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Show RAILROAD LABOR COST H In 1916 under private aiianagenint rail- ' road labor cost was $1,468,576,394 and in H 1919 under government managemen! it H v . was $2,643,128,432 or an increase of about H ' 94 per cent. H h Due to the 8-hour Adamson law and H pyramiding wage increases made by the H government the labor bill of the railroads H'j in 1920 increased to the startling sum of M $3,698,216,351, compared with $1,468,- H ' 576,394 in 1916, an incerase of nearly 152 H per cent. H and other salient facts were re- H - :ntly presented to the senate committee H . on interstate commerce by Chairman H Kruttschnitt of the Southern Pacific. H Manifestly one cannot review these H facts and figures without distrust of poli- B ' tical management, nor without the con- M viction that government ownership of H ( the railroads is fraught with economic H disaster. m It is very evident, if our transportation M i system is to grow and function in propor- 1 ! tion to the progressive requirements of M ' industry and commerce, that economies B must be effected in the cost of operation H and transportation. As wages constitute H the principal item of expense and con- M siune 64 per cent of the gross revenue as H shown by Mr. Kruttschnitt, and as this H . is primarily due to wage increases induc- H ed by war conditions, since the cost of H .. living has fallen, at least a relative reduc- H , tion in wages should be effected. H' In considering the cost of living con- H sideration should be confined to changes H A j in the cost of the necessities of life. Anv H increase in the cost of living because of H higher standards of living is a liability H to be assumed by the individual concern- H 1 ed, as it is not a factor of economic or H determining vaue in the equation and H ( imposition of wage burdens on the public. H - The public is willing to pay reasonable H wages and rates but it is not willing to H ' pay for joy rides. H More than ever the public realizes that H it is paying the bill. Never before has H public interest in a wage controversy been H so aroused as at present. Never before H has there been such a concerted demand H for wage reductions. In their bid "for the H railroad vote the politicians seem to have H lost all thought of the public. H The wage question is now before the H United States Labor board and if the H board mal.es proper annrisal of economies H effected in the cost of living as a result H v of reduced prices, a substantial wage re- H Auction is inevitable, with resulting ben- H efits to the uublic. Ml |