divisions in the biennial convention varies in accordance with their membership, and the power of the chief executive is somewhat more curtailed than in the other brotherhoods. The mutual benefit department, which was not established until 1898, is governed by an insurance committee as in the Order of Railway Conductors. The protective fund is fixed at $50,000, for the establishment of which members are taxed $1 a year. No fixed amount of strike pay is guaranteed. Up to 1902 the order was regarded as the weakest of the large brotherhoods, but from January, 1902, to April, 1903, over 18,000 new members were initiated, making the total membership about 30,000. The official journal is The Railroad Telegrapher, published monthly at the headquarters in Saint Louis, Mo.
Among the minor railroad labor organizations the three immediately following closely resemble the great brotherhoods in their conservative policy, emphasis upon mutual insurance, and general form of government.
(6) The International Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees was organized as the Brotherhood of Railway Trackmen of America August 15, 1887. operated as a fraternal society until 1898, and adopted its present name in January, 1903. At the latter date the brotherhood comprehended 294 divisions with about 10,000 members. Its official journal is The Advance Advocate, published monthly at the headquarters in Saint Louis, Mo.
(7) The Switchmen's Union of North America, the successor of the once powerful Switchmen's Mutual Aid Association founded in 1881, was organized in 1897. Its growth and power have been seriously hampered by the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, which also admits switchmen, but at present it seems thriving. In January, 1903, the membership was 14,000. The official journal is the Journal of the Switchmen's Union. published monthly at Buffalo, N. Y.
(8) The Brotherhood of Railway Carmen of America was organized in December, 1900, and includes all men engaged in building, inspecting, repairing, oiling, and cleaning railway cars in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. This organization has always been weak, and in the last few years has barely maintained an existence.
(9) The National Railway Clerks' Association of North America was organized in 1901, and in April, 1903, had 4000 members, organized into 35 local divisions. The Official Journal of the N. R. C. A. is issued monthly from the headquarters in Akron, Ohio.
The two organizations immediately following are affiliated with the American Federation of Labor and bear no peculiar resemblance to the other railway brotherhoods.
(10) The Amalgamated Association of Street Railway Employees was organized September 15, 1892, and admits any competent street railway employee of good moral character, except managers, superintendents, and foremen. No protective fund is maintained, but a benefit of $75 is paid upon death or total disability. The official journal is the Motorman and Conductor, published monthly at Detroit, Mich.
(11) The International Association of Car Workers was organized May 22, 1901, from local lodges affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, and admits all men employed in the construction and maintenance of passenger, freight, and electric cars. In May, 1903, there were 135 local lodges with a membership of 20,000. The official journal is The Car Worker, published monthly at Buffalo, N. Y.
(12) The United Brotherhood of Railway Employees was organized in January, 1901, and its membership, which is growing rapidly, is practically confined to Canada and the States west of the Mississippi River. The constitution of the brotherhood is exceedingly complex, and makes provision for local and general benefit departments and boards of adjustment similar to those in the older brotherhoods; but it is strongly opposed to the narrow trade or class organization of the older brotherhoods, and aims to unite in a single industrial organization all classes of railway employees, particularly the lower grades. The brotherhood is affiliated with the American Labor Union, the most prominent exponent in America of the alliance between organized labor and socialism.
RAILWAY CARMEN OF AMERICA, Brotherhood of. See Railway Brotherhoods.
RAILWAY CLERKS' ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA, National. See Railway Brotherhoods.
RAILWAY CONDUCTORS OF AMERICA, Brotherhood of. See Railway Brotherhoods.
RAILWAY EMPLOYEES, United Brotherhood of. See Railway Brotherhoods.
RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE. See Railways.
RAILWAYS, or RAILROADS. Roads upon which lines of rails are laid to facilitate the movement of vehicles for the carriage of freight and passengers. When employed without qualification the term railway or railroad is generally understood to indicate a road consisting of two parallel lines of rails or of multiples of such units upon which cars are hauled by locomotive steam engines. With the adoption of electric power in place of steam on considerable sections of railway line, steam locomotion has become a less distinctive characteristic of railways than was formerly the case, and the term when unqualified has a less definite meaning than formerly, yet ordinarily a steam railway is understood when the term railway is used by itself. Railways employing other form of motive power are similarly defined as electric railways, cable railways, compressed-air railways, etc., and railways serving especial purposes or distinguished by peculiar characteristics of construction are defined as elevated railways, logging railways, plantation railways, street railways, ship railways, rack railways, etc. A railway may consist of a single line of track with two lines of rails, when it is known as a single-track railway, or it may consist of two, three, or four lines of track, when it is known, respectively, as a double track, three-track, or four-track railway. In a few instances railways have been constructed with a track consisting of a single line of rail. Such roads are known as bicycle railways, monorail railways, or by other special names. More frequently railway lines are constructed with tracks consisting of three lines of rails. Rack railways have this form of track, as also do rail-
