CONFLICT AND RECONSTRUCTION 63 
tistics, there were other noteworthy sanctions during this 
period of the living-wage principle. Chief among those 
with an official or public aspect were those of the newly 
created Court of Industrial Relations in Kansas and the 
Bureau of Municipal Research of the City of Philadelphia, 
both of which will be discussed later.! There were also 
significant declarations by economists and publicists. 
THE UNITED STATES RAILROAD LABOR BoARD 
Despite these important precedents, however, the United 
States Railroad Labor Board, as the result of the pro- 
ceedings which were inaugurated before it and which have 
already been outlined, altho granting large increases in 
general wage rates in 1920 averaging about 27 per cent., 
based its awards, without deviation, upon old methods and 
principles. The advances in rates of pay were made in 
terms of a certain number of cents per hour or day in 
order to maintain the preexisting differentials in rates 
between occupations. The general rate of increase, as thus 
applied, was computed, however, on the principle of bring- 
ing the compensation of employees up to advances in living 
costs as compared with the pre-war period. No recog- 
nition was given to the principle that a wage should be 
sufficient to guarantee a minimum standard of healthful 
and decent living. 
TaE UNiTeEp STATES Bituminous CoAL 
Mining CoMMISSION 
A striking contrast was afforded by the decision of the 
Bituminous Coal Commission. This body openly repudi- 
ated “cost of living” as a basis of determining advances in 
rates of pay and substituted therefor the principle of a 
‘living wage” for the lowest-paid mine workers. They 
2 See Chapter VII.