The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 1, 1907, Page 7

‘Father Yorke Severely Declares Great Injustice Is Done the Carmen | Majority Is Scored fori Praising Trolley Deal to impose & *“moral obligation ez 16) in or-| service with the same number of trips between der that men mey be sentenced to work for | termini—with the same hesdway and upon the wages which & common laborer would refuse? |same time. But the number of runs would | Lesving all other considerations aside, the | necessarily be greater and there would neces: strike itself settied for all time the obligation | earily be @ much greater fumber of extreme of the cobtract. A contract is & treaty #nd & | short rune given to the new men, or extra men | strike is war. Something is due to the risk of | as they are called, upon which At any reason- butt When two netions fight the former able rate of compensation by the hour the men | tresties between them @0 Tot revive when | could mot make living wages.” | peace 18 made. New treaties are concluded. So when the ecarmen appesied to the arbitra- ment of war «nd the compsny eccepted the gage of battle, the old reiations sud stipula- | Usages of language to sy that there would be tions ended. The two parties are mow en-|“s much greater number of extremely short gaged o making & Dew treaty and It would be | runs” under the eight-hour table. It troe | just a8 illogical to conclude it under the moral | that the company produced eight-hour tables obligation of the old contract ms it would be |Of Its own under which there were a ‘‘much hold that the affuire of modem Europs |greater mumber of extremely short ruos,” but | #hould be ruled by the femily compact or the | it came out in the evidence that those tables | bois_ alliance | were made up under preposterous conditions, 1 will say now that hed I considered that the |and the suspicion could not be absent that they act imposed & moral obligation on the men | Were intended as a reductio ad absurdum. But any obligation, 1 should mot have wasted my | i the time tables produced by the men, out time sitting on thie board of erbitration. 1In|Of 196 runs covered the total number of trippers the plain declaration by the repro- | Of Short-run men was only 11 (page 2608) in | OLD EMPLOYES SUFFER It is not exactly in accordance with the sentatives of the company that they waived none |excess of those aiready in existence, Taking f thelr rights, my sole @uty would bave been | ll the old time tables the total number of short- | be men to render to Oslhoun the |TUD men would not exceed 8% and under t sre. Calboun's. Moreover, the | new conditions of the city and the progressive 1 the boarc the outset | improvement of the time tables, it is certain | t the eontra nge 1 should it they could be pulled down to a considerably | < number. | But even If it were true that the eight-hour | time tables could not be opersted without s | larger number of short runs, the sbsolute num- | ber would in Do case go above 200. It seems to | me that it would be an extraordinary principle to | put into force that the tafl should wag the dog | advise the men thelr money on arbitration pro- to seck some other means to re grievences. EIGHT HOURS PRACTICABLE | agree with the interpretation ty decision places o the men's and that the working rules for 2000 sh he; " % uniform elght-hour day and a fat | controlled by the real or fancled necessities of rate of three s @ day. It is only common | 200 | nse that worlls should bear the meaning that But, in fact, the question bere is mot so-| b users of ‘them intend whep that ning | licitude about a living w. the short-time | & otherwise clearly manifest. The repre. | men, but it concerns the &pprentice system of sentatives of the carmen made 't evident during | the United Refiroads. That system is devised e hearing the case that they were ot | for the purpose of filling up the ranks of the nsking for abs eigithour day of up | Company’s employes at the least possible cost beolite wage of $3. They were ssiing for | to the company. It pays the men on its walting ime tables based upon the eight-bour day and | 1!t Just what they earn, whetber it be two - o s funity to make | Dits or two dollars. During t e men or apprentices’ must sup seives g B - A, at their own cherges. The apprentices to the S Soikiieiion oF arbitrator (page | electric trades get their $2.50 a day from the g e et that fhey enter empioy of the y_and that $2.50 represents the They don’t e to at thelr own charg: ving port themselves ng for a jour- and there. | b “the board | UeymED's employment. - ength that | CRUMBS FOR EXTRAMEN g A the apprentice carmen must do so. Thes must take the crumbs thst drop from their | ‘s table and be ce agente and If they wast ation foe to the compsny I know of m ing to stop them, but it is altogether ano thing when the board of arbitration would m the reguler carmen pey tha fee. ontention of rse, they > pay that tion - g - | most not be allowed because € under it the apprentice make a living | - | wage. Therefore, the would not | with the compeny. T mpsny _could ject thy 8 renerve force or waiting lat. It | . war . let it do what n it wan apprentices or K- s o t pey a living Neither Js are the men | maintain o school for the | the United Ra majority report lays supposes the m 1 stress on what | - . ng the long runs. 1 -1 3 & shouid not be based on the future con- but n sthe disciosed by the we the are Mealing bere™with two organ- | zed bodies, union and the compsny. If we | to know what the com wints we to take the statement of its responsible | iece. We can't go bebind its offlcml‘ es and fosten on the prediiections of that dual in fts employ. In the | way, when we are dealing with the car . w aunot go behind ndivic D ois of i I cxnnot attsin from ce. It states on that the men havi runs in order of sen longest runs. se_thet inue to operate ve it draws the ¢ of the ev 1y evi BLE 4 leading to, highly exceeding eight hours—would continue demande r, it is rs, i e. vle that the long wh the care - two _ten rs has tables osen AS TO THRIFTY I must say that T cannot ent labyrinths through which th bed. The men picked the long runs, and pick them through stern necessity. One well conclude what a slave woild do stored to freedom from what he does e lash of the sisve driyer is curling back. Tbe men picked 'the long runs a little more than the $2.75 allowed Lig! rates of the United Rail- ese were the old men, the steady men, of family. n men bave homes 1o nd chil osthe—especially men of d intelligent class that came before their testimony—they are not going to spare themselves if only by long bours they ean carn a living wage. — hey bave gome to work before daslight and rned after dark that a few more cents might o the family treasury. Their parental love peen made a whip by the company to get more work out of them, and whea they ssk in ail MEN the psychologl- conclusion s time bit ompany’s | ¢ tod or an 499 of the testimony each of the Valencls stree: s the Cas on the figures as Will any one say divisible by the men dealing ¥ with limited to the s &t every the platform o there were sincerity for humene conditions they are told by | . 98 m., 436 the board of arbitration that they are merely p w.. 60S; from 8 10 10 | wvaricious. The poets tell of the pious bird, the 2 midulght to 1 a. m. 199; | pejjcan, that wounds its own breast that its With such @ varying | sturving young may find outriment in their pa-| it s mot justifable | rent's blood. The board of arbitration is using | this affection s &n argument agsinst providing the voung with any other food, and penalizes the cnrmen because they have been willing to spend themselves and be spent. for those that God has 6ea m fell between and ¥ p. m. & period of | mnde Gependent upon them. Sfteen hours. wuch more cleanly divistble by | " Ang even Sagpese it were true that some of the eight than by ten. g | men were willing to work ten, eleven or twelve n wmy opision the most conviveing evidence | o "1 order to make more money, should they that was produced in favor of the eigbthour | | time table was the readivess with which the! nion met the demande of the company and | proguced eight-iour time tables in which the | »ame number of cars were operated for the same vumber of bours with the same beadway, thus t- bour lawe by our Legislatures and the upholding be permitted to do s0? The adoption of e! of the same by the courts constitute g principle | thet » men, at least in some cases, lis not al- lowed to use his natural lberty of working nix hours or ten hours if he o pleases. Indeed, the giving the public precisely the same service. » > q the award gives them 31.7 ples that be can make more money by longer ated seale, while entirely violating its spirit. It & them 31.7 per cent below. CROWDED CARS T pithout = aaditena cent of cont to the com | foies ‘s 'dhoud Le permified 1o make more | it o elect the radustsd scale psy turyy. It| On pages 16, 17, 15 and 19, the majority re-| gt the hardships of A S e e e ot | momey canvot «tand ;nww‘:.x ce of the facts of puts down old men and lifts up the new. If gives | PO A chugfir:‘a “set: M:hfhl:.“?:mflf““': crease In proportion to the numbers carried is our municipal 1ife. make more money by keeping a cow within the cow imits, but the authorities will promptly Judge the cow a Dulsance. A man hes no right skilled men of the compuny could mot find a | Clagic faw in them 88" Pegaris practicability: | & Ake more money by belng & ulsance to his | Tt was admitied that they were workable; it was | admittsd that they demanded no more cers, no EIGHT HOURS ENOUGH { more expease. The only oObjection the company t did find was that the table would not be agree- | In the same way & D of stronger physique cr wble to the men. Of course, one must always | of greater nervous emergy or of more greed may respect the mmn: solicitude for the wel want to work ten bours on the cars. By doing so | of his employes, n-em!wm'ulum’mm-um e BUL e 38 s big & nal- | { { the company must abound. They were produced by Mr. Clapp uneided; they were produced in & | burry, and beyond & few clerical errors the the eircumstances it would be well to recom- | mance as the cow. Lews are mede for the aver. mend the company to G0 viclenoe to its feelings | age and the sverage man camnot well work over and let the men bave their own way, elgiit hours.. The Man above the average shoud a5 they asked for it by & vote of 1067 to 14. CIES POINTED OUT in the world like the pacemaker Is the steer thal S in the stockyards Jeads the newly arrived cattle As & metter of fact those time-tables are | from the cars to the shambles, - | not the tremendously uniutelligible things that | Though the public is not directly represented | they look. The problewm of making thne tables | in this arbitration the public is directly in- i= precisely the same probiem that confrouts @ | terested in the results. It seems to me that the wan who wits down to play solitaire. He has | gerety of the public demands that men having | « pack of cards, & certain set of definite rules, |in thelr hands the responsibility of o many | "ng Bis end %5 to produce s certain combina’ | human lives should Dot be permitied to work tion of the cards. He knows well that the com- | more then eight bours. Under ordinary eir- | bination is in the cards. the problem s o | comstances eight hours & day is a5 much a8 | not be permitted to set the pace. The only thing® | the company can justify. ce, & man might,an increase of 24 per cent to the men who have | | but tly "Public Will Condemn Judge Beatty and Uphold Rev. Father Yorke By Albert M. Johnson, Attorney for Carmen With all possible respect for Judge Beatty, T must say that his opinion Is at once so comprehensive 1ts scope, 5o sweeplng In its affirmations, so argumentative, so remarkable for what it omits, so favor- able to the company and so commendatory of acts that required from him neither commendation nor cen- re, that we are well satisfied to place it by the side of Father Yorke's dissenting opinion, being com- | vimced that an impartial public will condemn Judge Beatty and uphold Father Yorke. While in some respects the decision, so far as it affects wages and hours, Is a declded triumph for the men, in other respects It is distinctly désappointing. Particularly Is this frue in the case of the plat- form men, who more than any others merited and should have received the favorable consideration of the board. How any fair-minded man could give the electrical workers, the stationary firemen and the con- struction workers an advance of 50 per cent, while allowing the platform men but 25, is difficult to under- stand. A careful reading of Judge Beatty's opinion shows that his main reasom for thus differentiating the cases of the platform _men and the other employes is that the platform men were working upder a com- tract which had mot expired at the time of the strike. But this question shoud not have been considered. At the opening session of the board on October 30, the attorneys for the company Insisted that the comtract, which they declared the company had mever violated, was conmtrolling, and that the board should first take up and determine whether it had been violated. This we denied and claimed that when the agreemént to arbitrate was entered into, the contract, so far as wages and hours were concerned, was waived by both sides, and was therefore out of the case, except as mere evidence. After argument the board took the mat- ter under advisement, and next day unanimously upheld our contention and decided that the only questions at lssue were wages d hours, regardless of the contract. We therefore went on with the case. Had the board mnot se decided we would have felt compelled to abandom the proceedings, for we admitted that there had beenm a comtract. During the course of the proceedings it was recognized and stated by Judge Beatty himself that the effect of the decision of the board upon this point was to exclude the contract from consideration, except by way of evidence. Now Judge Beatty denles that any such ruling was ever made by the board. The newspapers, however, which next day (Oectober 31) pfibll-hed full accou of the board’s proceedings, show that Father Yorke Is right and Judge Beatty wrong. And it is greatly to be regretted that the result in the case of the most de- serving men, the motormen and conductors, is made to depend upon Judge Beatty’s lapse of memory. It is also unfortunate that Judge Beatty should have gome out of his way to express his approval of acts that most impartial men will condemn. The United Railroads has been derelict in its duty to the public. Judge Beatty himself admits that the company's first duty was to the public, and he takes pains to say that this duty was punctiliously performed. He forgeis that we clearly established the company’s negligence. We showed that the MecAllister street, the Hayes street and the Castro street cable lines could all have been operated almost immediately after the fire, and that even if they could not have been, the company could have readily obtained plenty of ears with which to operate its electric lines. Jnfixe Beatty’s predilec- tions have inclined him to take a favorable view of the company’s actions since the fire. Though this is to be regretied, I am convinced that on the whole the result of the procecdings must be regarded as distinctly favorable to the mén, and the cause of labor has taken onme more step forward in the march-toward industrial emancipation. should naturally expect, is in bad condition and that the cars are in & worse condition. But | what need of testimony is there for any one | who has been compelled to ride in the cars To be a mere pussenger is positive torture but what must it be to.stand at the con: troller with the responsiblity of that mixed jumble of humanity upon your ‘mind, ‘or to be a_conductor and have. the very clothes torn oft back as you push and squeeze and fight your way through the sweltering mass to | collect fares? To condemn wen to ten hours | of this work 1s to my mind downright cruelty, which 5o opinions of officials about time tables | can excuse, and no plea of inconvenience to treat thelr employes today as If they were still drivers of horse cars. 1 attribnte to_ this cause the fact that the ! if compared with the amount and quality of the | to the insurance companies: and introduced work. done. what the parties to it considered a fair rate of wages for the period of two years ending on the 1st of May, 1907, I most respectfully submit that the contract is not incontrovertible evidence, or any evidence, as to the fairness of the rate of wages mentioned therein, or as to thie mental at- to the machinery necessary to the sum of $4500. such - wages. The majority opinfon lay on the fuct that the company did mot cause | he earthquake. snd therefore did mot impose | he new and arduous conditiops- under whick he men work. Whether the company imposed the conditions or not does not concern us here. Wh concerns us is that the conditiond exist. It kes no difference to me whether my land- lord burns down the house that I live in, of malice aforethought, or that it is burned down by chance, the fact remains that I am still without & house. The conditions which make an eight-hour day imperative exist today . in San Francisco wnd the reason why they exist does not mitigate them a single particle. But as a matter of fact, the statement that the company did mot impose the new. -condi- | particular stress | but its" existence. ruled out on the very first day that the arbi- | derstatement. trators met. We know nothing as to how or | United Raflroads clals why it was entered on. We have not weighed | cable machinery at Vals by it, and we b | what” the company what were the opinions of the me: But it does not require auy testim that to e a-.motorman or a coaductor less | wages than a common laborer cannot beé de- | tended. - Counsel for the company has striven to siow that the occupation of- & platform man is very low In the scale of labor. Even-if grant ‘everything that he alleges, he certain does not clalm, and no man of common sense will no direct evidence as to 5 to show | fected in much. less time. reasons: and . therefore. that- the reduction of. oluntary on its part. tions that bave caused this controversy is veri- | admit, that a condictor or a motorman is In the eble ouly in part. The main source of thejowest class of labor.- The motorman is pric- | * But as has been sald agaln and again, it was ong_continuation Gf the disagreeable circum- | tically an engineer; Li¢ contrals & great and com. | this reduction. of -the. rolling. stock. that abave stances which surround the carmen's work is all imposed. and continue o -impose the new | plicated piece of mechanism; It may. be that-it the shortage of cars. When I come to consider | is easy to learn how to do-it, but evervthing is the question of wages I will show that this|easy when it is learned. The engineer ia-chirge shortage of cars was freely and deliberately | of a locomotive: performs his work after a time caused by the company end that therefore in |mainly by instinct or Libit, even as the seasoned this respect, at least, if imposed unsupportable | captain of an oeean Wier directs his ship. of tbe company was entirely voluntary. the ‘majority report states distinetly that i conditions of the service and that they try to | Washington and Mason streets, and did not reach the. power-houses at Hayes street and Central avenue or McAllister street and Central avenue, In the case of the Valencia-street power-house, initial wages of the carmen are entirely too low | the proofs of loss given by .the United Raflroads The majority award, indeed, claims'| evidence show that there was no damage from that the contract {s “‘incontrovertible evidence of | the earthquake, and that the only damage by fire to operate the whole Market-street system was to a mere con- | trivance for keeping the cable tant and amounted 1 know there are those who hold that the high position California holds in the domain of artistic fiction will never be im- titude of the contracting parties in regard to | paired by the proofs of loss submitted to the- in- The board of urbitration knows | surance companles in consequence of the events notbing from the - testimony about the: contract {-of April 18, but 1 know, too, that the proofs of The contract was expressly | Joss from the fire certainly do'not suffer from un- When therefore we find that tie that the only loss to its cla street amounted to the justnéss or unjustness of the wages provided but $4500 I am justified in holding that it would | have cost much ess money to repair that damage thought on that matter: or | than to turn all the cable roads into electric sys- | tems, and that the repair. could have been ef- | For that reason it is cléar to me that when the United Railroads chose to run-the trolley cn | Market street it was acting freely for its own rollitig stock practically by one-half was entirely CABLE LINE EASILY RESTORED and more arduous conditions on the men. There- | fore, I hold. it to be proven bevond the. possi- bility of doubt that such imposifion on the part +1 ~ On'page 1513 of the testimony there is & ta-4 ble giving the classification of conductors. und motormen as regards years of service. it com- prises the 1413 men then in the eompany’s em- ploy. 1 have taken the trouble. to Wwork -out What these men earn under the Oakland rule and under the award in a ten-hour day. Under the Oakland rules they would - eirn $4507.10 and under the awrd $4554.20, giving | a difference in favor of- the Oakland system of | $222.90 a day or nearly 5 per cent. Hence the Onkiand rate is -mearly 5.per cent better. than this new San Francisco rate, which is claimed as_the highest extant. . Then we must remember iiat Oakland is n | an entirely normal condition. Every trace of | the earthquake hns long since disappeared. It was not scourged with fire. Its streets are mot ‘much to boast of, but still they look like | streets. Its rolling stock is being at least kept up Instead- of cut in Lalf. The popilation, it is true, is increasing rapidly, but even the increase is proceeding in a normal manner. Now, if an increase of wages which is nearly 5 per | cent greater than the award is given in Oakland without any demand on the part of the' men, but freely by the company, how can we consider the San Frantisco award just which s asked not only because of the general eircumstances that affect the whole bay region, but also he- cause of the s jal circumstances of a ity desolated and afflicted beyond any city of mod- ern times. As I bave already drawn out this opinion to an abnormal length, I will not consider the com- purison_of the sireet railway rates in_San ancisco with those in Eastern points. Every Californian kuows that all wages are higher Dere than In the Bast, and it is demonstrable from the evidence that in comparison with the wages received in ordinary conditions by other classes of workers, the carmén’s wages are not as high as those received beyond the Roek: | Beatty Justice Beatty in reply to Father Yorke says: The dissenting opinion of Father Yorke raises | 2 ‘question as to a_matter concerning which I had not_supposed there would be any contro- versy. He quotes and correctly quotes = deci- sion made by the board at its second session. | 1o the effect that the only matters to be decided by the board were fair rates of wages and | roper: hours of labor, which he construes to| Bave been s dectsion that the two-vear contract of January, 1905, was ruled out of the case for all purposes. AS the existence of that contract and its terms constituté one of the prineipal bases of my award in the case of the carmen, it is due to myself to set this matter right. It will be noticed that the decision as quoted makes no mention of the comtract, because ac- cording to his recollection of the proceedings at our first open_ session, the question then. ralsed | and taken under sdvisement by-the board was simply and solely whether the existence and terms of that contract were ‘to receive any con- sideration whatever. 1If his understanding and recollection on this point were not at fault, construction. of the decision would -be justified but be is mistaken in his recoliection, “and -the | fact that there s no stenographic report of our first session does not leave us without perfectly stisfactory record evidence as ‘to what did oceur. | in accordance with the preliminary dire of the board, each of the parties to the tration had made a formal Statement in writing of its claims or defense. These im analogy 1o | legal proceedings constituted the pleadings fn | the cases. Counsel for the respective parties did: nothing: more in _their. opening stafements than to comment upon and to explain to . the board the positions stated in thefr pleadings and to ask the board to. determine definitely | what, in-view of the agreement of arbitra and ‘thelr respective. complaints and were the precise issues to which the b must be: confined. This being so, a referenc the ‘pleadings will show what must have been the question submitted to the board and taken | ugder advisement at its opening session. RECORD IS. CITED | There ‘are four separate cases, of which it is.| only necessary for my present purposes {o- refer | to two: The case of the carmen and the case | of the electrical workers. The same .counsel | represented - all the -unfons and had put the | electrical workers in the first In his opening statement he enumerated the claims of the electrical workers, which included, among | other things, a-demand ‘that the number 0f ap- prentices should be limited and that they shouid | be lmited. as to the class of w o be. done by -them: To {llustrate my p i necessary to quote here the answer of the com- pany to this demand, which was as foilows: “‘Concerning the demands of the empio, the effect that but one apprentice shall be al- raction | in its K to ut it and gricvous bordens upon the backs of its| But these positions are digrified by the re- | “ithe com Imposed new and barder condi- | lowed to every four journeymen or a I | inen, “Now. when the effort Wwill not. cost & | spousibillty. that attaches to Shems by the care | tions on the men Hhey would have been fustified | thereof, and that tieir wages shall e fixed at | nickel, it refuses to stretch forth its little finger | thut must be exercised fn them and the Jjuds- | in morals, as in law, in quitting the employment |$2.00 per day in the beginning, to be.increased | o, gilévlate them, ton of the elghthoyr | TNt thAT must be displayed by those who hold | elther individually or as a body.”” ‘ws | thareafier ‘33 shown By heis complaint, i | 0 conclude this question of e -1 them. . Now, the motorman on. a street car is an company protests against being required to | day, 1 must dissent from the action of | engitior ana a captdin on 8 -small scale. e | 1ol it C e I e e ea s | bitrate and. contends that this honorabls arbi: board in shelving it. The univer®al eight-hour duy is coming as surely 48 the day follows night. The demand for an eight-hour day | care, and his judgment muse be mnlways ready the working world- is like ~the :demand | and “sure. - Is it. possible by any arguments to for representative government or manhood suf- | lring ‘down such a man. to the class of. utterly frage in the political world. 1t may be refused | uaskitied labor—is it. just to reduce him below for a time; it canuot be permanently depled. | the - wages that. the -pocrest. workman iu. -the SHORT DAY HERE TO STAY ets receives? : 4 UNFAIR TO CARMEN |bas on hisshoulders. the responsibility of his that the demand for better terms had a fe pussengers’ safety; he must exercise constant | tlon in the civil resumption of traffic -znd the co t emplorment of the men should be taken, deal with the uaruly. crowds : c: to possess any cogency.- In the first pla The eight-hour_ d slready bere =nd 1t is : - decisto Stay. v in San F has-not been proven that traffic was resumed | to decids, and that the terms the decision hate o sbay- - M n San Fran- | And then the ‘argiment that more than any | o bit quicker' on. the old cuble systems by | are i exact fesponse fo the- que e x'i“wm‘.f“n b ¥ the rest | other renders it fmpossible for me to -regard |:ghanging them into trolley lines than if @s muc And the could not possibly of the carmen |ug o fair wage thé smounts awakded by the »se who work- ten e few and far be- lmajority of the board of arbitration is -the | going. ~In the second place the men went back | thah’ this sage quoted ~ Iiterall tween. Just s it was fmpossible to have | inauimons action of ke~ board of arbitration | fo work mot as objects of eharity, but as wage. | answer of company. Counsel i nn‘»dh}smm that s *;'l";‘:,;',-"‘g;;f,}’ :Iu:l; itseif. " In..this decision- there-are two welghts | earners, 'and the profit, of their labor to the | pany. was merely insisting in his oral presenta 50 i o ha; conomic 3 3 . 3 impossible H % . . munity bRt 13 Lalf elght houts A0-BAIE mors. | ona s, Lok, us Lo€ the Riet fuete. e The carmen will not rest content, and shonld | uot rest content, until-their condifions of work | ses and one for the platform-men. In the first case_ the armature winders get an Increise of 43 per cent ou theif wages before the. strike, the men themselves. re as good as those of thelr fellows. It seems | ¢ye station shopmen 45 per cent, the operators | lines and where the traffic was and is heaviest | Ing beyond the questions of hours and wages. to me it would be the Dart u{_xvludum o] from 43 per Teut to 52 per cént, and the whole | and the conditions far more -deplorable, and; |-And that position was sustained our unan- | end the slow agouy of lonz Lours and give the | clusy an average of 46.41 per cent. The com- | Jastly, If the argument had any merit in the | imous decision on the following day. It fs ‘true | ) men what they are eutitled to, the-elght bours| mon jaborers get an increase of 50 per cent on | days of the bread line, it ceased to bave merit | that our decision bore upon other demands than a their wages before- the strike, the handy med | when that crisis bad' passed. But the hard- | the particular demands of the eclectrical workers INCREASE IN WAGES The carmen bive usked for a minimum- rate of §2 a day or 37% cents an bour, instead of the graduated sci 5 cents an hour for the | get an increase of 52 per cent and the pavers an increase of 75 per cent. making in all for the average percentage of increase of the con- struction workers' wages 61.35 per cent. within reasonabie expectation. first-year men, 201; cents for the second-year | The weter tenders receive an increase of 50 | tage of geiting work during the od imme- ul?d by the Carmen's Union in tie letter men and cents for the third-year men. The | per cent and the wipers au increase of 56% per | diately following the fire—a period for which |of August majority of the board grants an increase of 6| cent, making an average of 531 per ceat. the men ask no extra compensation—should be | the company, it was for the bourd 1o deter- cen™ an hour to the firsi-year men, or 31 cents; | The total average of increase, therefore, for | a barrier to thelr demand for their just dues|mine whother there had been any such breacl. an increase of 5% cents to the second-year men, | all the ciasses comprehended under the first | during the fifth, the sixth, the tenth or even | and he contended that if it Lad not violated | or nts, and an inecrease of 5ly nts to the | three cases §s 53.7 per cent, while the average | the twelfth month after the ashes grew cold. thelr contract, it could and would refuse ml third-year n r 33 cents an-hour. In other | for the carmen is but 22 per cent. . On the face On page 18 the majority report minimizes the | waive any of their rights under it. This led toa | an_incresse of 20 per cent. 1 cannot sgree with that award During the bearlng of the case the question of the gradusted scale came up for discussion once or twice. The carmen made clear their position. They were looking for a minimum wage and if the company wished to graduate the men abov that minimum, that was the company’s affal It is not necessary here to enter on an examina. tion of the reasons for or against such a device, Suffice it to say that the employers generally prefer it, as it gives them a means to induce men to remain in their service and also & means to punish those who may be inclined to neglect. The principle of the graduated=scale is that the longer an employe Is in service the more wages Le gets. CORPORATION FAVORED The decision of the majority of #he board of arbitration retais the appearance of the gradu- | words, the first-year men get an increase of 24| of it, and considering only the fact that the | increase of traffic on the company’s cars and | rather warm discussion toward the close of per cent, the eecond-year men get an increase of | four cases como. before the same board under | states. that only one-fourth more passengers | the session, in the course of which counsel for | not guite 22 per cent and the third-year men get | the same agreement to arbitrate, dealing with | have been carried per car mile, and that in | the carmen used the expression to which Father | | the same ecity and the same period of time, it wouyl scem improbable that the rates of award should be separated by such an enormous dif- ference. But when we recollect the grounds on which the awards were made and claimed, the award in the carmen's case grows still more unintelli- gible. There were two great reasons for giving the raise, first, the increase in the cost of living; second, the increase in the burden of toil. Now the increase In the cost of living bhas come like the rain on the just and unjust alike. The car- men feel it the same as the electricians, but with the few exceptions which I have already mentioned, the carmen have borne alone the lncrel;le:l bl:;.den of tgll. As I bave shown in cousidering the case of the eight-hour day, thelr labor has been substantially affected by our changed conditions and still coutinues to be affected. Yet instead of this being a motive to give them a raise above the other raises, cent. nalla of doubt that lcle:xltlifl(' economics, and I out with rigorous exactitude. It is pleasant to know that the prosaic fession of railrosding 18 not compatible with tic temperament. But Still that {t had before the fire and it is quite as many passengers. If that mean that each car is doing double don’t know what it does mean. trie lines and gives the company a certificate | b Sropotition fo which I cannot give asset. of good character in that regard. I must say that I never thought that it was within the province of the board of arbitration to consider the right or the wrong of the company's action after the fire. I must, therefore, not only dis- ‘just entered the service; It sends the men who | Lave labored long and faithfully away empty with only 20 per cent. There is, it is true, Biblical authority for giving those who worked | only one hour as much wages as those who bore the burden of the day and the heats, but I must ber of passengers carried. crease at all. confess that 1 can't find in the Bible or out of | sent from the conclusions arrived at., but 1 & o it any authority for giving more to those who|must also solemnly protest against the action | [2KiD§ care of a car reasonably filled. But the e Mg o o 'the masority of the ‘board 1a. mine vn woun | testimony shows that even before the fire some ment in a decision as an a for th tions SE°a: corporation which have Saued serioss St ferences of yh‘flfl In the community and are not yet out the pale of controversy. COMPANY RECALCITRANT B e certain hours, and since lines are at a saturation point. nearl time. Once the car is reasonably men this 24 per cent to strive to minimize _the fact that common unskilled ‘labor ‘s getting high- er wages than the carmen. The construction men get $2.50 for an eight-hour day—that is to © all ed itself :that the strike was not only justified. but oinda- well as in the moral law. The arguinent made on page 18 that the rapld Te- offset to. the. “‘undoubted. hardship of having: to rriéd by the fewer cirs i service’” ‘does not appear to me energy had been employed in getting the cables company was ' certainly’ much greater then to ‘In the “third place, the’ argument, affects ouly the. men on the old cable roads apd does not affect the former electric ships did mot pass and have not passed, and from the “outlook do not appear likely to pass . It is therefore entirely untenablé to suppdse that the advan- any ecase the increase has not exceeded 30 per 1 bave great respect for car miles, ¢ hours, tables, disgraws and all the paraphe: have no the calculations in the miles of figures embodied in the testimony are worked 1 listened with great respect to the testimony of one of the company’s officlals in which he stated that ench car was carrying only one and a fraction more passengers per mile than Wfore the fire. pro- the a_plain, un- maginative man there is one fact that stares me in the face, and it is this: The company has only half the number of cars in operation does” 20k ork 1 is true that starting with an empty car the la- bor of the men dces not increase with the num- It woul also be true to say that up to certaln point it does not in- 1 do not understand that the men ask any increase for the labor tuvolved in lines reached the polut of saturation at fire nearly all the the "fl? addifional passenger renders the work more dlf- ficult for the men and the increase of work rap- tration board should eliminate and disregard from - the - complaints of the: unlons respectively | all claims in respect ‘to . apprentices. ~“The | [ound of this protest is_ it the scope of ar itration is limited to questions of wages and | hours and Includes nothing else.” It will be seen that -this auswer to one of the.| demands of the electrical workers raised the | precise question that the board was 1 upon | it dencé of the question taken tion of the case upon the position stated in its of the arbitration .was | dnswer; that the scope | defined and lmited hy the agreement to .arbl trate and tbat our jurisdiction extended to noth- here mentioned and it has this much to do with the carmen’s case. Counsél for the eompany reiterated in his oral statement taken In his answer that since the srievance the position i | 18 was a breach of the contract by | Yorke refers, to the effect that if the position of the company in regard to the contract was sustained there would be nothing to arbitrate. But he combatted the position, contending that it made no difference whether the company had violated the contract or not, it had nevertheless | agreed to arbitrate the question of hours and | wages, and If the arbitrators so decided, to modify its terms in those particulars. REVERSES HIS STAND He contended, it is true, that the contract ! had been violated by the company, and it has been his position from the beginning to the | end of the case, that lts breach of contract | gave the men a clearer right to a larger com- | pensation than that provided in - the existing scale, as he terms {t in bis answer. But Le ulso contended that, irrespective of any breach of the contract, the company. by !fs agreement to arbitrate, bad conceded such modificalon of its terms as the arbirtators migit hold to be just. | This controversy, somewhat warmly conducted | toward the end Of our session, perhups gave rise to the impression on the part of the re- | porters present (if, as stated by Father Yorke, | We were so quoted in the next morning’s pa- | pers), that the question taken under advise- ment was whether the two-year contract was to be at ail considered in the case. It fs| clear from a reading of our declsion as quoted that such was not the question. Not » word Is | sald about the contract nor the effect of its e Jolat. decided._and_the whole poln It e whole it | mm&ordndwmmwerolmemm. y above quoted to the demands of the elec- | workers regarding apprentices. We de- | cided, in other words, that our jurisdiction was limited by the agreement to arbitration of the It - o t3trips the increase of question of Bours and wages. ! e i s the whab Working | 1, A8 far 5 the subject matter of this arbitration, Tast i “somge ‘cases. the DIathorm men have io| LS 0 what matters are to be coneidered in | 1 cente, Tu wo eighthout du the mau working | 1y concerned, the question that we have to con-| give up to work at all. That such a con | determining what are falr wages and proper | B i “the same tiie make only | Sider are the fact that the changes were made | dition of in teached. tot bow and again, | Bours, the decislon e s silent as e Erave. ' By e " 75 but frequently, is plain from the evidence, go|and It would argue a singular ineptitude o | Under the award, handy men, that is to say that T unnol ‘bellere ihet as the mejorlty so'| fhe part’of the mitrtors fo suppose that | port holds the increase in the burden ity of instances been comparativel common laborers of & certain limited experience. 9 erefore eince it Is evident that the gt 34% cents an Bour; the threeyear platform | cents.” In other words, a man | ot oy removed from the condition of & [meBt common unskilled lsborer can make in an eight- hour dey $2.76; & platform man who has been of the e lirectly produced the and on account of the voluntary action of of all. 1n- crease of actually exists, both account Condition 4 - question and ended by filing a decision in which the question sub- | itted is not mentioned or decided. It is also | true that it was neither necessary nor proper | to_decide at any gtage of the case what effect a breach of the they had taken twenty-four hours to cousider | a mit | canot agree that the amounts spect: | to_arbitrate was the f { sgries of letters and oral neotiations. constitut- i it -is - only | o sideration of the fal hardships in grea’ voluntarily im by the company on fae from .the -increases granted at other oyt majority award represent a fair hovr's wage fot & fair Bour's, work. DISSENT IS UNPLEASANT It has given me Do pleasure to write this dis- senting opinion. 1 should have much preferred | to have.come to some agreement on the platform tmen ‘with my distinguished colleagues as we did in the other cases. To Chief Justice Beatty and to Major Me- Langhlin I tender my sincere thanks for theif unfailing kindness and - courtesy. It is with real sorrow that I differ from gentlemen whose opinion I so much respect, but every man must bear his own burden and stand or fall to hiy own master. I have no prejudices against cor- porations of in favor of muaieipal [y poliey would be to treat such bodies with laTge generosify, but to expect large gemerosity in return. Noblesse oblige. The old order is rapldly changing. and it behooves the directors of such corporations to read the signs of the times. The day is past whem the relations between employer and employed can be lated solely by bargain. There are other and higher elements and nature will not be denfed. I had hoped that our labors would give this sorely tried city a guarantee of that ce she needs s0 much. 1 regret that my opes are not realized. I eanmot comvince my- self that the advance given the platform menm meets the requirements of justice, and where there 18 not justice there cannot be peace. T cnn do mo more than bear my testimony. Lib- eravi animam meam. I bave delivered my soul. Replies Spiritedly to Dissenting_Opinion fice the statement of Father Yorks that If e ad considered that the contract imposed moral obligation upon the men, or any obligation, he would not have wasted time sitting on the board, et This statement marks the wide and ical difference between his position and mine. always considered that any agreement, ¥ eitered into, between parties sui ju- did impose a moral obiigation upon -bath, even though such obligation was. incapable of le- gal enforcement. Therefore I have from the be- ginning considered the question as to the alleged breach of the twe t by the company as highly mat e, for the reason o fon that the terms of the con- if mot violated. were an element to ba idered in determining what modification it to be made. But' if I had been of a different opinion re- garding this matter I could still not have con- sidered the arbitration useless. for the consent of the comipany to. modify the contr: regardless | of any question of vioiatign by either party, eon- ferred* on the board. a very rtant favetion to.be exercised in the public interest, as weil as in the interpst of tie partles Father Yorke mot agree with Mr. Calhoun’s letter of September ad that the return of the mien’ to work im: tely upon its reeeipt amounted to a mw waiver of all elaims of breaches of the eontr nd that for that rea- son, among others, Calboun says nothing about the contract and the agreement of arbi- tration says notl: the coutract. It will be noticed sinfon, not antleipating any contz the eonstrmetion of the . eont Calhoun’s let- ter.. 1. bave the frst and auoted resent pany and the Mayor of the city. the Th 1 outcome of the whole ifig this correspondence, and it is at least a legal rule of const thrt the dnal agreement Is to be construed ce to the previous cor- 18 failed to con- of the series im ¥ refers to the con- al obligation. EXTRA MEN 1 discover nothing In my opinfon inconsistent with the statement of Father Yorke that the presentatives of the carmen made it plain for an absolute wage of three that they three doi- whether leeway,"” aud short of “lee- e proportionately more wiieh Mr. tract and REGARDING sists on its me ns rests any of the demands of the men, I ean see is inconsistent with that’ undel It is sought nding. invalidate what is said re- garding the hardship to the extra men em- ployed by the - raliroad involved in any uu- necessary projongatfon of the time that th must work for less argument that the men Hving paid, n lving wages, by the company could pay extra as electrlenl apprentices are Ing that there may be no work v to do beyond a shect run which falls fo bis lot. 2 the company is under obligations to for_time .whieh ¢ en to it and there is no = extra men <1 y hard labor dur- day and who is given hy aborer's award iring the to promotion in an employment der and esperfence. in order to see of himself, his fellow-workmen and tie public. - om_reproached for Assuming unwarranted ity with the motives that have con- rm men in choosing a long run s that their motive was to in- nings. and 1 venture the opinion motite will continue to operate of 53 should be fixed 1 think that it is Landly in expres this_opinion the men that are “mereiy avaricions.” I intend nothing of the kind. 1 merely - judged them the standard of the best men and the most useful citizens n every \ calling and_profession that T have ever known, even if 3 minimum w: for an eight-hour day. fair, however, to s: that I am tellin; men who have voiuntarily worked laborfousiy and through lomg hours. in order to place thom- selves and their families in a_position of se- eurity and iudependence by increasing their earnings beyond the beyond it as tb iving. sad as much attention and ap- e by plication to business or labor. PERCENTAGES DISTORTED As to the complaint that the graduating seals 2dopted in the award. gives the three-year men a smaller flat raise than the ome-year mem, it seems to me that the ropresentatives of fthe carmien have little reason to complain of the diserimination. Their demand was for a flat wagze of $3 for all the men. which for eight hours’ work would bave given an Incresse of a dollar a day to first-rear men and only eighty cents to three-rear men, a difference of twenty cents for eight hours’ labor in favor of the new men. Our award makes % difference of eniy five cents for eight hours’ labor. A very serious complaint as to the fairness of our award is based upon a statement of per- centages of inerease of pay awarded to the members of the different unions. The disparity in this respect Is not nearly so great as is made | to appear by a statement of percentages based upon the sssumpticn that we have made a re- duction in hours to men employed and paid by the day or montk, from ten to eight hours. No_ such reduction was intended by the hoard and none such 5 understood. We understood that all employes of the company, working b¥ the day or month, had a nine-hour day, and that thejr time was sbortened only oue bour instead of two. Upon this basis the states_the increase to armature winders as 43 per cent. On my basis it i3 28 per cent. And the same disparity between my estimate and Father Yorke's exists in all other cases. The time at my disposal does not admit a full review of Father Yorke's opinion. 1 have noticed only a few of those points which I deem the most important, and only desire to add tbat in one respect I must admit a mistake in that all the cable power houses of the company were destroved by the fire. 1 bad Hayes and McAllister er houses. ting this mistake, I still see no reason to my view that the company’s course.in cable lines into electric lnes interests of the pudlic and that were carried ont with commendable promptitude. That ecertainh opinion at the time, I bring it out sccording to the rules of the game. y ressonsble man ht to work. whether at | wi e United Raflroads, who has | SSS&TF to get new cars. ~company in reducing the number of cars, I be- tract by the company would | public officials author! Fie ‘stufies wnd Gouls nd Tails, and sinifos | puycical work or mental work. When 1 .;,..‘tvf..'."'."’..,’o:mu“”o‘?m‘i lives of passengers and | Were with that leve that strict justice would demand that ‘he | have upon the question of wages and hours. the public :..h'}.u,_ That and_geais and falls over and over, sometimes of work 1 mean work, mot playing &t work| accountability for the company’s. money, can | 304 itode” which the majority report| carmen should Sageive anineresse of w It might bave been entirely proper. but was | eversthing as wisely as it might coming 0 the very verge of the solution, some- | or dewdling or dresming or being busy at 4o | only make $2.64. 1 cannot concelve by what | Dredieates of the actions of the company neither ond that of other classes of labor instead of | MOt necessary then to decide. as we have now | dome in view olubnrnfi events, may be ad- {mes preaking down almost ai the outset. But |ing notilug - Indeed.:under the present con | process of reasoming such an award is made and the test| nor experience justifies me in bellev- below’ them. - decided, that irrespective of any breach of mitted without impeachment of this statement. if he perseveres the solution s his. It is | ditions of the city, | am convinced that eight|] ecomsider myself highly justified in dissenting|!N8- It Is now two months since the new cars| The assertion has been made that the rates | the contract the company, had consented to | It rarely happens that persons acting im a sud- bound to come. hours is s much as the average man can work™| most strenuously from it. -mmummm.yflguuummwnn awarded the tform men are absolutely the | modify its terms in respect {to wazes and hours. | den and great emergency do the very best that = Io the same way the time-tables on street car | We who are in the midst of the destruction| O1i course, there is no doubt in my mind that -v‘mndbhnemm .| highest rates for this class of work in any part -‘"flm'w‘m‘mldeclfl«!. subsequent experience proves they might bave lines are being continuslly dealt and sbuffied. |and devastation canuot Teslize that we are |the platform men are suffering as thelr drawn between the itation | of the world, and Major McLaughlin in bhis| In this 1t seems not improper to no- | done. arranged and .~ Time tables are ot | doing work that bLas seldom been done in the | wages from the manner in which thelr tion | of the Market-street system the rehabilita- calls attention to their superfority over | Jike the lawe of the Medes and Persians, which | bistory of the world and bever on such & |has evolved. If our modern street car tion of the California-street in my opiion, ‘new Oakland rates. There are two elements A might mot be . _On the contrary, the |scsle. . Lisd been created at a single stroke and in | does” not hold good. There is in tes- | in the present demand for higher compensation ° - & - testimony sbows tuat in San Prauclsco at |“"We are revuilding s mew cits before the | operation at once, like automobiles, 1 do mot | timony about the condition of the California-| that have to be kept distinct. First, the mor- < they bave beep put up and taben down so fasi | ashes of the 0ld city are et cold. We are|think that the company would dréam of en- | Street line and we do not know what were the| mal reasons that would cause the granting of lssen ln r 1 er a es that the men bed nol time to pick thelr runs. | doing it in the midst of discomforts that mever | trusting that valusble and complicated plece of | conditions that retarded its resumption of busi-|a higher rate, und, secondly, the present abnor- | The testimony lso shows that in street raflroad. | fell to the lot of cif machinery, the modern street car, to one | ness. There is mich in the about the | mal conditions of San Frapcisco which demand | ng the bours of the platform men bave within | life is practically t & mochanic, who would be $4 | condition of the cable lines of the United Ra'l-| Increased com tion, Though the decision e v i the last two or three decades been reduced to are stowed or . But, unfortunately for t- | roads, and it all to show that its rehabilita- declares that the award is only for 3 sixteen bours o tweive, 1o eleven, o ten, and | Sy shacks form wen, tem bae evolved from the old | tion would not Bave Deen the impossible task | the, period between September 6. 1906, and u g : immediately after they were eight. | weather-| horse ear cable mmug—u& % . period certainly is abnormal < wh‘mm&fl_-fifl'lfihfl-“:fi to at night? tem and the monster cars now In operation. examination of the testimony does not jus- mwmmmnmw,g, — 2 xumt!‘w-m.lhmmamuw REASON FOR LOW WAGE tify me in assenting to the statement made in| those abuormal conditions. That Is evident g yeur. and why the ten-bour claim immor- | whom Lss B e e m‘fil,'“‘wdw-u S 8 fomparieon with the Oakland rates 10| The following is Father Yorke's re- | counsel for the company begin to eliminate the- The fact that time tables are perfectible ana ?.e'm%fa conductor, and the only employe was a driver, mufl-mmfl%“mn true that thote rates ere not In c-um..nu: Jjoinder to Justice Beatty's reply to the | Iticrant maiter. In my recollections the are being contipually perfected i suffcient | men. Snee sttating ied | who axt on 4 stool and let powers ml:ammoq-gg::,m.% g g nawer argument mude majort t very duy meander slong at their own sweet wiil. The | ruins ‘installeq for thet s Teport. agaiost the elgbi-nour Gay. On Dage 1 | plactorm men of ibe Cuited Raiireads have | w A A T I B S T e e : [ e et s B B ey . Sy i S Jhre o st i e whes B o S e % matter Ut L iy S e T e i e s pie WORK MORE IRKSOME ogne. < hm“mm"fi“hnm ETod el fre. Z—iw':a s 2nd then 5 at the ca that i waipiaiped st present—that is 0 say, | The testimony shows that the romdbed, as we | able n-ut-huu-mnv uwfl&-lfl% R o] the board, and m_’m’.hluu:tu