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the International Labour Organization should have complete financial autonomy apart from the United Nations, and also that a joint international budget should be established. On the question of membership of the Organization, points for discussion were—(l) That the members of the United Nations should have the right to participate in the International Labour Organization; (2) Definite conditions be laid down for admission and expulsion; and (3) Provision made for clarifying the position of States withdrawing from the Organization and the continuing in force on Conventionsalready ratified. In connection with future representation at Conferences, several matters arose for discussion, including the matter of increased number of workers' delegates, and provision for representatives of " employers " in countries with a socialized economy and those with a " mixed" economy. A point for discussion was that agricultural workers should be given fuller representation and also that some adequate provisions should be made for the participation of the International Co-operative Movement in the work of the International Labour Organization. In respect to the ratification of the Conventions adopted by various Conferences, there were many suggestions made for improvement of existing procedure. It is well known that many nations ignore, for one reason or another, the ratification of Conventions adopted by the various Conferences of the International Labour Organization. Sir John Forbes Watson (employers' representative from Great Britain) placed before the Conference a statistical summary of the various Conventions adopted by the Conference since 1919 to 1939 and also showed a table of the number ratified by the respective Governments. There are a total of sixty-seven Conventions adopted by the Conference. The greatest number of ratifications up to 1939 were thirty-four each by Great Britain and Spain. Spain withdrew from the International Labour Organization in 1941. The standards set in these Conventions are for the most part somewhat below the level existing at the time they were adopted in the most advanced countries, but are substantially in advance of those existing in the more backward countries. For countries in the latter group ratification of the Conventions consequently involves an important step forward. Since times may be required to take this step, the, progress of ratification is necessarily gradual. Some Conventions, moreover, concern only a limited group of countries: this is the case with those that deal with the conditions; of employment of Native labour. Some cannot at present be ratified by certain Federal States, such as Australia, Canada, Switzerland, and the United States, because the Federal Governments of these countries, which alone have the power to enter into international treaties, lack jurisdiction in the particular fields of labour legislation with which these Conventions deal. In some eases ratification has been delayed by the fact that national legislation differs in method of approach or in technical detail from the provisions of the Convention: this is the case with some of the Conventions which have not yet been ratified by New Zealand. There must, however, be a number of Conventions —in addition to the twenty-three already ratified by New Zealand—which New Zealand could now ratify, either unconditionally or with minor qualifications, on the basis of existing law and practice. In some cases, of course, New Zealand legislation is well in advance of the provisions of Conventions. Ratification in such cases might appear to be a mere formality, but it would be of valuer

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