| Office of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad |
| Mobile, Ala. May 14th 1864 |
| |
| Hon R. Jemison |
| Richmond |
| |
| Sir, |
| In the passage of the recent
conscription Bill, Congress has created a class of men who are
allowed to control the Rail Roads of the Confederate States by uniting
together and requiring such wages and imposing such conditions of
employment as they please. |
| Under the previous Law and
General Orders issued in pursuance thereof, these employees were not
allowed to change their places without the written discharge of their
employers, and the alternative was then presented of remaining in the
employment of the Roads or being conscripted and going into the ???, and
few were disposed to change their places upon these conditions. Already
the mechanics in our Repair Shops have struck for higher wages, and we
have been forced to pay them fifteen dollars ($15.00) for each days
labor of ten hours. They know that the Rail Roads cannot be
operated without them, and, if we permit them to leave, their places
cannot be supplied, and our Road must stop. The consequence has been,
that we have been forced to increase our Tariff of charges on the
Government as well as individuals to pay the expenses of working the
Road. If we dismiss a mechanic, or if he determines to leave our
service, he will find no difficulty in obtaining employment at some
private establishment having a profitable contract with the Government
which enables them to pay any price the mechanic may demand. |
| In exempting this class of men
Congress never intended to place them in a position to become
extortionist upon the public and indirectly upon the Government, and I
think common justice to the Rail Road Companies, who, at the formation
of the Government voluntarily offered the aid of their immense capital
in its support and who have assisted it by levying a heavy tariff upon
individuals that the Government transportation might be performed at low
rates and who have been uniform & steadfast in sustaining our ???
requires Congress, to correct the oversight, and pass a law which should
protect them, find the public from this imposition. |
| Such a law would exempt the
employees of Rail Roads from the performances of Military duty only
while they are in the service of the Company on whose descriptive list
they are returned to the Enrolling office, and should contain a clause
prohibiting other Rail Roads having contracts with the Government, or
Contractors under the Government, or Government officers from employing
them except upon the written discharge of the proper officer of the Rail
Road where they were last employed, and should make it the duty of the
Superintendent, or other proper officer of the Rail Road, to report the
names of all persons who leave the service of the Company without such
written discharge to the Enrolling officer, whose duty it should be to
have them enrolled and sent to the Camp of Instruction. |
| I have been for the past two
weeks flat on my back with a leg badly broken, and the intense suffering
prevents me from entering more into the details. Lieut Col F. W. Sims,
Chief of the Rail Road Bureau, at Richmond, fully understands the
subject, and would no doubt advise you as to the details of a law which
would secure the rights of the Rail Road Companies & the interest of the
Government against these extortions. |
| Very Respectfully |
| Your obt Svt |
| L J Fleming |
| Chf Eng & Gen Supt |
| |
| {on back of document} |
| The laws and regulations under
it fully meet Mr Flemings views and if carried out in good faith by RRd
Co's will meet every contingency. |
| There is not enough latitude
in the kind of men employed permitted to RRd officers, as for instance,
wood and tie cutters are indispensable, yet the conscript bureau has
decided that the law does not embrace them, and again in many cases one
man per mile is not enough. At this time it takes more labor than ever
before to keep a road in order. |
| The only alternative that I
would suggest in this law, would allow one and a half men to the mile,
and these only upon oath of President & Supt that they were necessary to
successful operation, and that any employee leaving service shd be
reported instantly by employer. The law shd also state that the miles
shd be counted by actual length of road & not include sidings. |
| F. W. Sims |
| Lt Col |
|