THE RAILWAY BALLOT

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3091, 23 May 1917, Page 7

THE RAILWAY BALLOT

... —; « WATCHED BY THE MEN'S REPRESENTATIVES |v/ "FAIR TO ALL CONCERNED" j Tho ballot conducted by officers of the Railway Department to determine what, men should bo released for military service is being made tho subject of protest by branches of tho Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants. Some of tho branches have claimed that the ballot, should not havo been "secret," and others have urged that tho Department should havo spared tho men in tho order in which they were drawn in tho military ballots.

Tho Railway Department's ballot was taken in order ithat the head officers might not have tho task of selecting men for military service. It had been found that a certain number of men could be spared, in consequence, of tho curtailment of the services, out of the larger number drawn in tho military ballots. Some branches of the service could not bo reduced at all, and the proportions of men who could be spared in other branches varied. A private employer under such conditions probably would make his own selection of the men whose services he could dispense with. The railway officers preferred to make the selection quite impersonal by meaus of a ballot. Tim names of all the railwaymen who had been drawn in the military ballots were included, but tho officers had stipulated that certain groups of workers, ongaged in essential occupations, must not bo reduced. Tho men belonging to theso groups could not be released even if they were drawn in the ballot.

Referring to tho suggestion (hat tlie railway ballot was a secret one, the president'of the A.S.E.S. (Mr. R. Hampton) stated yesterday 'that, the position had been misunderstood. The Fallot had not been secret, and ho was prepared to vouch for its fairness. "The facts as I understand them," said Mr. Hampton, "are that' the Department found, as a result of tho curtailment of the railway services, that a certain number of men conld be spared from among those already drawn in tho ballot.' Not wishing to make any discrimination as between one man and another, the Department decided to ballot for tho number required. This ballot was duly carried out by tho Assistant-General Manager, in the presence of myself, representing the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, Mr. E. W. Henderson, president of the Engine-drivers, Firemen, and Cleaners' Association, and Mr. James Young, president of the Railway Officers' Institute. Wp had every opportunity afforded to ub of feeing the ballot carried out, and per-; sonaUy I am satisfied it was quite fair to alt concerned. All the men included in the ballot had previously been drawn in the military ballots, and held back on appeal by the Railway Department. It should be'understood that tho Department did not select the men for military service. It simply withdrew its appeals in the cases of the men drawn in the Departmental ballot. . It is only fair to the Department to state these facts."