Q. Was that what induced the company to reduce the wages—the falling off of business?
A. No; because we did not anticipate that falling off of business. In fact, the tonnage that year showed an increase, but on account of the low prices at which the business had to be hauled, we are forced to cut down expenses or else break.
Q. Freights were lower than they had been?
A. Yes; they had been decreasing for a number of years. We had to do the work cheaper.
Q. Was that in relation to through and local freights, both?
A. Yes; everything. Our local business was formerly the much larger portion of our trade, and the rates at which they were done were lower than they had been.
Q. Did that ten per cent. reduction apply to all the officers and employés of the road?
A. Yes; to all the officers and employés of the road, from the president down.
Q. Did it apply to the Pennsylvania Central Railroad and all its branches?
A. Yes; the order was given simultaneously to reduce on all the lines east and west of Pittsburgh. It was the second reduction made since the panic of 1873. Our board thought that the shrinkage or rather the reduction in the wages of that class of labor had been much greater than nineteen per cent., and that our men ought to be able to stand that.