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Show -TO: GESSFJf' : 1 0 - RSffi CENT CfflCAGO' Nov i6.--ihe railroads of the' entire country stand ready to accept the standard of wages set by the Pennsylvania, and to grant their employees an increase in-crease of 10 per cent in lieu of other demands, says the Record-Herald.'. ; The "melon" which the railroads are willing to cut and to distribute among more than 1,296,000 employees would aggregate between $81,000,000 and $82,000,000 annually. an-nually. 5 ' This sum the roads are ready to give the large army of employees, providing the latter will accept it and cease, for the time being, anv further demands for increases in all branches of the railway service. " Several railway magnates have already taken action ; in the matter and decided to grant the increase, if the matter mat-ter can be arranged amicably with their employees. .; The magnitude of the concession to labor will be understood un-derstood when it is stated that it will amount to a dividend of nearly 1.4 per cent on the capital stock of the entire railroad systems of the country, and to nearly 37 per cent of the annual dividends declared and paid on that slock for the year 1905. There has not been concerted action on the part of the railroads, but the question of increase in wages has been the subject of discussion in many meetings which have been held among the "Western executive officials at Chicago and of the Eastern men at New York. ' ' |