Garrett Announces Wage Reduction

This July 11, 1877 circular announces a wage reduction for workers on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

THE OFFICIAL ORDER.

[Th]e official circular setting forth the proposed re-[ ]on is as follows:

[BALT]IMORE AND OHIO RAILROAD COMPANY,
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT.
BALTIMORE,
July 11, 1877.

[To the ] Officers and employees of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad company:

[At a m]eeting of the Board of Directors of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad company, held this day, the [follo]wing preamble and resolutions were adopted:

Whereas, The depression in the general business interests of the country continues, thus seriously affect[i]ng the usual earnings of railway companies, and ren[d]ering a further reduction of expenses necessary; [t]herefore, be it

Resolved, That a reduction of ten per cent be made [i]n the present compensation of all officers and em[p]loyees of every grade in the service of the Com[p]any, where the amount received exceeds one dol[l]ar per day, to take effect on and after July 16th, inst.

Resolved, That the said reduction shall apply to the [?]ain stem and branches east of the Ohio River, and [t]o the Trans-Ohio divisions, and that it shall embrace all roads leased or operated by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company.

It is hoped and believed that all persons in the service of the company will appreciate the necessity of [a]nd concur cordially in this action.

The Board postponed action until some time after [i]ts great competitors, the Pennsylvania, New York [C]entral and Hudson River, and New York and Erie [co]mpanies had made general and similar reductions [in] pay, with the hope that business would so improve [that] this necessity would be obviated. In this they [have] been disappointed.

The President, in announcing the decision of the Board, takes occasion to express the conviction and [e]xpectation that every officer and man in the service will cheerfully recognize the necessity of the reduc[t]ion and earnestly co-operate in every measure of ju[d]icious economy necessary to aid in maintaining ef[f]ectively the usefulness and success of the company.

JOHN W. GARRETT, President