Scale of Wages of Drivers and Firemen on North British Railway, 1909.Rate per Day of 12 HoursDriversFiremenPassenger engines, main line, long road$1.56$0.88Passenger engines running into chief terminal station1.44.84Passenger engines, branch lines1.32.80Goods engines, main line, long road, trip men1.44.88Goods engines, main line, other than long road1.32.84Goods and mineral engines running into depots and terminal stations1.20.80Goods and mineral engines working branch lines and collieries1.14.76Mineral pilot, pilot and shunting engines1.04.72
In his award in the case of the North Eastern Railway, Sir James Woodhouse fixed the following scales:
Firemen.—First year, 84 cents per day; 2d year, 90 cents; 3d year, 96 cents; 4th and 5th years, $1.02; 6th year, $1.08; 7th year, $1.14; 8th year, and subsequent years, $1.20. Firemen to pass for drivers during the 8th year.
Cleaners.—Age 16 to 17 years, $2.40 per week; 17 to 18 years, $2.64; 18 to 19 years, $3.12; 19 to 20 years, $3.60; 20 to 21 years, $4.08; and an advance of 24 cents per week for each subsequent year up to a maximum of $4.80 per week.
"That the wages of all goods and mineral guards be increased as follows:
"(a) The wages of those who have been in receipt of $7.20 (the maximum of the existing scale) for not less than two years shall be increased to $7.44 per week.
"(b) The wages of those who have been in receipt of the said maximum for not less than five years shall be increased to $7.68 per week.
"The bonus for working with large engines on freight trains discontinued when any guard becomes entitled to the maximum wages of $7.68 per week."
Men working in the London district get from 6 to 12 cents more per day than those in outside districts.
The award in the case of the Great Northern made an addition of 24 cents to the weekly scale of the following grades: Signalmen $4.32, $4.56, $4.80 and $5.04; passenger guards and brakemen $5.28 up to $6.00; goods guards and brakemen $5.04 up to $6.24; ticket collectors $5.04 up to $5.52; horse shunters $4.56 up to $5.04; parcels porters $4.32 to $5.04; carriage cleaners $4.08 to $4.32; plate layers, second men and under men $4.32 and less up to $5.04; ballast train guards, flagmen and greasers rates less than $5.04 per week.
An additional allowance of 24 cents per week is made to men stationed in the London district.
From these figures a fair idea is gained of the average pay of British railway labor. They support the statement that there are over 100,000 railway men in the United Kingdom working for less than one pound ($4.87) a week. The total compensation paid British railway employes in 1908 was $150,248,000 against $162,440,000 for the preceding year. But whether the decrease was due to a reduction in pay or in numbers employed cannot be told, as there has been no census of railway "servants" since 1907. The average pay may be safely approximated at $260 per year per man, boy and porter, who two years ago numbered 621,341.
In 1907, Special Agent Ames, of the Interstate Commerce Commission, reported wages on the railways of the United Kingdom as follows:
Enginemen$9.32per weekFiremen5.76" "Conductors6.26" "Brakemen6.44" "Shunters5.80" "Examiners5.80" "Signalmen5.66" "Trackmen5.58" "
Pay of Railway Employes in Other Countries.
The contrast between the wages of American and European railway employes is emphasized by those paid on the continent. The official statistics of the empire show an increase of 5% in the average yearly compensation of German railway employes in 1908.Their number and pay for that year to December 31st in the four main classes into which they are divided were as follows:
Number and Pay of German Railway Employes by Principal Divisions for the Year Ending December 31, 1908.DivisionEmployes NumberCompensation (Total)Average per yearIncrease over 1907General administration31,996$25,167,240$787$34Maintenance and guarding road177,63342,891,7532415Station service and train crews302,343116,219,65738424Switching crews and shops187,18375,328,08440218Total699,155$259,606,734$371$19Increase over 19073,59814,216,875——
Combined with a falling off in revenues and an increase in the cost of materials this increase in the compensation of employes had the effect of raising the operating ratio of German railways from 69.01 in 1907 to 73.56 in 1908. It also increased the proportion of wages to gross earnings from 37.25 to 40.1% and had the effect of reducing the net revenues from 5.60% to 4.51% on the cost of construction.
How railway labor fares under government ownership in a republic as compared with its pay in an empire may be judged from a comparison of the following statement as to the number and pay of the railways of Switzerland with the like classes in the preceding table for Germany.
Number and Pay of Swiss Railway Employes by Principal Divisions in 1907.DivisionEmployes NumberCompensation (Total)Average per YearGeneral administration1,631$ 780,715$478Maintenance and inspection of way10,3081,459,977142Transportation and train service17,8156,829,426383Porters and laborers12,2193,209,810262Total41,973$12,279,928$292
The wages paid the employes of Swiss railways in 1907 amounted to only 31.9 per cent. of the gross earnings, and yet they added enough to the cost of operation to help increase the telltale ratio of expenses to revenues from 64.99 in 1906 to 67.29 in 1907. The result was increased operating expenses per mile and a decrease inthe amount available for interest in dividends from 3.26% in 1906 to 3.23% in 1907.
As the Swiss republic has to pay 3½% on government loans its investment in railways does not appear to be a very profitable one.
Employes of French Railways.
The employes of the railways of France are divided into the following classes:
General administration3,119Transportation and traffic128,823Traction and material80,732Way and structures81,897Auxiliaries82,809Female employes29,178Total406,558
The official statistics only give the compensation of employes in the division of traction and material, where the 80,732 men employed get an average of $187 per year.
On the state railways of Belgium, firemen receive from $15.20 to $22.80 per month, the higher wage only after 15 years' service; enginemen begin at $22.50 per month and at the end of 24 years' service work up to $38.00 per month; conductors earn from $15.97 per month up to a maximum of $34.70; brakemen, beginning as shunters (switchmen) at 45 cents a day, when promoted get a minimum of $17.10 per month, from which they are slowly advanced to a maximum of $22.00. The average railway worker in Belgium gets 2.22 francs (43 cents) a day.
Whole classes of American railway employes get more in a month than Belgian railway employes average in a year.
The Cost of Living.
What and how great the virtue and the art,To live on little with a cheerful heart.—Pope.
What and how great the virtue and the art,To live on little with a cheerful heart.—Pope.
What and how great the virtue and the art,
To live on little with a cheerful heart.—Pope.
Not because it has any legitimate place in fixing the standard of railway wages, which should be relative to the part capacity, intelligence, industry, loyalty and experience play in railway service, but because in recent years the steady increase in the cost of living has been made the fulcrum on which every lever to advance wages works, is it proper to refer to the subject in this report.
Now there is nothing in the whole wilderness of economics so utterly illusive and misleading as this same cost of living. It is as incapable of statistical expression as the airy imaginings of a dream and yet it broods over the domestic happiness of nationswith all the disquieting effects of a nightmare—and like every nightmare it comes from eating too much and wanting to eat more.
In economics, beyond the barest subsistence, the cost of living is not ruled by necessity but by individual choice. Each person and family settles it along the lines of abstinence or indulgence. It ranges from the "dinner of herbs where love is" and the virtues of self-denial are nourished, to the feasts of Lucullus and Pompeian profligacy in whose indulgence whole peoples have perished.
In every discussion of the subject first consideration is given to the price of food. This amounts to measuring the cost of living with an elastic string. The proportion of the cost of food to the cost of living varies in every land, in every occupation and in every household. It amounts to less than 40% in an average American family, but each family fixes it for itself. Following certain well recognized economic laws the percentage for subsistence increases as the income decreases. For instance, in France families with an income of under $4.80 per week spend 63% of it for food alone, whereas those with $9.60 a week spend 53%. In England, families averaging $5.12 a week spend 67% on food, while those of $9.60 spend 57% or less. In Germany, a similar inquiry showed that families with an average income of $4.23 per week spent 68.7% on food (excluding beer), or 69.5% (with beer); whereas families with an income of $9.60 per week spent less than 57% on food "excluding beer."
The exhaustive investigation made by Commissioner Carroll D. Wright when head of the Bureau of Labor in 1903 anticipated for the United States these results of more recent European inquiries, as appears from the following table showing the per cent of total expenditure made for various purposes in normal families according to classified incomes:
Per Cent of Expenditure for Various Purposes in 11,156 Normal Families, by Classified Incomes, 1901.Classified incomeRentFuelLightingFoodClothingSundriesUnder$20016.936.691.2750.858.6815.58$200or under$30018.026.091.1347.338.6618.77$300or under$40018.695.971.1448.0910.0216.09$400or under$50018.575.541.1246.8811.3916.50$500or under$60018.435.091.1246.1611.9817.22$600or under$70018.484.651.1243.4812.8819.39$700or under$80018.174.141.1241.4413.5021.63$800or under$90017.073.871.1041.3713.5723.02$900or under$100017.583.851.1139.9014.3523.21$1000or under$110017.533.771.1638.7915.0623.69$1100or under$120016.593.631.0837.6814.8926.13$1200or over17.403.851.1836.4515.7225.40All classes18.124.571.1243.1312.9520.11
While it is scarcely believable that many American families with incomes under $200 spent less than $100 a year on food—the European percentage in such cases being more credible—there is no reason to question the general economic law reflected in this table, that "the proportion of income spent on food diminishes as the income increases." But it is governed more by individual tendencies, character and taste than by any rule or principle. Each family works out the problem on its own account.
According to the evidence presented at recent arbitration hearings in this city, American switchmen, as a body, belong in the classes whose family expenditures are $1,000 or over. Irrespective of the incomes of other members of their families, thearbitratorsfound "that the actual monthly earnings of switchmen in the Chicago district, for those who worked full timeruns from about $80 to $100 per month." This means over $1,000 yearly compensation. Therefore they are in the class which spends less than 39% of its income on food.
The average income for all railway employes engaged in train service, that is, enginemen, firemen, conductors and other trainmen, is probably above the highest figure in the foregoing table and therefore the proportion of their income spent for food would be approximately 36%.
But accepting 40% as approximately the proportion of the pay of all railway employes spent on food, it follows that it takes only two-fifths of one per cent increase in wages to take care of an increase of one per cent in the price of food.
With this in mind it becomes instructive to follow the retail prices of the various articles of food as selected by Mr. Wright in his inquiry into the cost of living in 1901 and adopted by the Bureau of Labor in subsequent Bulletins. These for thirty articles of food for the eighteen years 1890 to 1907, as given in Bulletin No. 77 of the Bureau of Labor, and for the two years 1908-1909 as computed from Bradstreet's index and other sources of commodity prices, are given in the following statement relatively to the average price for 1890 to 1899 == 100:
Relative Retail Prices of the Principal Articles of Food in the United States, 1890 to 1909. (Average price for 1890-1899 == 100.0.)YearApples, EvaporatedBeans, DryBeef, Fresh, RoastsBeef, Fresh, RoastsBeef, SaltBread, WheatButterCheeseChickens (year or more old), dressedCoffee1890109.0103.399.598.897.5100.399.298.8101.3105.41891110.3106.2100.099.498.3100.3106.4100.3104.0105.2189299.3102.499.699.399.5100.3106.8101.5103.8103.81893107.0105.099.099.6100.3100.1109.9101.8104.2104.81894105.8102.898.398.298.999.9101.7101.698.6103.3189597.4100.598.699.199.699.797.099.298.4101.7189688.692.799.199.599.899.992.797.997.199.6189787.891.5100.3100.2100.9100.093.199.094.094.6189895.495.9101.7102.0102.199.895.197.596.891.1189999.599.7103.7103.9103.299.697.7102.4101.890.5190095.2110.0106.5106.4103.799.7101.4103.9100.891.1190196.8113.9110.7111.0106.199.4103.2103.3103.090.71902104.4116.8118.6118.5116.099.4111.5107.3113.289.61903100.8118.1113.1112.9108.8100.2110.8109.4113.589.3190499.2116.8112.8113.4108.3103.9109.0107.4120.791.81905106.0116.3112.2112.9107.9104.5112.7110.9123.693.61906115.6115.2115.7116.5110.8102.3118.2115.5129.194.71907124.6118.8119.1120.6114.1104.5127.6123.2131.495.01908126.4138.9126.2131.5116.4124.5123.5121.3128.694.71909128.6141.2132.6134.1128.2124.5134.8142.0150.2108.6YearCorn MealEggsFish, FreshFish, SaltFlour, WheatLardMilk, Fresh, unskimmedMolassesMuttonPork, Fresh1890100.0100.699.3100.7109.798.2100.5104.7100.797.01891109.7106.999.6101.7112.599.8100.5101.7100.698.71892105.2106.8100.1102.2105.1103.6100.6101.2101.0100.51893103.1108.1100.1103.496.1117.9100.4100.699.9107.01894102.296.3100.4101.588.7106.9100.2100.397.8101.81895100.899.399.898.989.0100.1100.099.098.799.7189695.092.8100.297.592.792.599.998.798.797.4189793.791.499.895.2104.389.899.797.799.697.6189895.096.2100.598.8107.493.999.497.9100.498.6189995.1101.1100.2100.294.697.198.998.2102.6101.7190097.499.9100.499.194.3104.499.9102.2105.6107.71901107.1105.7101.4100.994.4118.1101.1101.3109.0117.91902118.8119.1105.0102.894.9134.3103.3102.1114.7128.31903120.7125.3107.3108.4101.2126.7105.8103.8112.6127.01904121.5130.9107.9111.7119.9117.3106.3104.0114.1124.01905122.2131.6109.9113.8119.9116.6107.0104.4117.8126.61906123.2134.2116.2116.8180.1128.0108.9105.3124.1137.71907131.6137.7120.6121.6117.7134.2116.8107.7130.1142.51908154.0140.2116.2118.4140.0132.1115.4102.2126.4141.61909160142.2120.4122.6154.4153.8141.6106.4134.8168.2YearPork, Salt, BaconPork, Salt, dry or pickledPork, Salt, HamPotatoes, IrishPrunesRiceSugarTeaVealVinegar189095.895.398.7109.3116.8101.3118.6100.098.8102.9189196.698.999.3116.6116.5102.5102.7100.499.6105.5189299.1100.5101.995.7113.5101.396.2100.2100.0102.71893109.0108.7109.3112.3115.698.4101.5100.1100.099.51894103.6103.4101.9102.6100.999.093.898.798.799.8189599.499.298.891.894.298.891.898.598.598.9189696.795.597.677.086.896.796.698.899.597.2189797.497.398.293.084.397.995.798.599.997.41898100.299.195.1105.486.3101.7101.3100.7101.297.91899102.9101.899.296.185.1102.4101.7104.4103.798.31900109.7107.7105.393.583.0102.4104.9105.5104.998.51901121.0117.5110.2116.882.6103.5103.0106.7108.898.91902135.6132.5119.4117.083.4103.596.1106.0114.999.11904137.9125.8118.4121.379.6101.6101.9105.8115.598.91905138.8126.0118.5110.281.4102.698.2105.5123.2102.61907157.3141.2130.7120.688.4108.599.6105.3125.0104.51908142.4137.4112.0138.4—105.1100.0108.6124.2112.41909180.0151.2145.0120.0—103.3105.0109.0130.2113.0
No authority is claimed for the prices in these tables for the years 1908 and 1909. They merely represent the tendencies in those years, as found in official and unofficial wholesale prices of the several commodities, and there are often striking divergences between wholesale and retail prices over short periods. Eventually they follow the same course, although not always in the same proportion.
Now let us see how the average retail price of these 30 articles of food compares with the average daily pay of the four representative classes of railway employes in train service for the ten years 1899 to 1909.