order fund.
157] OTHER MUTUAL BENEFITS 157

family would have absolutely nothing upon which to depend
except the cold charity of the world.

By the adoption of the Relief Fund we have paid to these
same men, in some cases, more than double the amount of
their insurance policy, and their insurance policy is still intact
and its face value will be paid to the beneficiary upon the
death of the Brother, providing no forfeiture, of course, occurs
between now and the time of such death.

Scarcely had the general relief fund been established
when the Order was called upon to face a new problem in
the same line. The number of members afflicted with
insanity was becoming so large as to demand special at-
tention. They were often unable to realize their insurance
because their condition did not bring them within the “ per-
manent disability’ provisions of the Mutual Benefit De-
partment. Many of the cases were especially pitiful be-
cause of the burden thrown on the family, as the one af-
flicted was not only unable to support those dependent on
him but caused the expenditure of much time, strength and
money on their part. To give special relief in such cases
the Grand Division in 1903 set aside $5,000 as an insane
fund. In 1908, the directors added $1500 and in 1909 the
Grand Division appropriated $5,000 additional. The ex-
penditures from this fund have been as follows:

RELIEF TO FAMILIES OF INSANE MEMBERS

Year Expenditures
QO 9 is ds tne s toccnugusels Gavavesarn ievecicias audconanel woah $85.00
TOOAS eae pots sasiee Gragg eseosiave manana aetaese 756.00
O05 wicnns nce tema dereenens sgetenans 362.00
TOO a svecass sickaahonn F dial eeiniote eS AME 790.00
TOO 7iasnssiatiarianinaenunwexeaeolved.clecess’ 1,290.00
TO08..cks tues Meare sea teemEREr eS 2,155.00
TOOO eo v-nyaldamngunia de ea Nareemanass 2,100.00
TOLOn ywinaaiesishovts tiene aaa tance 1,579.00
TOL, cicad co gabe ce pane Renee 1,649.00
TOI2. ccisieansuonenwes adeeeeagegesse 1,539.00
158 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [158

Efficient as were all these measures of relief, they did
not squarely meet the problem with which the Order was
grappling, namely, old age. What to do with the old and
incapacitated is one of the most serious questions that con-
fronts any trade union making a feature of beneficiary ac-
tivities. In the case of the Order this has been especially
true, not only because the conductors have always shown a
strong fraternal feeling, but also because of the age of the
brotherhood and the character of work performed by its
members. The very fact that the Order has been in exist-
ence for nearly fifty years means that it will henceforth
carry on its rolls a large number of men who have passed
the age of industrial activity. This condition is aggra-
vated by the increasingly strict age-limit rules of the com-
panies, and the hazardous nature of railroad work.

There have been members who foresaw that the union
would eventually have to face the whole problem of old age
pensions. For several sessions the question was discussed,
but nothing definite was done until in 1907, when a com-
mittee was appointed to secure fuller information regarding
various pension plans. This committee collected some
important data, including statistics relating to the Order,
but nothing was ever formulated in the way of definite pro-
posals. The question was again before the Grand Body
in 1909 when a committee was once more appointed—this
time with instructions to report some plan back to the
Grand Division. It was intended to have this report made
before the session adjourned, but the committee was soon
convinced that nothing of a substantial nature could be
prepared in so short a time. They were accordingly given
until the next biennial session to prepare a report and funds
were furnished with which to conduct their investigations.

In approaching the pension question the committee found
three general courses open: (1) Congress could be asked
159] OTHER MUTUAL BENEFITS 159

to furnish pensions to all aged and infirm conductors. (2)
The railroads could be urged to adopt a pension system on
behalf of their employees. (3) The Order could conduct
its own pension system.

The idea of seeking congressional aid was finally aban-
doned on the ground of impracticability, the committee be-
ing unanimous in its belief that even if Federal assistance
could be secured, which was doubtful, it would be granted
only under restrictions that would prove inimical to the
Order. The suggestion of asking the railroads to estab-
lish a pension system was abandoned on the ground that the
roads might use it as a weapon to destroy the effectiveness
of the union. For instance, the railroads might stipulate
that, in order to be eligible for a pension, no employee
could engage in a strike—by such a regulation undermining
the protective features of the Order. To emphasize the
fact that such restrictions were not impossible, evidence was
given showing that on certain roads, maintaining pension
systems, strike votes were noticeably low.

The committee accordingly at once set to work on the
third idea. A large amount of statistical information was
compiled, and pension plans, ranging from the most fan-
tastic to the purely scientific, were submitted by members.
of the Order.

Realizing its own limitations in dealing with a question
which appeared to grow more complicated each day, the
committee sought the aid of actuarial statistics. It soon
developed that there were four possible ways in which a
pension fund could be created: (1) by arbitrarily using
money belonging to the Mutual Benefit Department; (2)
by some scheme of flat assessment; (3) by a plan based on
pure endowment; (4) by a pure endowment plan modi-
fied according to the peculiar needs of the Order.

In their final report to the Grand Division the committee
160 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [160

outlined these possible plans, calling attention to the merits
and objections to each. To illustrate the dangers of the
first plan, they submitted the following proposition—sug-
gested by a member at large—which may be taken as fairly
typical of the schemes with which the committee was
deluged:

Each member in the Mutual Benefit Department was to
make payments as before until he should reach the age of
seventy, after which he should not only discontinue the pay-
ments, but should receive an annual pension to equal ten
per cent of the insurance carried. Under such a plan a
member holding a $1,000 policy would be paid a pension
of $100 for a period of ten years. Other provisions of a
like nature were incorporated.

As already seen from the study of the Mutual Benefit
Department contained in the preceding chapter, such a pro-
posal showed a complete misunderstanding of the insur-
ance conducted by the Order. Its weaknesses were set
forth by one of the actuaries when he wrote:

If it is intended that the Insurance Department make these
payments, it is only necessary to point out that the moment a
member fails to pay any assessment, that moment all financial
liability on the part of the Department as regards him must
cease, for it has no funds accumulated with which to dis-
charge any liability. All his assessments (except the small
amounts he contributed to the Mortuary and Reserve Funds)
have been paid out in claims and he has already received their
equivalent in protection. At the very most, his is not even a
renewable term policy; by no sleight-of-hand can it be con-
verted into an endowment at the age of 70. Clearly their In-
surance Department cannot pay this 10 per cent “ until finally
paid”.

In commenting on projects based on flat assessments. the
committee pointed out that while they seemed alluring, be-
161 | OTHER MUTUAL BENEFITS I6I

cause the initial rates were low, premiums had to be con-
tinually increased when carried through a series of years.
Not only would this constant changing of rates prove a
source of irritation and misunderstanding on the part of
members, but any miscalculation in rates might lead to
serious consequences. Consequently the committee aban-
doned all flat assessment plans.

Turning to straight endowment, the committee gave
much attention to its possibilities. By one of the plans
suggested, each member on joining the Order should begin
paying premiums toward his pension fund, the rate to de-
pend on his age, and to be “‘ level,” that is, constant through-
out the time of his membership. Thus to secure a pension
of $30 a month at the age of 70, it was found that a man
entering at the age of 20 would have to pay an annual
premium of approximately $9.00, while one entering at 30
would have to pay $15. This plan possessed certain ad-
vantages, as pointed out by one of the actuaries:

It is obvious that under an unmodified endowment plan,
where each member provides all his own pension, it is imma-
terial to the others when any member retires, because he can
benefit only from his own share of the accumulated funds,
and his share can be accurately determined. Thus, a member
entering at age 20 and paying assessments to provide him a
pension at age 70, might decide, when reaching age 65, to re-
tire at once. The fund, could, in full justice to him and to all
the other members, pay him a pension, but scaled down from
the full pension. It would be scaled because he would be pay-
ing assessments for five years less than he contracted to pay,
interest would have five years less to accumulate, he could not
participate in the 65-70 forfeitures, because his action might
be a selection against the fund and, finally, because his ex-
pectancy would be normally greater at 65 than at 70. But,
under the endowment plan, all these factors could be taken
into account and his proper pension computed for age 65. On
[62 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [162

the other hand, if, for any reason, he desired not to retire until
an age higher than 60, or whatever normal retirement age is
fixed, the increase in his pension warranted by his further
assessments, by the excess of interest earnings, efc., could be
computed and paid to him with absolutely no injustice to the
other members.

The endowment plan is thoroughly flexible and can be made
to meet any reasonable requirement with fairness to all.

In spite of its evident superiority, the pure endowment
plan was found to possess certain disadvantages. The
premiums of members above the age of fifty, for instance,
became so high as to be practically prohibitive, while the
system made no provision at all for members who had al-
ready reached the age of seventy. These objections were
so serious that the committee turned to still another plan—
a modification of pure endowment. By deferring payment
of all pensions for a period of five years after assessments
had begun, by a graduated scaling down of rates paid by
the members above forty, and paying them half pensions
only for a period of five years, it would be possible to in-
augurate a plan that would meet the needs of the union.
The deficit caused by this scaling down of premiums would
be met by a direct assessment on all members of the Order.
For some time this deficit would tend to increase rapidly,
but a maximum would be reached after which the deficit
would diminish so that by the time the members then forty
years of age should reach seventy, it would have been done
away with entirely, and thereafter the scaling down would
cease and each member would be paying for his own pen-
sion on a pure endowment basis.*

The various plans reported by the Pension Committee

+The plan of modified endowment was suggested by Morton C.
Bradley, expert actuary of Boston, to whom the writer is under obliga-
tion for suggestions and materials used in this chapter.
163] OTHER MUTUAL BENEFITS 163

seemed to confuse rather than assist the Grand Division.
Many members complained that the reports were nothing
but masses of statistics, while others failed to understand
the terminology. Although sentiment favorable to a pen-
sion system was evident on every hand, the Jurisprudence
Committee, to which the report was referred, reported un-
favorably on all the plans. Pure endowment systems were
abandoned because of the expense involved, the Order re-
fusing, however, to consider anything that was not thor-
oughly “scientific.” The whole situation was aptly summed
up by one of the executive officers when he said: “ The
men clearly want a pension system but they haven’t yet
reached the stage where they are willing to pay for it.”

The argument against a pension system which carried
most weight was that of the expense falling upon the
younger members. It was stated, and apparently accepted
as true, that the dues of the Order had already reached a
point where they were retarding the admission of young
conductors, and it was feared that the additional expense of
an old age pension would tend still more either to induce
conductors to remain in the Trainmen’s organization or
keep them out of the brotherhoods altogether. On the other
hand, those who believed in a “ scientific” pension plan
urged their case upon the ground that such a plan would
not throw an unduly heavy burden on the young member,
since each man would pay for his own pension.

The latest form of relief inaugurated by the Order is a
National Employment Bureau, established in 1913* and
operated at the national headquarters at Cedar Rapids, Ia.
A similar scheme was launched in 18887 but proved a
failure. For a number of years the Grand Divisions made
small contributions to the “ Chicago Conductors ” Council,

1 Proceedings, 1913, p. 748. 2 Ibid., 1888, p. 237.
164 RAILWAY CONDUCTORS [164

which was virtually an employment bureau. Within re-
cent years, however, the demand for a “ national” agency
has been general throughout the Order. It is yet too
early to tell whether or not the plan of having one central
agency located in a small city like Cedar Rapids will prove
successful.

_ No study of the beneficiary features of the Order would
be complete without mentioning the work done by the
Ladies’ Auxiliary. This organization began at Fort
Wayne, Ind., in 1888 as a local society composed of: the
wives and mothers of the members in Wayne Division No.
19, Order of Railway Conductors. The plan was immedi-
ately adopted in other places and similar societies were
formed. The idea spread so rapidly that in 1889 a Grand
Division was elected and in 1891 the organization was offi-
cially recognized as the Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Order of
Railway Conductors. At the present time it has approxi-
mately 300 divisions with a total membership of 15,000.
The Grand Sessions are convened biennially at the same
time and in the same city as those of the Order, although
the meetings are entirely distinct. In 1895, the Auxiliary
created its own beneficiary department, which at present
has a membership of 2,300.

While the aims of the Ladies’ Auxiliary are intellectual
and social as well as beneficiary, its activities in the last
named capacity have been of special service to the conduc-
tors as supplementary to the work of the local divisions in
caring for the sick and injured. Committees of the Auxi-
liary are always present to offer their services in case of
death, and the funds of its own beneficiary department are
used to relieve as far as may be, the burden that falls on
the family.
APPENDIX A

List or Granp Cuier Conpucrors AND PREsIpENTs *

 

 

 

 

1868-1913
Name Residence Date of Service

J. C. Coleman....| Galesburg, Ill...... July, 1868, to December, 1868.

A. R. Church....) Fort Wayne, Ind. | December, 1868, to October, 1869.

A. G. Black ..... Fort Wayne, Ind. | October, 1869. Died August 23, 1870.

C.S. Moore...-. Martinsburg, W. Va.| Succeeded by death of A. G. Black, to
November, 1871.

I. N. Hodges....} Wellsville, O...... November, 1871, to November, 1872.

J. W. Silsbee ..../ Scranton, Pa...... November, 1872, to November, 1873.

G. Z, Cruzen ....| Crestline, O....... November, 1873, to November, 1875.
(Expelled by Grand Division, Atlanta,
November, 1875).

Wn. L. Collins...| Hornellsville, N. ¥.| November, 1875, to October, 1878,

John B. Morford .; New York City..../ October, 1878, to October, 1880.

C. S. Wheaton...| Elmira, N. Y.. ...- October, 1880, to July, 1890.

E. E, Clark...... Ogden, Utah...... July, 1890, to September 1, 1906,

A. B. Garretson..| Denison, Tex...... September 1, 1906, to ——.

 

* A. B. Garretson was the first executive to receive the title of Presi-

dent.
165]

Previous to his time the term used was Grand Chief Conductor.

165
APPENDIX B

List oF RAILROADS UPON WHICH SYSTEM FEDERATION HAS BEEN ENTERED
INTO BY THE ORDER

ABBREVIATIONS :

O. R. C=Order of Railway Conductors.

B, L. E=Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.

B. L. F. & E=Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen.
O. R. T.=Order of Railway Telegraphers.

B. R. T.=Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen.

“Atlanta, Knoxville & Northern Railway .......... Effective Jan., 1902.
B. of L. E,, B. of L. F.& E.,, O. R. C. Dissolved by absorption of
ke the A. K. & M. by Louisville and Nashville.

Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railway ........ Effective April, 1902.
B.L.E, BLL. FL.& E, B.R. T., O. RC.
~\Bangor & Aroostock Railway .............0e+e0-e Effective Feb., 1903.

BLE, BL F.& E, O. R. C, BR. T. B. L. E. withdrew
January 1904, B. L. F. & E., withdrew May, 1904. No record of
any later Federation.

\Bessemer & Lake Erie Railway ............-..005 Effective May, 1902.
BLE, B.LF& EO. R.C., BL R. T.
Boston & Albany Railway .................205. Effective July 24, I911.
BL.FL.& E, O.R.C, BR. T.
Boston & Maine Railway ............--..000 Effective March 30, 1912.
O.R.C., B.R.T., BLL. F.& E.
Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburg ................... Effective May, 1904.
B.L.E., B.L. F.& E, O.R.C, B.R. T., and O. R. T.
Canadian Northern Railway .........-...0..e0eeee Effective July, 1902.

B.L.F.& E, O.R.C., B.R. T., O. R. T. B.L. E. admitted Sep-
tember, 1904.

Canadian Pacific Railway ..............20005 Effective November, 1900.
B.L.F.& EO. R.C., B.R. T.

‘Central Vermont Railway ................04. Effective February, 1906.
B.L.E, B.L.F.& E, O.R.C, B.R. T.

Chicago & Northwestern Railway ............. Effective June 24, 1912.
O. R.C., B. R. T., B. L. FL & E,

Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railway ......... Effective May 7, 1913.

O.R.C., B.R. T., B.L. FL & E.
166 [166
167] APPENDIX B 167

“Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railway ........ Effective March, 1902.
BLE, B.LF& E,O.R.C, BRT. O.R.T.

Cleveland, Cicinnay, Chicago & St. Louis Ry. ....Effective Sept., 1903.
BLE, BL. F.& E, O. R. C, B.R. T. B. R. T. withdrew

March, 1907.
Renewed by all four organizations ................. Dec. 30, IQII.

Wealatads Midland Railway .................05. Effective March, 1902.
BLE, BLF.& E,O.R.C, BR. T., O.R.T.

“Colorado Southern Rail Way? jcocecurnleusenc ad ee aides Effective March, 1904.
BLE, BLL. F.& EO. R.C., BR. T.

_7 Colo. Springs & Cripple Creek District Ry. ....... Effective Oct., 1905.
B.L.E, B.L. F.& EO. R. C, B. R. T.

—~Delaware & Hudson Railway ...............0... Effective April, 1904.

BLE, BLF.& E,O.R.C, B.R.T., O.R. T. B.L. E. with-
drew March, 1906.

Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Ry. ........... Effective Nov., 1901.
B.L.E., B.L.F.& E, O.R.C., B.R.T., O. R. T.
_Denver & Rio Grande Railway ................... Effective Sept., Igor.

BLE,BLEF& E,O.R.C,B.R.T.,O.R. T. O. R. T. with-
drew October, 1904. Federation dissolved January 9, 19009.

Denver & Rio Grande Railway ................ Effective Jan. 12, 1912.
O.R.C., BR. T., B. L. FL & E.
/Denver, Warthivestenn & Pacific (Ry. ........ Effective November, 1907.

é B.L.E., B.L.F.& EO. R.C., B.R. T.

_7 Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railway ............. Effective Sept., I9oI.
BLE, BL. F.& E, O. R. C, B.R. T. B. L. E. withdrew
Dacenibers 1902.

y Duluth Iron Range Railway ................ Effective November, 1901.
BLE, BL F.& EO. R.C., B.R. T.

Duluth, Missabe & Northern Railway .......... Effective October, 1901.

BLE, BLEF& E, O.R.C, BR. T. O. R. T. admitted
December, 1903.

Ere: RatlPOa ds svcsyasevactes ah seagesiged acd peaeainsnan tyes AAI Effective October, 1902.
c B.LE,BLF.& E,O.R.C, B.R. T., O. R. T.
Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Ry. .....--.-----++-- No Record.
Florence & ‘Cripple Creek Railway ............ Effective October, 1902.
e BLE, BLF& E,O.R C, BR. T. B.R. T. withdrew
pee 25, 1902.
Georgia Railway ...........0esee esse eee e eens Effective Nov. I, IQII.
O.R.C., B.R. T.
Grand Rapids & Indiana ‘Railway ............-. Effective March, 1906.
e B.L.E, B.LF.& E, O.R.C., B.R.T. Renewed Jan. 17, 1914.
Great Northern Railway ..........-: eee ee eee Effective May, I9I0.

O.R. Cc, B.R. T., B. L. F.& E. No record that the B. of L. E.
was ever party to this Federation.
168 APPENDIX B [168

Gulf Colorado & Santa Fe ................004. Effective Oct. 24, 1912.
O.:R. C., B. R. T., B. L. F. & EL
y Gulf & ‘Ship Island Railway ................005. Effective Sept., 1901.
; BLE, BL. F.& E, O. R. C, B. R. T. No record of the
withdrawal of the B. of L. E.
, Houston & Texas Central ...........-00-00000 Effective Jan. 10, 1914.
O.R.C., BLL. E, B.L. F.& E., B. R. T.
Huntingdon & Broadtop Mountain Railway ...... Effective May, 1908.
B.L.E, BLL. FL.& E, O. R.C., B. R. T.
Indiana, Decatur & Western Railway .......... This is included under
head of C. H. & D.
/lowa Central Railway ................ eee eee Effective October, 1906.
BLE, BLF.& EO. RC, BR. T.
Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railway ......... Effective May 9, 1912.
O.R.C, B.R. T., B.L. E. and BLL. FL & E.
_ Kansas ‘City Southern Railway ................. Effective April, 1903.

BLE, BLE. & EB, O.R.C, B.R. T., O..R. T. O. R. T. with-
drew April, 1905.

Lehigh Valley Railway ...............2 cece Effective October, 1905.

O. R.'C., B.'R. T. O. R. C. withdrew April, 1906.

Long Island Railway ..............00ee eee Effective November, 1909.

: B.L.E,B.L.F.& E,O.R.C, BRT.

Louisiana & Arkansas Railway .............00005- Effective May, 1904.

/ B.L. E., B.L. F.& EO. R. C.

Louisiana Ry. & Navigation Co. ..............6- Effective April, 1909.
B. L. E., O. R. C.

Mexican International Railway ............. Effective December, 1903.

B.L. E. B.L. F.& EO. R. C. There may be some question as
to Federation on the Mexican since the merger.
Mexican National Railway ................. Effective September, 1902.
B. L. E., O. K.-C.
‘Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste Marie ..... Effective March 30, 1904.
B.L.E, BLL. F.& E, O.R.C., O. R. T. and B. R. T.
Mississippi Central Railroad ............... Effective September, 1909.
B. L. E, O. R. C., B. R. T. Order’s records fail to show the
B. L. F. & E. as a member of Federation, nor do they show any
withdrawal on the part of the B. of L. E.
Missouri Pacific Railroad ..................0. Effective October, I901.
O. R. C., B. R. T. O. R. T. B. L. E. admitted February, 1902.
B. L. F. & E. admitted July, 1903. O..R. T. withdrew Sep., 1904.

‘New Orleans Texas & Mexico ...............04. Effective Dec. 7, I9I1.
(B.S.L.& W—C.&N.W.) O.R.C, B. LE.
New York Central ........c0c006ssccsaceeaes Effective Nov. 25, IgII.

O.R.C, BR. T., BLL. F.& E.
169] APPENDIX B 169

Northwestern Pacific ......... Eat eesna esis Effective March 25, 1o1r.
B. L. E., O. R. C., B. R. T.

Northern: Paeite: «owas cumaosnnacrusatccadseucone Effective April, 1910.
O.R.C., B.R. T., BLL. FL & E.

Pere Marquette Railway ..............cccceceuee Effective May, 1902.
B.R. T., O. R. T. O. R.-C. admitted October, 1902.

Pere: Marquette. cc:ccc.. scasaeen vaceavescaxusaa Effective Feb. 25, 1914. oo
ORC BRT BLE& BLE &E.

Pennsylvania Lines East ...............c000eeee Effective Dec. 9, IQII.

O.R. CC, B.R. T., BLL. F.& E. O. R. C. out 6-25-12 operation
last Par. Sec. 3 of Plen. O. R. C. readmitted 4-18-13.

San Antonio & Arkansas Pass ................ Effective Aug. 14, 1912.”
O.R.C, BR. T., B.L.E.& BL. FE.

St. Johnsbury & Lake Champlain Ry. ......... Effective August, 1909.7
B.L.E, B.L.F.& E, B.R. T., 0. R. C.

St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico Ry. ............ Effective April, 1908.
BLS. BL. LF. & E, O. R. C.

St. Louis & Southwestern Ry. ...............08. Effective March, 1902.~~
BLE, B.LF& E, O.R.C., B.R. T.

Texas Midland ..............0 cece cece ee ees Effective March 17, 1911.“
BLE, BLL. F.& EO. R.C, BR. T.

Toledo & Ohio Central Railway .............0005 Effective June, 1902.”
BLL. E.,, B.L. F.& EO. R. C., B. R. T. A

Tonopah & Goldfield ‘Railway ................00- Effective April, 1907.~
BLE, B.L.F.& EO. R.C., B. R. T.

Union Pacific Railroad .............c eee eee Effective October, 1901. ~

B.L. E., B.L. F.& EO. R.C, O. R. T., and B.R. T. O. R. T.
withdrew December, 1903. No record of any later Federation

than Igo!.

Wabash Railway sisor ssashvas Hugenbhiwe Seca Effective Oct. 5, 1912.
OR. C, BR. T.& BLL. F.& E.

Western Maryland Railroad ............e. see e eee Effective June, 1905.

BLE, BLEF& E,O.R C, B. RT. B. L. E. withdrew
December, 1906. B. L. F. & E. withdrew February, 1907. B.R. T.
withdrew February, 1907. O. R. C., withdrew April, 1907.

Wisconsin Central Railroad .............eeseeee Effective April, 1907.
B.L.E,B.LF.& E,O.R.C., B.R.T. Since the merger of the
Wisconsin Central with the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste.
Marie this would be embraced under the head of the last named
road.

West Virginia, Central & Pittsburg Ry. ....... Effective October, 1906.
BLE, BLE. & E,O.R.C, BR. T. B.R. T. withdrew De-
cember, 1906.
APPENDIX C

Conpbuctors’ WaGE SCHEDULEs, 1890, 1900, T1910

 

 

Western Association

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

: 1890 | 1900 1910
Name of Class of © i
Company Service | Based on Milea, Woo A | |
Wage Scale or Hours Be Rate of Overtime |! Wage Scale Basis Overtime , Wage scale. Basis Overtime
: i yy zest
|
eee ane P.T. ‘$130 monthly, Mileage. No provision. i130 monthly, Mileage. ears eee aiiesrelnie comes: '$r 50 mo. Runs over 4000 miles. Pro rata.
: | $122-$127 mo, Runs under 4000 miles.
(Western T.F.  $95-$105 mo. 3000 miles or less, 3%-3)4 cts. per mile. | 33 cents per mile. [12 hours=day. 1346 cents per mile. pes oes ee miles. |10 eae aay 10 miles=1 hour,
Division) L. F. |$1oo mo. 12 hours—26 days. Be oss es $100. ee “ “ 4“ “ ‘$103-$115 mo. ae e Pro rata.
|
Atchison P.T. |$roo mo, Less than 4000 miles. _|No provision. $100 mo. Less than 4000 miles. Regular rate. $155.60 mo. \Over 4000 miles. 35 cents per hour.
Topeka and $125 mo. More than 4000 miles. $125-130 mo. |More than 4000 miles, ($133.20 mo. Under 4000 miles.
Sante Fe T. F. [$90 mo. 3 cents per mile, 12 hrs. |30 cents per hour. | 3-314 cents per mile.|10 hours =day. 10 miles per hour. _|'$.0379-.0443 per mi. Per 150 miles. 10-12 miles per hour
L. F. |$90 mo. “ “ “ se “ $90 $100 mo. 12 hours=day. ‘Regular rate. $115 mo. j10 hours—day. $.0443 per mile.
‘P.T. [Express $125 mo. |4000-6510 miles. No provision. $125 mo, 4000-6510 miles. iNo provision, |g165 mo. 4000-7000 miles, $.0303 per mile.
Chicago |\Local $100 mo. 2600-4000 miles, $100 mo, 2600-4000 miles. '$134.20 mo. 2600-4000 miles,
Rock Island Branch $75 mo. 2600 or less. $75 mo. 2600 or less, |
and Pacific T. F. |3 cents per miie. Too miles a day. 30 cents per hour. | 3 cents per mile. 100 miles day. 30 cents per hour. |!$.0418 per mile. 100 miles day. Pro rata.
L. F. [$90 mo. 12 hour day. “u “ $90 mo. 12 hours day. je 4 “ ‘$113.85 mo. ew“ “4
Chicago P.T. |$50-$120 mo. pileage from 1620 to No provision '$50-$120 mo. Mle ae 1620 to No provision. la 34.70-$158.40 mo. 10 hours day. $.0385 per mile.
d 5708 miles. ! 5708 miles.
osu eeciowe T.F. |$68-$78 mo. 2600 miles—=month. Regular rate $68 $78 mo. 2600 miles=mo. 10 miles=1 hour. | $108.64 mo. a Pro rata.
L. F. |$85 mo. “ ee “ 334 cents per mile. | $85 mo. eg ies s Regular rate. ie 18.22 mo. SE SE 28 fe aa
Chicago P.T. |(Not included). sees eee ce cece eee eeeeelecccccssceesceceee| PI25 MO, Over 133 miles per day. |No provision. $165 mo. 4000-7000 miles, $.033 per mile.
Milwaukee $90 mo. : Under 133 miles per day. ($121.88 mo. Under 133 miles daily.
and St. Paul T. F. |$2.90 per 100 miles. |100 miles=12 hours, 10 miles per hour. | ¢3.00 per 100 miles. |100 miles=10 hours. Regular rate. $4.18 per 100 miles. |100 miles=day. Pro rata.
L. F._ |$3.00 per 100 miles. {100 miles=11 hours. seo et _ $3.15 per 100 miles. | « = « 7 tf as ‘$4.52 per 100 miles. Os of ee
= i i
Duluth P.T.  |$90 mo. 26 days. ‘No provision. ‘$110 mo. 10 hours=day. Regular rate. £165 mo. 10 hours day. $.385 per mile.
and T.F (|234 cents per mile. |100 miles—12 hour day. |10 miles per hour. |:3 cents per mile. Ca “ “ “ '$.0417 per mile. “ 6 10 miles per hour,
Tron Range L.F. [314 cents per mile. 66 os s ai ee $e a $3.25 day. 11 hours=day. ef s $.0429 per mile. 100 miles=day. aSe ee s
!
P.T. [$100 mo. Mileage. No provision. $100-$125 mo. Mileage. 'No provision. $.0275 per mile. Over 6000 miles. 38 cents per hour.
‘ii . | | $165 mo. 4000-6000 miles,
issouri ° $134.20 mo. 4000 or less,
Pacific T.F. |3 cents per mile. 100 miles=day. 3 cents per mile. 3 cents per mile. 150 miles=day. 30 cents per hour. |i 4.18 per 100 miles. '100 miles =day. 42 cents per hour.
L. F. ‘$90 mo “6 ss « 7 $90 mo. fs SS es Ce “ $125.25 mo. (mini- “ “ « 48 cents per hour.
{ | mum)
Union Pacific P.T. $125 mo.; $4 per day. Mileage. 'No provision. | $125 |mo.; $100 mo. |...... seeeeeceeseeeeee|No provision. $134-$165 mo. Mileage, Pro rata,
(Mountain T.F. |3 cents per mile. 100 miles=12 hours, 130 cents per hour. _||3 cents per mile. 12 hours=day. 30 cents per hour. |!$4.1740. 100 miles=day. tele
Division) L.F. $100 mo, CD ss “oo s ea edle seen er eeeee lhc g9- opps elnrd sioineiene 0, eae seeeececcecees ++ |($5,08 day, “eo “ “6
| o ps pe ee he —_——-
i | E ; a I9II IQIt - Igt!
lino P. $100 mo. 200 miles=day. In excess of 6000 mi, [$126 no. 4000-6000 miles, No provision. $140.26-$158.84.  |4000-6000 miles. 39 cents per hour.
inois $90 mo. at regular rate. $11¢ no. Under 4000 miles $128.04-$158.84.
Central T.F. 3 cents per mile. = |Mileage. 1o miles per hour. |'3 ce $ per mile. 100 miles = day. 10 miles per hour. ||$.0418 per mile. 100 miles=day. 10 miles per hour.
L. F. $90 mo. “ 30 cents per mile. $90; 9. “6 “ \$103 per mo. 48 cents per hour.) « « “ “ « “
\ | ok $125 mo. minimum.
| | | i

 

170

 

 

 

 

 

,

 

 

}, T.—Fassenger Train.

T. F.=Through Freight.

L. F.=Local Freight.

[170
APPENDIX C—ContTINUED

Flastern Association

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

. 1890 | 1900 \lg Ig10
Name of Class of : |
Company Service Based Mil Pee ys i
Wage Scale os are Rate of Overtime | Wage Scale Basis. Overtime Wage Scale. Basis Overtime
|
Baltimore and | P- T: #85-$100 mo. Mileage. $3.00 for Sundays. || $85-$100 mo. Mileage. No provision. 1 $.0268 per mile. 10 hours day. \42 cents per hour.
Ohio || $125 mo., minimum. |
Southwestern T. F. |$2.75-$3.00 per day.|10 hours day. 2736 cts. per hour. || $2.40-$3.60 per day.'8-12 hours day. Regular rate. || $-0363 per mile, Be EB ee 8.0362 per hour.
L. F. |$2.90 per day. 6-12 hours day Eon ets ss $2.90-$3.50 per day.|12 hours day. - aS || $3.63 per day. oe Ae Pro rata.
. : | oe
oe P.T. |2536 mills per mile. |75 miles or more. No provision. 2,/5 cents per mile. | Mileage. Not allowed. || 21g cents per mile or|12 hours day. 42 cents per hour.
incinnatl . : || $125 mo., minimum.

Chicago and T. F. |29 mills per mile. {Per mile. 29 cents per hour. | 2,85, cents per mile. |100 miles—day. Regular rate. || $.0363 per mile, 100 miles day. 10 miles per hour.
St. Louis L. F. |$85.95 mo. Mileage. Tee “ | $2.75 day. 10 hours day. _ {25 cents per hour. | $3.975 per day. BONES ee Pro rata.

Chicago and | 7

Atlantic} P. T. |2 cents per mile. Mileage. No provision. ||2 cents per mile. Mileage. No provision, || $.0285 per mile. 10 hours day. Pro rata,
(Merged with | T, F, |2,3; cents per mile. [100 miles=day. Ss «ss ee ee ee teee+|/2,% cents per mile./100 miles =day. Regular rate. || $.035 per mile. Bh Ae one ow S
go to L. F. |$84 mo. 1g hours=day, —aceeeeeeeee eeee | $85 mo. 12 hours day. Bi < $.039 per mile. SEO OEE CORE mS
| |
| =
To P.T. [$110 mo. Mileage. hat eer ordiselie rele fone! aleve’: serra atasiavagcoi era B: oie J5 te veleS el ata wd arava se tay eveveriarioliayan dealers No provision. | $.0268 permile, = fee eee eee ee cee eens 42 cents per hour.
Michigan $90 mo. | | $125 mo., minimum.
Central , T. F. {$75 mo. “ {Regular rate | $75 mo. 100 mines =day. Regular rate. || $.0363 per mile. 100 miles—day. Pro rata.
Ts F, $85 mo. 66 | “ 6 1 $90 mo. 12 hours=—day. “ “ | $3.975 per day. “ “ oy “cc “
New York P. T. |$3.00-$6.06 per trip. ‘Mileage. [No provision. | $3.00-$6.20 per trip.|Mileage. No provision. | $.026-4 per mile. Monthly trip. |42 cents per hour,

Chicago and T. F. |$3.25-$3.75 pertrip.|  “ |30 cents per hour. | $3.25-$3.75 per trip.| “ 30 cents per hour. || $4.15-$5.10 per trip.|12 hours—day, 36 cents per hour.
St. Louis — L. F. |$3-25-$5.00 pertrip.|  “ 35 cents per hour. || $3.25-$5.00 per trip.) “ 35 cents per a $3.975-84.55pertrip.|) ¥ “ 37 cents per hour.
Baltimore P. T. |$100 mo. 5000 miles=mo, Pro rata. '| $2.20 per 100 miles. |5000 miles or more; less!....2.-seeee eee ¥ || $.0268 per mile. 10 hours day. \42 cents per hour. ©
and Ohio ; I $100 mo. than 5000 miles per mo. | $125 mo., minimum.

(Trans-Ohio T. F, |2;% cents per mile. /|100 miles=12 hour day.|29 cents per hour. || 3 cents per mile. 100 miles=12 hrs. day./30 cents per honr. || $.0363 per mile, 1000 miles= ro hrs. day/36;°, cts. per hour.
Division ) L. F. |33¢ cents per mile. | “ “ “ oe ee i| 344 cents per mile. |“ “ ce ae | $3-975 per day. als Fer ite Pro rata,
Pittsburg P. T. {$3.40 per day. 10 hours=day. 34 cents per hour \ $3.40 per day. 136 miles or less; more .....-..-- eisieiere ts 216 cents per mile. |10 hours day. 145 cents per hour.
and Ohio \ 246 cents per mile. than 136 miles. $125 mo., minimum.

(Trans-Ohio T. F. |$2.60 per day. SENS AE 30 cents per hour || $2.80-$4.60 per trip.) Dependent on mileage.'30 cents per hour: |/30 cents per hour. |10 hours day. 36 cents per hour.
Division) L. F.  |$3.00 per day. 12 hours day. sy ae |, 83-50 per day. 12 hours day. Se aes = ae To hours day. Average.|40 cents per hour.

 

171] - , 171
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uouDII0SS PY UsIYINOS

daaqnIN0ON—) XIGNAddV

 

 
APPENDIX D

Cases OF MEDIATION AND ARBITRATION UNDER THE ERDMAN ACT, JUNE 1, 1898, TO DECEMBER 31, 1911, INVOLVING THE ORDER OF RAILWAY CONDUCTORS

 

Applications Railroads involved Employees involved

 

No. Date mediation Place of Date agree-
K rs z conferences mediation | Settled by | ment was
PProxl Approxi begun conferences reached

ee Class taate Represented by

Date received Made by Name mileage sarin

f Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Ry.... |
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R...
(Coast Lines).

Canadian Northern Railway........
Canadian Pacific Ry.......+--+.-- -
(West of Ft. William).
Chicago & Alton R, R....... eee
Chicago & Northwestern Ry........ | |

 

 

Chicago, Burlington & Quincy R. R.
Chicago & Great Western Ry. ......
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Ry...
Chicago, St. Paul, ee &
Omaha Ry.s....e cee eeeeeceeees
Colorado & enter Ry. h Gale sisrareieteease
Duluth, Missaube & Northern Ry. .
El Paso & Southwestern System ....
Ft. Worth & Denver City Ry.
Great Northern Ry..sessse ee eeeeee
Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Ry......
Houston, East & West Texas Ry.... ‘ |
Houston, Texas Central R. R...... [Oates }
Illinois Central R. Ri. sess ees eee. |
International & Great Northern R. R. || *075°° er | once vale
Kansas City Southern Ry. ......... [casen |
Missouri, Kansas & Texas Ry.......
Missouri "Pacific System...........
Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste,
Marie: Ry.s sees se wisegaa-s ese
Northern Pacific Ry....-.-..-.----
Oregon R. R. & Navigation Co. ....
Oregon Short Line R. R.-...... Rae
Rock Island Lines. ...-..-seeee-e
St. Louis & San Francisco R. RK Sys-
POM cceiarsrederesanehsrginn ace oer garalecerennsr aS
St. Louis & Southwestern Ry. System.
San Antonio & Aransas Pass. Ry. .
San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake
Ry Riginsss sawn ees atchsameh ists
Southern Pacific (Atlantic System).
Southern Pacific ( Pacific System Jee
Texas & Pacific Ry...---- cease aia |

     
 

 

Conductors \

Trainmen March 30, 1907 | Chicago, Ill. Mediation | April 4, 1907

~

May 28, 1907) Company

A

 

 

Union Pacific R. R. a diclsigiereva
Wisconsin Central Ry. . aaao Se iandaate
Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R. .- ,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

173] 4
APPENDIX E

STRIKES ENGAGED IN BY THE ORDER OF RAILWAY CONDUCTORS *

 

No.

 

D i ee : :
ae or pec itat Organizations involved |Officer in charge Causes Result ai oe ff Remarks
Jan. 20, 1891|Chicago & Erie |Order of Railway Conduct-/E. E. Clark, Broken faith on| Success. All|Jan. 24, 1891
ors. Grand Chief |part of railroad|strikers reinstated.
Conductor. |officials. Member

of Order dismissed
without cause.

 

Mar. 16, 1892

Feb. 18, 1893

Nov. 19, 1893

 

Canadian Pacific

 

Savannah, Amer-
icus & Mont-
gomery

Lehigh Valley

 

Order of Railway Conduct-
ors.

A. B. Garretson,
Grand Senior

Effort on part of
railroad to substi-

Successful. Men
returned to serv-

Mar. 23, 1892

 

Brotherhood of Railroad Conductor. |tute definite rate of}ice with increased
Trainmen. payment for bonus./compensation.
18 men discharged
on refusal to sign
schedule.
Order of Railway Conduct-|F. E. Clark, Arbitrary abro-; Success. All/Feb. 19, 1893

ors.
Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers.

Grand Chief
Conductor.

gation of schedule

agreements with
both — organiza-
tions.

men returned to
service,

 

Order of Railway Conduct-
ors.

Brotherhood of Railroad
Trainmen.

Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers.

Brotherhood of Locomotive
Firemen and Enginemen.

Order of Railroad Tele-
graphers,

 

C. N. Wilkins,
Acting Grand
Chief Con-
ductor.

 

Three were dis-
charged. Sched-
ule signed by rail-
road officials de-
nied.

 

 

Partial success.
Agreements re-
stored to full effect
and operation.
Some of. strikers
reinstated.

Dec. 6, 1893

 

 

 

176

* The causes and results here stated are those given by the Order.

[176
APPENDIX E—ConrtINvUED

STRIKES ENGAGED IN BY THE ORDER OF RAILWAY CONDUCTORS

 

 

 

Brotherhood of Locomotive
Firemen & Enginemen.

 

April 4, 1910

 

Tonopah &
Goldfield

 

 

Order of Railway Conduct-
ors.

Brotherhcod of Railroad
Trainmen.

Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers.

Brotherhood of Locomotive
Firemen & Enginemen.

 

O. R. C. repre-
sented by Cor-
rigan, Asst.
Grand Chief
Engineman of
the B. L. E.

 

Date of Rail
inauguration Saat Organizations involved |Officer in charge Causes Results, sa Remarks
May 9, 1904 |Mobile & Ohio {Order of Railway Conduct-|C. H. Wilkins. Revision of} Partial success.|May 30, 1903
ors, Grand Senior |schedule im con-|Wages granted as
Brotherhood of Railroad Conductor. |nection with West-/per schedule but
Trainmen. ern Ass’n move-|no double-header
ment. Wage in-|proposition. Only
crease but no ac-|part of men re-
ceptable double-jturned to service.
header proposition.
Oct. 26, 1905 |Huntingdon & [Order of Railway Conduct-|S. N. Berry, Desire to in-| Success, In-|Nov. 8, 1907
Broad Top Mtn.|_ ors. Vice President.|crease wages to|creased wages and
Brotherhood of Railroad raté paid by Penn-/restoration to ser-
Trainmen. sylyania Co. on its|vice of all strikers.
Brotherhood of Locomotive Bedford Division.
Firemen & Enginemen. ,
July 13, 1909 |Huntingdon & Order of Railway Conduct-|S. N. Berry, Company’s re-; Utter failure.|Sept.17, 1909
Broad Top Mtn.| ors. Vice President.|fusal to carry out|Other men secured
Brotherhood of Railroad terms agreed upon|to fill _ strikers’
Trainmen. Nov. 8 places.
Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers.

 

Notice served by
Company of arbi-
trary reduction of
all wages.

Failure. Only
few men on strike
and their places
easily filled,

March I, 1911

 

 

 

 

177]

177
gr]

41

 

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APPENDIX E—ConcLupeEp

STRIKES ENGAGED IN BY THE ORDER OF RAILWAY CONDUCTORS

Delaware and Hudson

Inaugurated January 19, 1914. Called off January 19, 1914.
Organizations involved: O. R. C. and B. R. T.; B. L. F. & E., and O. R. T.
Officer in charge, M. C. Carey, Vice President.

A seeming indisposition on part of managing officers to see that schedule pro-
visions were-carried out when their attention was called to the manner in which
subordinate officers applied the same. This, together with what the Joint Com-
mittee believed to be the unjust dismissal of a Conductor and Engineer, and the
impossibility of reaching any satisfactory settlement of these matters, resulted in
the men leaving the service at 5:45 A.M. of January 19,1914. The Company
requested the National Commissioner of Mediation and Conciliation to intervene,
and Assistant Commissioner Hangar went to Albany, and as a result thereof the
following agreement was entered into:

“The Company agrees to restore to the service Conductor Slade and Engineer
Lynch; the organizations will return the striking employees to the service imme-
diately, with the understanding that all employees affected by the strike will be
restored to their former positions in the service, retaining their full seniority
rights and roster standing as held by them prior to strike. The representatives of
the employees will use every possible effort to restore normal conditions on the
road immediately. The other matters at issue which have not yet been fully
agreed upon will be disposed of by further conference between the representa-
tives of the men and the representatives of the road.”

The men were immediately ordered to return to 'service in accordance with
this agreement.

179] 179
INDEX

 

Accidents, statistics of, 82; reasons for
not reporting, 82; proposed insurance,
149. See also Safety appliances

Admission to membership, 31, 37-43

Adjustment committees (Grievance com-
mittees), importance of, 24; forma-
tion of, 94; duties of, 94; Association
of General Adjustment Committees,
96; expense, 97

Age limit rules, 87, 106

American Federation of Labor, 11, 44

American Railway Union, 35

Apprentiecship, advantage of, 24; dis-
advantage of, 86; length of, 86

Arbitration, 99; provisions of Erdman
Act, 99; weakness of act, 100; pro-
visions of Newlands Act, 101; private,
102; compulsory, 103; Canadian In-
dustrial Disputes Act, 103; compul-
sory, in New Zealand, 104; objections
of brotherhoods to compulsory, 105;
cases settled by, 173

Associations, territorial, formation of,
51; success of, 52; Eastern, 64, 67,
68; Southern, 64, 67, 68; Western,
63, 67, 68; wage schedules of West-
ern, 170

Auxiliary, Ladies’, 164

Barnett, George E., 33

Benefits, activities relative to, 13, 123,
150; proposed burial, 150; early pro-
tective fund, 152; National Home for
aged and infirm railway employees,
153; relief fund, 154, 156; to families
of insane members, 157; old age pen-
sions, 158; National Employment
Bureau, 163; Ladies’ Auxiliary, 164.
See also Insurance

Black, A. G., 20, 165

Brakemen. See Trainmen

Brotherhood of Railway Conductors, 25,

45,48, 111
Brown, President, 102

Canadian Industrial Disputes Act, 103
181]

 

Canadian Order of Railway Men, 35

Cedar Rapids, Ia, 17; plan of federa-
tion, 49

Central bureau of statistics on wages and
hours, 52

Characteristics common
brotherhoods, 10

Chicago Conductors’ Council, 163

Clark, E. E., 41, 46, 47, 66, 74, 102, 105,
117, 165

Classes of conductors, 57

Closed shop. See Open shop

Coleman, J. C., 165

Collective bargaining, 93,94-107; means
of enforcing, 107

Collins, Wm. L., 165

Conductors’ Association of the New
York and Erie Railway, 16

Conductors’ Union, 15

Continuity of employment, 68

Conventions. See Sessions

Codperation between railway brother-
hoods. See Federation

Cost of living, 88-92

Cruzen, G.Z.,165; amendments, 124, 134

to railroad

Death benefit. See Benefits; Insurance

Debs, Eugene V., 35

Electric service. See Interurban con-
ductors

Employment, early conditions of, 57

Employers’ liability, attitude of conduct-
ors toward, 118

Enforcement of trade regulations, 93-119

Engineers, 10, 22, 46, 71, 111, 148

Erdman Act, the, 97 ef seq.

Expenses of conducting the Order, 19;
of average family of conductor, 89

Federation, object of, 44; first attempts
at, 45; United Orders of Railway Em-
ployees, 45; failure of, 49; association
plan of, 45, 50; system plan of, 46, 49;
Cedar Rapids’ plan of, 49; present
tendency of 53; list of, 166

181
182

Finances, 19

Firemen, 10, 22, 71, 148

Food, statistics of internal cost of, 91

Formation of unions among conductors,
I

Trateinal features, emphasis on, 12, 20,

21, 23, 123, 150; objections to, 139-

142; example of, 144

Garretson, A. B., 39, 40, 41, 52, 53, 64,
65, 105, 113, 117, 165

Genera] Adjusting Committees, 52. See
also Adjustment Committees

Government, 25 ef seg. See also Grand
Division; Subordinate Divisions

Grand Chief Conductors, list of, with
terms of office, 165

Grand Division, formation of, 15, 16,
25; authority of, 26; jurisdiction of,
34-43; government of, 25; officers of,
29; legislative powers of, 28; execu-
tive powers of, 29; sessions, 26; size
of, 26, 31

Grievance committees.
committees

See Adjustment

Hazards of railroading, 82

Headquarters, national, 17

Hodges, I. N., 165

Home, National, for aged and infirm
railway employees, 153

Hours of labor, 52; prior to regulation
of, by Order, 59; first attempts at reg-
ulation of, 160; difficulties of stand-
ardization, 62,74; overtime, 68; argu-
ments concerning, 81 ef seg.

Injuries. See Accidents

Insurance, accident, 149; life—early
plans of, 123; defects of, 125; rea-
sons for failure of, 128; revision of
1882, 127; compulsory membership,
131; creation of graded policies, 131;
establishment of ante-mortem pre-
miums, 132; number of claims paid,
132; creation of reserve fund, 134,
136; amount paid in claims, 135, 136;
present plan of insurance, 136-150;
contrast between order insurance and
legal reserve, 136; cost of, 137, 146;
comparative cost, 148; criticism of
present plan, 139; young members,
138, 146; increase in age of members,
143; physical examinations, 140; fra-
ternalism and insurance, 141, 1443

INDEX

 

[ 182

provisions for future, 142, 145; old
age, 158; proposed plans of, 159; use
of Mutual Benefit Department, 160;
endowment, 161; modified endow-
ment, 162; failure of passage, 163

Interstate Commerce Commission, the,
statistics on wages of railway em-
ployees of, 69; statistics on injuries of,
82; testimony before, 117

Interurban conductors, 38

Labor, U. S. Dept. of, statistics of cost
of food of, 91; Report of Commis-
sioner of, 128

Legislation, first attempts to secure con-
gressional, 115; advantages of, 115;
creation of state committees on, 117;
results of, 117

Local unions. See Subordinate Divisions

Mediation, 97-99; disputes settled by,
I

73
Membership, 10,17; growth by years
in, 18; provisions for, 31
Mexico, opposition of, to American con-
ductors, 35; strike in, 36
Morford, John B., 165
Morrissey, B. H., 74, 102

National employment bureau, 163

National home for aged and infirm rail-
way employees, 153

Negotiation, 94-97

Newlands act, 99, 101

New Zealand, arbitration act of, 104

Officers, 29; grand chief conductors, 165

Open shop, I1, 23

Opposition of railroads, 20, 22

Order of Pullman conductors, 40

Organization among conductors, earliest
authenticated date of, 15

Overtime pay, 59, 61, 63, 69, 170

Productivity of conductors, 87
Protective fund, object of early, 151; ex-
pense of, 152. See also Strike Fund,
Public opinion, on threatened loss by
strikes, 9; on safety legislation, 10;
attitude of, as expressed by boards of
arbitration, 81; on standardization of
wages and hours, 79; on arguments
concerning wages and hours, 84, 86,
88, 89. See also Mediation and strikes,
Pullman strike, 35, 97
183 |

Qualifications required of railway em-
ployees, 11, 85

Relief measures. See Benefits.
Rent paid by conductors, 92
Reorganization convention, 16
Responsibility of conductor, 80, 85
Rival organizations, 22, 34, 41, 49
“Runs,” classes of, 57

Safety appliances, 84, 85; acts requir-
ing, 118

Scott, President, 22

Seniority rules, 42

Sessions, first, 15-16; first annual, 16;
biennial, 17; triennial, 17; cost of, 31

Sick benefits. See Benefits

Standard rate, first attempt to secure,
61; arguments for and against, 76

Stone, President, 53

Strike fund, formation of, 112; assess-
ments for, 112; total paid from, 113.
See alse Protective Fund

Strikes, threatened, 9; desire to avoid,
II, I12; opposition to, 12, 20, 22,
107; clause against, 22, 108; alleged
failure of, 108; conductors as break-
ers of, 109; adoption of clause per-
mitting, 12, 23, 35, 45, I1I; cost to
Order of,'113; monthly allowance to
men on, 112; relief to men on, in
Mexico, 36; list of, engaged in by

INDEX

 

183

Order, with dates, stated causes, names
of roads and organizations involved,
and results from standpoint of the
Order, 176

Subordinate divisions, admission to, 31;
powers of, 26; representation in
Grand Division, 25; officers, 32; jur-
isdiction, 38

Switchmen, 46, 110, 148

Temperance, 12, 20, 23

Territories. See Association.

Trade agreements, 61

Trade policies, 24, 89, 93 e¢ seg. See
also Negotiation, mediation, arbitra-
tion, strikes, legislation

Trainmen (brakemen), 10, 22, 41, 48,
163

United Orders of Railway Employees

45
United Trainmen’s Association of Can-
ada, 34

Wages, 12, 52, 57 ef seg.; early, 573
formation of, territories, 63; average
montbly, of conductors for 1890, 1900
and 1910, 68; average monthly, of
other railway employees, 71; actual,
in eastern territories, 1912, 73; basis
of, payment, 74; standardization of,
76; arguments concerning, 81 ef seg.,;
list of, schedules, 170
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Studies in History, Economics and Publie Law
edited by the

Faculty of Political Science of Columbia University

 

VOLUME I, 1891-92. 2nd Ed., 1897. 396 pp. Price, cloth, $3.50.
1. The Divorce Problem. A Study in Senco:
by Warrrr A. Wittcox, Ph.D. Price, 75 cents,

2. The History of Tariff Administration in the United States, from Colonial
Times to the McKinley Administrative Bill.
By Joun Dean Goss, Ph.D. Price, $1.00.

3. History of Municipal Land Ownership on Manhattan Island.
by Georcy Asuton Brack, Ph.D. Price, $1.00.

4. Financial History of Massachusetts.
By Cuarvus H. J. Doucias, Ph.D. Price, g1.00.

VOLUME II, 1892-93. (See note cn page 4.)

- The Economics of the Russian Village. By Isaac A. Hourwicn, Pu.D. (Oud of print.)

- Bankruptey. A Study in Comparative Legisiation.
by Samuet W. Dunscomp, Jz., Ph.D. (Vol sold separately.)

3. Special Assessments: A Study in Municipal Finance.
By Vicror Nosawarsr, Ph.D. Second Edition, 1898. Price Br. 00.

VOLUME III, 1893. 465 pp. (Sold only in Sets.)
1. *History of Elections in the American Cor aiess
By Cortianp I. Bisnor, Ph.D. Price, $2.50.

2. The Commercial Policy of England toward the American Colonies.
By Gzorce L, Besr, A.M. (Vol sold separately.)

VOLUME IV, 1893-94, 438 pp. (Sold only in Sets.)

1. Financial History of Virginia. By Witutam Z. Riptey, Ph.D, Price, g1.00.
2. *The Inheritance Tax. By Max West, Ph.D. Second Edition, 1908. Price, 2.00.
8. History of Taxationin Vermont. By Frapsxick A. Woop, Ph.D. (Notsold separately.)

VOLUME V, 1895-86. 498 pp. Price, cloth, $3.50.

1. Double Taxation in the United States. By Fsancis Watxer, Ph.D. Price, g1.00,

2. The Separation of Governmental Powers.
By Witi1am Bonpy, LL.B., Ph.D. Price, $i.00,

. nicipal Government in Michigan and Se:
anaes » = By Dexos EF, Wixcox, Ph.D. Price, $1.00.

VOLUME VI, 1896. 601 pp. Price, cloth, $4.50; Paper covers, $4.09.

History of Proprietary Government in Pennsylvania.
By Wiiiiam Rosgrrt Surpuerp, Ph.D,

VOLUME VII, 1896. 512 pp. Price, cloth, $3.50.

1. History of the Transition from Provincial to Commonwealth Govern-
ment in Massachusetts. By Harry A. Cusuinc, Ph.D. Price, g2.00.

2. *Speculation on the Steck and Produce Exchanges cf the United States.
By Hanry Crospy Emery, Ph.D. Price, $1.50.

VOLUME VIM, 1896-98. 551 pp. Price, cloth, $4.00.

1. Tho Struggle between President Johnson and Congress over Recon-
struction. By Cuarvzs Ernest Cuapszy, Ph.D. Price, §1.00.

2. Recent Centralizing Tendencies in State Educational Administration.
y Witiiam Clarence WessTER, Ph.D, Price, 75 cents.

. bolition of Privateering and the Declaration of Paris.
one eee By Francis R. Starx, LL.B., Ph.D. Price, $1.00.

4. Public Administration in Massachusetts. The Relation of Central to
Local Activity. By Rozert Harvey Wuirren, Ph.D. Price, $1.00,

VOLUME IX, 1897-98. 617 pp. Price, cloth, $4.00.
1. *English Local Government of To-day. * Study of the Relations of Cen-«
tral and Local Government. By Miro Roy Matrsig, Ph.D. Price, $2.00.

2. German Wage Theories. A History of their Development.
y Jamzs W. Crook, Ph.D. Price, $1.00,

5 lization ef Administration in New York State.
Sane Renan im By Joun Arcureaup Farruin, Ph.D. Price. gon

oe
VOLUME X, 1898-99. 500 pp. Price, cloth, $3.50. 2
1. Sympathetic Strikes and Sympathetic eas Sli, PhD. Pilea Fenn

% *Rhode Island and the Formation of the Union.
yy FRANK Graene Batrs, Ph.D. Price, £1.50.

8. Centralized Administration of Liquor Laws in the American Common-

wealths. By Crement Moore Lacev Sires, Ph.D. Price, $1.00.
VOLUME XI, 1899. 495 pp. Price, cloth, $4,00; paper covers, $3.59,
The Growth of Cities. By Apna Ferrin Weser, Ph. D.

VOLUME XII, 1899-1900. 586 pp. Price, cloth, $4.00.

1. k tsteory and Functions of Central Labor Unions.
¥ By Wiriiam Maxwevy Burke, Ph.D. Price, $1.00.

2. Colonial Inmigration Laws. By Epwarp Emzerson Propgr, A.M. Price, 75 cents.

3. History of Military Pension Legislation in the United States.
. a 7 . By Wiriiam Henry Grasson, Ph.D. Price, $1.00,

4. History of the Theory of ait ies Ett ROneReAN. inh, Pitre

VOLUME XIII, 1901. 570 pages. Price, cloth, $4.00.

» Th 1P sty R i {Married Parties.
ree Net ne ga By Isrpor Logs, Ph.D. Price, $1.50,
2. Political Nativism in New York State. By Louis Dow Scisco, Ph.D. Price, $2.00,
3. The Reconstruction of Georgia. By Epwin C. Wootrey, Ph.D. Price, $1.00,

VOLUME XIV, 1901-1902. 576 pages. Price, cloth, $4.00.

1. Loyalism in New York during the American Revolution.
By ALEXANDER CLARENCE Fick, Ph.D. Price, $2.00.

2. The Economic Theory of Risk and Insurance.
y Arian H. Witrert, Ph.D. Price, g1.50,

3. Tho Eastern Question: A Study in Diplomacy.
By STEPHEN P. H. Ducean, Ph.D. Price, $1.00.

VOLUME XV, 1902. 427 pp. Price, cloth, $3.50; paper covers, $3.00,

Crime in Its Relations to Social Progress. By ARTHUR CLEVELAND Hatt, Ph.D,

VOLUME XVI, 1902-1903, 547 pp. Price, cloth, $4.00.

1. The Past and Present of Commerce in Japan.
By Yeraro Kinosira, Ph.D. Price, g1.50,

2. The Employment of Women in the Clothing Trade.
By Maser Hurp WIttet, Ph.D. Price, $1.50.
3s. The Centralization of Administration in Ohio.
By Samuet P. Ort, Ph.D. Price, $1.50.

VOLUME XVII, 1903. 635 pp. Price, cloth, $4.00.

1. *Centralizing Tendencies in the Administration of Indiana.
By Witiiam A. Rawtes, Ph.D. Price, $2.50.

2. Principles of Justice in Taxation. By Sreruan F. Weston, Ph.D. Price, $2.00.
VOLUME XVIII, 1903. 753 pp. Price, cloth, $4.50.
1. The Administration of Iowa. By Harotp Martin Bowman, Ph.D. Price, $1.50,
2. Turgot and the Six Edicts. By Rozserr P. SuepHerp, Ph.D. Price, $1.50,
3. Hanover and Prussia 1795-18038. By Guy Stanton Forp, Ph.D. Price, $2.00,
VOLUME XIX, 1903-1905. 588 pp. Price, cloth, $4.00.
1. Josiah Tucker, Economist. By Water Ernest Crark, Ph.D. Price, g1.s0,
2. History and Criticism of the Labor Theory of Value in English Political
Economy. By Atzert C. Wuiraxgr, Ph.D. Price, gr.50,

3. Trade Unions and the Law in New York.
By Grorcrt Goruam Groat, Ph.D. Price, $1.00.

VOLUME XX, 1904. 514 pp. Price, cloth, $3.50.

1. The Office of the Justice of the Peace in England.
y CHARLES Austin Bearp, Ph.D. Price, g1.50.

2. A_ History of Military Government in Newly Acquired Territory of the
United States. By Davip Y. Tuomas, Ph. D. Price, $2.00.

VOLUME XI, 1904. 746 pp. Price, cloth, $4.50.

1. *Treaties, their Making and Enforcement.
By Samugt B. Cranpatt, Ph.D. Price, $1.50.
2. The Sociology ofa New York City Block.
By Tuomas JgssE Jones, Ph.D. Price, $1.00,
8. Pre-Malthusian Doctrines of Population.
By Cuaruzs E, Stanceranp, Ph.D. Price, g2.50.
VOLUME XXII, 1905. 520 pp. Price, cloth, $3.50; paper covers, $3.00.

The Historical Development of the Poor Law of Connecticut.
By Epwarp W. Capsgn, Ph.D.

VOLUME XXIII, 1905. 594 pp. Price, cloth, $4.00.

1. The Economics of Land Tenure in Georgia.
By Enoca Marvin Banks, Ph.D. Price, $1.00.
eo

2. Mistake in Contract. A Study in Comparative Jurisprudence.
By Epwin C. McKraac, Ph.D. Price, $1.00,

38. Combination in the Mining Industry. By Henry R. Mussgy, Ph.D. Price, $1.00.

4. The English Craft Guilds and the SS orese a
By Sreita Kramer, Ph.D. Price, $1.00.

VOLUME XXIV, 1905. "521 pp. Price, cloth, $4.00.

1. The Place of Magic in the Intellectual History. of Europe.
By Lynn THornpixkg, Ph.D. Price, $1.00.
2. The Ecclesiastical Edicts of the Theodosian Code.
By Wittram K. Boyp, Ph.D. Price, $1.00.
3. * The International Position of Japan as a Great Power.
By Seyi G. Hisuipa, Ph.D. Price, $2.00.

VOLUME XXV, 1906-07. 600 pp. (Sold only in Sets.)

1. *Municipal Control of Public Utilities. By O.L. Ponp, Ph.D. (Wot sold separately.)
2. The Erdget in the American Commonwealths.

By Euceng E. Acesr, Ph.D. Price, $1.50.
3. The Finances of Cleveland. By Cuarzes C. Wittramson, Ph.D. Price, $2.00.

VOLUME XXVI, 1907. 559 pp. Price, cloth, $4.00.

1. Trade and Currency in Early Oregon. By James H. Girzerr, Ph.D. Price, $1.00,
2. Luther’s Table Talk. By Presgrvep SmitH, Ph.D. Price, $1.00.
8. The Tobacco industry in the United reat oes

By Mever Jacogstein, Ph.D. Price, $1.50.
4. Social Democracy and Population. By Atvan A, Tenney, Ph.D. Price, 75 cents.

VOLUME XXVII, 1907. 578 pp. Price, cloth, $4.00.

1. The Economic Policy of Robert Walpole. By Norris A. Brisco, Ph.D. Price, $1.50.
2. The United States Steel Corporation. By ABRaHam Brretunp, Ph.D. Price, $1.50.

8. The Taxation of Corporations in Massachusetts.
By Harry G, Friepman, Ph.D. Price, $1.50.

VOLUME XXVIII, 1907. 564 pp. Price, cloth, $4.00.

1. DeWitt Clinton and the Origin of the spon System in New York.
Howarp Lez McBain, Ph. D. Price, $1.50.

. The Development of the Legislature of Colonial Virginia.
e ° vs - e By Ermer I. Mitier, Ph.D, Price, $1.50.

8. The Distribution of Ownership. By JoszrpH Harpinc Unperwoop, Ph.D. Price, gr.50.

VOLUME XXIX, 1908. 703 pp. Price, cloth, $4.50.

1. Early New England Towns. By Anne Busu MacLzar, Ph.D. Price, $1.50.
2. New Hampshire as a Royal Province. By Wixuram H. Fry, Ph.D. Price, $3.00.

VOLUME XXX,1908. 712 pp. Price, cloth, $4.50; paper covers, $4.00.

The Province of New Jersey, 1664—1738. By Epwin P. Tanner, Ph.D.
VOLUME XXXI, 1908. 575 pp. Price, cloth, $4.00.

. d American Railroads.
1. Private Freight Cars an BOF: Dw. Wer, Ph.D. Price, $r.so.

2. Ohio before 1850. By ea E. Cuappock, Ph.D. Price, $1.50

» i jages in the American Population.
So Consanmninoous Maretig By Gzoxce PB. Louis Arner, Ph.D. Price, 75 cents.

4. Adolphe Quetelet as Statistician. By Franx H. Hanxins, Ph.D. Price, gr.25.

VOLUME XXXII, 1908. 705 pp. Price, cloth, $4.50; paper covers, $4.00.

The Enforcement of the Statutes of Laborers. By BerrHa Haven Purnam, Ph.D.

VOLUME XXXIII, 1908-1909. 635 pp. Price, cloth, $4.50.

1. Factory Legislation in Maine. By E. Stace Wurrin, A.B, Price, $1.00.

* ‘ ions of Societ;
2. *Psychological Interpretation By Ni eegek Ni: Waiie, ny PRD, “Bllcu, pote:

An Sources relating to the Germanic Invasions.
is dale SRSA ene By Cariton Huntvey Havas, Ph.D, Price, £1.50,
VOLUME XXXIV, 1909. 628 pp. Price, cloth, $4.50.

1. [89] Transportation and Industrial Development in the Middle West.
By Wituiam F. Geprart, Ph.D. Price, $2.00.
2. [90] Social Reform and the Reformation. ,
By Jacor Sarwyn Scuapiro, Ph.D. Price, gr.a5,

&. [91] Responsibility for Crime. By Puruir A. Parsons, Ph.D. Price, $1.50.

VOLUME XXXV, 1909. 568 pp. Price, cloth, $4.50.

1. [92] The Conflict over the Judicial Powers in the United States to 1870.
By Cuaries Grove Haings, Ph.D. Price, $1.50.

2. [93] A Study of the Population of Manhattanville.
By Howaxp Brown Wootston, Ph.D. Price, $1.25.

8. [94] * Divorce: A Study in Social Causation.
By Jamus P. LicuTEngercer, Ph.D. Price, g1.50.

VOLUME XXXVI, 1910. 542 pp. Price, cloth, $4.00.

95] *Reconstruction in Texas. By Cuarres Witttam Ramspetr, Ph.D. Price, $2.50.

1.
2. 88 * The Transition in Virginia from Colony to Commonwealth.
By Cuaries RaMsDELL Linexey, Ph.D. Price, $1.50.

VOLUME XXXVII, 1910. 608 pp. Price, cloth, $4.50.

1. [97] Standards of Reasonableness in Local Freight Discriminations.
By Joun Maurice CLark, Ph.D, Price, $1.25.

2. [98] Legal Development in Colonial Massachusetts.
By Cuarres J. Hirxzy, Ph.D. Price, g1.25.

8. [99] *Social and Mental Traits of the Negro.
By Howarp W. Ovum, Ph.D. Price, $2.00.

VOLUME XXXVIII, 1910. 463 pp. Price, cloth, $3.50.

1. [100] The Public Domain and Democracy.
By Rozpert Tupor Hitt, Ph.D. Price, fe.oo.

2. [101] Organismic Theories of the State.
By Francis W. Coxur, Ph.D. Price, $1.0.

VOLUMA XXXIX, 1910-1911. 651 pp. Price, cloth, $4.50.
1. [102] The Making of the Balkan States.
By Wiriram Smitu Murray, Ph.D. Price, $1.50.

2. [103] Political History of New York State during the Period of the Civil
War. By Srpney Davip Brummer, Ph. D. Price, 3.00.

VOLUME XL, 1911. 633 pp. Price, cloth, $4.50.

1. [104] A Survey of Constitutional Development in China.
By Hawkuine L. Yen, Ph.D. Price, 1.00.

2. [105] Ohio Politics during the Civil War Period.
By Georce H. Portsr, Ph.D. Price, $1.75.

8. [106] The Territorial Basis of Government under the State Constitutions.
By ALFreD ZANTZINGER RgxzD, Ph.D. Price, $1.75.

VOLUME XLI, 1911. 514 pp. Price, cloth, $3.50; paper covers, $3.00.

[107] New Jersey as a Royal Province. By Encar Jacoz Fisugr, Ph. D.

VOLUME XLII, 1911. 400 pp. Price, cloth, $3.00; paper covers, $2.50.

[108] Attitude of American Courts in Labor Cases.
By Grorecs Goruam Groat, Ph.D.

VOLUME XLIII, 1911. 633 pp. Price, cloth, $4.50.

1. [109] *Industrial Causes of Congestion of Population in New York City.
By Epwarp Ewinc Pratt, Ph.D. Price, $2.00,

2. fat Education and the Mores. By F. Stuart Cuarin, Ph.D. Price, 75 cents.

8. [111] The British Consuls in the Confederacy.
By Mitveper L. Bonuam, Jr., Ph.D. Price, $2.00.

VOLUMES XLIV and XLV, 1911. 745 pp.

Price for the two volumes, cloth, $6.00; paper covers, $5.00.

[112 and 118] The Economic Principles of Confucius and his School.
By Cuen Huan-Cuane, Ph.D.

VOLUME XLVI, 1911-1912. 623 pp. Price, cloth, $4.50.

1. er The Ricardian Socialists. By Estuer Lowentuat, Ph.D. Price. $1.00
2. [115] Ibrahim Pasha, Grand Vizier of Suleiman, the Magnificent.

By Hester Donatpson Jenkins, Ph.D. Price, 1.00.
8. [116] *Syndicalism in France.

By Louts Leving, Ph.D. Second edition, 1914. Price, $1.50.
4,.[117]*A Hoosier Village. By Newett Leroy Sims, Ph.D. Price. $1.50.