Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 307, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 January 1918 — TO SLICE PAY OF RAILWAY HEADS [ARTICLE]

TO SLICE PAY OF RAILWAY HEADS

USELESSLY SPENT DOLLARS TO BE CHIPPED FROM PAY ROLLS.

Director General -McAdoo, of "the United States railroad) plans to slash millions of uselessly spent dollars from the pay of that fine. This is part of* the general economy program which he will eventually* put into effect. Every atom of extra gilding on the railroad dollars sign will be chipped off. - Fabulous railroad presidents’ salaries will come tumbling down or disappear altogether; millions paid to elaborate staffs of freight solicitors will be lopped off; expensive passenger traffic departments will be done away with, and duplication of expensive administrative forces at great terminals will be stopped. “Rigid economics will be effaced as soon as I get my hand more firmly on the problem',” said the director general. Until then it -is useless to speculate on precisely wliat I shall do further than to say this great enterprise will be run with a minimum of expense and a maximum adequate service.” 4 Financial geniuses elected presidents of railroads for their moneygetting and money-handling powers will be useless now that the government control makes the roads’ credit perfect. Many of these men will either Step out of the railroad game for the duration of the war or become “dollar-a-year” men for the government. Other officials made unnecessary by government control later will drop out or be transferred to other work. General and division officers of American roads, during 1916 received $53,650 in pay checks, a little more than 2 per cent of the total of all roailroad employes’ salaries paid during the year. All other employes received $1,412,579,190, or an average of $868.69 per person last year. Big railroad presidents’ salaries range from $25,000 to $75,000.F0ur are reported to receive $75,000 each and ten others $50,000 each. Several million dollars tied up in expensive national railroad advertising campaigns and other ’ millions spent by the individual roads in merchandising themselves to the public will be clipped off when the director general gets around to it. It is not likely that any large number of clerks will be put out of jobs by reorganization of the terminal administrations under the government unification plan because office staffs have' been reduced by calls to war service already. If additional employes are needed, women will be employed wherever possible to release men for duty with the colors.