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Show JEWELL SAYS SHOPMEN LACK SUFFICIENT FOOD1 UNION LEADER MAKES PLEA TO RAILWAY OOARD .Families of Shopmen Alt' Al-t' ready Going Without Necessaries, He Says CANNOT STAJNJJ UUio Wage Reduction Means Re duction in Pounds of Nourishment, Claim CHICAGO! March 28. The business busi-ness concern which cannot meel Its fixed charges Is bankrupt failure to provide a healthful standard ..r livin,; for his family a workingman's fixed charge means eventful physical and 'moral bankruptcy io the nation Thto , was the i om Oil which B -Vi Jewel., head of the simp crafts union-- bused his plea for a living wage f.r the na-' na-' iions raHwprV-?ra today before thn ' United States labor board I Figures compering rail road em-! em-! ploves' expenditures fi r f"""l 'minimum requirements for hate sub-I sub-I slstence as worked out b Professor M. K. jnua, ioou '"'"i University of California showed that railroad mechanics In 1931 were aide to purchase bui 64 per cent of Ihe meat, fish milk and eggs necessary for maintenance of, their fa mill- - ai vhe lowest level of safety, Mr. JvW.eH said. HIGHER W IGES I K-l D Higher wages rather than a tun. re i.ui were urged on the board by Mr Jewell In his fight against the 10 pei cent sla-h propose, h; J05 reads now . before the board. Wages, he asserted, assert-ed, were" the litehlood of th.- nation and reduction of wages menns reduction reduc-tion of nourishment to the bodies bl citizens " 'The railroad Industry doe not today to-day pay a living wage- to the mechanics mechan-ics emploved In its shops," said Mr, Jewell YV.- have measured th' ac. age monthly earnings of men In tin i railroad rhops'cv ever- possible standard stand-ard and n every instance they are found w anting PI R( !l -l(. I'OW 1 R SHOW v "Tho purchasing power of reil rall-, rall-, road families was demonstrated by 1 the analysis of 254 Itemised monthly , expense accounts They are distribut ee over in'- vouim?. elected The statements include care-I care-I ful records of food and quantities bought. ' The average income of these families fam-ilies amounted to $1 The income in-come from railroad falls short by nearly $200 00 a ear of the actual amount which those families spent. With prices prevailing 'during the r,-r Of 1921. mechanic s In railroad shops were anie lo p"-' ' per ceirit of the meat fish, milk and, i-ggs in- - irv In maintain their actual act-ual families at the lowest level ofj safety. Mr Jewell sold They were able he continued, to purchase only 77 per cent of the necessary cereal food: onlv si per cent of the neces-nrv neces-nrv vegetables and fruits and only 71 per cent of the necessary butter. fatS. and oils. . in -l Ul S OBVIOl B The result of such a deficit in terms of the general phvslque of the rountrv and also in terms of the efficient ef-ficient operutmn of th.e railroads is sufficiently obvious. If any industry cannot meet Its first fixed charge, the pavment of a healthful livelihood to its employes It Is Indeed a bankrupt." I the union learer declared Assuming that ISO.OOrt of the country's coun-try's 600.000 railroad shopmen have 1 families to support, Mr Jewell estt-i estt-i mated that their families suffered s deficit of 162 million pounds of meat. fish eggs and milk: SI. 160 pounds of flour and cereals. SO. 240. 000 pounds of potatoes, vegetables and fruits and, 12.960.000 pounds of butter, oils nmli fats during the ve.i r Y IGES LIFE BL ' "Wages are the lifcblood of the nation. ' continued Mr. Jewell "The are not money they are pounds of life-blood life-blood which flow oul to nourish the body of the people A reduction In wanes does not mean a reduction in dollars and cents. It means a redUC lion In pounds of nourishment to the bodies of cltiicens ... I - n nm. S.,- t A . 1 f ttTT. 1 1 C Agencies kioii ...v.c. ! wage levels have no monetary prob-' prob-' lem. They are rationing the chief part of the peculation- There can bn only one consideration it Is this Can i any of the goods that wages will now I buy be taken away without Injury to the body and soul of the nation? i Consideration on this basis will load Inevitably to the conclusion that the present budget of ihe ware earners earn-ers cannot be oared down Tt will lend r.,!her to the conclusion that the purchasing power of th employes of the railroads must Immediately be Increased In-creased Advocates of wage reduction must determine what goods which thn employed now purchae hall In the future be denied them."' |
