OCR Text |
Show YOUR RAILROAD WAGES While your name may not appear on a railroad payroll, the chances are that you are employed by an industry which depends on railroads for some or perhaps much of its revenue. Obviously Obvious-ly the regular railway equipment businesses do, and, in addition, so do a multitude of other businesses, dealing in con Ijnodi ties of every sort. Take a look at the railroad employment picture. In 1926 they employed 1,805,780 persons and paid them almost 3 billion dollars in wages. In 1932 they employed 760,000 less, and paid them close to $1,400,000,000 less. The number of railway employes em-ployes is now the smallest since 1900 with all that that means to the purchasing power of the country. Whenever a railroad man is thrown out of work, every worker's chance of being in the same predicament is increased. W7hat has the railway .situation done to other industries? It isn't an optimistic picture in this direction either. Railroad purchases have been cut about 70 per cent below normal, and were about $1,600,000,000, less in 1932 than they averaged during dur-ing the five years ending with 1929. This reduction has thrown 1,200,000 persons out of work in industries which used to sell to the rails. As a consequence, depression among the railroads has cost the nation 2,000,000 jobs, thus affecting almost 9,000,000 people. Revival of the railroads will mean stimulated employment and buying a real step toward prosperity. Their competitors cannot can-not replace them. s It is suicidal to regulate a basic industry to death while we bestow favors on its competitors. Give the rails a new dea! |