0KESHT5WS LEADERS
PAGE THKF.r,'
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1*
TRUTH ABOUT RAILROADS
V. Why Piecework Was Abolished BITTER CONTEST
On Railroads During Federal Control 1,1 "i,m,n ni"
A Case for Mediation
Ly NELL BRINKLEY
copyright. Int. Feature Service. Inc.
lifter an extensive lnve tlRation J'ov- <>t|l ,.(„ltHllu>ll Sllrll practices
erlng a period 01 month*' In «ilch i „„ th!, 0„ul(I hl. ov(,ri„oked by
u comparison of the results obtained j (lfn,.laU Bllt.„ are ,(l K|ur.
Ill n region working .lay-work with , , „r„„E apparently wry lit-
a region working piece-work had ||(, e(fort „„s m.||U,
K"°JJn* conceal their duplication of charges,
Disadvantages of Piece-Work. because In numerous cases charges
i "(I) there nas no advantage simiUkr to lhl. a,Hm. werp {ur
from an efficiency standpoin In re|noT,n|f and rep|llcing parts which
plece-nork over day-work In loco- (j.j I((|| exjNf#n
motive repair shops. T|„, evidence offered by Mr. Ac-
"(2) That locomotive mainte-    by „ss|stant Mr-
■  «? «  '  I"'1:, 1'0(W  !! Munamy, supports the charges that
tractive power mile were t.HKATMt wh|k. |)l(, r„i|r(,mls Hcrt. MnB
in the region working piece-work j „t,,d t|„.
than they were in the region work- 0Bners wcri, r.-o. iving n large rental
I
* '
1 >
ing day-work.
M( .) 'I'liat it was nOt possible un-
der the piece-work system to avoid
large payments to workmen for
work which was not performed. I"
fact, on the Pennsylvania railroad it
was found that the officials hud vol-
iintarily overpaid piece-workers to
the extent of more than $2,.r>0<MMiO.
"(4) No substantial difference in
the general condition of equipment
was found In the piece-work region
as compared witli the day-work re-
gion on roads where work was prop-
erly supervised and a high standard
of maintenance required.*
Mr. McAdoo test fled thtit less than
10 per cent of all employes in the
maintenance of equipment depart-
ment were at any time, during fed-
eral control, working on the piece-
work system; therefore, authorizing
it to be discontinued, he declared,
could not have seriously affected
maintenance costs either during or
since federal control.
For the information of congress,
Mr. McAdoo submitted the official
reports of the investigations and
recommendations upon which he au-
thorized abolition of piece-work.
Itailroads Padded Payrolls.
the managers were employing the
piece-work system, among other de-
vices, to pile up costs against the
ra11r<>a d ad mI n IsI riitin n.
On this point, Mr. McManarny de-
clares:
Managers Piled I'p Expenses.
"It now appears that in order to
bolster up the practice of piece-work
the officials have wrongfully paid
out millions*of dollars,"
When this report was made, the
investigation of the piece-work sys-
tem had not been fully completed,
but the burden imposed upon the
government by managers had become
so heavy that Mr. McManarny urged
that the practice be immediately
abolished.
"In view of these evils which have
been proven and admitted," he said,
"my recommendation is that an
order be issued at once to discon-
tinue the piece-work system on all
railroads under federal control at
Pass Charges of Fraud.
D . where we have conducted an invest!- J
Railroad executives testifying be-1 „r „|m|„ „ j  
found that payment is regulari> Republicans and Democrats
made for large i|iiantities of work ~ - ....
which has not been performed, also
that much of the work is not well
performed.
"On the Hoston and Albany we
found (lmt some work was paid for
lis high as four times. Particular
reference Is made to one case where
the workers put in time slips and
received pay for removing and ap-
plying 000 flues in a boiler which
fore senate committee on interstate
commerce laid great stress on the
abolition of piece-work during the
icderal control of railroads, claiming
that maintenance coBts were largely
increased thereby.
Testifying before the same com-
mittee, on February 2, 1922, William
Glbbs McAdoo, former director gen-
eral of the railroad administration,
said:
"Piece work was abolished only
KANSAS CITY, March 31.—Kansas
City is in the throes of one of the
bitterest political campaigns in its
history. Next Tuesday the citizens
will elect a mayor and city council.
So Intense has the campaign bo-
come that an S. O. S. call to Wash-
ington has brought Senator James
Iteed home to defend the democratic
nominees. Reed came notwithstand-
ing the fact that vital issues in con-
gress needed his attention. The re-
publicans have brought Governor
Hyde intc the campaign. Both men
are speaking night and day.
It is known that the Pendegas'-
Shannon machine, which has domi-
nated politics in Kansas City for a
half century, is behind Frank H.
Cromwell, democrat nominee.
Mat Foster, present chief of police,
is the republican aspirant. In the
Harding landslide two years ago, the
republicans got control of the police
department.
Republicans charge that Tony Bi-
vona, brother of Nardo Blvona, a no-
torious operator of dives and caba-
rets, has seen to it that his brother
has not been molested. Blvona is one
of the democratic nominees on the
council. It Is charged that in noto-
rious cabarets on the North Side,
many girls and boys have become
drug adicts and drunkards and that
these dives have been the rendezvous
for crooks and the underworld
Democrats are making their fight
upon the police department charg-
ing that the republican police ad-
ministration has conducted a sys-
tematized campaign of oppression in
which many heinous offenses have
been committed against citizens.
When the old democratis machine
was ousted, new men, mostly ex-
service men, were put in as police-
men. It is admitted by republicans
that the new recruits made many
blunders in the enforcement of the
law.
the earliest practicable date. IN NO
0TI1KK WAY CAN EVILS WICK II , ^ F f
iiAvi. in:KN photo to I-;xist • Letter8 To The Leader
I'BiDKR THIS 81 ST KM BE EL1MI-1 - 
, , 4, 4 J FIVE DOLLARS A WEEK.
"Ihe situation is so serious that I Editor Leader -Please print the
nnriAr Halo nf i)pppnih# r 1R 101« wou,d I,ot 'eel 111 I,()t ,li" following poem by Herbert Kaufman
I nder date of December 16, 1918, mqj,ipr jt (o your attention and sug- | if _ flnd gmiC0 in it i think
rank McManarny, director of thr fi f . me •innenrs to be the , " space in it. I tnina
Ii.ro,... nn<.r.«inn0 of «ho m<irnnH M^iim what to mi apptars to me iuany of the readers of the Leader
only remedy.
Railroad workers are exonerated
by Mr. McManarny from any respon-
sibility for the evils that were
pointed out. Ho said:
Workers Exonerated from Blame.
"IT IS WORTHY OK NOTE THAT
THE OVERPAYMENTS OF PIECE-
WORKERS ON THE PENNSYLVA-
NIA \N1) THE OTHER ROADS RE-
FERRED TO \S ERE NOT THE RE-
SI IT OF. V DI M \ND ON THE
PART OF THE EMPLOYES FOR
SITU RATES, HI T WI RE VOI I N-
TARII.Y GRANTED BY THE OFFI-
CIALS."
The undisputed evidence, then, is
that piece-work was abolished be-
cause it did not make for efficiency
In operation, and because it permit-
ted flagrant dishonesty on the part
of the managers and placed an un-
just burden of many hundred
a*
Nobody is so strong, so ardent a pleader, for Peace as
tho pup who loves two people when those same silly two
are in the glooms of war. He sits between, in the wide,
silent, empty waste that has grown between them, and lifts
his anguished voice straight out of his lonely, 'wildered dog-
heart. He can't understand for the life of him why these two
people are sitting so far apart.
And his eyes glitter with tears while he points his blunt,
wet black nose to the wind-washed sky and wonders how-
anybody could get mad on anybody else in the Summertime!
Please havo a heart—you lovers who scrap—and listen to
mediation. —NELL BRINKLEY,
FACTS FOR COAL CONSUMERS
Knoxville (Term.) Plaindealer.
bureau of operations of the railroad
administration, reported that the
Pennsylvania railroad was "deliber-
ately overpaying their piece-workers
to the extent of millions of dollars,"
and that it was impossible to per-
suade the managers of the road to
discontinue this practice.
"The Pennsylvania railroad offi-
cials," the report continues, "were
evidently not satisfied with increases
granted to their mechanics of more
than 60 per cent above their average
rate on December 31. 1917, therefore,
without authorization they increased
it to more than 100 per cent.**
The report further declares "that
we have, within the past few days,
obtained information which leads us
to believe that other lines have
adopted the same method of pay-
ment. I understand the Baltimore &
Ohio has overpaid their piece-work-
ers. The Philadelphia and Reading
during the first two weeks of Au-
gust overpaid their piece-workers to
the amount of $50,000."
In a report dated December 4,
1918, Mr. McManarny reported the
result of an investigation undertaken
at the request of the board of wages
and working conditions into the
practices and results of piece-work.
The High Cost of Piece-Work.
In the northwestern region, where
mechanics were paid 10 cents more
per hour, and where day-work pre-
vailed, the cost of iiiHlntenHiice was
materially lower than in the Alle-
gheny region, where piece-work was
many
will appreciate it.
Thus it is down in Beelzebub's
books,
August the 17th, Isabel Brooks,
Home in the country, folks decent,
but poor,
Character excellent, morals still
pure,
Came to the city to-day and found
work
Wages five dollars—departent store
clerk.
Wages five dollars, to last seven
days,
Three for a miserable hall bedroom
she pays,
Two nlckles daily the street car
receives.
One dollar forty for eating that
leaves.
One-forty has quite a long way to
reach,
j Twenty-one banquets at seven cents
each.
THERE, every penny of wages has
been spent,
Squandered for eating and riding
and rent.
Spendthrift, she ought to remember
life's ills,
How in the world will she pay doc-
tor bills?
What if she's furloughed? There's
always a chance.
Isabel ought to save up in advance.
Hold—I've not mentioned the clothes
Complaints made by farmers and j she must wear
dairymen living south of Oklahoma Dresses, hats, stockings, shoes,
.City on the Norman interurban line ribbons for hair
I in which they charge that the Okla- i Where will she get them" Suppose
j homa Railway company has recently! that we stop,
removed a number of crossings in ! Perhaps we would better let that
millions of dollars upon the govern-
ment. and consequently upon the
public.
NEXT ARTICLE-"Punitive Over-
time-Was It Forced Upon the Rail-
roads?"
FARMERS COMPLAIN
AGAINSTINTERURBAN
The coal magnates of Pennsylvan-
ia sometime ago increased the price
of anthracite coal 100 per cent at
the mouth of the mines. The Federal
Trade Commission undertook to flnd
out if this increase was justified. The
mine owners were asked to furnish
the commission with the cost of op-
eration, wages paid, the price for
which their coal was sold, and the
margin of profit.
The National Coal Association,
representing about 60 per cent of the
coal operators of the country, ob-
jected. They contended that the pro-
duction of coal "did not involve a
question of interstate commerce" and
that the Federal government was
therefore without jurisdiction. The
Federal Court of the District of Col-
umbia promptly issued an injunction
restraining the Federal Trade ( om-
mlsslon. and the matter is still hung
assistance of the Associated Press
and a number of large dally papers,
started a coal "scare" in 1920. When
this movement was launched the
coal industry was in a bad way. De-
mand was slack and prices were
falling. The National Coal Associ-
ation, through its control of the
channels of publicity, told the peo-
ple that a coal famine was impend-
ing and that if they did not vant to
freeze they must lay In a supply of J January,
coal at once, at such prices as the
operators might fix.
The campaign was a great success
from the point of view of the Na-
tional Coal Association. Its repre-
sentatives admitted that the mem-
bers of the association cleaned up at
least $200,000,000 in excess prices,
while other witnesses insisted that
the amount was nearer a billion.
UNEMPLOYMENT IS
DECREASING, REPORT
WASHINGTON, March 31. Uncm-
ployment Is decreasing, according to
Col. Arthur Woods, chairman, emer-
gency committee, created by the late
Hoover unemployment conference,
but a very great number of men for-
merly independent have been trans-
formed by long unemployment into
"public dependents" or down-and-
outs
"For every 100 jobs available at
the various employment bureaus," he
finds, "there were 226 applicants in
05 in February, and 194 for
the first ten days of March,
other words, there were jobs in
January for only 44 per cent of the
applicants, while in March the num-
ber had gone up to 61 per cent .
out to "squeeze" consumers again,
up in the courts, and the anthracite I jURt the other day all the newspa-
coal monopoly continues to profiteer. | por8 carried a story written by
Women's dress, intended for even-
ing wear, dates back in England to
the time of Queen Anne, when an ab-
surd fashion came Into vogue for
great ladies to wear their ordinary
nightgowns in public. Naturally the
The National Coal Association is gowns became more lacy and em-
effect. „    
"from this, the report adds, "it fjiejr territory, are being heard by I thing drop.
would appear that so lar as cost ot tjje corporation commission Friday. You, good mathametician, may
maintenance Is concerned, the ad- The complainants declare in their figure It out
vantage is with the day-work plan." petition that the removal of the It's a matter of figures, or "figure"
in a supplementary report on crossings cause them a great deal of | no doubt.
piece-work overpayments, Mr. Mc- inconvenience and ask that the com- Look at this picture, iti better I am
Manamy said: 'mission order the railway ocmpany sure-
**It is a fact that at every shop to repbtre tin■ Character excellent. mor:ils still
pure—
What else is written? We'll not
look to see,
The record's too gruesome for you
or for me.
! Why? As I live there's a tear in his
About the same time the state of
Indiana undertook to compel the op-
erators of that state to furnish state
authorities with information con-
cerning the cost of mining coal. The
National Coal Association again went,
to the rescue. This time its attor-
neys contended that "almost thtf en-
tire output of these mines would go
largely into interstate commerce,"
and that therefore the state of In-
diana was endeavoring to interfere
with Interstate commerce, over which
the Federal government had exclu-
sive jurisdiction. The court prompt-
ly decided in favor of the National
Coal Association and told the state
of Indiana to mind its own business.
Isn't it nice to have courts so train-
ed that they will decide one way in
Indiana and just the other way in
Washington?
During a hearing before a Senate
committee Congressman Huddleston,
of Alabama, proved that this same
j National Coal Association, with th*>
broidered. and so the first evening
dresses came into being.
BRITISH MILLS COMPLAIN
MANCHESTER, Eng., March 31.—
Complains that British mills are only
securing about one-third of the tre-
mendous cloth trade of India and
that the cotton fabric tariff sot up
by India is causing a serious loss to
British trade are frequently made
here hy manufacturers.
In order to secure this business, it
is dec lared that rock bottom prices
will have to be made to meet the
competion and the anti-British senti-
ment developed in that country.
EMPLOY 3,000 MEN
DULUTH, Minn., March 31. -Three
thousand more men will be employed
July 1 by the Minnesota Steel Co.,
and subsidiary shops when the iron
and rod mill now under construction
is completed, officials announced.
START WOR K0N BIG DAM
VIRGINIA, Minn., March 31.—
Work on the construction of the new
dam on the Paleface river, expected
to start soon, will give employment
to 1,000 men.
Six hundred college women of SU
Louis have established a club hom©
where they can hold regular meet-
ings, gather for social affairs and en-
tertain friends.
Ililllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll^
| Cleaned & Pressed |
Men's = Ladles'plain wool
= Suits = suits and dresses =
= 76 cents = $1.00
| CRESCENT |
3 122 S. Huxiey 11. 2120 =
In   lllllllllllll in—I  
HARRIS HOTELS
Always One >lore Room
TRAVELERS HOTEL
.lii*t North of I'nNtofflre Oklahoma
City.
HARRIS HOTEL
410 N. Ilrondnaj, Oklahoma City.
WESTLAND HOTEL
:ia lluthn.
I . Third  l., TuImi, Okl*.
HARRIS HOTEL
>'lr«t iind Hrnudwaj, oklahoma City.
HADLEY INN
E. Third St- Oklahoma City.
George Otis Smith, who Is paid by
the people of the United States to
direct the Geological Survey, but who
finds time to write articles "exclu-
sively for the National Coal Asso-
ciation."
George Otis Smith warned the con-
sumers of coal that they must pre-
pare to fill their cellars because
there was serious danger that the
production of coal would be curtain-
ed after April 1.
This meant, of course, that the
National Coal Association was pre- 1
paring to force a suspension of work
on that date, for the double purpose
of disrupting the miners' organiza-
tion and of forcing up the price of
coal to the consumers.
The worst feature of the situation
is that the National Coal Association
will apparently be permitted to do
anything it sees fit without fear of
interference from the courts, the
Congress or th > President.  
5!feJIMMYB0B PENCIL P!CIUI)ES<s£
  4
-
• •
LE55 5BE. You ~1
TOY ITOIMM/BOB
I CAN &O
UP ON THTT
QOOX- LIKE
HE DID
eye,
j What in the world can make old
Satan cry?
• Surely the devil Is feeling his age—
Look what he's written on Isabell's
page,
"Virtue's a luxury hard to afford.
When a girl hasn't money to pay for
her board."
I think this fits the open shop
starvation bunch so well I hope you
I will use It. Yours,
Lyman Burge, Burkburnett, Tex.
I,AST SENSIBLE WORDS.
A doctor had been called to see
a man who was very ill. He exam- I
ined him and said to the nurse:
"You must watch this case very 1
closely through the night and tell
me ril the symptoms when I come j
back in the morning."
The man became worse In the !
night and talked a lot of nonsense
in his fever.
When the doctor returned in the i
morning he said to the nur^e:
"Tell me exactly what happened
aflrr I left."
"You were hardly out of the
room," she began, when he said,
'When did that old fool say ho was
NOT TO III. RAFFI.KD.
"So that pretty willow is married
I again, eh" I thought her late hus-
| band's will read that if she took a
second husband her legacy was to
go to his most distant relative."
"So it did, but a little thing like
that didn't fease her. She hunted up
the relative and married him." Bos-
ton Transcript.
HAH INVESTMENT.
Ethel—Why Is Gladys suing for
a divorce? I thought she married
for love.
Clara Yes; but she never
thought she'd have to supply all of
it.
Ne
York Sun.
The license prepared for the mar
riage of Princess Mary bears twe
signature' the King's and that oi
tho Arch hi shop of Canterbury.
LET'S ALL GO EASTER EGG HUNTING
iTfk
A COUTlN TO THE. WALfiUr
/r THJr or TH?
UfVH TH£POC/iT WWM WV:
/H £££P Mb #ArH££ tie.
coin
egraj
l ark nga.n?
KCnrible WOK
Pittsburgh
Tho
the
* tho patient
'hronlcle- Tel-
NO lilt A INS,
The shftt'*-" of night were falling
fast
The foni "stepped on II" and ruihed
post.
a rtnr i- he ?d without r sound'
Thflv mm--:..* ' up h.- head and found
I
The Latest, Most Reliable News
On the Big Mine Workers' Strike
The Oklahoma Leader fie votes more space to the mine
workers than any other daily in America.
We are building up a list of correspondents everywhere
coal is dug, that will enable us from week to week, to give our
miner readers more of the news they are interested in.
The news items to be found in the Leader regarding the
April strike can be depended upon as reliable. None of our
strike news will be secured through "capitalistic" press agencies.
The news published in the Leader comes to us direct from the
Federated Press, a working class news service, or from our own
correspondents. ^,
DON'T IJE WITHOt'T A DAILY DURING THE STRIKE
Confronted with a strike, the Leader wants no miner to
spend a cent for the paper at this time, when the money is
needed for food and clothes. We are willing to enter on our list
the names of any miners at this time, with the understanding
that they are to pay for the paper after the strike is over, and
they are in a position to do so.
USE THIS FORM ON CHARGE SUBSCRIPTIONS
OKLAHOMA LEADER,
Oklahoma City, Okla.
Enter on your subscription list the following names for
the duration of the miners' strike. Each miner has signed his
own name, signifying that he will pay for his subscription within
30 days after work is resumed at his mine.
Names Address
hatched as dainty a "chicken" as the one sb<)Wn
dainties would be even more popular than at pr« a«
Is not a psychic photograph of a bachelor's rarebit
truly live "chicken.'*
t a .r ,>i, I Willi ; «i .c Name.; Here.
Circuiaticn Department
Ok
Lvxia.
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