11

H.—ll

of the Hours Convention, but the conference decided to leave it untouched and to work for its general adoption. None of the remaining fifty members has made any marked legislative effort to adopt the convention. In New Zealand the eight-hours day has been generally in force for several years. Family Wages. The question of making adequate provision for workers with families has been receiving a considerable amount of attention in Europe. In France and Holland, and no doubt elsewhere, private schemes have been started by a number of employers with the object of securing a larger wage for a married man with a family than for an unmarried man. Plans have been worked out in France to create depositories or compensation bureaux representing the employers generally, or those in a particular industry, in order to distribute equally the cost of the " super-wage." Each employer contributes on the basis of the number' of workmen he employs, not on the number of heads of families, and this is done to obviate the likelihood of preference of employment being given to unmarried men. The compensation bureau acts as a kind of clearing-house. Each employer pays the " super-wage " to his heads of families, then pays or receives from the bureau the difference between that payment and his proportionate share of the total expense of the association, determined by the bureaux from reports submitted by the individual members. The movement is said to be growing, and employers are taking up the scheme in spite of the fact that it is wholly optional. In July, 1921, there were seventy-one bureaux in France distributing annually over £2,500,000 to a million heads of families. It is not stated whether in the aggregate the employers pay the same wages as if the scheme were not in existence, and this is an important fact. Further information is being awaited. Wage Changes. It is noteworthy from a study of the changes that took place between 1914 and 1921 in wages throughout the world that in most countries the real wages of manual workers who were fully employed at the end of 1921 (after allowing for the altered value of the pound or other standard of value) were, on the whole, a little higher than in the years immediately prior to the war. During the period mentioned there was a considerable change in the ratio of wages of skilled and of unskilled workers, those of the latter being generally equal to the former. In a study of the subject issued last year by the International Labour Office the opinion is expressed that, with, a stable price-level, skilled workers are likely to recover some of the ground they have lost ; although the extent of it will, it is thought, depend rather on productive efficiency or output than on the difference in skill. Women appear to have received proportionately larger increases than men, due to the fact that standardization of production and specialized processes have enabled women to engage in occupations formerly regarded as ones calling for highly skilled labour. The breaking-down of skilled occupations and the attainment of maximum output by the use of unskilled or semi-skilled labour is, as already pointed out in several previous reports of the Department, one calling for serious thought in Now Zealand as well as abroad. Further remarks on the subject are made on page 5. Unemployment. The wide extent which the unemployment problem assumed throughout the various countries in 1921 and 1922 was felt in New Zealand far less severely than in the older countries of Europe and America. The height of the crisis was reached overseas between January and March of 1922, after which there has been a steady decline in the number of unemployed. All the appearances point to a great increase in production and a consequent demand for more labour in the near future. Lead Poisoning in the Painting Industry. The investigations into this subject mentioned in my last annual report have been continued during the past year. Tests have been made by arrangement with the Railway Department of a zinc compound as a substitute for white-lead. The result of the tests is so far in favour of the zinc compound, but a further period is necessary before a conclusion can be reached. It is desired if possible to sho.w that the substitute will be as lasting, of as good, appearance, and as reasonable in cost as paint containing white-lead. As also stated last year, in view of the absence of definite evidence of the existence of chronic lead poisoning'in New Zealand, it was arranged with the Health Department that this disease be made notifiable under the Health Act; but no case has been notified during the year, and only oik; case occurred during the previous year : this seems to indicate that the danger of contracting the disease is not yet serious in New Zealand. The Department is, however, now in possession of valuable information as to the results of investigations into this subject made in almost every European country and America. A Commission appointed recently by the International Labour Office to examine the white-lead question failed to come to a unanimous conclusion that an efficient substitute for white-lead exists, especially regarding resistance to atmospheric variations and impurities. The result of the investigations is that—(l) There is no evidence statistical, medical, chemical, or technical, to warrant the extreme measure of prohibiting the use of white-lead for painting ; (2) the prohibition of white-load in painting would be enormously costly to the. community ; (3) the risk of poisoning in painting can be effectively dealt with by simple, regulations to ensure cleanliness. There is therefore an evident risk of the disease being contracted by men when engaged in the dry rubbing down with sandpaper of (1) old paint, or (2) fresh paint for the purpose of producing a