H.—ll.

steam laundries are fast becoming establishments very creditable to the colony, the appointment being of the best, and efforts are being made to suppress the methods of working which formerly made the trade of the laundress undesirable from the hygienic standpoint. A similar improvement is noticeable in most large factories in New Zealand. The accommodation provided in the lavatories and dining-rooms (attendants for such rooms being sometimes employed by the proprietors), the efforts to acquire perfect ventilation and accommodation in the workrooms, the care exercised in watching over the health and conduct of employees, have all advanced in a most striking degree during late years. Such a state of affairs induces hope that a genuine spirit of sympathy and kinship is growing amongst us, and is shared by all classes. One gratifying feature in regard to the Act this year is to find that the workers have been benefited through Inspectors of Factories having interposed to insure payment of back wages, overtime, holidays, &c, without recourse to prosecution, either in the ordinary Courts or before the Court of Arbitration. The arrears of earnings under the Factories Act thus obtained amount to the considerable sum of £788 10s. lid. (in addition to the sum of £1,153 similarly obtained under awards of the Arbitration Court), distributed as follows : — Back Wages obtained for Workers (under Factories Act). Industrial District. No. of Gases. Amount of Arrears. £ a. d. Auckland ... - ... ... ... ... 38 194 10 7 Wellington ... ... ... ... ... 19 71 15 4 Canterbury ... ... ... ... ... 28 235 8 8 Nelson ... ... ... ... ... 1 0 12 0 Otago and Southland ... ... ... ... 70 281 14 8 Westland ... ... ... ... ... 9 4 9 8 Totals ... ... ... ... 165 £788 10 11 It will thus appear that the intervention of the Inspectors of Factories procured an average of £4 15s. 7d. for each irregularity dealt with. Sixty-three cases were taken to Court under the Act. Of these, fifty-five were decided in favour of the Inspectors, five were dismissed, and three withdrawn. The fees received from factories increased from £2,591 last year to £2,686 in 1906. The decisions under the Act which are of more than common interest are as follows :— Keddie v. the Corporation of Timaru (26th April, 1905) : Judgment by Mr. Justice Denniston in appeal from Stipendiary Magistrate at Timaru. The case was instituted to compel the municipality to register its abattoirs as a factory, being a place in which goods were prepared for sale. The appeal was dsimissed without costs, the Court upholding the Magistrate's decision, and ruling that inspection of abattoirs being necessary under the Slaughtering and Inspection Act it was not necessary to register them as factories also. (Labour Journal, 1905, p. 425.) McQuarters v. Aramoho Meat Freezing Company (19th June, 1905) : Non-payment of wages for Good Friday and Easter Monday to a boy eighteen years of age. The manager was fined £10 for each day, and £1 2s. costs, with back wages of boy for the two days (Labour Journal, 1905, p. 515.) Inspector of Factories v. Hurcomb and Son, fish-curers, Wellington (August, 1905) : For employing lads under sixteen years of age without certificate. One of the boys was under ten years. Fined 10s. on each charge and £1 6s. costs. (Labour Journal, 1905, p. 720.) W. Newton v. Borough of Masterton (August, 1905) : Municipal Gasworks held to be a factory. Fine, £2 and £2 2s. costs. (Labour Journal, 1905, p. 840.) It may be of interest to note that boys and girls under sixteen years of age for whom application was made during the year for permits to work in factories passed the education test in the four centres as follows :—

IV

Standard IV. Standard V. Standard VI. Standard VII. Totals. Boys. Girls. Boys. Girls. Boys. Girls. Boys. Girls. Boys. Girls. Auckland Wellington Christohurch ... Dunedin 99 42 ■10 58 79 47 69 72 46 46 00 01 07 54 58 88 40 76 119 57 ; 46 71 89 "7 2 I 18 3 259 135 170 237 197 178 200 216 Total 245 224 240 267 323 263 9 21 801 791 i