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Show RAILWAY AND MEN DISCUSS CUT M WAGES Manager Declares Read Can Not Operate Unless Pay Is Slashed PITTSBURGH, March 31. Officials 'Of the Pennsylvania railroad and rep-' rep-' resentatives of the employes went Into executive session here at 10 o'clock this morning In beginning the initial conference con-ference to consider reduction of wages 'of ali employes ana officials. I Admission to tho meeting which Is Ithe first of a series t extend ovr I until April 13, was limited to the conferees con-ferees only, and It was announced that newspaper men would not bo admitted "for the present." AGES TOO HK.II. it has bci onie impossible to operato the Pennsylvania ruilroad iuccessfull) land continue to pay the "abnormally I high" wages fixed by tho railroad labor la-bor board, C. S Krlck, general mana-,'ger mana-,'ger of the eastern region declared today to-day in opening the conferences. Air. Kirk maintained that the entlro world rapidly Is getting back to normal nor-mal and that since the middle of last I year the cost of living ha3 been stcad-,ily stcad-,ily golnu down. I "At prosent," he declared, "nearly Seventy cents out of every dollar the Pennsylvania railroad receives from operation U paid out in wages. The remaining 30 cents is not sufficient to buy fuel and other materials and pay j taxes and other obligations, t'pera-itlon t'pera-itlon expenses in February exceeded operating op-erating revenue by more than f 2,3 00,-000. 00,-000. jt cost the Pennsylvania railroad ;$1.05 to t ike in J1.00 without considering consid-ering taxes, fixed charges and other , obligations. OPERATES AT IA s. ""Without taking dividends into consideration, con-sideration, the Pennsylvania system I was operated in February at a loss of more than $8,500,000. March results will show no improvement although the number of employes Is less now than It has been since 1010 Such a precipitate falling oft In business as has occurred Ih the last few months cannot be recalled by railroad men today, to-day, and thL. only remedy i,r this situation sit-uation is lo reduce salaries and wages." nn |