| Compensation of Classes Especially Affected by Multiplying Demands of Commissions and Legislatures in 1907 and 1909. | ||
| Class | 1907 227,455 Miles Represented | 1909 221,132 Miles Represented |
| Other officers | $15,012,226 | $16,847,754 |
| General office clerks | 48,340,123 | 51,945,231 |
| Station agents | 24,831,066 | 24,944,100 |
| Telegraph operators and dispatchers | 29,058,251 | 29,655,916 |
| Employes, account floating equipment | 6,035,415 | 6,537,196 |
| Total | $123,277,081 | $129,930,197 |
| Add 4% for unreported mileage, 1909 | 5,197,207 | |
| Total | $135,127,404 | |
| Increase over 1907 | 11,850,323 | |
Moreover, had the aggregate compensation of these five classes followed the general trend of all other railway compensation, the expenditure on this account would have been at least $22,000,000 less than it was. This sum represents only a part of what the railways have to pay for a system of accounting and reporting out of all proportion to its published results. The public has no idea of the onerous and unprofitable burdens imposed on the railways by the impractical theory of administering railways through the medium of arbitrary and theoretical accounts.
Average Daily Compensation 1909-1892.
Where the data in regard to total compensation of railway employes has been kept since 1895, that of their daily average pay runs back to 1892, thus covering the period of the last preceding severe panic. Under instructions of the Official Statistician, these averages are computed by dividing the compensation paid by the actual days worked throughout the year in the several classes as nearly as it has been practicable to do so. Although the formula is more or less arbitrary, the system has been continuous and so the results are reliable for comparative purposes.
In the statement following, figures for 1895, 1896 and 1905 have been omitted to economize space, and because they present no significant variations from the years preceding them.
| Comparative Summary of Average Daily Compensation of Railway Employes for the Years Ending June 30, 1908 to 1892. | |||||||||||||||
| Class | 1909(a) | 1908(a) | 1907 | 1906 | 1904 | 1903 | 1902 | 1901 | 1900 | 1899 | 1898 | 1897 | 1894 | 1893 | 1892 |
| General officers | 14.82 | 15.18 | 11.93 | 11.81 | 11.61 | 11.27 | 11.17 | 10.97 | 10.45 | 10.03 | 9.73 | 9.54 | 9.71 | 7.84 | 7.62 |
| Other officers | 6.53 | 6.42 | 5.99 | 5.82 | 6.07 | 5.76 | 5.60 | 5.56 | 5.22 | 5.18 | 5.21 | 5.12 | 5.75 | — | — |
| General office clerks | 2.31 | 2.35 | 2.30 | 2.24 | 2.22 | 2.21 | 2.18 | 2.19 | 2.19 | 2.20 | 2.25 | 2.18 | 2.34 | 2.23 | 2.20 |
| Station agents | 2.10 | 2.10 | 2.05 | 1.94 | 1.93 | 1.87 | 1.80 | 1.77 | 1.75 | 1.74 | 1.73 | 1.73 | 1.75 | 1.83 | 1.81 |
| Other station men | 1.81 | 1.82 | 1.78 | 1.69 | 1.69 | 1.64 | 1.61 | 1.59 | 1.60 | 1.60 | 1.61 | 1.62 | 1.63 | 1.65 | 1.68 |
| Enginemen | 4.46 | 4.46 | 4.30 | 4.12 | 4.10 | 4.01 | 3.84 | 3.78 | 3.75 | 3.72 | 3.72 | 3.65 | 3.61 | 3.66 | 3.68 |
| Firemen | 2.67 | 2.65 | 2.54 | 2.42 | 2.35 | 2.28 | 2.20 | 2.16 | 2.14 | 2.10 | 2.09 | 2.05 | 2.03 | 2.04 | 2.07 |
| Conductors | 3.76 | 3.83 | 3.69 | 3.51 | 3.50 | 3.38 | 3.21 | 3.17 | 3.17 | 3.13 | 3.13 | 3.07 | 3.04 | 3.08 | 3.07 |
| Other trainmen | 2.60 | 2.64 | 2.54 | 2.35 | 2.27 | 2.17 | 2.04 | 2.00 | 1.96 | 1.94 | 1.95 | 1.90 | 1.89 | 1.91 | 1.89 |
| Machinists | 2.98 | 2.95 | 2.87 | 2.69 | 2.61 | 2.50 | 2.36 | 2.32 | 2.30 | 2.29 | 2.28 | 2.23 | 2.21 | 2.33 | 2.29 |
| Carpenters | 2.43 | 2.40 | 2.40 | 2.28 | 2.26 | 2.19 | 2.08 | 2.06 | 2.04 | 2.03 | 2.02 | 2.01 | 2.02 | 2.11 | 2.08 |
| Other shopmen | 2.13 | 2.13 | 2.06 | 1.92 | 1.91 | 1.86 | 1.78 | 1.75 | 1.73 | 1.72 | 1.70 | 1.71 | 1.69 | 1.75 | 1.71 |
| Section foremen | 1.96 | 1.96 | 1.90 | 1.80 | 1.78 | 1.78 | 1.72 | 1.71 | 1.68 | 1.68 | 1.69 | 1.70 | 1.71 | 1.75 | 1.76 |
| Other trackmen | 1.38 | 1.45 | 1.46 | 1.36 | 1.33 | 1.31 | 1.25 | 1.23 | 1.22 | 1.18 | 1.16 | 1.16 | 1.18 | 1.22 | 1.22 |
| Switchmen, flagmen and watchmen | 1.78 | 1.82 | 1.87 | 1.80 | 1.77 | 1.76 | 1.77 | 1.74 | 1.80 | 1.77 | 1.74 | 1.72 | 1.75 | 1.80 | 1.78 |
| Telegraph operators and dispatchers | 2.30 | 2.30 | 2.26 | 2.13 | 2.15 | 2.08 | 2.01 | 1.98 | 1.96 | 1.93 | 1.92 | 1.90 | 1.93 | 1.97 | 1.93 |
| Employes account floating equipment | 2.32 | 2.37 | 2.27 | 2.10 | 2.17 | 2.11 | 2.00 | 1.97 | 1.92 | 1.89 | 1.89 | 1.86 | 1.97 | 1.96 | 2.07 |
| All other employes and laborers | 1.98 | 1.98 | 1.92 | 1.83 | 1.82 | 1.77 | 1.71 | 1.69 | 1.71 | 1.68 | 1.67 | 1.64 | 1.65 | 1.70 | 1.67 |
| (a) Averages for 1909 and 1908 are calculated from the returns to the Bureau of days worked and compensation of the several classes of roads representing 97% of the traffic. | |||||||||||||||
The average pay of general officers for 1909 and 1908 in this summary is out of proportion, for the reason that the returns to the Bureau cover only 60% of the class numerically and include all the larger systems. Before 1894, this class included "Other officers," so the returns for 1893 and 1892 are not comparable with those for this class in subsequent years.
Comparing the average daily compensation of the four great classes most intimately associated in the public mind with railway operations in 1899 and 1909, it appears that during the decade the average wages of enginemen increased approximately 20%; of firemen 27%; of conductors 20%; and of other trainmen, including switchmen, brakemen and baggagemen—the most numerous body—34%.
An estimate based on the number employed and their aggregate compensation in 1899, allowing 310 working days to the year, would place the increase for all employes during the decade at 23%.