RAILWAY MANAGERS AND EMPLOYES. 769 



not generally received the cordial recognition and support of the em- 

 ployes themselves ; have been ephemeral, and at best have only 

 partially afforded the contributing companies protection from legal 

 responsibilities. Objection has frequently been made to the writer 

 that the conditions under which railroads are operated in the United 

 States differ so widely from those of other countries as to render the 

 experience of the latter of little practical value to us for purposes of 

 comparison and guidance, and this belief seems to be wide-spread. 

 The best possible answer to such an objection may be obtained from 

 an inquiry into the results of the efforts of those American railroads 

 (and there are several conspicuous examples) which, following English 

 and Continental precedents, have systematically united with their 

 employes in establishing societies like those which have proved so 

 prosperous abroad. Reference has been made in a previous paragraph 

 to an association of this character inaugurated five years ago by a 

 prominent Eastern trunk line. From the first publication of its pro- 

 spectus the Baltimore and Ohio Employes' Relief Association attracted 

 marked attention, not only among railroad managers of advanced 

 thought, but very generally among students of social and industrial 

 science and prominent educators, and that interest has been well sus- 

 tained by frequent reports in the public press of its growth and work. 

 Having in the five years of its existence a sustained membership ex- 

 ceeding 18,400 ; having, under its various features, distributed over a 

 wide territory more than $929,940.14, in 42,930 separate payments ; 

 and combining within itself, in one harmonious system, provision for 

 the relief of the sick, injured, superannuated, and for their families 

 after death ; a savings-bank, a building association, a circulating 

 library, and other features of less importance ; being a leader in rail- 

 road sanitation ; and, in short, representing, on the largest scale in the 

 United States, the most popular foreign friendly and aid societies 

 this Relief Association will best serve for purposes of restoration. 



A general review of its theory and provisions is necessary for a 

 proper understanding of the results it has attained, but any specially 

 interested in the details of its organization and management are re- 

 ferred to the secretary of the association at Baltimore.* 



In a circular dated May 1, 1880, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 

 Company announced that, on the petition of a number of its em- 

 ployes, after a very thorough examination and study of benevolent 

 railway organizations in Great Britain, France, and Germany, having 

 a full appreciation of the advantages which experience has uniformly 

 shown may be enjoyed by the employers and employes of railroad 

 and other large corporations where benevolent relief societies have 



* The writer was induced, some years ago, to publish in the Chicago " Railway Age " 

 an account of the features of this association, then in operation, but to which important 

 additions have since been made. Having but a limited circulation, among railroad peo- 

 ple only, that paper has been utilized in the preparation of this article. 

 vol. xxvii. 49 



