The BASIC WAGE

Hokitika Guardian, 25 November 1920, Page 3

The BASIC WAGE

fAUSTRALIAN »fc N.Z. CABLE ASSOCIATIONJ

MELBOURNE, Nov. 24

The Basic Wage Commission’s recommendation of a basic wage of from £5 17s to ~£s 5s a week is not acceptable to’ the Government. The Press states the announcement of the basic wage report fell with a bombshell effect throughout the Commonwealth industries.

Mr Hughes lengthfully explained the Commission’s findings in the House of Representatives and said that the Government rejected them. The full wage should not be paid to all New South Wales workers irrespective of dependents. The Government would consider a scheme with a basic wage of £4 with an endowment of 12s for each child. To obviate the employers giving preference to single mbn it is proposed that employers shall pay a uniform rate of £4 with a per capita amount for each employee, which will be pooled for endowment'purposes. Mr Hughes asserted that the Commission’s findings, if' given effect to would result in an economic revolution. (Received This Day at 8.30 a.m.) MELBOURNE, Nov 25.

According to the memorandum supplie dto Mr Hughes by the Chairman of the Basic Wage Commission the suggested basic wage of £5 16s for all male workers was based on a typical family of a man, wife and three children. This meant that all families with more than three children would suffer privation and those below three, would receive more than a living wage, and unmarried men u’ould get ivhat would support Himself a wife and three children. Working upon the 1911 census of population the number of children per head of the male population averaged .90, so that under the existing basic wage, industries were paying for 450,000 nonexistent waves, 2,100,000 non-existent children. Again there was the question of automatic increase every quarter, so that the sovereign would always purchase the same amount of commodities. With every increase in wage would come the increase in prices, because Australia did not produce the required wealth. Under these automatic increases, by November 1921 the basic wage would have risen to £8 12s 6d. .On the strength of these figures, Mr Hughes declared the problem insoluble and the position impossible. A worker was no better off from the increase of wuiges because of the increase of prices.

BASIC WAGE. (Received This Day at 10.35 a.m.) SYDNEY, Nov. 24. Tho Federal Government has decided to pay Federal Servants a basic wage of £4 4s from Ist November.