A.—sc.

COMMITTEES. The Selection Committee makes proposals as to the number of committees and their compositionAfter the Selection Committee has made its proposals for the composition of the various committees and these have been approved by the Conference in plenary sitting, the Government, employers and workers' groups again meet separately and make their nominations for the membership of the committees. Information as to the method of appointment to the various committees is given by the officers at the group meetings. The nominations so made are submitted to the Selection Committee, which reports °to the Conference in plenary sitting. When these preliminary arrangements have been completed, the Conference is in a position to proceed with the discussion of its agenda. The committees of the Conference usually get to work immediately after their appointment by the Conference, but there may be a general discussion in plenary sitting before a particular subject is referred to a committee for consideration. The places and times of meeting of the various committees are announced on the notice board and in the daily bulletin. All delegates and advisers are entitled to attend meetings of committees, even of those of which they are not themselves members, and may also speak at committee meetings (in the case of advisers only if they have been authorized by their delegates) ; but of course only those delegates and advisers who are members of the committee, either as regular members or as substitutes in the absence of regular members, are entitled to vote. The procedure of committees is governed by special Standing Orders. . At its first meeting each committee appoints its Chairman. It also appoints a Vice-Chairman for each of the employers' and workers' groups. A " Reporter " and Drafting Committee are also appointed either at the beginning or at a later stage of the committee s work Separate meetings of th? Government, employers', and workers' delegates on the committee are held for the purpose of nominating officers, and similar meetings are also held from time to time for the discussion of t e comn^tgp ® e^°e r g k made in Frenc]l are interpreted into English and vice versa, and, subject to the provisions of the Standing Orders, interpretations into other languages may also be given. Interpretations into German were given of speeches m the Textile Committee this year. Amendments to proposals before the committee must be handed to the Secretariat of the committeenieedi gof comm i tte es are not reported in full, but minutes m French and 111 English oiving a very brief record on the discussions and decisions are prepared by the secretaries, reproduced in roneo, and circulated to members of the committee one or two sittings later than that to which the y r ulateport oomm ittee is prepared by the Reporter, who is a member of the Committee, and submitted in draft to the Committee as a roneoed document. With its approval of the report, the committee's work conies to an end. The report is then considered by the Conference m plenary sitting Amendments to the committee's proposals for consideration by the Conference must bo furnished in writing to the Clerk of the Conference. In the case of a proposed Draft Convention or recommendation, after the committee's proposals and any amendments thereto have been discussed and voted 011 by the plenary sitting, the text is referred to the Drafting Committee of the Conference to be put into its final form! The text prepared by the Drafting Committee is then published, and the final and decisive vote is taken in plenary sitting of the whole Conference. The following eleven committees were set up this year : (]) Selection Committee. (2) Credentials Committee. (3) Committee on Standing Orders. (4) Committee on Application of Conventions. (5) Resolutions Committee. (6) Committee on Safety in Building. (7) Committee on the Textile Industry. (8) Committee 011 Public Works. (9) Committee on the Printing and Ivindred Trades. (10) Committee- on the Chemical Industry. (11) Committee on Minimum Age. Committees numbered (1) to (5) inclusive are committees which are set up regularly each year. The others were elected to prepare reports on the items on the agenda. New Zealand was represented on the following committees : Committee. Name of delegate. Textile Industry .. Hon. H. T. Armstrong, M.P. (Minister of _ Labour), Principal Government Delegate : Chairman of Committee. Public Works .. Hon. H. T. Armstrong, M.P. (Minister of Labour), Principal Government Delegate : Substitute, Mr. W. J. Shanly. Mr. E. J. Dash, Workers' Delegate. Minimum Age .. Mr. W. E. Anderson, Employers' Delegate. The heaviest work of the Conference falls 011 the committees, and as it is impracticable for any delegate to cope with the work attached to membership of more than one committee, the, scope of influence of the smaller delegations, such as New Zealand s, is much more restricted than that of delegations having sufficient numerical strength to cover all agenda committees. Further reference t0 reports of the Resolutions Committee, containing the texts of resolutions submitted by delegates and adopted by the Conference, are printed m the Appendix.

30