an earnest desire to alleviate the dead burden of misery under which our toilers stagger and groan. The State is gradually growing, through the development of its so-called police power, into the stature and dignity of "parens patriae," guardian, or custodian of the public welfare. Honest business has nothing to fear from the exercise by the State of this sovereign obligation; for the temper of our people is eminently conservative, and, though they may sometimes err in their choice of means, their sober judgment will not permit them to stray far afield from an impartial application of the strict principles of equity and justice. The business employer who objects to the payment of a living wage, I leave to meditate upon this solemn thought: "He that sheddeth blood and he that defraudeth the laborer of his hire are brothers. The bread of the needy is the life of the poor; he that defraudeth them thereof is a man of blood." APPENDIX AN ANALYSIS OF MODERN MINIMUM WAGE LEGISLATION' NEW ZEALAND The Industrial and Conciliation and Arbitration Act, 1900.2 The promoter of the New Zealand Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act was Mr. William Pember Reeves, then minister of labor.3 The purpose of the law was to settle and prevent strikes. The original act was the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act of August 31, 1894. It has since been amended by the Acts of October 18, 1895, October 17, 1896, November 5, 1898, October 20, 1900, and November 7, 1901.* Before the act could go into operation, voluntary societies of employers and employees respectively, known as "industrial unions," had to be organized as provided by the act. Now an industrial union may be formed by the lawful association and formal registration with the state registrar of seven or more employees, or by two or more employers. Two or more of these unions, provided they are unions of the same class and of the same industry, may form an "industrial association." These organized bodies are, for the purposes of the act, corporations, and it is only one of these unions or associations, or an individual employer that can be a party to an action before one of the boards of conciliation or the court of arbitration that are established under authority of the act; but the court of arbitration has power to extend an award to a labor union or an individual workman may not be a member of an industrial union. For the administration of the act the colony is divided into a 1 "France enacted, a little over two years ago, a minimum wage law applicable to women home workers-and with some modifications-to men home workers on clothing. After the present war had been in existence for nearly a year a minimum wage regulation was extended to factory made clothing, the extension itself having grown out of military orders fixing rates in the manufacture of certain classes of soldiers' apparel."-Marie L. Obenauer, in Report by Alexander J. Porter, The National Civic Federation, Sixteenth Annual Meeting, Washington, D. C., January 17, 1916, p. 31. "The minimum wage bill was passed by the Chamber of Deputies, November 13, 1913."-Bulletin of the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, _Whole Number 167, Minimum Wage Legislation in the United States and Foreign Countries, pp. 185-186. 2 Department of Labor Bulletin, No. 49, p. 1282. PUBLIC REGULATION OF RATE OF WAGES 63 number of industrial districts,1 in each of which is established a board of conciliation, composed of two members chosen by the industrial unions of employers and two by the unions of employees and an impartial chairman selected by the four representative members. In case the unions fail to elect the governor will nominate the members of the board. Special expert boards may be created for emergency or extraordinary cases. These boards have jurisdiction in all disputes referred to them by an industrial union, or an association of industrial unions, or by an employer, provided the appeal is agreeable to the other party or parties to the controversy. The voluntary character of this provision is not significant, however, as by the amendment act of 19012 either party may appeal directly to the court of arbitration and force a hearing there. It is the duty of the board to endeavor to bring about an "industrial agreement" between the disputants, which agreement, when duly executed by the parties or by their attorneys, becomes binding upon them and enforceable by the court of arbitration. If an agreement cannot be reached, the board embodies its findings in a "recommendation," which, if not appealed within one month of record, becomes as binding upon the parties as an industrial agreement or an award of the court. The most important part of the arbitration machinery is the "court of arbitration" to which reference has already been made. The court is composed of three members, appointed by the Governor, one on the recommendation of the industrial unions of workers, one on the recommendation of the industrial unions of employers, and the third a member of the supreme court of the colony who shall be the president of the court. The jurisdiction of the court extends to practically all things that might be made a condition of a private contract between an employer and a worker. This court may make its awards legally binding upon the parties to a dispute without their voluntary acceptance of the same; it may extend them so as to include parties not appearing in the dispute, and to labor unions or an individual workman who may not be a member of an industrial union; it may make them general, or localize them at its discretion; it may enforce not only its own award, but industrial agreements, and recommendations of boards, by penalties up to $2,433 in case of employers or industrial or trade unions, or by a penalty not in excess of $48.67 in case of individual workmen not members of an industrial union. Within its sphere of jurisdiction, the court of arbitration is supreme; as to such matters there lies no appeal from its decisions to the supreme court of the colony.3 Both the court and a board are empowered to summon witnesses, administer oaths, compel a hearing, receive evidence, and preserve order. In addition the court may inspect books. 1 Eight in June, 1903, according to Victor S. Clark. The Governor constitutes the districts and also appoints for each a clerk of awards, the ministerial officer of the board. 2 Section 58, Article 2, of the Act. 3 Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor, No. 40, p. 1188. Victor S. Clark. Thus New Zealand workmen may use one of two methods provided by law for the legal establishment of a rate of wages: they may arbitrate their case before a board of conciliation, or they may appeal directly to the court of arbitration for an equitable ruling between themselves and their employers. NEW SOUTH WALES In 1908, the Arbitration Act of 1899 expired, and a new Act was passed, which was a compromise between the Victorian and the New Zealand systems-it attempted to graft Wages Boards upon the system of Industrial Courts. However, the principle of the Wages Boards was virtually abandoned in 1909 by an amendment which for all practical purposes converted the Wages Boards into Industrial Courts. So the present law differs from the old Arbitration Act only in that it does not accept the Trade Union as the industrial unit, but allows any twenty workmen to apply for a Wages Board. There are, of course, differences of detail. As New South Wales has been classed with New Zealand,' the above observations have been thought of sufficient importance to warrant this separate treatment of New South Wales. VICTORIA ! Special Boards Act, 1896. The principle underlying the Victorian Special Boards Act of 1896 is quite unlike that of the New Zealand Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act of 1894. The Victorian legislation is aimed directly at the sweating system and does not attempt to interfere with trade disputes. The bursting of the yellow bubble of gold speculation in the last quarter of the last century, gave Victoria her new problem of sweating. To her lasting credit, her Parliament acted quickly and decisively through the enactment of the Special Boards Act. The Act does not create a permanent board, as do the American laws; but a board may be created at any time in pursuance of a resolution passed by both houses of the Parliament. After this resolution has been adopted, declaring that it is expedient to appoint a Special Board for a trade or trades, the Minister of Labor may by notice published in the "Government Gazette" nominate persons for the board or boards. The parties interested are privileged to send lists of names to the Minister, from which he invariably makes his selection. Each Board "shall consist of not less than four nor more than ten members and a chairman,' one-half of the members "shall be appointed as representatives of employers and one-half as representatives of employees.' The 1 B. R. Wise, "The Commonwealth of Australia," p. 298-324. 2 See Chapter I, p. 22. 994 195 8 Andrews, Irene Osgood, "Minimum Wage Legislation," p. 190. The Special Trade Boards Act. and 5 Ibid. representatives of each group must be actual and bona fide employers and employees, respectively, or must have been so for six months during the three years immediately preceding their appointment. Unless at least one-fifth of the employers or adult employees interested give notice in writing to the Minister, within twenty-one days after the publication of the nominations, that they object to the persons nominated as their representatives, such nominations stand for appointment. The appointments are made by the Governor in Council for three years, subject to removal by the Governor at any time. Each Board nominates some person (not of its own membership) to be its chairman, and the appointment is again made by the Governor in Council. If the Minister does not receive this nomination within fourteen days after the appointment of the Board, the Governor in Council may appoint a Chairman on the recommendation of the Minister. The act provides that every Special Board “(a) shall determine the lowest prices or rates of payment payable to any person or persons or classes of persons employed in the process, trade, business or occupation specified in such appointment. Such prices or rates of payment may be fixed at piece-work prices or at wage rates or both as the Special Board thinks fit; (b) shall determine the maximum number of hours per week for which such lowest wages rates shall be payable according to the nature or conditions of the work; and the wages rates payable for any shorter time worked shall not be less than a pro rata amount of such wages rates and not less than such a rate as may be fixed for casual labor; (c) shall fix a higher wages rate to be paid for any time in excess of the maximum number of hours per week so fixed and may fix the times of beginning and ending work upon each day; and may fix a higher rate to be paid for any hour or fraction of an hour outside the time so fixed; and may fix special rates for work to be done on a Sunday or public holiday." It will be noticed from the above quotations from the Act that two different classes of overtime can be fixed. Higher rates are to be fixed for work done in excess of the number of hours determined upon as the maximum for a week's work, and also for work done before or after the hours set for beginning and ending each day's labor. It is evident that these two powers cannot very well be exercised independently of one another; and it is found, in many trades at least, that it is best to fix overtime rates only for work in excess of the established week's maximum.1 Ă Special Board may also prescribe the form of apprenticeship indenture to be used; fix special rates for apprentices and improvers; and, where it appears just and expedient, fix special wages rates for aged, infirm, or slow workers. When a Board has agreed upon a Determination, this is to be signed by the Chairman of the Board and published in the Government Gazette. The Act does not indicate, however, upon 1 Andrews, Irene Osgood, "Minimum Wage Legislation," p. 195. |