128 INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND WAGES 
equity—the supreme court of equity in the Transportation 
Industry. It would be an insult to the intelligence of the 
Congress and of the people of the country in passing the 
Transportation Act, as well as to the dignity of the Board 
itself, if we were to concede what the representatives of the 
railroads actually assert, that this Board is nothing more 
than an agency for registering changes in the cost of living, 
and in the supply and price of labor. So we contended last 
year that the Board was not established for the purpose of 
giving its sanction to the unhampered play of ruthless eco- 
nomic forces, but should proceed upon the basis of industrial 
equity, economic justice, and upon the principles which are 
fundamental to a broad and enlightened social and public 
policy in a self-governing republic. . . . 
DEFLATION OF UNSKILLED WORKERS IMPOSSIBLE 
In appearing to-day in behalf of the unskilled workers, it 
is our purpose to demonstrate to the Board that such a pro- 
gram can not be accepted. We make this assertion after care- 
ful and deliberate consideration of all the facts as to prices or 
cost of living and of all the facts as to the reductions in rates 
of pay of unskilled or common laborers in other industries. 
It is our contention that, irrespective of all facts presented 
by the railroads, the Board should not take any action lead- 
ing to a reduction in wages of unskilled workers. . . . 
Moreover, it follows, logically, that if there is no ground 
apon which the Board can predicate a reduction in the rates 
of common laborers, there is, as a consequence, no ground 
upon which the Board, in our opinion, can justify any reduc- 
tions in the rates of pay of any other classes. ... The 
unskilled laborer is the base, or foundation, of the wage 
structure. Differentials to other employees are by longtime 
usage and by the previous decisions of this Board itself, built 
upon the basic rates of the unskilled laborer. If the rates for 
common laborers are maintained without change, therefore, 
as they should be, there can be no change in the rates of