Number and Capacity of Different Sizes of Freight Cars, 1902-1907.ClassCapacityPounds19021907Increase or Decrease Per CentI10,0005,1224,277Dec.16.5II20,00015,6157,244"53.5III30,00046,35310,132"78.1IV40,000327,342204,583"37.5V50,000246,684178,827"27.5VI60,000634,626802,187Inc.26.4VII70,00022,49334,652"53.6VIII80,000158,179452,070"185.9IX90,0003105,054"1,527.1X100,00048,834285,241"484.3XI110,0003891,476"279.4XII120,0004360"39.5All over120,0002214—
The line of cleavage between former and modern railway methods of handling freight is clearly shown in the above table to lie between cars of 25 and 30 ton capacity. The former and all of less capacity are on the decline, whereas the latter and all of greater capacity are on the increase. Numerically the 30-ton cars still exceed those of 40 and 50 tons, but already they are exceeded by the combined capacity of the latter.
The Surplus of Freight Cars.
For two years (28 months as this is written) the reports of the Committee on Car Efficiency of the American Railway Association show that the supply of freight cars has been in excess of the demand. In other words, the railways during that period were paying interest on a considerable percentage of unremunerative equipment, besides the cost of its maintenance. The rise and fall of this surplus of freight cars is set forth below:
Freight Car Shortages and Surplus by Months from January, 1907, to April, 1910.Month1907190819091910ShortageSurplusSurplusSurplusJanuary110,000342,580333,01952,309February150,000322,513301,57145,513MarchNo data297,042291,41845,672April100,000413,605282,32884,887May60,000404,534273,890June40,000349,994262,944July(a)20,000308,680243,354August(a)15,000253,003159,424September60,000133,79278,798October90,757110,91235,977November57,003132,82939,528December (surplus)209,310222,07758,354(a) In July and August, 1907, there was a net surplus.
At the date of one report in October, 1909, a surplus of cars in one territory was practically offset by a shortage in another territory.
Freight Car Performance.
According to Statistical Bulletin No. 58 of the Committee on Relations between Railroads of the American Railway Association, the average performance of the freight cars of American and Canadian railways during the year ending June 30, 1909, including and excluding surplus cars, was as follows:
Average Milesper DayAverage Ton Milesper Car per DayMonthIncluding Surplus CarsExcluding Surplus CarsIncluding Surplus CarsExcluding Surplus CarsJuly,190820.024.8275342August,"20.825.1292354September,"22.025.2320367October,"23.825.9346376November,"23.525.8341375December,"22.325.2332376January,190920.925.3293354February,"21.725.9306365March,"22.727.2330393April,"22.426.8310371May,"22.526.8304362June,"22.426.5314371
These figures of the average miles per day of freight cars are the delight of demagogues and other detractors of American railways who ignore, or have never been able to comprehend, that the average performance of a car per day depends from six to nine times more on the time allowed for shippers to load and unload cars than on its speed in transit. This speed runs all the way from ten to forty miles and over an hour. But if freight trains averaged 40 miles an hour it would make little impression on the per day average of cars so long as 48 hours has to be allowed as a minimum at either end for loading and unloading and almost as much more for placing notices and disposing of cars, to say nothing of time consumed in making up trains.
The salient and significant feature of this table is the proof it affords that each car of those in commission averages the movement of one ton 367 miles per day. This means an average load of 14 tons per car. It would take at least three English or European freight cars to average such a load.
Safety Appliances.
Of all the locomotives and cars in railway service in 1908, aggregating 2,302,055, less than 4% were not fitted with train brakes, and less than three quarters of 1% were unprovided with automatic couplers.
Block Signals.
While the gain in mileage protected by some form of block signals in 1909 is only slightly more than half the increase in 1907, it shows a healthy revival of this most important constructive work. At the close of the last calendar year, according to theRailroad Age-Gazette,the mileage on which some system of block signals had been installed was as follows:
SystemSingle TrackTwo or More TracksTotal1909Total1908Automatic block signals (miles)6,4367,98314,41911,932Non-automatic block signals (miles)40,3238,59348,91648,777Total miles46,75916,57663,33560,709Miles of line operated by the companies, 1909158,938
The second annual report of the government Block Signal and Train Control Board shows that little advance has been made in the search after the perfect system of automatic mechanical operation. Since the organization of the board in 1907 no less than 835 plans and descriptions of inventions designed to enhance the safety of railway operation have been submitted for its consideration. Of these 184 were examined and reported upon in 1908 and 12 were found worthy of further investigation. During the past year 327 others have been reviewed with a net result that again 12 have been found to possess enough merit to warrant the Board in conducting further tests. It finds that the vast majority of the proposed devices are unsound either in principle or design.
With regard to some form of automatic stop, the Board says that it is not yet prepared to make a definite and positive recommendation, but it thinks it reasonable to expect that several forms of automatic train controlling devices will be found available for use. In this connection it very sensibly concludes:
"It is not to be expected that trials or tests conducted by the government will, independently of extended use by railways, result in the production of devices or systems fully developed to meet all the exacting conditions of railway operation."
NUMBER 1,524,400
NUMBER 1,524,400
COMPENSATION $1,008,270,000
COMPENSATION $1,008,270,000
The 368 railway companies reporting to this Bureau had 1,463,429 persons in their employ June 30, 1909, and their pay roll for the twelve months to that date amounted to $973,172,497. Experience has shown that these roads employ over 96% of the labor and pay 97% of the compensation earned by railway employes. From which it appears that the employes of all the railways in 1909 numbered 1,524,400, whose compensation for that year was approximately $1,003,270,000. This would show an increase of 66,756 men employed and a decrease of $48,362,225 in compensation—a discrepancy accounted for by the fact that the pay roll in June, 1908, was numerically at low tide while the aggregate compensation was swelled by the large pay rolls of the first six months of the fiscal year. The conditions were nearly reversed in 1909, for the pay roll was at the ebb during the first half of the year whereas the number on it did not begin to show the demands of increasing traffic until the very close of the fiscal year.
These statistics would be more enlightening if the number of employes was determined by the average from the monthly pay rolls throughout the year and not as at present "from the pay rolls on June 30." The discrepancies noted are liable to increase if the Commission succeeds in getting the permission of Congress to substitute December 31st for June 30th as the end of its statistical year. Under the present practice, the summary which follows reflects the improvement of business in the increase of employes, while their aggregate compensation continues to show the effect of the depression that prevailed throughout the greater part of the year. When, however, that compensation comes to be divided by the "Aggregate number of days worked by all employes" during the year, the daily average which results is found to be within a fraction of a cent the same as for the preceding year.
The aggregate number of days worked by the employes of the roads reporting to this Bureau was 434,328,026 days in 1909 against 453,002,228 for the preceding year.
The first summary under this title gives the number, compensation and average pay of the several classes of employes of the roads reporting for the year 1909, together with the aggregates as reported to the Interstate Commerce Commission for the preceding years:
Summary of Railway Employes, Compensation and Rates of Pay by Classes in 1909 and Aggregates from 1889 to 1909.Class 1909(221,132 Miles Represented)NumberPer 100 Miles of LineCompensationAverage Pay per DayPer Cent of Gross ReceiptsGeneral officers3,3121.6$15,484,00814.820.6Other officers7,4153.316,847,7546.530.7General office clerks67,2223051,945,2312.312.2Station agents34,7651524,944,1002.101.0Other station men135,0566178,289,0391.813.3Enginemen55,7472577,762,1584.463.3Firemen58,9272747,591,9532.672.0Conductors42,3251950,269,5813.762.1Other trainmen112,3985188,751,7532.603.7Machinists47,6292241,381,0542.981.7Carpenters59,4772742,954,9932.431.8Other shopmen192,78487118,891,6792.135.0Section foremen39,9531826,377,3801.961.2Other trackmen308,369140107,734,4191.384.5Switch tenders, crossing tenders and watchmen44,1552026,019,1051.781.1Telegraph operators and dispatchers38,6561729,655,9162.301.3Employes, account floating equipment8,63246,537,1962.320.3All other employes and laborers206,60793121,735,1781.985.2Total (94.4% mileage represented)1,463,429661$973,172,4972.2441.001908 Official figures1,458,244632$1,051,632,225(b)2.2543.3819071,672,0747351,072,386,4272.2041.4219061,521,355684(a)930,801,6532.0940.0219051,382,196637839,944,6802.0740.3419041,296,121611817,598,810No data41.3619031,312,537639775,321,415No data40.7819021,189,315594676,028,592No data39.2819011,071,169548610,713,701No data38.3919001,017,653529577,264,841No data38.821899928,924495522,967,896No data39.811898874,558474495,055,618No data39.701897823,476449465,601,581No data41.501896826,620454468,824,531No data40.771895785,034441445,508,261No data41.441894779,608444No dataNo data—1893873,602515No dataNo data—1892821,415506No dataNo data—1891784,285486No dataNo data—1890749,301479No dataNo data—1889704,743459No dataNo data—(a) Includes $30,000,000 estimate pay-roll of Southern Pacific, whose records were destroyed in the San Francisco disaster.(b) Bureau computations.
This table brings out clearly the effect of the depression of 1908 on railway labor. While there was a decrease in numbers employed in 1908 of 213,830 or nearly 13%, coincident with a proportionate decrease in gross revenues, the reduction in compensation amounted to less than 2%. This anomaly was due to the fact that the increased scale of pay adopted in the winter of 1906-07 was only effective during six months of the fiscal year 1907, whereas it was in full operation throughout 1908, as it still is, with demands, negotiations and arbitrations regarding wages all tending upward.
Unremunerative Expenditures.
Last year attention was called to the unremunerative burdens imposed on the railways by the multiplying demands of legislatures and commissions for reports on every conceivable feature of their multifarious affairs. This year with the compensation of every other class showing the effects of the enforced retrenchments of the period, that of the several classes especially affected by these requirements and the enactments relating to the hours and conditions of employment continue to be the only ones marked by advances over the record figures of 1907, as appears from the following comparison:
Compensation of Classes Especially Affected by Multiplying Demands of Commissions and Legislatures in 1907 and 1909.Class1907227,455 Miles Represented1909221,132 Miles RepresentedOther officers$15,012,226$16,847,754General office clerks48,340,12351,945,231Station agents24,831,06624,944,100Telegraph operators and dispatchers29,058,25129,655,916Employes, account floating equipment6,035,4156,537,196Total$123,277,081$129,930,197Add 4% for unreported mileage, 19095,197,207Total$135,127,404Increase over 190711,850,323
Moreover, had the aggregate compensation of these five classes followed the general trend of all other railway compensation, the expenditure on this account would have been at least $22,000,000 less than it was. This sum represents only a part of what the railways have to pay for a system of accounting and reporting out of all proportion to its published results. The public has no idea ofthe onerous and unprofitable burdens imposed on the railways by the impractical theory of administering railways through the medium of arbitrary and theoretical accounts.
Average Daily Compensation 1909-1892.
Where the data in regard to total compensation of railway employes has been kept since 1895, that of their daily average pay runs back to 1892, thus covering the period of the last preceding severe panic. Under instructions of the Official Statistician, these averages are computed by dividing the compensation paid by the actual days worked throughout the year in the several classes as nearly as it has been practicable to do so. Although the formula is more or less arbitrary, the system has been continuous and so the results are reliable for comparative purposes.
In the statement following, figures for 1895, 1896 and 1905 have been omitted to economize space, and because they present no significant variations from the years preceding them.
Comparative Summary of Average Daily Compensation of Railway Employes for the Years Ending June 30, 1908 to 1892.Class1909(a)1908(a)1907190619041903190219011900189918981897189418931892General officers14.8215.1811.9311.8111.6111.2711.1710.9710.4510.039.739.549.717.847.62Other officers6.536.425.995.826.075.765.605.565.225.185.215.125.75——General office clerks2.312.352.302.242.222.212.182.192.192.202.252.182.342.232.20Station agents2.102.102.051.941.931.871.801.771.751.741.731.731.751.831.81Other station men1.811.821.781.691.691.641.611.591.601.601.611.621.631.651.68Enginemen4.464.464.304.124.104.013.843.783.753.723.723.653.613.663.68Firemen2.672.652.542.422.352.282.202.162.142.102.092.052.032.042.07Conductors3.763.833.693.513.503.383.213.173.173.133.133.073.043.083.07Other trainmen2.602.642.542.352.272.172.042.001.961.941.951.901.891.911.89Machinists2.982.952.872.692.612.502.362.322.302.292.282.232.212.332.29Carpenters2.432.402.402.282.262.192.082.062.042.032.022.012.022.112.08Other shopmen2.132.132.061.921.911.861.781.751.731.721.701.711.691.751.71Section foremen1.961.961.901.801.781.781.721.711.681.681.691.701.711.751.76Other trackmen1.381.451.461.361.331.311.251.231.221.181.161.161.181.221.22Switchmen, flagmen and watchmen1.781.821.871.801.771.761.771.741.801.771.741.721.751.801.78Telegraph operators and dispatchers2.302.302.262.132.152.082.011.981.961.931.921.901.931.971.93Employes account floating equipment2.322.372.272.102.172.112.001.971.921.891.891.861.971.962.07All other employes and laborers1.981.981.921.831.821.771.711.691.711.681.671.641.651.701.67(a) Averages for 1909 and 1908 are calculated from the returns to the Bureau of days worked and compensation of the several classes of roads representing 97% of the traffic.
The average pay of general officers for 1909 and 1908 in this summary is out of proportion, for the reason that the returns to the Bureau cover only 60% of the class numerically and include all the larger systems. Before 1894, this class included "Other officers," so the returns for 1893 and 1892 are not comparable with those for this class in subsequent years.
Comparing the average daily compensation of the four great classes most intimately associated in the public mind with railway operations in 1899 and 1909, it appears that during the decade the average wages of enginemen increased approximately 20%; of firemen 27%; of conductors 20%; and of other trainmen, including switchmen, brakemen and baggagemen—the most numerous body—34%.
An estimate based on the number employed and their aggregate compensation in 1899, allowing 310 working days to the year, would place the increase for all employes during the decade at 23%.
The relation of the compensation of railway employes to the gross earnings of the railways, which furnish the fund from which they are paid, and also to the sum of the expenses incurred in producing those earnings for the past ten years, is shown in the next summary, in conjunction with the operating ratio:
Summary Showing Proportion of Compensation of Employes to Gross Earnings and Operating Expenses, and of Operating Ratio Ten Years, 1899 to 1909.Ratio Compensation of Labor to Gross EarningsRatio Compensation of Labor to Operating ExpensesRatio of Operating Expenses to Gross Earnings190941.00%62.06%66.12%190843.38%62.33%69.67%190741.42%61.41%67.53%190640.02%60.79%66.08%190540.34%60.40%66.78%190441.36%61.07%67.79%190340.78%61.65%66.16%190239.28%60.58%64.66%190138.39%59.27%64.86%190038.82%60.04%64.65%189939.81%61.04%65.24%Increase 1899 to 19093.00%1.65%1.35%
The significance of this statement is that in spite of all the labor saving devices and economies of operation—reduced grades, modified curves and more efficient equipment—adopted by the railways during the past decade, the proportionate cost of labor to earningsand to expenses has increased. It reached an abnormally high ratio in 1908 because of the unprecedented recession in revenues during the second half of the year. The fact that it has been above 40% persistently since 1902 proves that labor continues to receive its full proportion of the receipts of American railways.
Pay of Employes on British Railways.
Although the statistics of British railways are singularly barren of details respecting the compensation of British railway "servants," as they are termed, the reports of Boards of Conciliation afford data as to the rates of pay of several classes as follows: