Fred Arthur McKenzie

“ Many railway employees were convinced that since the Government was now virtually in control of their lines their demands for increased wages should be met. The rapid rise in the cost of living had made it obvious, after a time, that something must be done. The railway companies felt that, from their point of view, any rise in wages, even though wholly or mainly made by the Government, might have the serious result of putting on them a heavy burden to be borne after the war and after private ownership was resumed. ”

“ If a substantial increase on the pre-war rates is found necessary—as many think it will be—how are the companies to meet it? Are they to be allowed to maintain higher passenger rates or to increase freight charges? If so, will these higher charges mean increased revenue? It is an axiom of management that low fares mean heavy traffic. Here is a matter which will demand the most careful consideration of both railway managements and the men's leaders.
The third problem is that of the future of women's labour on the railways. ”

“ In the great rush of work to be done when the world is to be repaired, when ruined countrysides are to be rebuilt, great cities re-equipped, and the waste of war made good, there will be for a time at least a demand for labour greater even than the supply afforded by a gradually demobilised army. ”

“ The absence of vibration, the ease with which cases could be taken in and out, the facilities for carrying patients to the treatment room, and the arrangements for the staff excited the greatest admiration in the numerous places where the train was put on show before it was brought into service. Not that the Brighton Railway was exceptional in this. All the great English railway works devoted their utmost skill and care to the ambulance trains, and each pitted itself against the others in providing the best for our wounded men. ”

“ A minor economy introduced early in the war was an agreement by the railways to accept each other's "paid" and "to pay" stamps and labels on parcel traffic. This saved very much labour, and it led to a further development in January, 1917, when the Railway Executive Committee announced that from a given date "the carriage charges for all descriptions of traffic for conveyance by passenger train or other similar service must be paid by the sender at the forwarding station." The whole system of bills and accounts for passenger goods traffic was thus swept away. ”

“ The trade unions pressed for a definite understanding about the wages the women were to receive, and further asked for assurances that the employment of women in capacities where they were not formerly employed was an emergency action arising out of circumstances created by the war, and would not prejudice in any way the undertaking given by the railway companies as to the re-employment of men who had joined the Colours, on the conclusion of the war. The pay of women in grades in which they were not engaged in August, 1914, was fixed at the minimum pay of the grade. ”

“ Co-operation has proved to be better than cut-throat competition. In the old days the Railway Clearing House at Euston provided the machinery for a limited amount of co-operation, but one dissentient could often hold up great reforms. The Railway Executive Committee of to-day is almost certain to develop into a permanent central body which will act as the coherer, the organiser, and the Supreme Court of Appeal among railways themselves, when rival schemes threaten conflict. This central body will promote economy of effort. ”

“ These rapid rises in the wages paid to the men came in for much criticism. It was pointed out that the increase of 1916 was nearly equal to wiping out the dividends on the ordinary stock. The Railway Magazine declared: "Under no other system but State control would a war bonus be paid on an all-round basis alike to lads of eighteen years of age and the oldest employee, and single and married men placed on the same plane, no matter what may be their financial responsibilities or comparative wages." ”

“ Hundreds of clerks had been employed at the Railway Clearing House at Euston, London, in dissecting payments covering different lines, so that each line should have its proper share. This work was no longer required. The vast amount of competition maintained before the war for traffic at once ceased. British railways, particularly those competing with others for the business of particular towns, had maintained staffs of canvassers not only for freight, but even for passenger traffic. ”

“ In the early stages of the war the British had relied mainly for the transport of their goods in France on the service of large numbers of powerful motor wagons. Experience proved that while a motor service might answer as a temporary measure for a comparatively small body of men, it was impossible to provide for very large armies by road traffic. ”

“ The very railway cars were built to a size that could be employed for transporting the maximum number of men. Goods trucks were planned so as to be suitable when the moment came for the carriage of guns and war material.
The British railways were privately owned, and were built solely for commercial purposes. The control of the principal lines was divided between forty companies. These maintained only a minimum of co-operation among themselves, and wherever they ran through the same territory there was keen rivalry. ”

“ The responsible men on our railways recognise that the problems in railway management and control raised by the war will not altogether come to an end when the war is over. A new era has begun in railway management, and it will be impossible to go back completely to pre-war conditions. ”

“ It will prevent extravagant and excessive competition, and it will, if wisely guided, hold the scales evenly between the triple claims of the railway proprietors, the railway employees, and the general public.
The second problem is that of wages. Practical railwaymen maintain that under normal conditions it will be impossible to pay, when the companies emerge once more from Government control, anything like the war bonus of 15s. per week per man now received. Any attempt to revert to the pre-war wages would probably plunge us into a labour war. ”

“ Bonar Law, speaking officially in the House of Commons, said that the Government agreement with the railway companies, notwithstanding the grant of the war bonus to railway employees, had "involved no financial loss, but probably some gain." When we contrast the working of the railways under Government supervision with the working of the British shipping independently, the gains of the Government control become evident. ”

“ No journey which is NOT of REAL URGENCY should be undertaken, and the public are warned that the passenger train service during the Christmas Holidays will be greatly reduced in comparison with previous years, and that the Railway Companies cannot undertake to CONVEY PASSENGERS to ANY PARTICULAR DESTINATION. The Military Authorities propose to restrict the leave of soldiers stationed in this country, and, in the interests of the nation, civilians should regard themselves as under a like restraint. ”

“ Among the most important economies in handling traffic was, first, the establishment of the common user of railway companies' open goods wagons. Under the old system the wagon received loaded by one company from another had to be promptly returned to the owning line, even though there was no freight for it on its return. Under the common user arrangement it became available for loading in any direction, thus reducing the haulage of empty vehicles to a minimum. This system of pooling luggage cars came into force on January 2, 1917. ”

“ Women have been found such efficient railway servants that they are certain to be retained. Many branches of railway employment before the war exclusively held by men will, a few years hence, be wholly or almost wholly in women's hands. ”

“ Working with depleted staffs under war conditions, they have enabled England to move millions of men and millions of tons of munitions with the utmost rapidity and with an entire absence of confusion. They have met to the full every demand. ”

“ It was a matter of special pride to all the railway men concerned-and we general managers give credit for the feat to the efficiency of our disciplined staffs—that practically every train without exception came in to scheduled time. ”

“ This rise in wages was not peculiar to the railways, but was general in industry. The railwaymen under the war labour regulations were not to leave their employment for other work. It was felt that they could not reasonably be expected to continue under far lower wages than other men in allied industries in the same districts. ”

“ At first women were not granted a war bonus; but in November, 1916, it was arranged that women of eighteen years of age and over should be given a bonus of 3s. a week and those under eighteen years of age 1s. ”

“ Booking clerks, head office staff, ticket collectors, attendants in dining-cars, were in nearly every case men. But the shortage of men and the desire to release as many as possible for service with the Colours caused the introduction of women workers early in 1915. The experiment was a great success. Women were employed on an ever-growing scale, not only for purely clerical duties, but for manual work of many kinds. ”

“ That an area producing less coal than suffices for its own need should not send any portion of its output to other areas. That an area producing more coal than it requires for consumption within the area itself should only distribute to adjacent or convenient areas. ”

“ This shortage of labour quickly grew into one of the most serious issues. The companies had no desire to keep back recruits from the Army, but they realised that it was essential for the welfare of the nation that the railways should be maintained in an efficient manner and be prepared to meet any military demands which might be placed on them. ”

“ At the time of the outbreak of war the railway companies and the men's unions—the National Union of Railwaymen and the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen—were engaged in a controversy on the question of wages. ”

“ Soldiers on leave from the front will be given a preference over other passengers.
The increase in passenger fares did not apply to workmen's tickets, season tickets, traders' tickets, or zone tickets, nor to the local traffic in towns. Moreover, shortly afterwards the Board of Trade announced that the increase of 50 per cent. would not apply to tickets issued to relatives desiring to visit wounded soldiers or sailors in hospitals, on producing the hospital authority to do so. The rise was generally borne with equanimity, but it caused some protests. ”

“ It was particularly impossible to bring forward with sufficient rapidity the enormous quantities of shells required and the numerous heavy guns without the use of properly built railroads. The companies could not well manufacture afresh the rails, locomotives, and rolling stock necessary, or educate outside men to operate them in France. To meet this situation large sections of line were torn up in England and sent over to France, and every spare locomotive and spare bit of rolling stock was also sent over. ”

“ The railways under Government direction kept freights even, directed their operations on an organised plan, gave undue profits to no man, and were worked for the sole purpose of benefiting the country. ”

“ It is always difficult to reduce wages, whatever the conditions may have been under which they are raised.
On February 13, 1915, terms of settlement were arranged. A weekly bonus was to be paid to all wage-earning employees of eighteen years old and upwards engaged in the manipulation of traffic; all whose standard rate of wages was under 30s. a week were to receive a weekly bonus of 3s., and those earning 30s. ”

“ The companies have promised that men who have left them to serve with the Colours will be reinstated on their return in positions equal to those they left. That promise must be kept, and kept to the full. But, unfortunately, many of the men will never return. ”

“ Occupants of the companies' houses would not be disturbed, and when the men returned positions would be found for them on the railways equal to those they formerly occupied. The general plan adopted was to make a grant to augment the income of the wife and family to at least four-fifths of the man's standard wage. ”

“ It was estimated that the plan would effect a saving in railway transport of not less than 700 million ton miles annually. The scheme was based on four main issues:—
(1) That consumption of coal should take place as near the producing point as possible;
(2) That in view of the superior facilities offered by the main traffic lines the movement of traffic should follow these routes wherever possible;
(3) That the movement of coal should, as far as possible, be in well-defined directions—north to south, north to south-east, north to south-west, east to west ”

“ They would all the time have a vast amount of military traffic to handle—the transference of troops, the carriage of munitions, the assembling of different sections of war material. Simultaneously with this great increase of work, they had a very serious reduction of staff. ”

“ William Forbes, of the London, Brighton, and South Coast; Sir Guy Granet, of the Midland; Sir A. Kaye-Butterworth, of the North-Eastern; Mr. Donald A. Matheson, of the Caledonian; Sir Robert Turnbull, of the London and North-Western; and Mr. A. Watson (assistant to general manager) , Lancashire and Yorkshire. The secretary was Mr. Gilbert L. Szlumper. Under the central body were groups of committees, each made up of railway experts. The War Office and the Director-General of Transport were in touch with the Central Committee. ”