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Show I CUTTING THE UNDERPAID. In making the new wage scale for ilio railroads, the I'niled States rail road labor board ordered a decrease which averaged 5 cents an hour, affecting af-fecting mostly maintenance of way workeis. The reduction will total $48. 000.000 and is in addition to the $400,-000,000 $400,-000,000 taken from railroad workers last July. Under this new decision the wages of track laborers will be from 23 to 35 cents an hour, the great majority being classed as worth only 23 cents. How a man can support a wife and two or three children on eight hours' work at 23 cents an hour is not ex plained. Even at 10 hours, the re e-nue e-nue would be not more than $2 30 a day or $13 80 a week, not includlnq Sunday. To buy clothes aud shoes for three children, which is an average family of youngsters, would lake a very big part of the entire revenue. The total revenue would be $717.60 a year, if the head of the family did not lose a day except Sundayp One of the big inequalities in this country of ours is found m the extremely ex-tremely low pay given to common laborer la-borer This forces a lower standard of living than is In keeping with the demands of good citizenship and the proper tearing of children li makes lor poverty, the slums ami crime Inasmuch as a very big percentage of the people Is covered under ihe classification of common labor, the beating down of the wage of that class means the developing of a wide gap L'y! in society, with class distinction and! all the evils of distrust and ilision tent. |