They were temperately expressed, and by those who
represented the entire force, -- engineers, firemen,
conductors, and trainmen. The leaders of these
four strong bodies had come to complete agreement
as to the justice of their cause. They had intrusted
this cause to a joint committee from the four labor
organizations. It was with this body that the new
manager, then thirty-one years of age, had to cope.

He heard soon that they "were looking for the new
man." In the first interview, he confessed frankly
that he was unprepared to take any stand, as every
moment had been absorbed by his new duties. But
his questioners were not put off. He made a definite
promise to give every possible moment to an exam-
ination of the conditions on which his answer must
be based, naming a date beyond which his reply
should not be delayed.

The result of his study took the form of a well-
printed pamphlet, with a map. It was a close statis-
tical study of the gross and net earnings of the road
during the four previous years, with simple and
lucid tables showing the existing business conditions.
It was a pamphlet made not for stockholders or to
induce the public to invest money: it was made
directly for these representatives of the men -- some
fifty in number.

Earnings, prices, hours, and wages were given in
such form that every man could test the truth of each
statement. To make this all the stronger, the closing

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