sV- 
 
 
 Working in Peace 
 and Harmony 
 
Address delivered November 5, 1921, before 
 the Pennsylvania Square Club of Philadel- 
 phia, by Elisha Lee, Vice-President, Eastern 
 Region, Pennsylvania Railroad System. 
 
Mr. President, Members and Guests 
 of the 
 
 Pennsylvania Square Club of Philadelphia: 
 
 * | * ONIGHT you have me at a distinct disad- 
 * vantage, for I have not the honor of being 
 a member of your ancient fraternity. Just 
 why I have never become affiliated with one 
 of your lodges I cannot say, for among rail- 
 road men Masonry seems to be magnetic. In 
 my twenty-nine years of service with the 
 Pennsylvania Railroad System, 1 have been 
 associating with Masons in all departments 
 of the railroad, and I have always had a very 
 high regard for the organization, based on the 
 high standards of manhood its membership 
 displays. 
 
 You can therefore readily appreciate the 
 pleasure it gave me when your President, Mr. 
 Jones, invited me to address you this evening 
 and I found that my engagements would per- 
 mit me to accept. 
 
 These are busy times for all of us, and I 
 always have a feeling of deepest regret when, 
 on being invited to speak at a meeting of 
 Pennsylvania Railroad employes, and espe- 
 cially employes of the Eastern Region, I have 
 to reply with that stereotyped expression — 
 “owing to previous engagements I find it im- 
 possible for me to be present,” and so on. 
 
 So, while I am unable to meet you on the 
 level of masons, 1 am sure that for the 
 remainder of the evening we can fraternize 
 as brothers in a lodge of “Free and Accepted 
 — Railroad Men,” working under the jurisdic- 
 tion of the Grand Lodge — The Pennsylvania 
 Railroad System. 
 
 3 
 
While the large majority of those here this 
 evening are Pennsylvania Railroad people, I 
 notice in your By-Laws that Masons employed 
 by the Pennsylvania Railroad System, the 
 American Railway Express Company, the 
 Pullman Company and affiliated companies 
 are also eligible to membership. If my re- 
 marks are addressed at times to employes of 
 the Pennsylvania Railroad, I trust you will 
 understand that being an officer of the Penn- 
 sylvania Railroad I speak perforce as a Penn- 
 sylvania Railroad man. I fully realize that 
 the work of the employes of the Express 
 Company and the Pullman Company is very 
 similar in nature to that of the railroad man. 
 My remarks, therefore, will apply with equal 
 force to them concerning their relations to 
 their fellow-workers in the Express or Pull- 
 man employ, as well as to their associates in 
 the Pennsylvania Railroad. 
 
 Similarity in Organization 
 
 In looking over a printed program for the 
 month’s meetings of one of the Masonic 
 lodges in Philadelphia, I observed that the 
 lodge appeared to be organized for the pur- 
 pose of conducting its affairs on much the 
 same plan as our railroad is organized for 
 serving the public. 
 
 In the railroad we have Grand Officers; 
 they are the System executives here at Phila- 
 delphia — the President and the administrative 
 Vice-Presidents in charge, respectively, of 
 operating, traffic, finance, accounting and real 
 estate, purchasing and insurance. Under 
 these officers we have five subordinate 
 “lodges,” represented by the four Regions of 
 our Railroad System and the Altoona Works. 
 For each of these “lodges” we have a Wor- 
 shipful Master — the Regional Vice-President — 
 
with his Senior and Junior Wardens — the 
 General Manager and Assistant General Man- 
 ager — so on down the line in practically the 
 same form as your lodges are officered. 
 
 I, of course, know that Free Masonry is an 
 institution of very great antiquity, yet it came 
 as a distinct surprise when I read in that 
 announcement to which 1 just referred that 
 this year in which we are now living is the 
 Masonic year 5921. So, Free Masonry is four 
 thousand years older than the Christian era. 
 
 Masonry is a greater living force in the 
 world today than ever before in its history. 
 
 Our Pennsylvania Railroad System, which 
 I have likened to a Grand Lodge, is but 
 seventy-six years old — a mere infant, as it 
 were — yet this infant is passing through a 
 period of discontent and dissatisfaction which, 
 as I have been told, cannot exist and never 
 did exist in your fraternity. 
 
 Now, why is it? What is back of your 
 society which enables it to “carry on” 
 throughout nearly six thousand years without 
 any discord? 
 
 Working Together 
 
 In a booklet entitled “The Science of Ma- 
 sonry,” which is in the library of your Grand 
 Lodge at the Masonic Temple, on Filbert 
 Street, one of the outstanding features is the 
 phrase “Peace and Harmony.” If that is your 
 guide, and you are continuously striving with 
 that as a goal, allowing nothing to be injected 
 into your work or the workings of your 
 lodges which would destroy the peace and 
 harmony of a well organized and properly 
 managed lodge, then I do not wonder at the 
 present high standing you have attained in 
 the world. 
 
 The writer of the booklet continued: “When 
 
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a company of brethren are dwelling together 
 in peace and harmony, as every lodge of Free 
 Masons should dwell, then, like will draw 
 like and every piece of Masonry material in 
 the community will be drawn to the lodge, as 
 steel is drawn to a magnet.” 
 
 Therein lies the gist of what is uppermost 
 in my mind now, and which has been ever 
 since I was General Manager — or as you 
 would call it in fraternal language. Senior 
 Warden — of that portion of this railroad on 
 which you are all employed. 
 
 I am striving with all my power to build 
 up a lodge of railroad men on the Pennsyl- 
 vania Railroad who will work together with 
 the management in peace and harmony all the 
 time. In this I am not alone. 
 
 If you, the members of the Masonic Frater- 
 nity, could form the magnetic power to draw 
 unto yourselves in the railroad field those who 
 can and are willing to work in peace and 
 harmony, the Pennsylvania Railroad System 
 would, in less time than one can imagine, 
 stand out in as bold relief among the rail- 
 roads of the country as the Masonic Frater- 
 nity does among the secret societies of the 
 world. 
 
 Honor in Railroading 
 
 And why shouldn’t we? Why shouldn’t, for 
 instance, the employes of the Pennsylvania 
 Railroad be paid as high wages as other citi- 
 zens of the United States for performing the 
 same kind of work? Or why shouldn’t they 
 work under just as favorable conditions as 
 any one, whether in the railroad or the indus- 
 trial field? Why shouldn’t railroading be just 
 as pleasant an occupation and as satisfactory 
 or as honorable as working elsewhere? 
 
 It should be, and it is within your power 
 
 6 
 
to make it so. There is no one-sided way, 
 however, of attaining that goal. The man- 
 agement and the employes must, in striving 
 for it, work in peace and harmony with each 
 other. 
 
 Advancement by Merit 
 
 To most of you railroading is your life work. 
 You entered the service, as most of our higher 
 officers did, at the very bottom and have since 
 been striving to go upward in the ranks. 
 Promotion comes rather slowly at times, but, 
 nevertheless, surely for the one who is pre- 
 pared for the next step above. 
 
 When I statted railroading it seemed as 
 though every man on the railroad regarded 
 himself as a potential general manager or 
 president. If the young railroader then wanted 
 to, it was within his power to work up to 
 almost any position. That spark of ambition 
 has been greatly dimmed, I am sorry to say, 
 during recent years. While I have no desire 
 to take issue with the present methods of 
 labor unions, one of the most unfortunate 
 things about some of them is the destruction 
 of the ambition for advancement and the in- 
 culcation into the minds of the membership 
 of the principle that one should not try to 
 surpass his fellow-worker. 
 
 Don’t lose sight of that word promotion. 
 You may talk about seniority rules and all 
 that, and with all things equal 1 have no fault 
 to find with seniority rules. Don’t let that 
 blind you, however, to the fact that unless you 
 are prepared for the job ahead of you, when, 
 through seniority rules you are advanced to 
 it, sooner or later you will be unable to carry 
 properly the load placed upon your shoulders. 
 The company, then, for which you work, will 
 be the sufferer. This the public will be quick 
 
 7 
 
to discover and it will very soon affect you 
 personally. 
 
 I wish it were possible to have a speedy 
 return of that former feeling of pride in being 
 a Pennsylvania Railroad employe. It is true 
 that some of us still have it, and to those I 
 want to say, for your own good, let that feel- 
 ing radiate from you in all lines, so that its 
 influence will be felt by those with whom you 
 daily come in contact. 
 
 Within the memory of a large majority of 
 you present here this evening, the Pennsyl- 
 vania Railroad was looked up to as an ideal 
 public service institution. In the transporta- 
 tion world its service was the standard. Its 
 policies, discipline, service, foresight, engi- 
 neering skill, and progressive ideas were mat- 
 ters of public discussion. There was then the 
 keenest interest displayed by every one in his 
 work, regardless of his position. Each felt a 
 certain amount of responsibility for maintain- 
 ing the reputation of the company which gave 
 him employment. 
 
 Pride in Pennsylvania Railroad 
 
 Have you ever stopped to consider just 
 what the Pennsylvania Railroad System is to- 
 day? What it means to be connected with it? 
 
 Do you realize that when you say you are 
 a Pennsylvania Railroad man you are a per- 
 sonal representative of a two billion dollar 
 corporation? Do you fully realize just what 
 that means? It means that the property of 
 the Pennsylvania Railroad System, which 
 takes in the right of way, buildings, bridges, 
 tracks, yards, terminals, engines and cars, cost 
 over two billions of dollars to produce. 
 
 That money, too, came entirely from the 
 savings of other people, the great majority of 
 whom are persons of moderate means just 
 
 8 
 
like yourselves. Don’t lose sight of that, 
 which carries with it also the fact that their 
 property has been placed in your hands to 
 operate, which is a great responsibility. 
 
 Aside from that, doesn’t it give you a feeling 
 of pride to know that you personally repre- 
 sent one of the world’s largest enterprises? 
 It does to me, and 1 know it does to you. 
 
 This railroad has at present over 207,000 
 personal representatives who are working 
 throughout the length and breadth of thir- 
 teen states in the Union, in which live half 
 the population of the country. That is a 
 stupendous statement to contemplate, yet it 
 is true. 
 
 Each of these persons is a salesman for this 
 two billion dollar institution, which does 
 nearly two million dollars’ worth of business 
 every day. 
 
 Each has within his grasp the power of 
 establishing a world-wide reputation not only 
 for himself, but also for the railroad of which 
 he is a part. 
 
 The public is observing your every move, 
 whether on or off duty. With each perform- 
 ing his assigned task with a genuine feeling 
 of pride in his work, the day will soon return 
 when the ideal for which every other railroad 
 or industrial establishment will strive will be 
 the standard set by the Pennsylvania Railroad 
 System. 
 
 Things to Think About 
 
 Last year the gross earnings of the Penn- 
 sylvania Railroad System were 12 per cent, 
 of that of all Class 1 railroads. We rendered 
 15.7 per cent, of the passenger service based 
 on the unit of passenger miles, and of the 
 revenue ton miles of freight carried by all 
 of the railroads of the country, our propor- 
 
 9 
 
tion was 10.9 per cent. We own over 12 per 
 cent, of all the freight cars of the country; 
 we have 15,500 separate industrial sidings on 
 our lines. There are over 2,500 freight or 
 passenger agencies on the System. 
 
 These are things to think about when you 
 consider whether or not it is an honor to be 
 connected with this big company. 
 
 We are a real factor in the welfare and 
 happiness of the country, and when you 
 started railroading you took upon yourself a 
 grave responsibility. You accepted a position 
 and thereby signified your willingness to 
 assist in advancing the best interest of the 
 United States. 
 
 Make Every Effort Count 
 
 Now what do you get from this company 
 about which 1 have just spoken? Unless you 
 put into it your best you cannot get the best 
 out of it. 
 
 Our wages do not come from the stockhold- 
 ers. They come directly from the people 
 whom we serve, and the only way to sustain 
 good wages is to make every hour of work 
 more productive than it is any other place. 
 
 At the present time, out of every dollar 
 received by the Pennsylvania Railroad System 
 for freight and passenger service rendered, 
 practically one-half is paid over to the em- 
 ployes in wages. Our total payroll for Sep- 
 tember alone was twenty-six and one-half 
 millions of dollars. That means that over one 
 million dollars were paid out in wages each 
 working day of the month. 
 
 In order to reach the highest standard of 
 pay, there is only one way, and that is to raise 
 your work to the highest standard of effi- 
 ciency and make your every effort productive 
 of the greatest amount of service. 
 
 10 
 
Now on the Pennsylvania Railroad we have 
 just set up a plan of employe representation 
 by which the employes and the management 
 can get together and in peace and harmony 
 decide all differences which may arise between 
 them. Under this plan, the employes are 
 given an equal voice and voting power with 
 the management in deciding all questions 
 affecting their own welfare. 
 
 This plan is, to my mind, as it should be, 
 because recourse to force never permanently 
 settles anything. Yet it has been contemptu- 
 ously asserted by some that the efforts the 
 management has been putting forth to realize 
 this ideal are merely for effect and that the 
 whole thing is “a lot of bunk.” 
 
 Management Is Sincere 
 
 How can 1 get the employes of our railroad 
 to know the feeling in my breast concerning 
 their welfare if the most important things 1 
 say to them in printed or spoken words are 
 characterized as “bunk”? 
 
 Pardon a personal note. Those of you who 
 know me personally I am sure do not doubt 
 my sincerity. You know that the last thing 
 to enter my mind would be to try and put 
 something over on you, as the saying is. 
 There is nothing in our plan of employe repre- 
 sentation which is antagonistic to any institu- 
 tion, be it a labor union or an organization 
 such as yours. We have stated times over 
 that the management is not trying to settle 
 a quarrel with its employes, for no quarrel 
 exists. We are endeavoring, to the best of 
 our ability, to provide a means whereby there 
 will be no occasion for a quarrel to arise. 
 
 To be sure, there will at times be differences 
 of opinion between the management and the 
 men. That is but natural where you have so 
 
 11 
 
large a body of men to deal with, but among 
 reasonable men differences can be adjusted 
 without quarreling, and that is precisely what 
 our representation plan is designed to bring 
 about. 
 
 All Pulling Together 
 
 The success of the Railroad, the Express or 
 the Pullman Company means your success. 
 All the teachings that try to represent to the 
 employes that their interests are antagonistic 
 to those of the management are absolutely 
 wrong. A railroad must pay its men out of 
 its earnings, and those earnings depend on 
 the good-will of the public it serves. Unless 
 a railroad is prosperous, good wages and ad- 
 vantageous terms and conditions of employ- 
 ment cannot be had. 
 
 The product of our efforts is service, and 
 the better we serve the better will be our 
 standing among those whom we serve. 
 
 What I want particularly to leave with you 
 is the feeling of sincerity on my part in striv- 
 ing to better your positions equally with that 
 of the railroad. 
 
 The stronger your company is, the better 
 will be your position in that company, 
 and there is no one here tonight who is not 
 desirous of being connected with a good, 
 strong, thriving, progressive company or 
 institution, regardless of the fields of its en- 
 deavors. 
 
 Did it ever occur to you what happens to 
 an industry where every one connected with 
 it is pulling for it. is thinking how they can 
 better the product — in our case transporta- 
 tion. — how the production can be cheapened 
 by more efficient and economical work of 
 every individual? Did it ever occur to you 
 what would happen to our railroad if every 
 
 12 
 
one of the 207,000 were doing just this? 
 Think it over. 
 
 In your lodge you are a carefully and 
 strictly governed body of men. Decisions, un- 
 doubtedly, have to be made from time to time 
 which may not be in accord with the ideas of 
 each individual member, yet, in order to con- 
 duct your work in peace and harmony, you 
 must all be amenable to the rule of the Wor- 
 shipful Master. 
 
 Do es that not teach you that in the railroad 
 world by the adoption of the same principle 
 the greatest good can be accomplished? If 
 it is possible to conduct the business of your 
 fraternity for thousands of years on that prin- 
 ciple, I should like to have every member of 
 the Masonic Fraternity working on this rail- 
 road go out among his fellow-employes as a 
 missionary in the cause and preach that same 
 doctrine of fair dealing and an appeal to 
 reason. 
 
 Interests of All Considered 
 
 Decisions concerning one class of employes 
 may at times not be to the entire satisfaction 
 of others. Or some individuals might not be 
 exactly satisfied when looking at the matter 
 from their own personal viewpoints. 
 
 That should be no cause for immediately 
 starting to foment trouble and being forever 
 discontented. Does a Mason act that way in 
 his lodge when, for instance, the Worshipful 
 Master rules against him? I doubt it. 
 Rather, I think he surely must have a means 
 of appeal, in an orderly manner, when he can 
 make his case known in all detail. If this 
 were not so, you could not continue in peace 
 and harmony for any length of time. 
 
 Why then should it be necessary to assume 
 a different attitude in the Railroad Lodge? 
 
 13 
 
We have, as I have just stated, a means of 
 appealing from decisions, and you have every 
 assurance from the management that equity 
 and justice will prevail in every case. In fact, 
 under our new system of employe representa- 
 tion, you have within your own power the 
 possibility of assisting in seeing that all em- 
 ployes are satisfied in all matters concerning 
 their welfare. 
 
 If the railroader has learned his work in the 
 Railroad Lodge as well as I understand he 
 must his Masonic work, he will readily see or 
 must surely be able to realize that when the 
 management renders a decision bn points of 
 discipline, advancement, conditions of employ- 
 ment, or wages to be paid, it is done for the 
 good of the entire army of 207,000 employes 
 whose welfare the management must at all 
 times keep in mind. 
 
 The fact that your fraternity has stood 
 these thousands of years is evidence that the 
 underlying principles of the fraternity are 
 most assuredly sound in all respects. These 
 every Mason knows, as he must be thoroughly 
 familiar with them in order to work properly 
 within the Lodge. 
 
 That being the case, is it not possible for 
 you Masons to practice outside of the lodge 
 rooms what you are instructed in within 
 them ? 
 
 Masonic Ideals in Railroading 
 
 Cannot the Masons on the Pennsylvania 
 Railroad System form a nucleus for injecting 
 into our Railroad Lodge, either directly or in- 
 directly, that “something” which has been so 
 characteristic of your Fraternity ever since 
 the days of King Solomon? 
 
 H e was a wise old king, and the high ideals 
 he established during the building of the 
 
 14 
 
temple at Jerusalem, which have been passed 
 on down to you, may be very applicable to 
 our work today. 
 
 If they maintained throughout ages such a 
 high standard for a body of men who call 
 themselves Masons, surely they will do the 
 same for a body of men who form the Penn- 
 sylvania Railroad. 
 
 Square Deal for All Assured 
 
 Speaking for the management, I can pledge 
 you my word that each and every one from 
 the Board of Directors and the President on 
 down is most earnestly and sincerely doing 
 everything within his power to establish on 
 the Pennsylvania Railroad a scale of wages 
 and a standard of working conditions second 
 to none. 
 
 The management wants, above everything 
 else, that its men shall have a square deal; a 
 square deal from the individual supervisory 
 officers, a square deal from the Company at 
 large, and a square deal from the public whom 
 we serve. 
 
 A square deal must be deserved, however, 
 on the part of the employe. Regardless of his 
 position, it can be but only through his taking 
 renewed interest in his work. 
 
 Your Fraternity stands out as a shining 
 light, and I earnestly ask that you assist the 
 management in making the Pennsylvania Rail- 
 road System stand out in like degree above 
 all other railroads in the world. 
 
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