welfare of railway employees. Probably railway labor, as an occupation, affects the interests of more persons in the United States than any other single branch of employment except agriculture. This fact alone should entitle it to greater consideration than it commonly receives. There are, however, many other reasons why facts relating to the condition of railway labor in the United States are peculiarly welcome at this time. It is one of the most hazardous of occupations, and yet one on which the prosperity of the country becomes increasingly dependent. It has led almost all other classes of labor in meeting the problems peculiar to the wage-earner when he becomes conscious of the class feeling. Organized labor has fought its chief battles, won its greatest victories, had its severest defeats, and learned its best lessons within the scope of railroad employment. The problems of old age, the question of the "dead line" in occupations, or age where diminishing efficiency sets in, and the need of provision for the uncertainties of life have nowhere presented themselves with greater clearness and been met with greater determination than in the relations of employer and employee in the realm of railway labor,

It is not the purpose of this paper to review with any degree of completeness the condition of railway labor in the United States. That is a topic too broad for proper treatment within the scope of a single paper, and one for which the materials are scarcely yet available. It is possible, however, to discuss with some measure of completeness a few facts and some problems concerning railway employees in the United States. After showing the numbers and classes of railway employees, from the reports of the Interstate Commerce Commission, the qualifications demanded in railway service, some facts relating to wages and hours of work, and some of the vexed questions concerning extra work and extra pay will be discussed. This will constitute one general division of this article, under the title "Requirements and rewards of railway employment;" a second general section, entitled "Railway labor as a life work," treats of the permanency of occupation, the systems of discipline, the question of blacklisting, and the pensioning of employees; a third and last general division covers in part the personal relations of employer and employee in the field of railway labor, treating of the general condition of railway laborers as reflected in their organizations, and the efforts of employers to improve the personnel of the service.

A large portion of the information upon which this article is based was obtained by direct correspondence and personal interviews with the representatives of 40 of the leading railway corporations of the United States, and with the leaders of the representative organizations of railway employees. The 40 railways mentioned operate 112,353 miles, or 58.2 per cent of the total mileage of the United States, as

given in the Interstate Commerce Commission's Report for the year ending June 30, 1900, and employ 633,023 employees, or 62.2 per cent of the total number of railway employees. A series of questions relating to railway labor was sent out by the author to 62 railway corporations, selected with especial reference to their geographical distribution and their relative importance in the railway industry of the country. The answers received covered the facts for about two-thirds of the corporations originally selected. The questions asked, together with most of the replies received, are published in the report made by the author of this article to the Industrial Commission, printed in the Reports of the Commission, on the subject of transportation. (a) Much valuable testimony from railway presidents, chiefs of railroad brotherhoods, and from well-informed specialists will be found in the Report of the Industrial Commission, Volume IV, Transportation.

REQUIREMENTS AND REWARDS OF RAILWAY

EMPLOYMENT.

NUMBERS AND CLASSIFICATION OF RAILWAY EMPLOYEES.

From the Thirteenth Annual Report of the Interstate Commerce Commission on the Statistics of Railways in the United States, it appears that on June 30, 1900, there were 1,017,653 employees of all classes engaged in railway transportation. This gives an average of 529 employees per hundred miles of line, and an increase of 88,729 employees, or 34 employees per hundred miles of line, as compared with the previous year. It shows also a considerable increase in the total number of employees and in the number per hundred miles of line over any year of the previous period of 10 years. The year 1893 comes next in intensity of traffic as measured by the number of employees per 100 miles of line. But at the same time, with this increase of employees per hundred miles of line, there was an increase in the amount of work performed by each employee. The figures for 1893 show for the freight service the movement of 107,129 ton-miles of traffic per employee, while the figures for 1900 show 139,143 ton-miles per employee.

It would seem from these returns that the year 1893 may be considered the high-water mark in railway employment prior to the period of depression. It would appear that something has been learned by the necessities of hard times, and that railway employment is more intense now than formerly, which is probably an advantage both to employees and to the public, since the former are paid largely by piece work, and the latter gains by reduction in total cost.

a See Report of the Industrial Commission, Volume XVII, pages 709-1135.

The classification of these employees into 18 separate classes and the number per hundred miles of line in each class for the year 1900, and for each of the 10 previous years is shown in the following table:

TOTAL EMPLOYEES AND EMPLOYEES PER 100 MILES OF LINE, BY CLASSES OF OCCUPATIONS, FOR THE YEARS ENDING JUNE 30, 1890 TO 1900.

Num-
ber.

100

100

miles Number. miles Number. miles Number. miles Number, miles

While the above table shows the general density of railway employees of the various classes for the United States, and thus indicates the average intensity of traffic for the whole of the United States from year to year, the figures making up this average vary considerably for

91

184, 494

100

201, 708

107

31, 610

89,851

42, 837

44, 130

29,957

74,274

32, 831

17

46,666

24

114, 773

60

33, 085

17

226, 799

118

the different territorial groups of States or sections of the country. The Interstate Commerce Commission in its statistical tables distributes all such statistics into 10 groups of States. The greatest intensity of traffic as indicated by the average number of employees per hundred miles of line is shown for the group corresponding very closely to the Middle Atlantic States, where the average number of employees per hundred miles of line in 1900 was 1,140. The next highest intensity was for the group corresponding to the New England States, 827, and the lowest was for the Middle Northwestern States (Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, and part of North and South Dakota), where the number of employees per hundred miles of line in 1900 was only 303.

For all classes of employees the numbers given are obtained by the Interstate Commerce Commission from the pay rolls for June 30 of each year, and the railroads are instructed not to include laborers engaged in the construction of new lines. The statistical method followed by the Commission must be borne in mind in making any comparison with European statistics, because the figures for foreign countries usually give the average number of men employed during the year. How nearly comparable the figures calculated on these two plans may be must be left to the judgment of the reader. Dr. Weyl in his report (a) on the railways of Great Britain showed that in 1895 the total number of men employed was about 5 times as many per hundred miles of line as on the American railways at the same time. In France nearly 24 times as many employees per hundred miles of line were employed, and in Prussia the statistics for the State railways showed slightly over 3 times as many per hundred miles of line as in this country.

The importance of railway employment may also be estimated by the ratio of the total number of railway employees to the total number of persons engaged in gainful occupations in the United States. According to the census of 1890 the number of railway employees was about 2 per cent of the total number of persons over 10 years of age engaged in gainful occupations.

QUALIFICATIONS DEMANDED IN THE CHIEF GRADES OF SERVICE.

In applying for railway employment an applicant is usually given certain blanks to be filled out, giving some general information concerning his age, previous experience, positions held, with references, etc. This must be accompanied with a certificate of character, and a certificate of physical examination if the work for which he applies demands this. Additional forms are then filled out, giving special information for the particular branch of work he desires to enter.

a See Bulletin of the Department of Labor, No. 20, January, 1899.

Typical blanks, such as are actually in use on one road operating over 5,000 miles of line and employing over 32,000 men, are as follows:

Applicants for employment in the following grades of service with this company are required to undergo a thorough examination to determine their visual power, color perception, hearing, and physical qualifications generally to perform the duties of the position which they seek to obtain: Station agents, telegraph operators, station baggagemen, enginemen, firemen, hostlers, conductors, collectors, train baggagemen, brakemen, train porters, yardmasters, switchmen, towermen, switch tenders, and such other grades as may be required.

All applications for employment must be made in duplicate on Form two copies of which will be furnished to such applicants as superintendents or other employing officers may select; the blanks must be carefully and correctly filled, and all questions must be answered; all answers must be in ink, the application in the handwriting of the applicant, and each voucher in the handwriting of the signer thereof; applications executed or dated, or the vouchers of which are executed or dated, more than 30 days before the date of filing will not be accepted.

When both copies of the application blank are filled out they shall be delivered to the employing officer from whom received, by whom they shall be examined. If both copies are in correct form they shall be returned to the applicant, together with an order on Form —, addressed to a company's examining surgeon, directing that a physical examination be made. The applicant will deliver both copies of the application blank, together with the order, to the surgeon designated, who will conduct the examination and certify to the result in the place provided upon the blanks therefor, sending one copy to the employing officer signing the order for examination and the other copy to the chief surgeon direct.

If the report of the examination be satisfactory to the chief surgeon, he will forward his copy of the application to the chief claim agent for file; if he does not approve the findings he will advise the superintendent of the division immediately of his exceptions and communicate with the examining surgeon.

An examination fee of $1 is paid by the company, in all cases, to the surgeon conducting the examination. Employing officers in charge of pay rolls are instructed to deduct $1, examination fee, upon the pay rolls in favor of the company, from the first month's wages of all applicants accepted and assigned to service. The examination fee of rejected applicants, or those who may not be given employment, will be borne by the company.

Persons of the various grades named may be allowed to enter the service on probation after they have passed a satisfactory physical examination; but no applicant will be considered an accepted employee until the superintendent has affixed his written approval to the application, of which notice will be given to the applicant.

2. What is your name in full? (Give your first name in full, your middle initial or initials, if you have any, and your surname in full.)

3. (a) Where were you born?

(b) What was the month, day, and year of your birth?
(c) What was your age on your last birthday?

4. What is your actual residence?

5. (a) Are you married or single? (If married, give your wife's first name and her residence.)

(b) If you are not married, give the residence of your parents or other nearest living relative, specifying relationship.

6. Are any persons dependent upon you for support, or do you contribute to the support of any persons? (If you answer yes, give their names, relationship, and address.)