782 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



less difficulty and loss. It is the bond of closer friendly relationship 

 between employer and employe, and has fostered a feeling that the 

 interests of both are identical. It has done away with all pretext for 

 joining organizations inimical to labor, as well as with all justification 

 for seeking charitable assistance from the company or from fellow- 

 employes. 



It is the almost unanimous testimony of the railroad company's 

 officials that it would now be most difficult, if not impossible, to in- 

 augurate a general strike among the members of this association. 



Personal appeals to the managers of the company for pecuniary 

 assistance on behalf of unfortunate employes are now unknown in this 

 service, and this relief from solicitation has reacted favorably upon 

 the morale of the force by inducing independence and contentment. 

 Besides the many patent advantages accruing to the company from 

 the savings fund and building features, is the important one of con- 

 verting a proverbially migratory force into a permanent one, which 

 is gradually locating itself at points where the company's interests will 

 best be subserved and protected. 



Under the pension feature the provision made for the support 

 during life of its aged and permanently disabled employes enables the 

 company to dispense at will with many old servants, who. though 

 incapacitated by mental or bodily infirmity, often the effect of inju- 

 ries received in the service, must, under ordinary conditions, through 

 sheer humanity, be borne on the rolls, though, as all administrative 

 officers know, to the disadvantage and frequently to the endangering 

 of the company's interests. 



In brief, the best possible testimony of the good results attained 

 lies in the fact that, as the result of two years' trial of the plan, such a 

 conservative corporation as the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Com- 

 pany undertook further obligations on its behalf which, if capitalized, 

 would amount to over a half a million dollars, and is contemplating 

 still further donations to the same cause. 



Railroading is rapidly advancing beyond the boundaries of a mere 

 business, and into the dignity of a profession requiring extensive 

 knowledge of many branches of science, technical training of a high 

 order, and already requires a devotion to corporate interests from its 

 staff-officers and many subordinates that necessitates the sacrifice of 

 their independence, and all opportunity of securing competence in other 

 channels, while it has not branches or departments in which intelli- 

 gence, energy, and scrupulous honesty are not required. And, as of 

 the great armies of railroad operatives only a few, comparatively, can 

 gain wealth or competence, the great majority who give to their work 

 equal devotion and their full measure of ability yearn for recognition 

 m their sphere, and in no more effective or acceptable way can they 

 be rewarded than that in which the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad has 

 recognized the self-abnegation and faithfulness of its servants. 



