The Trade Board holds the field as the best machinery for the
determination of industrial conditions. It is better than unfettered
competition, which leaves the weak at the mercy of the strong. It is
better than the contest of armed forces, in which the battle is decided
with no reference to equity, to permanent economic conditions, or to the
general good, by the main strength of one combination or the other in
the circumstances of the moment. It is better than a universal
State-determined wages-law which would take no account of fluctuating
industrial conditions, and better than official determinations which are
exposed to political influences and are apt to ignore the technicalities
which only the practical worker or employer understands. It is better
than arbitration, which acts intermittently and incalculably from
outside, and makes no call on the continuous co-operation of the trade
itself.
My hope is that as the true value of the Trade Board comes to be better
understood, its powers, far from being jealously curtailed, or confined
to the suppression of the worst form of underpayment, will be extended
to skilled employments, and organised industries, and be used not merely
to fulfil the duty of the community to its humblest members, but to
serve its still wider interest in the development of peaceful industrial
co-operation.