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 New South Wales 
 
 Board of Trade 
 
 Compendium of Living Wage 
 Declarations and Reports
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
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 NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 COMPENDIUM 
 
 OF 
 
 LIVING WAGE DECLARATIONS 
 AND REPORTS 
 
 MADE BY THE 
 
 NEW SOUTH WALES BOARD OF TRADE. 
 
 EDITED BY THE SECRETARY. 
 
 % 
 
 % 
 
 
 V. 
 
 <^ . .-. •• SYDNEV 
 
 wiulIa** applegate gullick, government printer. 
 f52035' IReprint.W, 1922. 
 
 3 ^ 
 
 ,6<<<»0'*^
 
 NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 COMPENDIUM 
 
 OF 
 
 LIVING WAGE DECLARATIONS 
 AND REPORTS 
 
 MADE BY THE 
 
 A 
 
 NEW SOUTH WALES BOARD OE TRADE. 
 
 EDITED BY THE SECRETARY. 
 
 SYDNEY : 
 WILLIAM APPLEGATE GULLICK, GOVERNMENT PRINTER. 
 
 19224 
 
 68639— <(») Reprint.]
 
 Hi) 
 
 CONTENTS. A 2Z\y '^1 
 
 PREFACE. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 \^.1% 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Retrospect of Living Wage Functions of Board 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Living Wages for Adult Males. 
 Declaration dated 5th Sept., 1918, of £3 — Sydney and Suburbs ... 4 
 Declaration dated 8th Oct., 1919, of £3 17s.— Sydney and Suburbs ... 10 
 Declaration dated 19th April, 1920, of £3 16s. 6d.— Newcastle District 24 
 Declaration dated 11th May, 1020, of £3 17s. 6d.— South Coast Area 25 
 Declaration dated 8th July, 1920, of £3 18s.- Central Tablelands Area 27 
 Declaration dated 8th Oct., 1920, of £i 5s. — State, excluding Newcastle, 
 
 South Coast, and Central Tablelands Areas, and county of Yan- 
 
 cowinna ... ... ... ... ... ..• ... ... ... 28 
 
 Declaration dated 15th Dec, 1920, of £4 5s. — Newcastle, South Coast, 
 
 and Central Tablelands Areas ... ... ... ... ... 34 
 
 Declaration dated 3rd Mar., 1921, of £4 5s. — County of Yancowinna... 36 
 Declaration dated 8th Oct., 1921, of £4 2s. — State, excluding county of 
 
 Yancowinna ... ... ... ... 37 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Living Wages for Adult Females. 
 Declaration dated 17th Dec, 1918, of £1 10s.— Sydney and Suburbs... 47 
 Declaration dated 23rd Dec, 1919, of £1 19s.— Sydney and Suburbs... 51 
 Declaration dated 23rd Dec, 1920, of £2 3s. ^ — State, excluding county 
 
 of Yancowinna ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 55 
 
 Declaration dated 3rd Mar., 1921, of £2 33. — County of Yancowinna... 55 
 Declaration dated 22nd Dec, 1921, of £2 Is. — State, excluding county 
 
 of Yancowinna ... ... 134 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Living Wages for Adult Males in Rural Industries. 
 Report dated 7th July, 1921, upon the Rural Industries and the 
 
 question of a Rural Living Wage ... 56 
 
 Declaration dated 20th Oct., 1921, of £3 6s 101 
 
 Report dated 20th Oct., 1921, upon* the Rural Industries ... 101 
 
 Appointment of persons to issue permits to work for less than the 
 
 Rural Living Wage, and Regulations connected therewith ... 12] 
 
 991717
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Prior to the creation of the Board of Trade the fixation of minimum 
 wages for different industries was entrusted to Wages Boards, subject to an 
 appellate supervision of the Court of Industrial Arbitration. These various 
 tribunals, although guided to some extent by declarations of the Court, 
 adopted different principles in arriving at decisions, and frequently fixed 
 wages on the basis of agreements arrived at between parties appearing before 
 them. The Amending Industrial Arbitration Act of 19 IS, was intended to 
 provide one tribunal which should fix a basic wage applicable to all industries, 
 after investigation of variations in the cost of living. A reprint of all the 
 Bd^rd's decisions on the living wage, with its stated reasons, is deemed 
 advisable. 
 
 The prescribing of the conditions of emplopment of apprentices and junior 
 labour was also made a function of the Board. The Legislation also, by 
 vesting powers of inquiry and report on a comprehensive list of economic and 
 industrial subjects, made of the Board a permanent Commission, and in this 
 area it has issued the reports and publications set out below. 
 
 It should also be mentioned that sections of the Board acting as Royal 
 Commissions held inquiries into "The Post War Demand for British-made 
 Goods," and '-The Constitution, Business and Operations of Sydney Ferries, 
 Limited." 
 
 REPORTS AND OPERATIONS. 
 
 Cost of Living and Living Wage Matters : 
 
 Bulletin entitled, " Living Wages (Adult Males) 1918" : 
 
 Contains an introductory chapter, the various living wage judgments of the Court 
 of Industrial Arbitration, the briefs of the respective parties to the 1918 living 
 wage inquiry, and the Board's declaration of that year. 
 
 Bulletin entitled " Living Wages (Adult Females) 1918" ; 
 „ " Living Wages (Adult Females) 1919" : 
 „ „ " Living Wages (Adult Males), Newcastle Area." 
 
 „ „ " Living Wages (Adult Males), South Coast Area." 
 
 „ „ " Living Wages (Adult Males), Central Tablelands Area." 
 
 The foregoing contain the evidence, exhibits, and declarations in connection with 
 the living wage inquiries respectively referred to. 
 
 In connection with the consideration of the cost of living, the Board 
 invited the preparation of the four following pamphlets dealing with the 
 question of food requirements, and having an important bearing upon the 
 allowance made for food in fixinir the livina wace. 
 
 " Food," by D. T. Sawkins, M.A. 
 
 A compilation from various world authorities affording information as to tlio 
 energy requirements of the average man, the dietary standard for a man in full 
 vigour at moderate muscular work, the variability of energy requirements, the 
 nutritive constituents of food, and containing a discussion on recent changes in the 
 diet of Australians.
 
 VI 
 
 " Food and Nutrition," hy C. E. Corl(!tto, M.D., Ch.M., D.P.H. 
 
 Discusses tlic regulation of body teirrpor.ttirro, the protein, carbohydrate and fat 
 clcnxMits in diet, deals with ttie methods of inqAiity and the consideration of certain 
 faliaoioH, the various dietary standards laid down by recognised authorities, as well 
 as their views upon certain food elements, and examines the question of waste in 
 relation to ditlerent varieties of food. This pamphlet, which includes an examina- 
 tion of the climatic factor, refers to the importance of milk, mrlk products, and 
 vitaminos as elements of diet, and makes special reference to the calorie requirement. 
 
 " Diet of Australians," by H. S, Halcro Wardlaw, D.Sc. 
 
 Contains an account of a study of the food consumption of certain individuals 
 who were the subjects of experiments made at the University of Sydney. 
 
 " Food PtequirenientS;" by Professor H. G. Cliapman. 
 
 Explains the relation between food and work done, the variations between the 
 food requirements of different occupations, and suggests the amount of calories 
 needed for the maintenance of an average worker, his wife and a family of two 
 children. The pamphlet contains a statement of the calories derivable from certain 
 specific foods suggested as a ration to yield, in its totality, the number of calories 
 rc(iuired for such a family as mentioned above. 
 
 Apprenticeship : 
 
 " Apprenticeship in Industries " A comprehensive report by a committee of 
 members of the Board, published in July, 1920. 
 
 This furnishes an account of the Committee's preliminary investigation into the 
 subject of industrial apprenticeship, and gives a first impression of the legal rights 
 and liabilities of master and apprentice as they exist to-day. In an historical 
 manner it explains some of the outstanding relations of the subject of apprentice- 
 ship, and deals not only with English experience and the course of events in 
 America, but analyses the local legislation affecting apprentices as well as that of 
 Victoria. The powers and functions of the Board in regard to the control of 
 apprenticeship are set cut, and proposals for a constructive policy laid down. 
 
 The following pamphlets relating to the subject of Apprenticeship were 
 also published during 1920. 
 
 No. 1 — "Apprenticeship in Industries: The Tenour of the Committee's 
 Report," edited by G. V. M. Turner, LL.B. 
 
 \Va8 issued contemporaneously with the report last referred to. It gives in brief 
 outline a description of the matters dealt with in the report. 
 
 No.^ 2— "The Significance of the English Education Act, 1918," by G. Y. M. 
 Turner, LL.B. 
 
 Deals with the adoption of legislation providing for the introduction of compulsory 
 day continuation schools in England, and the proposals for the training of juvenile 
 workers in industry. 
 
 No. 3—" Apprenticeship and National Education," by Peter Board, C.M.-G,j 
 M.A. 
 
 In this the Under-Secretary and Director of Education, after referring to the 
 report by the Committee of the Board as " one of the best reports issued by a 
 Government Department for some time past," gives his views as to the educational 
 needs which the State should supply for the training of apprentices, and outlines a 
 scheme of student apprenticeship.
 
 vn 
 
 No. 4 — " Apprenticeship and Technical Education," by .Tames Nangle, 
 F.R.A.S. 
 
 The Superintendpnt of Technical Kducatiun deals herein with the requirements of 
 apprentices in relation to technical training in their trades. He urges the establisli- 
 ment of special schools to provide a full-time training of two years' duration as part 
 of an apprenticeship system, or, in the alternative, compulsory part-time attendance 
 of apprentices at day trade schools. 
 
 No. 5— "Work Schools and their Methods", by G. V. M. Turner, LL.B. 
 
 Refers to the place which is occupied by work schools in the English scheme of 
 national education, briefly considers the methods and principles of workslmp 
 training, and gives examples of the systematic instruction provided to employees by 
 large concernb in America, in England, and in this State. 
 
 No. 6 — " Problems Involved in the Establishment of Day Continuation 
 Schools in England," by G. V. M. Turner, LL.B. 
 
 As its title suggests, this pamphlet deals with the difficulties which confronted 
 the English educational authoritie.'^ upon the passing of the Education Act, 1918, 
 providing for compulsory day continuation schools for juvenile workei's between the 
 ages of 1-4 and 18. 
 
 A Leaflet containing Proposed Regulations to govern Apprenlicesliip in the 
 Building Trades. 
 
 Miscellaneous : 
 
 "The British Scheme for Self-Governuient of Industry, and its <(ninterpart in 
 New South Wales" (2 pamphlets) by J. B. Holme, B.A., LL.B., Deputy 
 President of the Board of Trade. 
 
 (iives an account of the genesis, tjie n.ature and the functions of joint industrial 
 councils contemplated by the Whitley .Scheme— a plan adopteil in England for the 
 solution of industrial problems by providing for a systematic review by employers 
 and employees of their relations. Tiie l^jard suggested, for the consideration of tl.e 
 parties concerned, the establislinienl of similar voluntary schemes of co-operation in 
 New (South Wales. 
 
 '* In([uiry into the Prevalence of Miners' Phthisis and I'ncuuioconiosis in 
 Certain Industries." (3 reports by the Board.) 
 
 The first report deals (in one volume) with the scope of the in(|uiry, the physi- 
 ological and pathological da'a, the law and opinion abroad, evidence from previous 
 local inquiries, statistical analysis, and with the accepted facts and measures of 
 relief, and sets out the conclusions and recommendations made to the Governor for 
 the appointment of a Technical Connnissiou of Inquiry. (The evidence given before 
 the public inijuiry in 1918 was contained in a sepaiale volume.) 
 
 The second gives an account of the proceedings held at Broken Hill and Sydney, 
 in August, 191!), and contains complete propo.«als regarding the personnel and the 
 cost of the Technical Commission of In<(Tury to investigate the incidence of pneu- 
 moconiosis, plumbism, and ankylostomiasis. 
 
 The thinl of these rej)0rts, dated tlie 1st December, 191',), gives the reasons wh)' 
 the Board, after being requested by the tlien Premier to formulate a .snuiller si;heme 
 tkaii that originally proposed, declined to recommend a less comprehensive plan.
 
 vni 
 
 "Unemployment Insurance." (Pal)lislicd June, 1921), by G. V. M. Turner, 
 LL.JJ. 
 
 Deals with the need for provision by insurance against unemployment, the uncler- 
 lyin" philosophy, and with the inherent difficidties, and gives an account of a 
 numljcr of actual schemes in operation at present or in the past, in different 
 countries of the world, as well as of the development of opinion in certain other 
 countries. 
 
 Report of ca Committee of the Board as to the Cost of Distribution of 
 Country Milk (1921). 
 
 "Insurance against Unemployment and Industrial Accidents." 
 
 This is a leaflet containing a summary of the views and suggestions offered to the 
 Board by Mr. J. Webster. 
 
 "Inquiry into White Lead as used in the Painting Industry: Its Dangers 
 and their Prevention." Report bj' the Board. 
 
 Published in two volumes — one containing the report alone, and the other the 
 report together with the evidence which was given before the Board. The report 
 iudicatesthe methods by which the Board proceeded to investigate the matter 
 referred to it by the Minister, deals with matters collateral to the inquiry, with 
 the chemical and physiological data, the public vital statistics, and their interpre- 
 tation, the evidence from administrative and trade experience, and finally sets forth 
 the ereneral conclusions of the Board. 
 
 Office of the N.S. W. Board of Trade, 
 University Chambers, 
 
 78 Elizaheth Street, Sydney.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 RETROSPECT OF LIVING WAGE FUNCTIONS OF BOARD. 
 
 The Bulletiji of the New South Wales Board of Trade entitled " Living 
 Wage (Adult Males), 1918," contains in Chapter IV the first declaration of 
 living wages made by the Board, viz., that of £3 per week for adult male 
 employees, dated the 5th September, 1918. The machinery for the fixing 
 of living wages prior to the constitution of the Board is referred to in 
 Chapter I, and in Chapter II the various living wage judgments of the Court 
 of Industrial Arbitration are set out. Chapter III contains the briefs of 
 the respective parties. 
 
 Since September, 1918, the Board has made a number of declarations 
 of living wages for both adult male and adult female employees (in the former 
 case, in rural as well as non-rural industries), and there have been two 
 amendments of the law under which the Board operates in this connection. 
 
 Accordingly the time seems to be opportune for publishing in brief compass 
 the various declarations referred to, for the convenience of all concerned. 
 
 The Act No. 16, 1918, under which the Board operates in fixing living 
 wagci came into force on the 22nd March, 1918, and provides that the 
 Board shall declare what shall be the living wages to be paid to adult male 
 and adult female employees in the State or any defined area thereof. The 
 Board is also charged with the duty of making a separate public inquiry 
 into the cost of living of employees engaged in rural occupations, and of 
 making a separate declaration as to the living wages to be paid to such 
 employees, and declaring what deductions may be made from such wages for 
 board and/or residence and for any customary privileges or payments in 
 kind conceded to or made to such employees. 
 
 So far as rural workers are concerned, an amendment of the Act, viz., 
 No. 50, 1919, which came into force on the 23rd Decembef, 1919, requires 
 the Board to first take evidence upon the conditions of the rural industries 
 and of their ability to bear additional burdens in wages, and the probable 
 effect of the same upon production. The Board has then to report its con- 
 clusions upon such evidence and give effect thereto so far as is reasonable in 
 making its declaration as to the living wages to be paid to such employees, 
 and may also, should it think fit, refrain from making such declaration in 
 such occupations. 
 
 . In compliance with this section, the Board has furnished a report, 
 dated the 7th July, 1921, containing its reasons for refraining hitherto from 
 making a declaration of wages for rural employees. This document has been 
 published in pam]>hlet form under the title " Report of the New South Wales 
 Board of Trade upon the Rural Industries, and the Question of a Rural 
 Living Wage — Conclusions upon Inquiry, 1920-21." 
 
 On the 30th October, 1921, the Board made a further report upon the 
 subject of the rural industries and declared a living wage to be paid to adult 
 male employees in such industries. 
 
 Both of the reports mentioned, together with the declaration, are repro- 
 duced in Chapter IV. 
 
 ♦52039— A
 
 2 
 
 The Act (No. 16, 1918), in so far as rural workers are concerned, contains 
 
 provisions wliicli do not apply in the case of urban workers. Thus section 24b 
 provides : — 
 
 All employees engaged in rural industries shall be entitled to be paid 
 
 the living wages declared in their regard by the Board of Trade, but, 
 
 with the exception of employees whose conditions of employment have 
 
 been regulated by any award, shall not be otherwise subject to the 
 
 provisions of this Act. 
 
 This section would seem to vest in rural workers an immediate right to be 
 
 paid the amount declared in their regard by the Board, whereas in the cases 
 
 of non-rural workers, the right to the living wage declared by the Board, 
 
 requires to be brought into practical effect either through the medium of an 
 
 award made by the Court of Industrial Arbitration or by the enactment of a 
 
 regulation made by the Governor in Council. Such a regulation may in 
 
 the terms of the Act " incorporate the determinations and directions of the 
 
 Board and any matters necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying 
 
 such determinations and directions into effect." Regulations of such a 
 
 character have on certain occasions been promulgated and have adapted 
 
 to the enforcement of the Board's Living Wage, the machinery provisions 
 
 (including penal clauses) contained in the Act for the enforcement of awards. 
 
 The validity of such regulations has been negatived by the Supreme Court. ' 
 
 (See reprint of Judgments in Appendix I, p. 125). Possibly because of the 
 
 distinctions which affect the position of the urban and the rural worker 
 
 upon the declaration of a Living Wage, the Legislature has embodied in 
 
 the Act a provision for the issue of permits to enable rural workers to work 
 
 for less than the declared living wage. This provision, which is contained 
 
 in s. 79 (3), is as follows : — 
 
 Any aged, infirm, or slow worker engaged in any rural occupation 
 
 who may deem himself unable to earn the living wages declared by the 
 
 Board of Trade may apply to the registrar or to any person appointed 
 
 by such board for a permit in writing to work for less than the living 
 
 wage. Copies of all such permits shall be forwarded to the registrar, 
 
 who may at any time cancel or amend the same, 
 
 The Board ha^ in pursuance of this section completed arrangements for 
 
 the appointment of all Clerks and Acting Clerks of Petty Sessions as the 
 
 persons to issue permits under this section. 
 
 The Board has also suggested certain regulations to govern the procedure 
 under this part of the Act, which have received Executive approval and 
 been published in the Government Gazette. 
 
 These regulations are reproduced at page 121. 
 
 Living Wage Declarations for Adult Male Employees. 
 
 The Board's declaration of 1918 in respect of adult male employees, viz., 
 £3 per week, has already been referred to. On the 8th October, 1919, the 
 Board declared a living wage for adult males of £3 17s. per week applying, 
 as in the case of the 1918 declaration, to Sydney and Suburbs. 
 
 During the year 1920 the Board investigated the cost of living of adult 
 males in three sectional areas of the State, and as a result made declarations 
 of living wages in each case. 
 
 The first declaration was one of £3 16s. 6d., dated the 19th April, 1920, 
 for Newcastle and surrounding districts; the second, dated the 11th ]May, 
 1920, fixed an amount of £3 17s. 6d. for the South Coast area, while the 
 third, on the 8th July, 1920, assessed the living wage for the Central Table- 
 lands area at £3 18s. per week.
 
 On tlie 8th October, 1920, the Boaid, after making its usual annual 
 investigation of the increase or decrease in the average cost of living, declared 
 a living wage of £1 5s. per week for adult males, which, contrary to former 
 practice, wa« made to apply throughout the State with the exception of the 
 county of Yancowinna and the three sectional areas covered by current 
 declarations. These latter three areas were excepted for purely technical 
 legal reasons, and the Board intimated the need for legislation which would 
 enable them to give effect to the intention of the Act, viz., the declaration 
 of a national living wage for the whole State. 
 
 On the 10th December, 1920, amending legislation (No. 19, 1920) was 
 enacted to enab'e the Board to act upon the I'nes previously indicated. 
 The terms of the relevant section of the Act are as folloAvs : — 
 
 The Board of Trade may in its discretion at any time, notwithstanding 
 the existence of declarations as to living wages made by it for defined 
 areas of the State, declare what shall be tlie living wages to be paid in 
 the State or any defined area thereof to adult male employees and to 
 adult female employees, and for the purposes aforesaid may rescind or 
 vary any existing declaration. 
 
 Following upon this legislation, the Board on the 15th December, 1920, 
 made a declaration Avhich in effect extended the £4 5s. per week previously 
 declared on the 8th October, 1920, to the three sectional areas in respect of 
 which separate declarations had been made, but still excepting the county 
 of Yancowinna. 
 
 The cost of living in the last-mentioned area was subsequently made the 
 subject of a special investigation, and on the 3rd March, 1921. the Board 
 extended the living wage of £4 5s. per week for adult males to cover the 
 whole Stste. 
 
 On the 8th October, 1921, the Board made a declaration of £4 2s. per 
 week, 13s. 8d. per day, Is. Sid. per hour, as the living wage to be paid to 
 adult males throughout the -State excepting thereout the county of Yanco- 
 winna 
 
 Living Wage Declarations for Adult Female Employees. 
 
 The Board's first declaration of living wages for adult females was on the 
 17th December, 1918, and fixed an amount of 30s. per week, made up as 
 follows, viz., board and lodging, 16s. : clothing, boots, and toilet requisites, 
 8s. 8d.: and miscellaneous items, 5. 4d. On the 23rd December, 1919, the 
 Board increased this amount to £1 19s., the itemised assessments being — 
 board and lodging, £1 Is.; clothing, boots, and toilet requisites. 10s. 6d. : 
 and miscellaneous items. 7s. 6d. On the 23rd December, 1920, the amount 
 contained in the previous declaration was increased to £2 3s per week. The 
 first two declarations were confined to an area which may be described 
 generally as Sydney and suburbs: the third declaration applies to the whole 
 State, with the exception of the county ofYancowinna (Broken Hill district.) 
 This exception has now been removed by a declaration dated the 3rd March, 
 1921. 
 
 The full text of the declarations in non-rural industries, in the cases of 
 both adult male and adult female employees, tosother with Presidential 
 statements — where made — is set out in Chapters II and III.
 
 4 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 LIVING WAGES FOR ADULT MALES. 
 
 DECLARATION OF BOARD OF 5th SEPTEMBER, 1918. 
 
 By section 79 (1) of the Industrial Arbitration Act, the duty is cast on 
 this Board of making from year to year " public inquiry into the increase or 
 decrease in the average cost of living," with a view to then declaring certain 
 living wages. 
 
 We have accordingly entered upon this inquiry to find, first, a living wage 
 for iiiale adults in the metropolitan area. We have been assisted by gentle- 
 men representing the employers as a body and the wage-earners as a body, 
 respectively. At our invitation they have gone beyond the mere inquiry 
 into the rise and fall of the cost of living, and have put before us their views 
 as to the living wage for male adults. 
 
 To say that the cost of living has gone down or up is the same thing as 
 saying that the value of the medium of exchange has gone up or down, and 
 accordingly in all the Courts of Industrial Arbitration throughout Australia 
 great use has been made of the tables prepai'ed by Mr. Knibbs, the .Common- 
 wealth Statistician, to show the rise and fall of the purchasing power of the 
 sovereign. He has fully explained his methods, and they have been many 
 times discussed and criticised, but the accuracy of his results has, it seems to 
 us, never been seriously shaken. In this State in particular, the Court of 
 Industrial Arbitration has fully adopted them. When the President of this 
 Board, as Judge of that Court, delivered the living wage judgment of 1914 
 he laid down that the labourer's wage in Sydney should go up and down with 
 the Commonwealth Statistician's tables on the purchasing power of the 
 '■'overeign. He did that after closely examining those tables, and (rightly or 
 wrongly) satisfying himself that they could be safely followed for the wage- 
 earning class of the community. Since then, our Court of Industrial Arbi- 
 tration has applied that rule, though with some modifications due to the 
 disturbing influence of the war. Two increases in the then declared living 
 wage of £2 8s. "have been announced, bringing it first to £2 12s. 6d., and 
 then to £2 15s. 6d. If the method is now again applied, a further increase 
 will be shown to be due. Taking the last two quarters of 1913 as the period 
 covered by the living wage inquiry, and following the practice of the Court 
 of Industrial Arbitration of taking the present figure at the average of the 
 last four quarters, in this case up to the 30th June, 1918, the value of the 
 sovereign would be shown to have decreased as follows :— 
 
 As 23s. 6d. : 28s. 6|d. :: 100 : 121-54 
 
 This means that on the average value of the sovereign during the last 
 twelve months 121 "54 sovereigns are now required to buy what 100 sovereigns 
 would have bought during the last six months of 1913. 
 
 This is taking the only Commonwealth table put forward as indicating the 
 rise and fall of the purchasing power of the sovereign for the community. 
 Mr. Knibbs firmly contends that for that purpose it is sufficient ; that it 
 does show, with reasonable precision, the changes in the purchasing power of 
 the sovereign. Except when times have been absolutely abnormal, our State 
 Court of Industrial Arbitration has adopted his view, and (we believe) in all 
 the other Industrial Courts of Australia, also, the table is accepted.
 
 On the method set out above, Mr. Siitcliff, who gave evidence for Mr, 
 KnibKs, worked out for us a present living wage of £2 ISs. 5d., on which 
 the Court of Industrial Arbitration, but for the prospective appointment of 
 this Board, would probably ere now have raised the present minimum wage 
 to £2 18s. Gd. 
 
 However, tliis result is attacked by both the employers and the employees. 
 Before considering the substantial points raised, it will be well to clear the 
 ground for tw.,> which can be disposed of shortly. First, the employers sub- 
 mit (and this is practically their only serious contention) that the living 
 wage of £2 8s., declared early in 1914, should not now be taken as the 
 starting point, because in fact the cost of living was then found to be some 
 £2 Gs. Gd., and for an investigation of the present cost of living the proper 
 starting point is the then cost of living ; not the then declared living wage. 
 This cannot be accepted. It is true that the investigation of the material 
 then before the Court brought out a cost of living of about £2 Gs, 6d., but 
 the Court did not accept that result ; for various reasons which may be 
 gathered from the judgment, it added Is. Gd. to that figure, and treated the 
 resulting £2 8s , as shoNving the cost of living, and as pointing to a living 
 wage of the same amount. However, though this contention of the employers 
 is overruled, the fact that Is. 6d. was added to the cost of living indicated 
 by the evidence is material upon a part of the argument, hereinafter con- 
 sidered, based on the analysis of that wage of £2 8s. 
 
 The second of the preliminary points is the suggestion (for it is hardly 
 more) by the employees that, in the analysis of the £2 8s. for which they 
 contend, the increase in cost of the third element (which includes the whole 
 of the expenditure which is neither food and groceries, nor rent), should be 
 ascertained by means of Mr. Knibbs' food and groceries tables, not of his 
 combined table. There is nothing whatever to support this. It would be an 
 entire novelty. In considering whether his combined table was a fair guide 
 to the rise and fall of the value of the sovereign generally, Mr. Knibbs must, 
 in effect, have considered this point. There is no knowing what the method 
 might lead to. Sometimes the food and groceries table increases in a smaller 
 proportion than the rent table, and then thd application of this new method 
 would give a lower instead of a higher wage. Without something more sub 
 stantial to go on than a mere suggestion of a prior probability, we cannot 
 introduce such a change. 
 
 This leaves the ground clear for Mr. Cantor's other submissions on behalf 
 of the employees. They are of three kinds : (1) a proposal as to the proper 
 method of ascertaining the increase of the £2 8s. wage of 1914; (2) an 
 attack on the accuracy of one of the elements of that wage ; and (3) an 
 application to the Board to take evidence on exi.sting rentals and on the 
 present prices of clothing and domestic utensils in Sydney. 
 
 As to the first, Mr. Cantor suggests that the proper way to deal with the 
 1914 wage of £2 8s. is not to take it as a unit, and ascertain its ri.se or fall 
 by Mr. Knibbs' only general table, but to analyse it into its component 
 parts, and deal witli these ])arts separatelj' under his special tables. For the 
 purpo.se of the analysis, he refers to the judgment of 1914, and submits that 
 shows that the wage was built up as follows : — 
 
 Cost of foof I and groceries 
 
 Cost of rent 
 
 Cost of everything else... 
 
 £ s. 
 1 2 
 
 d. 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 £2 8 
 

 
 3J 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 He then ascertains the increase in the first item by apf»lying Mr. Knibbs' 
 food and grocery table, and of the second by applying Mr. Knibbs' rent table. 
 He suggested that the the tlic third should be dealt with under the food and 
 grocery table, but that has been considered and rejected above. It would, 
 therefore, come under the combined table, or (which is the same thing) it 
 should be taken to rise or fall in the same proportion as the two earlier items 
 taken together. The resulting wage would be as follows : — 
 
 Food and groceries 
 Rent, lis. 8|d., or say ... 
 Other items 
 
 ■£300 
 
 The first remark to be made is that the allotment to the item of food and 
 groceries of the whole of the increase of is. 6d., wiiich was made in 1914: to 
 the ascertained cost of living, is unjustified. The assumption that it should 
 be so allotted was first made by Mr. Trivett, the St£.te Statistician, in a case 
 in which he rendered very valuable assistance to Edmunds J. It was a 
 natural assumption, which, if circumstances had not called for its critical 
 examination, would probably have been made by everybody. However, now 
 that it has to be looked into, it is plain that it cannot be supj)orted. The 
 Is. 6d. was added to the whole wage, not to any part of it. It was so added 
 largely because the judge had, shortly before, dismissed an appeal by the 
 employers in the soap industry against a minimum wage of £2 8s. It was 
 quite immaterial when it was added, how it was allotted; no one was 
 tliinking of proportions at all, but only of the wage. ISTow that the question 
 has been raised there are, really and truly, fair grounds for arguing that it 
 should be all added to the rent. That would make the proportions as 
 follows : — 
 
 £ s. d. 
 Food and groceries ... ... ... 1 G 
 
 Rent 13 6 
 
 Other items 14 
 
 £2 8 
 
 and this table, worked out on Mr. Cantor's principle, would result as 
 follows : — 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Food and groceries ... ... ... 1 811^ 
 
 Rent 13 2i 
 
 Other items ... ... 17 5 
 
 £2 19 6^ 
 
 This is a wage about Is. 3d. a week more than is shown by using the 
 combined table in the ordinary way, but it might often happen that the 
 result would be just the reverse. It was said in the 1914 judgement that 
 the use of the combined table would give better results to the workers, and 
 it is evident that in many cases that would be so ; so that in the long run 
 Mr. Cantor's suggestion might do his clients more harm than good. But 
 apart from that, it is a novelty, and a departure from the simple plan every- 
 where followed of finding the variation in the sovereign by the only table
 
 which Mr. Kiiibbs prepares to show the variation. Given a wage of £2 Ss. 
 for the end of 1913, the Commonwealth Statistician would use that table, 
 and that table alone, to pronounce upon its appreciation or depreciation, and 
 would do so without dreaming of asking how the £2 8s. had been arrived at ; 
 that would be quite immaterial to him. During all the discussions that have 
 been held in the different Courts as to JMr. Knibbs's tables, we do not think 
 this suggestion has been ever before made, though it could, it seems to us, 
 have been applied to ]Mr. Justice Higgins's Harvester wage of £2 2s. as well 
 as to ours of £2 8s., and if so applied would liave shown results extremely 
 favourable to the workers. Yet no one ever, to our knowledge, suggested it. 
 Mr. Knibbs shows the increase or decrease under the single table ; the 
 Harvester wage has been increased under the single table ; Mr. President 
 Jethro Brown's wage of 9s. will, no doubt, increase under the single table, 
 and our Sydney wage has hitherto increased under the single table. If the 
 mebhod ought to be altered for us, it ought to be altered for the others, and 
 we should at once have four different rates of rise and fall in the purchasing 
 power of the sovereign. We think that would be an absurd result. M r. 
 Cantor's contention must therefore fail ; but we are much obliged to him for 
 pointing it out and for the fairness and ability v.'ith v.'hich he argued it. 
 
 His second point was a direct attack on the 12s. rent of the £2 8s. living 
 wage. In submitting this he brought before us a material circumstance 
 which was not pointed out by anybody during the living wage inquiry, and 
 which deserves careful examination. 
 
 In the living wage judgment (13 I.A.R.), at p. 55, it is said in the course 
 of the discussion of the average rent : " If 7s. was the rent of a workman's 
 house in Melbourne in 1907 (as appears ;from the Harvester case), then, 
 according to Mr. Knibbs's table at p. 175 of his Bulletin for November, 1913, 
 10s. 9d. would be the rent of a workman's house in Sydney in 1913. Then, 
 on p. 57, after setting out the other evidence in detail, the judgment says : 
 " Under these circumstances I should have no difficulty, if it it were not 
 for Mr. Knibbs's tables in putting the average rent for a house of three rooms 
 and a kitchen at 12s. 6d. per week." Finally, however, infliienced by tliose 
 tables, the Judge assumed a rent of 12s. 
 
 It will be seen that the Harvester rent of 7s. was taken as the Melbourne 
 rent. However, Mr. Knibbs had in December, 1912, published on page 13 
 of his Report No. 1 (not in his Bulletins, which were the publications used 
 during the inquiry), a table showing the result of his inquiries as to the past 
 rent averages in the capital cities, going back as far as 1901. . He e.xjilains 
 his method at page 26 of -that Report, and it appears that in 1911 he obtained 
 from certain selected house agents in each of the capital cities particulars of 
 the " predominant weekly rents " of houses having certain numbers of rooms. 
 This informatiiui was no doubt obtained by the agents from their old books. 
 From these tables it ap])ears that the predominant weekly rent in Melbourne 
 in the year 1907 for four-roomed houses was 8s. lid., not 7s. as assumed. 
 
 This 8s. lid. was for all four-rooined houses, not for four-roomed hnnses 
 occtipied by wage-earner.s alone, still less for four-roomed houses occupied by 
 living-wage earners. These considerations will be shown presently to be 
 very important, so much so as to diminish very greatly, if not altogether to 
 destroy, the value of such tables for inquiries such as were made in 1913, 
 and as we are now making. We do not think, therefore, that the 8s. lid. 
 can be assumed to apply to living-wage workers. Still, if that assumption is 
 made, the Sjcney rental in 1913 would grow from tlie 10s. 9d. which was 
 ound to be abou^ l3s. 9d. The Court allowed 12s. (Is. 9d. less) and if the
 
 8 
 
 whole of tlie Is. 9d. ];.ad been udded to tl.e rent element of the wage whicli 
 was found, the total wage wnuld liave become £2 8s. 3d. instead of £2 8s.,. a 
 very minute diilerence. 
 
 It was not until December, 1914, ten months after the Court's living wage 
 judgment, that Mr. Knibbs, in his Report No. 5, published his "average 
 predominant weekly rents in 1913 for houses of four rooms in Sydney," which 
 he there showed as 14s. 3d. (See p. lOJ of that Report, where also will be, 
 seen an important correction of the average for 1913.) This, of course, was 
 not available at t!ie time of the Court's inquiry ; but it is now used to support 
 the contention that the 12s. rental which the Court allowed was wrong. 
 Curiously enough, however, in August, 1914, Mr. Knibbs published his 
 Report 'No. 4, which contained the results of an independent inquiry by him 
 into the c;:st of living. He had obtained from a number of liouseholders 
 throughout Australia statements of their actual expenditure during four 
 weeks in November, 1913, a period which falls almost in the very time 
 covered by tlje inquiry in Sydney. The results as to rents are shown on 
 pp. 21-25, and the remarkable fact appears that for all clas.ses and for 
 houses of all sizes, as to which returns were made, the average weekly rental 
 was lis. 3d. What was the general average for all classes with incomes of 
 less than ,£4 per week does nou appear precisely ; but they are shown in six 
 separate divisions, the highest of v/hich averages lis. Id., the lowest. 8s. 7d., 
 and the general average, assuming the number of families in the different 
 divisions to be equal (which no doubt was not so, but which may be taken as 
 a rough guide), is 9s. lOd. 
 
 Comparing the tv/o Reports we get the following surprising results : — 
 
 Per week. 
 Report No. 5, page 107 — s. d. 
 
 Weighted average of " average predominant weekl}^ 
 
 rents " for all rented houses in Sydney during 1913 19 6 
 
 R,eport No. 4, page 21 — 
 
 General average rent of all rent-paying families 
 throughout the Commonwealtli making returns 
 for November, 1913 11 1 
 
 Report No. 5, page 107 — 
 
 Average predominant weekly rents for houses having 
 
 four rooms, in Sydney, during 1913 ... ... 14 3 
 
 Report No. 4, page 21 — 
 
 Rough average rents for all rent-paying families, 
 with incomes of less than £4 per week, throughout 
 the Commonwealth, making returns for November, 
 
 1913 9 10 
 
 These figures, together with the actual results obtained by Mr. Couniftg- 
 ton's collectors in Sydney in 1913, seem to us to show conclusively that the 
 rents of the four-roomed houses averaged in Mr. Knibbs' " Reports " are no 
 guide to the four-roomed houses occupied by wage-earners, and accordingly 
 the argument based on the tables mentioned above in Reports Nos. 2 and 5 
 falls to the ground, and the sum of £2 8s. 6d., with Is. 6d. added, making a 
 wage of £2 8s., emerges unshaken.
 
 9 
 
 Finall}-, there is Mr Cantor's request that we should take evidence as to 
 house rents and as to the I'ise in the cost in Sydney of clothing and house- 
 hold utensils. 
 
 Afuer consideration v/e have decided not to do this. As to the house 
 rents, the foregoing examination shows that tiie new data relied upon as 
 weakening the value of the investigation in 1913 do not weaken it; and as 
 tO' the clothing and domestic utensils, they are only a part of the total ex- 
 penditure, and to enable us to draw any satisfactory inference from their 
 changes we should require to examine the other parts. We could, no doubt, 
 get muc!i evidence as to the changes in the cost of various textiles and 
 different kinds of clothing ; but we could not discover the totals of con- 
 sumption, either actual or relative, to the other expenditure. We could 
 hardly open a part of the field for one side without opening tlie whole of it 
 for the other side, and in the event much time might be consumed, and much 
 expense caused, for a very uncertain result. 
 
 We find, therefore, applying the Commonwealth Statistician's table to the 
 li\"ing v»-age, declared in this city in 1913, that the normal cost of living and 
 the living wage are now properly £2 18s. Gd. 
 
 W'e have, however, consulted a good deal about the present situation. We 
 think that the times are not normal. In a general way everyone complains 
 of the increase in the cost of living, though even more money seems to be 
 spent than ever before. Whether this is permanent, or whether the close of 
 the war or anything else will end it, we cannot possibly sa)'-. It is true that 
 everyone ought to economise and avoid waste as much as possible ; but still 
 we think, under the very special circumstances of the present time, and for 
 the present time only, that something migiit be done for the lowest class of 
 woi'kers. We deal only with the living wage and nothing else, and as we 
 have to consider it every year we are able to take short views. Our findings 
 do not bind us ; the whole matter is reopened every time, ard Ave can cancel 
 special allowances if we think them no longer justified. We find that the 
 living wage proper is £2 18s. 6d. per week, but we add to it (for the living- 
 wage workers only, and until our next inquiry only) another 3d, per day, 
 making the minimum wage for the present Is. 3d. per hour, or 10s. per day, 
 or £3 per week. 
 
 Th" area within which the said declaration applies is the area within the 
 following boundary lines : — 
 
 Commencing at the north corner of the eastern boundary of the 
 municipality of Manly ; thence in a generally north-westerly direction 
 to and including the town of Hornsby ; thence in a generally south- 
 vvesterly direction. to and including the township of Emu Plains; thence 
 in a generally south-ea.sterly direction to and including the township of 
 Sutherland ; thence by a, line to and including tlie north-eastern head- 
 land of Botany Bay; and thence by the coast line to the point ol 
 commencement. 
 
 CHARLES G. HEYUON, K.C., President. 
 
 W. T. WILLINGTO^T>| 
 
 THOMAS ROUTLEY / ^ 
 
 E. J. KAVAXAGH ^ Commissioners. 
 
 A. COOPER 
 
 )
 
 10 
 
 tPublishcd in Government Gazette No. 237 of 10th October, 1919.] 
 
 The New South Wales Board of Trade, 
 8th October, 1919. 
 The following Declaration of the 8th October, 1919, of the New South Wales 
 Board of Trade as to the living wage to be paid to adult male employees 
 within the following area : Commencing at the north corner of the eastern 
 boundary of the Municipality of Manly ; thence in a generally north-westerly 
 direction to and including the town oi Hornsby ; thence in a generally south- 
 westerly direction to and including the township of Emu Plains; thence in a 
 generally south-easterly direction to and including the town of Sutherland; 
 thence by a line to and including the north-eastern headland of Botany Bay ; 
 and then by the coast line to the point of commencement, is hereby published 
 for general information, 
 
 H. L. LASIOND, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 DECLARATION 
 
 In doing its work under section 79 of the Industrial Arbitration Act, 
 1912, as amended, the Board of Trade has adopted the following construc- 
 tion of that section in respect of the scope and limitation of its powers there- 
 under. The public inquiry directed by the section as to the increase or 
 decrease in the average cost of living refers to the system established by the 
 Court of Industrial Arbitration for the purpose of ascertaining the living 
 wage by the judgment of 16th February, 1911, which system had the force 
 of law at the time section 79 became law^, viz., 22nd March. 1918. The duty 
 is therefore imposed upon the Board of carrying out the principles underlying 
 that judgment. The methods by which those principles were then applied 
 were entirely followed by the Board in its declaration, 5th September, 1918, 
 and have the authority of precedent, that is to say, those methods should 
 not be departed from unless for good reason. 
 
 The principles underlying the judgment of i6th February, 1914, are as 
 follows :— 
 
 (1) The average cost of living should be calculated upon the basis of the 
 
 average requirements of the lowest-paid class of workers. 
 
 (2) This calculation should be made upon the requirements of a family 
 
 of husband and wife and the average number of dependent children 
 in the families of the said class. 
 
 (3) The standard of living shoidd be such as to provide a worker of the 
 
 said clasSj and his said dependent family, with the normal require- 
 ments of a member of a civilised community, 
 
 Guided by this construction, the Board held the public inquiry as required 
 by section 79, into the increase or decrease in the average cost of living. 
 
 3Ir. Kirby, who appeared for the Employers' Federation of N.S.W., con- 
 tended that the Board should adopt the whole of the conclusions in its last 
 declaration, and bring the same up to. date b}^ the application of the Knibbs' 
 Tables of the purchasing power of money. On the other side, Mr. Croft, 
 who appeared for the Unions of Employees, contended that the Board should 
 reopen the whole investigat'on without regarding itself as bound in any way 
 by the pre%'ious inquiries. This issue between the parties was solved by the 
 construction of the section on the lines above stated. The general question 
 as to the application of the Index-numbers is considered in Schedule I.
 
 11 
 
 Mr. Croft contended that the dependent fcmily should ]jo taken at throe 
 instead of two, as in the system adopted by the Commonwealth Arbitration 
 Court. If the number of dependent children, three, adopted by Mr. Justice 
 Higgins in the Harvester case in 1907, v/as not taken by him because it was 
 presumed to be an average, it is impos'^ible for the Board to say upon what 
 grounds it was taken. The statistical inquiry into the subject shows that, 
 as an average for this State, that number is wrong. The Board finds that 
 during the past year this average number of dependent children is under 
 two. (See Schedule II.) 
 
 The Board declines to .enter upon the consideration of the following subjects 
 that were raised at the public inquiry : (1) whether the age of the dependent 
 children, at least for girls, should be raised to fifteen : (2) whether provision 
 should be made in a living wage for the support of all the dependent children 
 of a worker's family; and (3) whether the present system of allowing for a 
 wife and two cliildren tends to discourage the single fr6m marriage and the 
 married from the production of children. The first and second of these 
 questions are, in the opinion of the Board, determined by the method adopted 
 in the computation of the average cost of living and living wage in 191-1 and 
 1918, and the Board thinks that in these respects there is no good reason for 
 departing from that method. The third matter is one of public policy beyond 
 the powers and functions of the Board, unless upon reference by the Minister 
 under section 82. And as the Minister for Labour and Industry has made 
 a reference to the Board for the consideration of the second of theso mr.tters, 
 iiiter alia, the opinions and suggestions of the Board thereon may bo fully 
 expressed in their report upon such reference. 
 
 Calculation of Averagk Cost of Livi.ng. 
 
 Food and Groceries. 
 
 The Board, after perusal of the judgment of IGth February, 1914, has- 
 taken the cost, at that date, of the food regimen at 19s. Id., added Is. Id. 
 as a further allowance for fruit and vegetables at tliat date, and brought the 
 total, £1 Os. 2d., to date by the application of tlie Knibbs Index-numbers. 
 The Board has also compared the assessment of the food and groceries in 
 the said judgment with the regimen revealed bv the various budget inquiries. 
 (See Schedule III.) 
 
 Re7it. 
 
 After careful consideration of the subject of reni'-s the Board finds itself 
 obliged to adopt the conclusions reached by Mr. Knibbs as shov/n at 15s. 4d. 
 in his tables of the rental of four-roomed houses in Sydney and suburbs, 
 and brought up to date by him at 15s. 7d. (See Schedule IV.) 
 
 Fuel and Light — Clothing and Boots — Other Items. 
 
 The Board came to the conclusion that it could no longer follow without 
 alteration the method introduced by Mr Justice Higgins in 1907 and followed 
 by the Industrial Arbitration Court of New South Wales in 1914 and by this 
 Board in 1918, of providing under the heading '" i\Iiscellaneous " or *' Other 
 Items '• the allowance for fuel and light and clotliing, and that these elemerts 
 of the average cost of living were susce])tible of and should receive separate 
 assessment. (See Schedule V.) The Board has based its findings as to 
 these items on the evidence at the inquiry, and upon inferences from relevant 
 statistics, and assessed them as follows : — 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Fuel and light 3 
 
 Clothing and boots 14
 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 (1. 
 
 1 
 
 n 
 
 4 
 
 
 .. 
 
 15 
 
 7 
 
 
 .. 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 .. 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 
 .. 
 
 13 
 
 1 
 
 
 .. £3 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 Accordinclv, the Board finds tliat the average cost of living at the date of 
 this declaration has increased to £3 17s. per week, assessed as follows: — 
 
 Food and Groceries 
 
 Rent 
 
 Fuel and light 
 
 ('lothing and boots 
 
 Other itenas ... ... " 
 
 » Total ... 
 
 and that the living wage for adult naale employees within the hereinafter- 
 mentioned area is £3 17s. per week, 12s. lOd. per day, Is. lid. per hour. 
 
 The area within which the said declaration applies is the area within the 
 following boundary lines : Commencing at the north corner of the eastern 
 boundary of the Municipality of Manly; thence in a generally north-westerly 
 direction to and including the town of Hornsby; thence in a generally 
 south-westerly direction to and including the township of Emu Plains; 
 thence in a generally south-easterly direction to and including the to-uoi of 
 Sutherland; thence by a line to and including the north-eastern headland 
 of Botany Bay; and thence by the coastline to the point of commencement. 
 
 W. EDMUNDS, Acting President. 
 
 J. B. HOLME, Deputy President. 
 
 W. T. WILLINGTON, ~] 
 
 THOMAS ROUTLEY, L, 
 
 E. J. KAVANAGH. Commissioners. 
 
 ARTHUR COOPER, 
 
 T. I. CAMPBELL, 
 
 C. J. McRAE, (^Additional 
 
 JOHN ANDREWS, f Commissioners. 
 
 T. C. ARTHUR, 
 
 J 
 
 Schedule I. 
 
 The Application of Index-Numbers to the Living Wage. 
 
 The first basic wage determination was made in the Harvester Case of 1907, by Mr. 
 Justice Higgins, as President of the Commonwealth Com-t of Conciliation and Arbitration. 
 Mr. Justice Higgins had to break new ground. He had very little material. On the 
 evidence of a number of housewives of the working class he found that £1 5s. 5d. seemed 
 to represent the necessary average weekly expenditure for a labourer's home of about 
 five persons on food and groceries and fuel. He found that the usual rent paid by a 
 labourer, as distinguished from an artisan, appeared to be 7s. He allowed a further sum 
 of 9s. 7d. to cover all other expenditure, making a total wage of £2 2s. per week. The 
 necessity arose for the reduction of the amount so found from one year to another, and 
 the Commonwealth Statistician began his investigations into the variation of the pur- 
 chasing power of money. 
 
 In December, 1912, IVIr. Knibbs published his Report No. 1 on Prices, Prices Indexes, 
 8.nd Cost of Living in Australia, which contains a full account of the system which he 
 had developed. His view is that, in order to determine the variations in the general 
 pupchasing power of money over the whole community, it is generally sufficient to form 
 index-numbers based on a composite unit comprising certain standard articles of food 
 and grocery, and house rent in proportion to their average consumption bj' the whole 
 community. He publishes three main series of index-numbers applicable to the com- 
 munity as a whole : (1) of Food and Groceries; (2) of Rent; (3) of Food and Groceries 
 and Rent combined. The numbers in the 3rd scries are those from which the tables of 
 the Genera,! Purchasing Power of Money are calculated. Mr. Justice Higgins has made 
 it his usual practice to use these tables of the general purchasing power of money in order 
 to find the equivalent for any particular year of the Harvester wage of 1907, and thus 
 deduce a new basic wage from time to time.
 
 13 
 
 The Commonwealth Statistician has, liowever, stated that the purchasing power of 
 money may vary from class to class. Transferring his general view from the whole 
 community to a particular class, it lor^ically becomes : — In order to determine lh> 
 variations in the purchasing power of money as regards a particular class it is generally 
 sufficient to form index-numbers, based on a composite unit comprising certain 
 standard articles of food and grocery, and house rent in proportion to their average 
 consumption by that class. Investigating the effect of the possibility that the mass-units 
 in the regimen for a particular class may be different from thftt applicable to the com- 
 munity as a whole, Mr. Knibbs has shown, in regard to food and groceries, that considerable 
 variations in the composite unit comprising them produce comparatively small variations 
 in the resulting index -numbers. Thus the index-numbers of food and groceries published 
 by him as applicable to the whole community may be taken without appreciable error 
 as applicable to a particular class. Mr. Knibbs has also allowed for variations in the 
 mass-unit of rent by taking it as the rent for a week of the average house, of the four- 
 roomed house, of the five-roomed house, and so on, and has calculated several corres- 
 ponding sets of index-numbers. 
 
 It is clear that the house with a rent of 7s. contemplated by Mr. Justice Higgins as 
 referable to the class receiving the basic wage in Melbourne was not file average house of 
 the community as a whole. The results published in December, 1912, of ^Ir. Knibbs' 
 inquiries as to past rent averages in the capital cities, going as far back as 1901, showed 
 that for Melbourne, in 1907, the average lent of houses of four rooms was 8s. lid., and 
 that the rverage rent of houses with less than four rooms was 6s. lid. The mass-unit 
 of rent applicable to the basic-wage errner was, therefore, the rent for a week of the 
 average house with less than four rooms. Wiiatever sets of index-number.^ of rent there 
 are to choose from it is necessary to take the .set of index -numbers of that class of house 
 which most nearly corresponds to tlie class of house occupied by the wagc-ci'.rners con- 
 templated in the determination of the basic wage. It is probable that Mr. Justice 
 Higgins contemplated a four-roomed house. Therefore, if any combined ind'jx-numbers 
 should be used to bring the Harvester wa.gc up to date, they should be those baied on a 
 compound of food and groceries, and tlie average rent of (probably) four-roomed houses. 
 
 The Board, however, is of the opinion that a table of index-numbers based exclusively 
 on food and groceries and rent, however closely it may represent in tliose elements the 
 regimen of tlie particulrr class under consideration, is not suiScicntly comprehensive to 
 determine the variations in the purchrsing pov/er of money as for that class. Wiiatever 
 table of index-numbers is applied to the basic or living wa.ge, whether a tabic of index- 
 numbers combined of food and groceries and rent of the average house, or of food and 
 groceries and rent of the average three-roomed house, or of food and groceries and rent 
 of the average four-roomed house, the same assumption is approximately involved, 
 namel}", that the cost of the items of expenditure other than food and groceries and rent, 
 has varied in the same ratio as that of the composite un-t whose ingredients arc fc;od and 
 groceries and rent. Now, if, there are good reasons for believing tliat this i^ssumption is 
 unwarranted, the method of application of such a compound index-number to the living 
 wage as a whole, should, if a Letter method j^rescnts itself, be discarded. The generc"-! 
 purchasing power of money in JSydncj", according to Mr. Knibbs' tables, has decreased 
 1 ctwcen 1913 and 1919 by roughly cO per cent. But the Interstate Commissioners found 
 tliat " tiic evidence of witnesses representing the retail trade indicated that the average 
 increase in the cost of clothing generally was, in the earlier half of the i)rjscnt year "-^ 
 the report was dated 13th December, 191S — "70 per cent, more than the year 1914." 
 On the other hand, the price of gas in Sj'dney has increased from 3s. LVl. to 4a. 8il. as 
 from the 1.5th August, 1919, an increase of 24-4 per cent. 
 
 Twelve years'have elapsed since ilr. Justice Higgins delivered judgment in the IL^rvcster 
 case, and five years since Mr. Justice Heydon in Fobruarj-, 1914, i';.eclarcil £2 8s. as tiie 
 living wage for the metropolis of this State. Compound incL>x-number.s based exclusively 
 on food, groceries, and rent may serve well enough the pur2)Oso of reducing a lunaamei.tal 
 determination over a short period. But the laiiee of time m.akcs it necessary to examine 
 the living wage clement by element. This is the radical or basic metliovl, antl other 
 methods can only be justifieei wlien they produce approximately the same results, 
 comparison will now be made of the results derived bj- reducing to 1919 by means of in(l?x- 
 numbcrs, first, the Harvester wage oi 1007, and secondly, the fcjydncy living w.ige of I'jll. 
 
 J^cdvclion of the Harvester Vt'agc, 1907, hij Iridcx-nvtvhery. 
 
 On the 2(ith August, 1919, Mr. Justice Higgins, I'rosid.ent of the ConimonweaUh Court 
 vof Conciliation and Arbitration, dclivcreel reasons for judgment in the Cas Employee.-^' 
 case. The following passage occurs therein: — "If I follow my eirelinary practice — 
 taking the basic wage as 7s. per eby in Melbourne in 1007, and increasing it in pro;)ortio-i 
 to the cost of living as bctv.ven that year and the last ci^lcne'.ar j'car (1918) as shown by 
 the Commonwealth Statistician^ — 1 slifield llnd the preptr basic wa.ge lor Mdhourne to 
 be lOs. ICd. per day, for Sydney to Lu lis. OL. j'lr elay. But it I'.us Lein pointed out to
 
 14 
 
 me that if the full year Ist July, 1918, to 1st July, 1919, be taken, the basic wage for 
 Melbourne Avould be lis. 3d., for Sydney lis. lid. per day, and the Deputy President 
 has in recent awards preferred the most recent figures available." Mr. Justice Higgins 
 then gave an exceptional reason for taking the calculation based on the last full calendar 
 year (1918), namely, tJis.t tlie award had to be made retrospective as from 6tli March, 
 1919. The Board consiflera that any reduction of the New South Wales living wage, 
 1914, by compound index-numbers should be based on the last full half-year preceding 
 the declaration. For purposes of comparison with the living wage so derived, the 
 Harvester wage should be reduced on the same basis. The result is 12s. 4|d. l)er day. 
 All these reductions of the Harvester wage have been made by applying Mr. Knibbs' 
 general index -numbers based on a compound of food, groceries, and rpnt of all houses. 
 But the use of these index-numbers has been shown to be illogical. Applying then the 
 compound ind^x-numbers of food, groceries, and rent of four-roomed houses, which were 
 780 and 1,434 for Melbourne, 1907, and Sydney, January- June, 1919, respectively, the 
 Harvester wage of £2 2s. reduces to £3 17s. 3d. These several reductions are set out in 
 the following table : — 
 
 Reduction for Sydney, 1919, of the Harvester Wage, 1907. 
 
 
 Resulting Rates. 
 
 
 Per day. 
 
 Per week. 
 
 By compound index -numbers of food, groceries, and rent of all 
 houses — 
 
 Melbourne, 1907; Sydney, 1918 
 
 Melbourne,. 1907 ; Sydney, July, 1918-June, 1919 
 Melbourne, 1007; Sydney, January-June, 1919 
 By compound index -numbers of food, groceries, and rent of four- 
 roomed houses only — * 
 
 Melbourne, 1907; Sydney, January-June, 1919 
 
 s. d. 
 
 11 5 
 
 11 11 
 
 12 4J 
 
 12 10^ 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 3 8 6 
 3 11 6 
 3 14 3 
 
 3 17 3 
 
 Mr. Justice Higgins' Ha.rvester wage was composed of £1 5s. 5d. for food and groceries 
 and fuel, 7s. for rent, and 9s. 7d. for other expenses, making £2 2s. in all. If it were 
 possible to separate the item clothing from the item " other expenses, 9s. 7d.," the method 
 of reduction bj' applying index -numbers to the separate elements would give perhaps 
 about £3 19s. However, if we take the last of the reductions as being the most logical 
 method Avhich can be actually applied under the circumstances, and if from the amount 
 so derived, namely, £3 17s. 3d., which rests on the family basis of " about five " persons, 
 we remove one-seventh (to correspond with one child), the corresponding basic wage 
 for a man, wife, and two children becomes £3 6s. 3d. It is, however, questionable whether 
 one-seventh is not too large a fraction to apply to the wage as a whole. As regards food, 
 it is generally held by competent authorities that the average child under fourteen should 
 consume about half an adult's ration. Thus a deduction of one-seventh would properly 
 be applicable to the food element of the Harvester wage to reduce it to the basis of two 
 children. As regards clothing and shelter, there are no generally accepted rules. As 
 regards miscellaneous expenditure, many of the items comprised therein might be expected 
 to be independent of the number of children, and this expectation is verified by the results 
 of budget inquiries. The subject hitherto has received very little treatment, and it is 
 important in its relation to schemes of endowment. In future budget investigations 
 this direction of inquiry should, infer alia, be pursued. With so little data it is only 
 possible to guess. Perhaps one-eighth would be a more suitable fraction than one-seventh, 
 a.iu on that basis the Harvester wage of £3 17s. 3d. would for a man, wife, and two children, 
 become £3 7s. 7d. 
 
 Reduction of Sydney Living Wage, 1914, to date by Index-numbers. 
 
 The period covered by the inquiry on which Mr. Justice Heydon's declaration in 
 February, 1914, was based was the second half of the year 1913. The reductions to date 
 which follow are made by comparing the indijx-numbers for that half-year with those 
 for the last half-year preceding the declaration jDresently to be made, viz., January-June, 
 1919. 
 
 1. The Commonwealth Statistician's compound index-numbers of food, groceries,' 
 
 and average rent of all houses are 1175 and 1546 for the respective periods. 
 Thus £2 8s. becomes £3 3s. 2d. 
 
 2. His compound index -numbers of food, groceries, and average rent of four-roomed 
 
 houses arc 1044 and 1434. Thus £2 8s. becomes £3 5s. lid.
 
 15 
 
 Assuming that the subdivision of the livin;^ waj;e, 1914, which is shown in Bulletin 
 of the Living Wage, 1918, page IIG, is a fair one, and apportioning tlie element 
 "other items, 14s.," to clothing, fuel and light, and miscellaneous, according to 
 Mr. Trivett's ratios, viz., 13:5:11, quoted at page 85 of the Bulletin, we have 
 the living wage, 1914, divided into elements as shown in the first column of the 
 following table. It is now possible to reduce the w<igc to date by applying 
 index-numbers to the separate elements. 
 
 Table of Reduction of Living Wage, 1914. 
 
 Elements of Living Wage, 1914. 
 
 Corresponding 
 Indox-N^umber,! Index-Number,; Elements of 
 June-December, .Tanuarv-.rune, i Lhnng Wage, 
 1913. I 1919. I Sept., 1919- 
 
 Sept., 1920. 
 
 Food and groceries ... 
 Rent ... 
 
 Clothing 
 Fuel and light 
 Miscellaneous items 
 
 Total 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 1 6 
 
 1116 
 
 1736 
 
 1 11 10-7 
 
 13 6 
 
 940 
 
 1000 
 
 14 4-3 
 
 6 3 
 
 1000 
 
 1700 
 
 10 7-5 
 
 2 5 
 
 45 
 
 52 
 
 2 9-5 
 
 5 4 
 
 1000 
 
 1398 
 
 7 5-6 
 
 2 8 
 
 1000 
 
 1398 
 
 3 7 2 
 
 The index-numbers for food and groceries are taken from the Government Statistician's 
 tables. The index-numbers for rent are those for four-roomed houses as furnished by 
 the Commonwealth Bureau of Statistics. The index -numbers for clothing are based 
 on the finding of the Literstate Commission already quoted, and on the result of Mr. 
 Justice Powers' inquiry which he referred to in his judgment in thg Federal Tanning 
 case on 19th March, 1919, to the effect that clothes used by men had by September, 
 1918, increased on an average by 68-7 per cent, above 1914 prices. Mr. Justice Powers 
 added that no decrease in the cost of clothing since November last was proved. The 
 index-numbers for fuel and light are simply the numbers of pence in the average prico 
 of Australian Gaslight Company's gas during the last two quarters in each case. 
 
 Using these numbers it is found that the composite unit implied in the New South 
 Wales mctropolitr.n living \\'age, 1914, comprising food and groceries, rent, clotliing, 
 and fuel and light, cost in the last two quarters of 1913 the sum of £2 2s. 8d., and in the 
 first two quarters of 1919 the sum of £2 19s. 8d., and these amounts are in the ratio of 
 1000 : 1398. In other words, if the last two quarters of 1913 be taken as the base period 
 and given the index-number 1000, then the index-number of the New South Wales 
 living wage composite unit Was 1398 for the first two quarters of 1919. Increasing the 
 cost of miscellaneous items in this ratio we have £3 7s. 2d. as the reduction of the 1914 
 living wage for ])resent purposes. The rationale of this process is the same as that of 
 Mr. Knibbs' process. The same assumption is made with regard to the items outside 
 the assumed composite unit of identifiable items, but by talcing a composite unit com- 
 prising clothing, and fuel and light, as well as food and groceries, and rent, the balance 
 for such treatment is greatly diminished. Summarising these results of reduction of 
 the living wage 1914 for present purposes we have the following : — 
 
 ^ £ s. d. 
 
 By the general purchasing power of money tables based 
 
 on food and groceries and all house rents ... ... ... 3 3 2 
 
 By the index-numbers based on food and groceries and house 
 
 rents of four-roonird houses only ... ... ... ... 3 5 11 
 
 By index -numbers applied to the separate elements ... ... 3 7 2 
 
 Comparison of the Harvester Wage, 1907, and the Sydney Living Wage, 1914. 
 
 The basic wage derived by bringing the Harvester wage up to date for Sydney by the 
 most logical process possible has been shown to be about £3 17s. per week, for a family 
 consisting of a man, his wife, and "about three" dependent children. Unless •about 
 three " means " three on an average," the Harvester wage can have no tangible lamily 
 foundation. Assuming the equivalence of these two plirases, the basic wage fcr S.nlney 
 in 1919 as derived from the Harvester wage has been shown ante to be abcvt £3 7s. 6d. 
 per week for a family consisting of a man, his wife, and two children. The Sydney 
 living wage declared by Mr. Justice Heydon in February, 1914, has been shown, when 
 the most logical method of reduction is used, to increase to about £3 7s. In-r.a 
 the Harvester wage and the Sydney living wage, 1914, if jjut on the samo family basia 
 and reduced by the most logical methods practicable, give nearly the sairie result
 
 16 
 
 Schedule II. 
 
 The A verage Family. 
 
 The Co^nmon^rcalth Statistician has co-operated with the Board's statistical officer* 
 and has courteouslj' prepared tables showing the average for Australia of the number of 
 living children under 14 and under 16 per married male according to age and occujjation. 
 Prom these it appears that in 1911 the average family of fathers aged 20-59 {i.e., not 
 exceeding 60) was 1-80 living children under 14, and 1-98 living children under 16. The 
 industrial class, together with those engaged in transport and communication including 
 employers as well as wage-earners and others, had a family 0-03 greater than the average 
 of all classes. Figures are given for primary producers in detail, which will be available 
 for other sections of the' inquiry. Inasmuch as the ratio of the number of dependent 
 children to the number of married males is very approximately the same for New South 
 Wales as for the wliole Commonwealth, the statistics of the average dependent family 
 given by the Commonwealth Statistician are applicable to this State without appreciable 
 error. 
 
 On the question of the probable change in size of the average dependent family since 
 1911, the Commonwealth Statistician has stated that he cannot furnish details until 
 after the nest census is taken in 1921. The question can, however, be examined in a 
 general way. The ratio for the Commonwealth of the number of persons under 15 to the 
 number of married, widowed, or divorced males has had the following values at the 
 censuses : — 
 
 Census. Ratio. 
 
 1881 2-41 
 
 1891 ... 2-24 
 
 1901 2-12 
 
 1911 1-75 
 
 The xTOgressive decrease in the size of the average dependent family thus indicated marks 
 a striking social trend. The question is whether the decrease has gone further in the year 
 1918. A rough examination of the eilects of changes in the birth rate, the marriage rate, 
 and the relative mortality rates of children and of married males indicates that it is highly 
 probable that the average family under 14 had decreased in 1918 by nearly 0-2 persons, 
 so that in 1918 the family under 14 was perhaps about 1-6 persons. A table derived 
 from the annual publications of the Commonwealth Statistician, of which the following 
 is a significant portion, supports that suggestion : — 
 
 .\ge Group of 
 arried !)lal..:. 
 
 Distribution of Living 
 
 Married, Widowed, and 
 
 Divorced persons at 
 
 Census, 1911. 
 
 Average Family (living and dead) of Married Male 
 Decedents during the vear — 
 
 1910-1911. 
 
 1916. 
 
 1917. 
 
 1918. 
 
 30-24 
 
 28 
 
 0-92 
 
 MO 
 
 0-98 
 
 0-89 
 
 25-29 
 
 81 
 
 1-39 
 
 1-53 
 
 1-50 
 
 1-47 
 
 30-34 
 
 104 
 
 2-04 
 
 2-12 
 
 1-94 
 
 2-12 
 
 •35-39 
 
 107 
 
 2-76 
 
 2-53 
 
 2-76 
 
 2-66 
 
 40-44 
 
 108 
 
 3-56 
 
 3-16 
 
 3-19 
 
 3-19 
 
 45--t9 
 
 104 
 
 4-20 
 
 3-70 
 
 3-72 
 
 3-89 
 
 50-54 
 
 87 
 
 ■ 4-82 
 
 4-18 
 
 4-20 
 
 4-20 
 
 55-59 
 
 59 
 
 ,5-44 
 
 4-80 
 
 4-66 
 
 4-71 
 
 The table suggests a marked diminution since 1911 in the free reproductive activity 
 of males over 40 years old.. Taking all evidence into consideration it seems clear that 
 any change which has taken jilacc in the size of the average dependent family since 1911 
 is a decrease and not an increase. 
 
 In addition to the table speciallj- prepared by the Commonwealth Statistician for the 
 present purpose of the Board, his Report on the Census 1911, Vol. I, which, owing to 
 the additional work imposed on the Bureau by the War Census of 1915, and other matterak 
 was not published till June, 1917, and is perhaps not so well known as it might be, is a 
 mine of information with regard to the size of the average family. For example, the 
 table on page 288 of that volume shows, as pointed out by the Statisticiaii, the contrary 
 to the opinion which appears to be ver)'' generally held, A'iz., that wage-earners are 
 markedly more reproductive than the other grades in the community. Up to age 40 
 there is very little to choose between wige-earners, employers, and workers on their own 
 account, in point cf reproductive efficiency ; after age 40, wage-earners are less reproductive 
 than cither of the other two grades. The tables on pages 287, 289, and 290 of that 
 volume show that " the class o' occupation exercises a much greater influence than the
 
 17 
 
 grade." For example, the primary producers have large average issues whether employers, 
 or workers on their own o-ccount, or wage-earners. The results in the case of the 
 industrial class are compared in the following table : — 
 
 Average Issue (Living and Dead) of Husbands in the Commonwealth, 1911. 
 
 
 Class v.— Industrial. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 All Grades of 
 all classes. 
 
 Age last Birthday. 
 
 Employers. ' 
 
 Workers on 
 own account. 
 
 Wagc-camrrs. 
 
 20-2 i 
 
 0-95 
 
 0-94 
 
 0-i»5 
 
 0-93 
 
 25-29 
 
 1-51 
 
 1-54 
 
 1-50 
 
 1-47 
 
 30-34 
 
 2-26 
 
 2-31 
 
 2-20 
 
 2-21 
 
 35-39 
 
 3-18 
 
 314 
 
 3-09 
 
 3-01 
 
 40^4 
 
 3-99 
 
 3-88 
 
 3-93 
 
 3-81 
 
 45-49 
 
 4-81 
 
 4-71 
 
 4-71 
 
 4G1 
 
 50-54 
 
 5-51 
 
 5-34 
 
 5-42 
 
 5-30 
 
 55-59 
 
 6-34 
 
 5-93 
 
 5-94 
 
 5-98 
 
 These tables illustrate the results with regard to the size of the average family strted 
 above to the effect, inter alia, that the average size of the family under 14, and even under 
 15, of the industrial class did not exceed two in thayear 1911. 
 
 The preceding results apply to the Commonwealth as a whole, and it has been inferred 
 that they are verv- approximately applicable to New South Wales. Nothing has, 
 however, been directly said of the influence of urban residence on the size of the fnmily. 
 The ratio at the census 1911 of the number of persons under 15 to the number of married 
 (including widowed and divorced) males was 1-75 for the whole Common woalth. But 
 for the metropolitan population it was considerably less, namely, 1-56; while for the 
 population external to the capital cities and their suburbs it was 1-87. The Common- 
 wealth Statistician points out at page 292 of his Report on the Census, 1911, Vcj!. I, that 
 the extra-nietropolitr.n area "comprises many cities and towns of consid'^rable size, 
 and hence does not trulj'- represent rural Australia in this matter. Separate data for 
 these towns, however, are not availrvblc. If they were, the difference between metropoliban 
 and extra-metropolitan average issues shown in the next table (page 282) would be even 
 more marked in a table distinguishing between urban and rural data." The figures, 
 however, suffice to indicate, first, that the average metropolitan family under 14 was, 
 in 1911, about 0-2 persons less than the average family under 14 in the v.-holc of Australia; 
 and, secondly, that the average extra-metropolitan family under 14 was 0-3 persons 
 greater than the avero-ge metropolitan family. 
 
 Schedule III. 
 
 Food and Groceries. 
 
 An analysis of the expenditure on food of the various groups according to income of 
 families comprised in the Commonwealth Budget Inquiry of November, 1913, shows 
 approximately the results set out in the following table : — 
 
 Commonwealth Budgets, November, 1913. 
 
 Families lia\ing Incomes of — 
 
 Xumber of Members. 
 
 Average 
 Man-Units 
 per family. 
 
 Average 
 Expenditure on 
 Food per Man- 
 Unit. 
 
 Under £3 
 
 £3 and under £3 10s 
 
 £3 10s. and under £4 
 
 £4 and over 
 
 Over four 
 
 Four and under 
 
 Over four 
 
 Four and under 
 
 Over four 
 
 Four and under 
 
 Over four 
 
 Four and under 
 
 
 s. d. 
 G 11 
 9 4 
 7 5 
 
 10 
 7 8 
 
 12 8 
 7 11 
 
 12 4 
 
 General Average 
 
 3-53 1 S 7 
 
 

 
 18 
 
 In the first two income groups, the average man-units in the families over four were 
 about 70 per cent, more than in the families of four and under; in the last two income 
 groups, the average man-units in the families over four were about double those in the 
 families of four and under. The average expenditure per man-unit in the larger families 
 is seen to vary from 6s. lid. to 7s. lid., while in the smaller families it is very much higher 
 in every income group, and varies from 9s. 4d. to 12s. 4d. per man-unit. The general 
 (weighted) average per man-unit is 8s. 7d., and the (weighted) average of the first two 
 income-groups, i.e., of families under £3 10s. per week, is 8s. 2Jd. With Mr. Knibbs' 
 quet factors, on the basis of which the expenditure on food per man-unit has thus been 
 calculated, the family consisting of husband, wife, and two children, is equal to 2-8 man- 
 imits, and the expenditure on food by the standard family, on the basis of the expenditure 
 on food of families with incomes below £3 10s. in the Commonwealth Budget Inquiry of 
 November, 1913, would, therefore, have amounted to 276 pence or £1 3s. If we adopt 
 the expenditure per man-unit of the larger families with incomes under £3 10s., the 
 expenditure of the standard family would have amounted to £1 Os. Id. 
 
 In Labour and Industrial Report No. 9, at pp. 68-70, Mr. Knibbs shows a similar 
 analysis of the budgets collected by the Royal Commission of Inquiry in West Australia 
 appointed in Se^jtember, 1917. Many of the budgets related to December, 1917, and 
 January, 1918. 
 
 West Australia Budgets, 1917-18. 
 
 Families having Incomes of — 
 
 Average Man-Units 
 
 Averapre Expenditure 
 
 per Family. 
 
 on Food per Blan-Unit. 
 
 
 S. 
 
 d. 
 
 4-29 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 3-23 
 
 9 
 
 11 
 
 3-41 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 3-84 
 
 12 
 
 2 
 
 4-48 
 
 10 
 
 3 
 
 4-50 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 4-00 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 Under £3 
 
 £3 and under £3 10s. 
 £3 10s. and under £4 
 £4 and under £4 10s. 
 £4 10s. and under £5 
 £5 and over ... 
 
 All families 
 
 The expenditure on food of the standard family on the basis provided by the average 
 of all these families would be 339d. or £1 Ss. 3d. The average expenditure per man-unit 
 of the first three income groups of the West Australian table is 9s. lid., which brings the 
 expenditure on food of the standard family down by 6d. to £1 7s. 9d. Let us now compare 
 the results of these two inquiries with the expenditure on food which seems to have been 
 recognised by the New South Wales Metropolitan Living Wage of 1914. 
 
 Inquiry. 
 
 Period of Expenditure. 
 
 Index- 
 Number of 
 Food and 
 Groceries. 
 
 Amount of 
 Expenditure. 
 
 Amount 
 Eeduced to 
 
 Index-Numl^er 
 1000. 
 
 New South Wales Living 
 Wage, 1914 (Metro- 
 politan). 
 
 Commonwealth Budget 
 Inquiry, of November, 
 1913 :— 
 
 (1) All families •> 
 
 (2) Larger families f 
 West Australian Budget 
 
 Inquiry, 1917-18. 
 
 Ivast two quarters of 
 1913. 
 
 November, 1913 
 
 December, 1917- 
 January, 1918. 
 
 1.116 
 
 1,082 (a)/ 
 1,558 (6)... 
 
 £ s. d. 
 10 6 
 
 (1),1 3 
 
 (2)1 
 
 1 7 
 
 £ s. d. 
 18 4 
 
 (1)1 1 3 
 
 (2)0 18 7 
 17 10 
 
 (a) Last quarter taken. 
 
 (?>) Last quarter of 1017 and first o! 1918 taken. 
 
 Thus it appears, after reducing all the amounts to a common index-number, that the 
 food allowance of the New South Wales Metropolitan Living Wage, 1914, is very slightly 
 smaller than the average expenditure of the large families in the Commonwealth Budget 
 Inquiry of November, 1913, and considerably smaller than that of the smaller families 
 therein. On the other hand, it is slightly higher than the avergc expenditure of all the 
 families in the West Australian Budget Inquiry of 1917-1918. The results of the
 
 19 
 
 Commonwealth Budget Inquin' of November, 1913, may suggest that large families 
 are cheaper to feed per man-unit than small families. On the other hand, thej^ may 
 suggest that persons \rith smaller families are less economical in their expenditure on 
 food. This question is indirectly disposed of by the analysis of the West Australian 
 budgets according to the method described in the Report by the Committee of the Royal 
 Society on the Food Supply of the United Kingdom, 1917. The Committee considered 
 that the full requirements of an active workman could be satisfactorily met by a diet 
 equivalent to 3,400 calories per day. Professor Dakin gave evidence before the West 
 Australian Commission that the standard diet per man-unit should be equivalent to 
 3,020 calories per day. The table given on p. 70 of Labour and Industrial Report No. 9 
 shows that the standard of li^^ng of the several income groups of the West Australian 
 budgets is at least up to Professor Dakin's standard and higher than the standard set by 
 the Committee of the Royal Society. 
 
 It is a fair inference that the food standard permitted by the New South Wales Metro- 
 politan Living Wage of 1914 is somewhat in excess of actual requirements. 
 
 ■ Schedule IV. 
 Bent. 
 
 Although the words used by the Board in their declaration of the 5th September, 1918 
 viz. : " Now that the question has been raised there arc, really and truly, fair grounds 
 for arguing that it " (the Is. 6d.) '' should be all added to the rent," implied that the Board 
 had come to the concludsion that the addition of Is. 6d. which the Court in February, 
 1914, made to the £2 6s. 6d. " which the investigation of the material then before the 
 Court brought out " as the cost of living, ought to be interpreted as applicable to the 
 12s. allowed for rent, the question of rent had better be examined from the beginning. 
 
 In the course of his judgment on the Living Wage, 1914, Mr. Justice Hej'don, used the 
 following words : " Taking all these facts into consideration, I should have no difficulty, 
 if it were not for Mr. Knibbs' tables, in putting the average rent for a house of three rooms 
 and a kitchen for the lowest paid class of worker at 12s. 6d. If I took all classes of 
 worker .into consideration I should make it 13s., but the houses of three rooms and a 
 kitchen are of very different values, from 7s. 6d. up to 18s., and no doubt, on the whole, 
 the better paid men get the better houses .... I should fix the rent at 12s. Gd., 
 but according to Mr. Knibbs' tables and the Melbourne rent in 1907, I should allow 10s. 
 9d. I confess I am puzzled at this. I certainly cannot, on the evidence, accept the 
 10s. 9d. But I cannot ignore the Commonwealth Statistician's tables either; they 
 carry great weight. They embody the continuous evidence of a number of house agents, 
 v/ith first-hand knowledge, and no motive whatever, that I can see, to mislead. On the 
 whole, and with reluctance, I fix the average rental at 12s."* These carefully-worded 
 sentences certainly have the effect, whatever may have been their intention, of producing 
 the impression that Mr. Knibb's tables are misleading. The Judge in effect says : " I 
 have first-class evidence that the rent should be 12s. Gd. But Mr. Knibbs' tables say 
 that it should be 10s. 9d. There is a difference of Is. 9d. I will correct Mr. Knibbs by 
 Is. 3d., and my first-class evidence by Gd." 
 
 Some light is thrown on both Mr. Justice Heydon's and Mr. Knibbs' methods by the 
 declaration of the Board made on the 5th September, 1918.t 
 
 The following are Mr. Knibbs' actual figures for the rent of four-roomed houses (the 
 kitchen being counted as one room by Mr. Knibbs), and of houses having less than four 
 rooms : — 
 
 
 
 Average prcdomin 
 
 ant Weekly Rent for Houses 
 having — 
 
 
 Place and Time. 
 
 
 
 
 Four Rooms. 
 
 Under Four Rooms. 
 
 
 
 8. d. 
 
 
 8. d. 
 
 Melbourne, 
 
 1907 
 
 8 11 
 
 
 6 11 
 
 Sydney, 
 
 1913" 
 
 14 3 
 
 
 11 9 
 
 
 1914 
 
 15 5 
 
 
 12 4 
 
 
 1915 
 
 14 6 
 
 
 12 2 
 
 
 1910 
 
 14 8 
 
 
 12 3 
 
 
 1917 
 
 14 9 
 
 
 11 3 
 
 
 1918 
 
 15 4 ■ 
 
 
 12 6 
 
 
 January- June, 1919 
 
 15 7 
 
 
 Not available. 
 
 • Bulletin of Living Wage, 1918, p. 47 and 48. f Bulletin of Living Wage, 1918, p. 118, 2nd, 3rd, 
 and 4tb paragraphs.
 
 20 
 
 It will be noticed that tlie figure 10s. 9d. mentioned hy Mr. Jufiticc Heydon does not 
 (K'cnr cither in Mr. Knihbs' tiihlea for the rent of four-roomed houses or tiiose for the rent 
 of houses having Ices than four rooms. It will also be noticed that there is a remarkable 
 similarity between the average rent of houses having less than four rooms on the ono 
 hand, and the Harvester allowance for rent, viz., 7s. as well as Mr. Justice Hoydon's 
 allowances for rent on the other. 
 
 In the Board's declaration made on the 5th September, 1018, it is sa.id that"'' It will 
 bo seen that the Harvester rent of 7s. was taken as the Melbourne rent .... it 
 appears from these [Mr. Knibbs'] tal)left that the predominant weekly rent in Melbourne 
 in phc year 1907 for four-roomed houses .was 8s. lid., not the 7h. as assumed. This 
 8s. lid. was for all four-roomed houses, not for four-roomed houses occupied by wage- 
 earners alone, still less for four-roomed houses occupied by living-wage earners. These 
 considerations will be shown presently to be very important, so much so as to diminish 
 very greatly, if not altogether to destroy, the value of such tables for inquiries such as 
 were made in 1913, and as we are now making. We do not think, therefore, that the 
 8s. lid. can be assumed to apply to living-wage workers. Still, if that assumption is 
 made, the Sydney rental in 1913 would grow from the 10s. 9d. which was found to be about 
 13s. 9d." "(Actually it was 14s. 3d. by Mr. Knibbs' tables set out ante.) " The Court 
 allowed 12s. (Is. 9d. less), and if the v.-hole of the Is. 9d. had been added to the rent 
 element of the wage which was found " (£2 6s. Gd.) " the total vrage would have become 
 £2 8s. 3d., instead of £2 8s." (Is. 6d. was added for ' various reasons ') — " a very minute 
 difference." 
 
 It is now possible to see that the Statistician's tables, if used as they stood, would have 
 produced, according to the judgment of Mr. Justice Heydon in 1914, and the declaration 
 of the Board in 1918, too large a rent allowance for the li\ang-wa.ge earner. It is a.lso 
 possible to see how those tables, in combination with the harvester rllowance of 7s. — 
 Mr. Justice Higgins had no Statistician's tables to help him in 1907 — were made to 
 produce so small a rent allowance for the living-wage earner in 1914 that Ma*. Justice 
 Heydon found himself forced to add Is. "8d. to it. Mr. Justice Heydon's method was 
 apparently as follows : — " In December, 1912, Mr. -Knibbs had published the result of 
 his inquiries as to past rent averages in the capital cities, going as far back as 1901. Mr. 
 Knibbs' table shows that the average rent of four-roomed houses in Melbourne in 1907 
 was 8s. lid. But the Harvester rent allowance in 1907 was 7s. Mr. Knibbs' tables 
 also show that the average rent of four-roomed houses during the year 1913 was 14s. 3d. 
 As the 8s. lid. is reduced to 7s., so must I reduce this 14s. 3d., and it becomes 10s. 9d. 
 Tims Mr. Knibbs' tables mislead me, and I must add Is. 3d." (Incidentially it may be 
 noted that 14s. 3d. does not reduce to 10s. 9d. but to lis. 2d. Perhaps Mr. Justice 
 Hej'don used the figure for the half-year July-December, 1913, instead of that for the 
 whole year). 
 
 A strange feature of the judgment of 1914 is shown in the words " If I took al! classes 
 of worker into consideration I should make it 13s." — in s])itc of Mr. Knibbs' table showing 
 the average rent of four-roomed houses in 1913 as 14s. 3d. The number of four-roomed 
 houses occujned by persons of the leisured class would hardly seem to have warranted so 
 grefi.t a deduction. 
 
 Thus Mr. Knibbs' tables survive the suggestion of unreliability, whether intentional 
 or not, made by Mr. Justice Heydon. They are, in fact, tables of average ])redominant 
 rents, having no reia.tion to the Harvester judgment or any judgment arising out of it. 
 
 The report of the Interstate Commission on their investigation of rents during 1917-18 
 19 has been published recently. The Com.missioners made a special investigation of the 
 increases in rent in Melbourne as between 1915 and 1918. The following figures are taken 
 from their report : — 
 
 
 
 Nnmher of 
 
 Average Rent per Week. 
 
 Ivo. 
 
 Class of Dwelling. Rooms, 
 
 including Kitchen. 
 
 1915. 
 
 1918. 
 
 135 
 311 
 
 Wooden 
 
 Brick 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 s. d. 
 
 11 8i 
 
 12 6 
 
 s. d. 
 
 12 in 
 
 13 4 
 
 From these figures it follows that the average rent of all the 446 four-roomed houses 
 considered by the Commission, including both wooden and brick, was 12s. 2d. in 19 If-, 
 and 13s. IJd. in 1918. Mr. Knibbs' corresponding figures were lis. lid. in 1915, and 
 13s. 3d. in 1918. The Commission's figures arc therefore 3d. higher for 1915, while for 
 1918, they are lid. lower. As regards Melbourne then, the verification of Mr. Knibbs' 
 figures is as close as could humanly be expected. The Commissioners did not publish 
 a similar analysis of Sydney rents. The statements on po.gc 20 and 21 of their report, 
 arc, however, quite consistent with Mr. Knibbs' tables.
 
 21 
 
 Mr. Knibbs' tables of average rents p.rc thus seen to withstand all tests which have 
 hitherto been applied to them. They represent the average rent of all rented houses in 
 occupation, classified according to the number of rooms. 
 
 The latest figures have been supi^lied to the Board in the following letter from the 
 Commonwealth Statistician : — 
 
 " Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics, 
 
 "Melbourne, 28th August, 1919. 
 " Dear Sir, 
 
 " In reply to your wire just received, the desired information is as follows : — 
 
 Particulars. 
 
 July- 
 December, 
 1913. 
 
 .Tuly- 
 Becoinber, 
 I'JIS. 
 
 January- 
 Jtmc, 1919. 
 
 ! 8. d. 
 Average rental for houses of four rooms in 14 8 
 Sydney. 
 
 s. d. 
 15 4 
 
 s. d. 
 15 7 
 
 D. T. Sawkins, Esquire, 
 " Board of Trade, 
 
 " Elizabeth -street, Sydney." 
 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 "G. H. KNIBBS, 
 
 "Commonwealth Statisticiar;. 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 6 
 
 3-3 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 3-7 
 
 SCHEDULE V. 
 
 Clothing, Fuel, and LiglU. 
 
 At page 85 of the Bulletin of the Living Wage (Adult IMales) 1918, the New South 
 Wales Statistician's allocation of the percentages of the expenditure of the living wage 
 of 1914 is quoted. Mr. Trivett, no doubt, used the percentages revealed by Budget 
 inquiries, and his own judgment, and in paragraph 9 on page 85 reference is made to the 
 confirmation by Mr. Justice Edmunds of Mr. Trivett's allocation. The ratios of expen- 
 diture on clothing, fuel, and light, miscellaneous, are there given as 13:5: 11. Dividing 
 " Other Items, 148. Od." on page 116 of the Bulletin, according to these ratios we have 
 the following : — 
 
 Clothing 
 
 Fuel and light 
 
 Miscellaneous 
 
 14 
 
 On page 35 of Labour and Industrial Branch Report No. 4, which deals with the 
 Commonwealth Budget Inquiry of November, 1913, the Commonwealth Statistician 
 shows an analysis of the expenditure of families consisting of father, mother, and two 
 children undc^r 14. The average expenditure per week of 36 such families with incomes 
 of under £3 10s., and averaging £2 178. Id. per family was, on clothing, 6s. 4d. per familj*, 
 iind on fuel and light 3s. Id. per family. For 21 such families with incomes of under 
 £3 and averaging £2 10s. lOd. per family, the average weekly expenditure on clothing was 
 48. 5d., and on fuel and light 2s. lOd. per family. For 21 families, each of which con- 
 sisted of father, mother, and three children, witii incomes of under £3 10s., and averaging 
 £3 Os. 6d. ])er family, tlie average weekly expenditure on clotliing was 8s. Id., and on 
 fuel and light 3s. Id. ; and for 9 fiimilics of similar structure, with incomes of under £3, 
 and averaging £2 16s. 8d. ])rr familj^ the average v/cckly expenditure on clothing was 
 7s. 7d., and on fuel and light 3s. 5d. The New South Wales metropolitan living wage 
 allowance for clothing is thus strongly supported by the results of Mr. Knibbs' Budget 
 Inquiry. On ])age 67 of Labour and Industrial Branch Report No. 9 are given the 
 results of the West Australian Budget In(iuiry of about Djccmbcr, 1917-January, 1918 
 There were 20 families with incomes of less than £3 10s., and thcj' consisted of 20 husbands 
 19 wives, and 58 children. Their average weekly cx])enditurc on clothing was 10s. lOd., 
 and on fuel and light 2s. Od. The expenditure on elotliir.g is considerably higher than 
 that of the families of the structure, father, mother, and three children, with incomes of 
 Jess than £3 10s. in Mr. Knibbs' Budget Inquiry of November, 1913, but the price uf 
 clothing had greatly advanced by the end of 1917.
 
 22 
 
 In tho combined resultR of these budget inquiries there is therefore nothing to disturb 
 seriously the allowances under these heads, which were made by the New .South Wales 
 Metropolitan Tjiving Wage Declaration of 1914. The allowance for miscellaneous items 
 Remains to be examined. 
 
 Miscellaneous Items. 
 
 In the Harvester award of 1907, Mr. Justice Higgins mentioned expenditure covering 
 furniture, utensils, rates, life assurance, savings, accident or benefit societies, loss of 
 cmisloymcnt, union pay, books and newspapers, tram and train fares, sewing machine, 
 mangle, school requisites, amusements, and holidays, intoxicating liquors, tobacco, 
 sickness and death, domestic help, or any unusual contingencies, religion, or charity, as 
 well as on light, clothes, and boots, and allowed 9s. 7d. to cover all these items. In the 
 case of the Metropolitan Living Wage, 1914, Mr. Justice Heydon took " refuge in the 
 standard set by Mr. Justice Higgins*." Adding lid. for fuel, he found 10s. 6d. alto- 
 gether for clothing, fuel and light, and miscellaneous expenditure as applicable in 
 Melbourne in the year 1907. By means of Mr. Knibbs' index-numbers of the general 
 purchasing power of money for all classes, he increased this to 14s. as for Sydney in the 
 last two quarters of 1913. This 14s. has been divided as follows : — Clothing, 6s. 3d., 
 fuel and light, 2s. 5d., and miscellaneous expenditure 5s. 4d., and by comparison with 
 various budget inquiries it has been found that there is fair verification of the amounts 
 thus derived for clothing, and fuel and light. 
 
 When Mr. Justice Higgins delivered his famous judgment in 1907 he broke new grounds. 
 He had little statistical information to guide him. The Commonwealth Statistician had 
 but recently been appointed. His investigations into the standard of living, the cost 
 of food, and groceries and rent, had not yet been made. Mr.* Knibbs' first household 
 budget inquiry was not undertaken until 1910. But now there are available to the Board 
 the results of the household budget inquiries made for the Commonwealth in 1910-11 
 and in 1913, and for West Australia in 1917-18. Mr. Justice Higgins had no such 
 statistics showing the current relative expenditure on food, clothing, housing, and mis- 
 cellaneous expenditure. The results of the budget inquiry of 1910-11 were available to 
 Mr. Justice Heydon, and he made such use of them that he was able to reject Mr. Justice 
 Higgins' allowance for food. But while so using them, he ignored the indications which 
 they afforded with regard to clothing, fuel and light, and miscellaneous expenditure, 
 and took " refuge in the standard set by Mr. Justice Higgins." It was the first house- 
 hold budget inquir}', and the relative importance of miscellaneous expenditure was 
 startling. But the indications of the later budget inquiries are similar to those of the 
 first. Moreover, the results of numerous budget inquiries recently undertaken in the- 
 United States point in the same direction. It would seem difficult now to ignore the 
 mass of evidence which has accumulated. The following table shows the average 
 expenditure on " Other Items," i.e., other than housing, food, clothing, and fuel and 
 light, as revealed by Australian investigations : — 
 
 Australian Household Budget Inquiries. 
 
 Budget Inquiry, 
 
 Families having incomes 
 of— 
 
 Number of 
 Members. 
 
 Average Weekly 
 Expenditure per family 
 on " Other Items." 
 
 Amount 
 
 Percentage 
 
 of total 
 Expenditure 
 
 
 
 
 s. d. 
 
 
 Commonwealth, 1910-11 ... 
 
 £200 per year and 
 under. 
 
 Over four 
 
 15 6i 
 
 27-9 
 
 „ ,» 
 
 >, »> 
 
 Four and under 
 
 19 21 
 
 36-2 
 
 Commonwealth, Nov., 1913 
 
 Under £3 per week ... 
 
 Over four 
 
 12 11 
 
 23-0 
 
 », J, 
 
 ,, »» 
 
 Four and under 
 
 12 11 
 
 25-0 
 
 » » ... 
 
 £3 and under £3 10s. 
 per week. 
 
 Over four 
 
 17 6 
 
 26-4 
 
 »» »> 
 
 »> ,, 
 
 Four and under 
 
 18 5 
 
 29-2 
 
 West Australia, 1917-18 ... 
 
 Under £3 per week ... 
 
 Average 6-33 ... 
 
 16 11 
 
 23-6 
 
 >» ,» ... 
 
 £3 and under £3 10s. 
 
 4-76 ... 
 
 19 
 
 27-4 
 
 »» »» 
 
 £3 10s. and under £4 
 
 „ 5-44 ... 
 
 21 11 
 
 26-5 
 
 Bulletin of the Living Wage, 1918, page 6.
 
 23 
 
 The percentages of the total expenditure thus shown are somewhat affected by tho 
 fact that the figures refer to all families, including those who owned their own houses, 
 and those who lived rent free. The following table shows the average amounts spent 
 on housing, food, &c., as percentages of the total expenditure for all families .covered by 
 the several inquiries : — 
 
 Australian Household Budget Inquiries. 
 
 
 Percentage of Total Expenditure. 
 
 Element. 
 
 Commonwealth , 
 1910-11. 
 
 Commonwealth, 
 Nov., 1913. 
 
 West Australia, 
 1917-18. 
 
 Housing 
 
 13-7 
 
 12-4 
 
 8-6 
 
 Food 
 
 29-3 
 
 41-2 
 
 43-5 
 
 Clothing 
 
 12-7 
 
 13-6 
 
 15-7 
 
 Fuel and light 
 
 3-5 
 
 4-5 
 
 3-1 
 
 Other Items 
 
 40-8 
 
 28-3 
 
 291 
 
 Total 
 
 100-0 
 
 100-0 
 
 100-0 
 
 Average total expenditure per week 
 
 £3 19 5 
 
 £3 13 6 
 
 £4 12 7 
 
 For comparison the results of some recent American inquiries are shown as follows : — 
 American Household Budget Inquiries. 
 
 
 
 Percentage of Total Expenditure. 
 
 
 
 Element. 
 
 Philadelphia 
 
 Shipbuilding. 
 
 1917, 51ii 
 
 families. 
 
 New York 
 
 Shipbuilding. 
 
 1917, 608 
 
 families. 
 
 Mobile, Ala., 
 Shipbuilding, 1917. 
 
 .Tacksonvilie, Fla., 
 Shipbuilding, 1917. 
 
 
 100 
 
 white 
 
 families. 
 
 33 
 coloured 
 families. 
 
 54 
 
 white 
 
 families. 
 
 27 
 coloured 
 families. 
 
 Housing 
 
 12-0 
 
 12-9 
 
 11-4 
 
 11-9 
 
 12-9 
 
 15-1 
 
 Food 
 
 43-3 
 
 45-0 
 
 46-9 
 
 53-4 
 
 41-9 
 
 44-2 
 
 Clothing — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Males 
 
 8-4 
 
 8-2 
 
 6-6 
 
 6-4 
 
 7-2 
 
 7-2 
 
 Females 
 
 7-6 
 
 6-7 
 
 5-8 
 
 5-5 
 
 5-9 
 
 51 
 
 Fuel and light 
 
 5-0 
 
 4-G 
 
 4-7 
 
 5-5 
 
 4-9 
 
 6-G 
 
 Furniture and furnishings... 
 
 4-5 
 
 3-2 
 
 3-2 
 
 1-3 
 
 4-0 
 
 3-2 
 
 Miscellaneous 
 
 19-2 
 
 19-4 
 
 21-4 
 
 16-0 
 
 23-2 
 
 lS-6 
 
 Total 
 
 100-0 
 
 100-0 
 
 100-0 
 
 1000 
 
 100-0 
 
 1000 
 
 Average total expenditure 
 for the year. 
 
 $1,399 
 
 81,349 
 
 SI, 127 
 
 S711 
 
 Sl,271 
 
 S886 
 
 These are typical results. Adding the percentage for miscellaneous to that for furniture 
 and furnishings for oomparison.s with Australian inquiries, the total for " Other Items " 
 is seen to range from 17-3 per cent, to 27-2 ])er cent., the former figure being that applicable 
 to the thirty-three coloured families at Mobile whose average expenditure was 711 dollars 
 per annum, or less than £3 per week. 
 
 It seems impossible to reject the suggestion that the exj)enditure of a civil i.sed family 
 on " Other Items," i.e., other than food, housing, clothing, and fuel and light, is at least 
 20 per cent, of the total expenditure.
 
 24i 
 
 The (lotails of tlio oxponditiirc on " Othor Items," as shown by Australian Budget 
 Inquiries, are given by Mr. Knibbs in his reports. Those portions of his results which are 
 relevant to the present inquiry are eompared in the following table : — 
 
 Australian, Budget Ivquiries. 
 • AvEBAGE Family Expenditure on " Other Items." 
 
 
 Commonwealth, 
 1910-11. 
 
 Commonwealth, 
 November, 1913. 
 
 West Australia. 
 
 
 £200 and under. 
 
 rnder £3. 
 
 £3 and under 
 £3 10s. 
 
 tnder 
 £3. 
 
 £3 and 
 under 
 £3 10s. 
 
 £3 10s. 
 
 and 
 under 
 
 £4. 
 
 
 Over 4. 
 
 4 and 
 under. 
 
 Over 4. 
 
 4 and 
 under. 
 
 Over 4. 
 
 4 and 
 under. 
 
 All. All. 
 
 All. 
 
 Other groceries not food 
 
 Tobacco, &c 
 
 Alcohoiic beverages ... 
 
 Fares 
 
 Insurance 
 
 Contribution? to benefit 
 
 societies. 
 Education and school 
 
 materials. 
 
 Medical expenses 
 
 Kates and taxes 
 
 Sports and amusements 
 
 Charitj, &c 
 
 Wages 
 
 Miscellaneous 
 
 8. d. 
 1 lOi 
 5i 
 3i 
 1 4 
 1 Si 
 1 OJ 
 
 4 
 
 1 7:? 
 
 J5 10, 
 
 s. d. 
 1 8i 
 6i 
 ^ 
 1 9i 
 1 lOJ 
 1 Of 
 
 4 
 
 1 5i 
 1 1 
 
 S 5J 
 
 s. d. 
 1 6 
 1 
 6 
 1 1 
 1 
 1 4 
 
 4 
 
 8 
 7 
 6 
 
 J3 5 
 
 s. d. 
 1 7 
 
 11 
 
 6 
 
 1 4 
 
 10 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 4"6 
 
 s. d. 
 1 11 
 9 
 6 
 1 
 1 9 
 1 7 
 
 5 
 
 1 6 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 5 
 
 5 1 
 
 s. d. 
 
 1 9 
 11 
 
 6 
 
 2 3 
 1 6 
 1 5 
 
 . 3 
 
 1 2 
 
 11 
 101 
 3 y 
 6 IJ 
 
 s. d. 
 
 1 6 
 
 1 1 
 
 11 
 
 ""s 
 
 10 
 10 
 
 1 4 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 9 5 
 
 8. d. 
 1 11 
 1 5 
 10 
 7 
 1 8 
 1 3 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 1 1 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 s. d. 
 1 10 
 1 1 
 1 4 
 1 2 
 1 4 
 1 10 
 
 4 
 
 1 3 
 1 
 1 9 
 
 9 
 
 Total 
 
 Percentage of Total 
 Expenditure. 
 
 15 Gi 
 
 19 2J 
 
 12 11 
 
 12 11 |,17 6 
 
 18 5 
 
 16 11 19 
 
 21 11 
 
 27-9 
 
 36-2 
 
 23-0 
 
 25-0 
 
 26-4 
 
 29-2 
 
 23-6 27-4 
 
 6-52 
 
 It is very difficult to discuss these miscellaneous necessities statistically, element by 
 element. No standards have been laid down. Current expenditure on food can be checked 
 by reference to dietary scales and heat-producing eqmvalents. A housing standard 
 can be and has been set. The necessary clothing for a family can probably be estimated. 
 But the miscellaneous necessities have been avoided. The declared living wage seems 
 to have left them sunk in a reservoir of negation. 
 
 11 
 
 [Published in Government Gazette No. 80, of 23rd April, 1920.] 
 
 The New South Wales Board of Trade, 
 
 Sydney, 19th April, 1920. 
 The following Declaration of the 19th April, 1920, of the New South Wales 
 Board of Trade as to the living wage to be paid to adult male employees in 
 the area comprised within the following boundaries : — A straight line drawn 
 from Flat Island to the point at which the Great Northern Railway intersects 
 the western boundary of the Nev/castle Police District (as gazetted in Govern- 
 merd Gazette No. 201 of the 18th November, 1914), at or near the township 
 of Dora Creek, and froiii the said point by the western, northern, and eastern 
 boundaries of the said Police District, to the point of commencement, — is 
 herebv published for general information. 
 
 PL L. LAMOND, 
 Secretary. 
 
 DECLARATION FOR NEWCASTLE DISTRICT. 
 
 After public inquiry as to the increase or decrease in the average cost of 
 living, and pursuing the same principles and methods, as far as possible, 
 as were adopted by the Board in its Declaration of the Sth October, 1919, for
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 1 
 
 13 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 1 
 
 25 
 
 the Metropolitr.:! Area, the Board finds that the average cost of living within 
 the are.i hereinafter mentioned had, at the 31st December last, increased lo 
 £3 IGs. 6d., assessed as follows: — 
 
 Food and groceries 
 
 Eent 
 
 Fuel and light 
 
 Clothing and boots 
 
 Miscellaneous 
 
 £3 16 6 
 
 And declares that the living wage to be paid to adult male employees Anthin 
 the said area shall be £3 16s. 6d. per week, 12s. Od. per day, and Is. 74d. per 
 hour. 
 
 Area. 
 
 The area comprised within the following boundaries : — A straight line 
 drawn from Flat Island to the point at which the Great Northern Railway 
 intersects the western boundary of the Newcastle Police District (as gazetted 
 in Governmerd Gazette No. 201 of the 18th November, 1914), at or near the 
 township of Dora Creek, and from tlie said point b}' the western, northern, 
 and eastern boundaries of the said Police District, to the point of commence- 
 ment. 
 
 W. EDMUNDS, President. 
 
 J. B. HOLME, Deputy President. 
 
 19th April, 1920. 
 
 W. T. WILLTNGTON, 
 THOMAS ROUTLEY, 
 E. J. KAVANAGH, 
 ARTHUR COOPER, 
 T. J. CAMPBELL, 
 C. J. McRAE, 
 JOHN ANDREWS, 
 T. C. ARTHUR, 
 
 Commissioners. 
 
 I 
 ) 
 
 ( Additional 
 C Commissioners. 
 
 12 
 
 [Published in Government Gazette No. 93, of 14tli May, 1920.] 
 
 The New South Wales Board of Trade, 
 
 Sydney, nth May, 1920. 
 
 The following Declaration of the 11th May, 1920, of the New South Wales 
 Board of Trade as to the living wage to be paid to adult male emplo3'ees in 
 the area comprised with the following boundaries : — A line commencing 
 at the extreme point of the northern headland of Port Hacking, and following 
 the northern coastline of that bay to the main South Coast road ; then follow- 
 ing that road to the top of Bulli Pass ; tlien following the crest of the Illawarra 
 Coast Range by Macquarie Pass, Macquarie Falls, Stockyard J\Iountain, and 
 the Saddleback Mountain to Barebluft' on the ocean coastline south of Kiama; 
 and then following that coastline to the point of commcncenient, — is hereby 
 published for geneial information. 
 
 H. L. LAMOND, 
 
 Secretary.
 
 26 
 
 DECLARATION FOR SOUTH COAST AREA. 
 
 The New South Wales Board of Trade" after inquiry as to the increase or 
 decrease as to the averagt cost of living during the period preceding the 
 28th February last in the South Coast area, as defined hereunder, and guided 
 by tlie pinciplcs adopted by it, and set out in its Declaration of the 8th 
 October, 1919, for the Metropolitan area, finds that the average cost of living 
 within the said South Coast area had increased to £3 17s. 6d., assessed as 
 follows : — 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Food and groceries 
 
 Rent 
 
 Fuel and light 
 
 Clothing and boots 
 
 Miscellaneous 
 
 ... 
 
 1 
 
 14 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 1 
 
 
 £3 
 
 17 
 
 6 
 
 Hitherto the Board has had the advantage of the Commonwealth 
 Statistician's inquiries covering a full period of six months. In this case the 
 only index-numbers which are relevant, apply to the towns of Wollongong 
 and Corrimal, and are based on returns for one month, viz., November. 
 The parties representing the interests of employers and employees furnished 
 evidence of the actual cost of living for the periods 1st July, 1919, to 31st 
 December, 1919, 1st October, 1919, to 29th February, 1920, respectively. 
 The assessment abovementioned was arrived at after consideration of these 
 
 The Board accordingly declares that the living wage to be paid to adult 
 male employees within the said South Coast area should be £3 17s. 6d. per 
 
 week, i2s. lid. per day, and Is. 7|d. per hourj 
 
 Area. 
 
 The area is that comprised within the follo\ving boundaries : — A line 
 commencing at the extreme point of the northern headland of Port Hacking, 
 and following the northern coast line of that bay to the main South 
 Coast road, then following that road to the top of BuUi Pass, then following 
 the crest of the Illawarra Coast Range by Macquarie Pass, Macquarie Falls, 
 Stockyard Mountain, and the Saddleback Mountain to Bareblufi on the 
 ocean coast line south to Kiama, and then following that coast line to the 
 point of commencement. 
 
 W. EDMUNDS, President. 
 
 J. B. HOLME, Deputy President. 
 
 W. T. WILLINGTON, ] 
 
 THOMAS ROUTLEY, f 
 
 E. J. KAVANAGH, ( 
 
 ARTHUR COOPER, /' 
 
 T. I. CAMPBELL, \ 
 
 C. J. McRAE, I 
 JOHN ANDREWS, 
 
 T. C. ARTHUR, ) 
 nth Mav, 1920. 
 
 Commissioners. 
 
 ' Additional 
 '^ Commissioners.
 
 13 
 
 27 
 
 [Published in Government Gazette No. 130, of 9th July, 1920.] 
 
 The New South Wales Board of Trade, 
 Sydney, 8th July, 1920. 
 The following Declaration of the 8th July, 1920, of the New South "Wales 
 Board of Trade as to the living wage to be paid to adult employees in the 
 area comprised within the following boundary lines : — Starting at Bell (on 
 Western Railway Line), thence by straight lines passing through the following 
 towns or localities in the following order : — Burraga, Cowra, Orange, Mudgee, 
 Havilah Quarries, Rylstone, Newnes to Bell — to include the residentially- 
 occupied jiarts of the towns or localities mentioned— is herebj' published for 
 general information. 
 
 H. L. LAMOND, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 DECLARATION FOR CENTRAL TABLELANDS AREA. 
 
 The New South Wales Board of Trade, aftei; public inquiry as to the increase 
 or decrease in the average cost of living during the period preceding the 
 31st March, 1920, in the Central Tablelands Area, as defined hereunder, 
 finds that the average cost of living within the said Central Tablelands Area 
 had increased to £3 18s., assessed as follows :— 
 
 Food and groceries 
 
 Rent 
 
 Fuel and light 
 
 Clothing 
 
 Miscellaneous 
 
 The Board accordingly declares that the living wage to be paid to adult 
 male employees within the said Central Tablelands Area shall be £3 18s. per 
 week, 13s. per day, and Is. 7-kI. per hour. 
 
 Area. 
 
 The area is that comprised within the following boundary lines : — Starting 
 at Bell (on Western Railway Line), thence by straight lines passing through 
 the following towns or localities in the following order : — Burraga, Cowra, 
 Orange, Mudgee, Havilah (Quarries, Rylstone, Newnes to Bell — to include 
 the residentially-occupied parts of the towns or localities mentioned. 
 
 W. EDMUNDS, President. 
 
 J. B. HOLME, Deputy President. 
 
 £ s. 
 
 d. 
 
 ... 1 U 
 
 4 
 
 ... 11 
 
 1 
 
 ... 4 
 
 
 
 ... 15 
 
 6 
 
 ... 13 
 
 1 
 
 £3 18 
 
 
 
 8th July, 1920/ 
 
 W. T. WILLINGTON, 
 THOMAS ROUTLEY, 
 E. J. KAVANAGH, 
 ARTHUR COOPER, 
 T. I. CAMPBELL, 
 C. J. McRAE, 
 JOHN ANDREWS, 
 T. C. ARTHUR, 
 
 /- Commissioners. 
 
 I Additi6nal 
 i' Commissioners.
 
 28 
 
 14 [Published in Government Gazette No. 184, of loth October, 1920.] 
 
 NEW SOUTH WALES BOARD OF TRADE. 
 
 DECLARATION. 
 
 The Xew South Wales Board of Trade, after public inquiry as to the increase 
 or decrease in the average cost of li^'ing, declares that the living wages to 
 be paid to adult male employees in the area defined as the State of New 
 South Wales, excepting thereout the County of Yancowinna and the areas 
 mentioned in the declarations published in GoceDtment Ga~etle.fi No. 80, of 
 23rd April, 1920, No. 93, of 14th May, 1920, and No. 130, of 9th July, 1920, 
 shall be £4 5s. per week; 14s. 2d per day; Is. 9^d. per hour. 
 
 GEO S. BEEBY, President. 
 
 J. B. HOLME, Deputy President. 
 
 W. T. WILLINGTON, ^ 
 
 THOMAS ROUTLEY, I ^ 
 
 E. J. KAVANAGH, f Co^^^^'^^ioners- 
 
 ARTHUR COOPER. J 
 
 T. I. CAMPBE^^L, ^ 
 
 C. J. Mc'RAE. t Additional 
 
 JOHN ANDREWS, f Commissioners. 
 
 T. C: ARTHUR, J 
 8th October, 1920. 
 
 The President : In conducting this year's investigation the Board of 
 Trade has again had to deal with a period characterised by substantial 
 increases in prices of necessary commodities. The hope that the year would 
 see at least a stabilisation of prices has not been realised. Prices have 
 increased about 18 per cent., and the purchasing power of money in this 
 State is at least 15 per cent, less than when the last living- wage declaration 
 was made. To an extent approximating that percentage, an increase in the 
 living- wage was therefore inevitable. While it is true that wages must not 
 necessarily increase in exact ratio to decreases in the purchasing power of 
 money, the variation in that power, under section 79 of the Arbitration Act 
 "under which the Board functions, are the main considerations. 
 
 It was again contended that some allowance should be made for the 
 aptitude of families to adapt themselves to excessive calls on their available 
 incomes, arising from unexpected fluctuations in supplies and prices. 
 Economies can be, and undoubtedly are, effected without necessarily reducing 
 standards of li\-ing. Since 1911, for instance, the average consumption of 
 meat per citizen has declined 40 per cent., but is even now not appreciably 
 below the quantity provided for in the Board's food regimen. Clearly, less 
 meat is now consum.ed, but it is not seriously contended that our people are 
 underfed. As far as this commodity is concerned, shortage of supplies, 
 with consequent increase in price, has forced a re-arrangement by families 
 of their food regimens. 
 
 In the same way the increased prices of clothing and footwear have led 
 to greater economies in the number and class of garments worn. But any 
 estimation of savings effected by such readjiistment of expenditure without 
 lowering standards of living must necessarily be conjectural 
 
 In_ his exhaustive re-\Tiew of the principles governing statutory wage- 
 fixation, contained in the South Australian Printing Trades case, President 
 Jethro Brown, in June last, refused a claim to reduce the ascertained
 
 29 
 
 living;- wage by 5 per cent., in order to force economy He stated that 
 such a proposal should only be considered on grounds of apparent and 
 overwhelming national need. No Australian tribunal in fixing living wages 
 according to variations in prices of necessary commodities has yet been 
 able to estimate the extent to which families, by economies not resulting 
 in lowering of living standards, can rearrange their expenditure- Thi§ 
 Board has not been able to airive at any such estimate, 3nd, although 
 influenced by such consideration, has been mainly guided by statistical data 
 as to actual increases in prices. It is unnecessary to review the various 
 contentions as to the method of applying the index numbers of the Common- 
 wealth statisticians. This matter was fully dealt with in the schedule to the 
 last declaration, and substantially the same principles have operated this 
 year. 
 
 In view of the application made for a general revision of the princijjles of 
 living-wage fixation, it is thought necessary to again state the sequence 
 of events which led to the bestowal of the living-wage declaratory power 
 on the Board of Trade. 
 
 The original Arbitration Act of 1900, which dealt only with the actual 
 settlement of industrial disputes, left the Court without any guidins principles. 
 The first Court in entering an entirely experimental field was left to evolve 
 its own principles, and ultimately resolved on the average wages paid by 
 reputable employers as the basis for each industry dealt with. 
 
 The 1908 Act transferred the regulation of industrial conditions from the 
 Court to Boards, and every well-defined industry secured a special tribunal 
 to deal with its conditions. These Boards, most of them under the presidency 
 of different chairmen, acted on different principles in arriving at minimum 
 wages, and confusion and overlapping occurred. 
 
 The Court, to which there was a right of appeal, then instituted a search 
 for some general principle for the guidance of the Boards and their chairmen, 
 and ultimately arrived at the conclusion that the basic wage of all industries 
 must bear relation, not to existing average standards, but to the actual needs 
 of the workers. 
 
 In February of 1911 Mr. Justice Heydon, in the first judgment following 
 a general inquiry into the cost of living, pointed out " that experience and the 
 findings of the chairmen of Boards had been useful guides, but it has becoiue 
 advisable to obtain an aiithoritative declaration as to the basic or living 
 wage in New South Wales, together with the ascertainment of some method 
 of raising or lowering it on the rise or fall in the cost cf living." 
 
 His Honor accepted the dictum of Mr. Justice Higgins that the standajd 
 should be the '" normal needs of the average employee regarded as a human 
 being in a civilised community." Further, that the average employee must 
 be regarded as carr}'ing the responsibilities of an average dependent family. 
 Accepting this class as between the ages of 20 and 59 the average fr,mily was 
 fixed as com])rising a man, and wife, and two children. The basic wage 
 was fixed at £2 8s. per week, and his Honor indicated that the main 
 element for consideration in future applications should be the fluctuations 
 in the cost of living. 
 
 In November of the same year the Court considered the principles which 
 were to guide Wages Boards during the war, but as these all dealt with a 
 period of extraordinary stress and uncertainty, they have no bearing on 
 present conditions. When the Act which constituted this Board was passed 
 in 1918, the Industrial Court had established the idea of a basic wage common 
 to all industries, and with knowledge of this, the Legislature empowered the 
 Board to declare from year to year, after public inquiry as to the increase
 
 ?.o 
 
 or decroase in the cost of living, which should be a living wage to be paid to 
 adult male employees and to adult female employees in the State or in any 
 defined area thereof. Special provision was made for separate inquiry or 
 declaration in respect of workers engaged in rural occupations. 
 
 The Legislature cle9.rly contem])lated the existence of a method of ascertain- 
 ing a basic wage, and while not definitely binding the Board to the then 
 established principles on which the Industrial Court had acted, indicated 
 that the main element for consideration in future fixation was to be fluctua- ■ 
 tions in prices. It is quite clear from the reading of the Act that the intention 
 of Parliament was to empower the new tribunal to declare a national 
 minimum. The Board of Trade, at the outset, was impressed with the 
 difficulty of this task, and thought it expedient on the first inquiry to limit 
 its declaration to adult male employees in what is known as the Metropolitan 
 Area. 
 
 At the outset the then President asked that the investigations should be 
 confined to existing data and judgmentr- of the New South Wales Industral 
 Arbitration Court and other Courts, statistical returns as to the rise and fall 
 in the cost of living, and to the then prices of various materials. In this 
 case the Board did not review the standards upon which Mr. Justice Heydou's 
 original declarations were based, and which were in operation at the time of 
 its constitution. It simply applied the Index numbers of the Commonwealth 
 Statistician to the items provided for in the original judgment. But the 
 President of the Board, while not reviewing the original basis of the living 
 wage, adopted by him when sitting as a Judge of the Industrial Court, 
 stated in announcing the Board's decision, that the whole matter could be 
 reopened in future inquiries. 
 
 In the following year's inquiry it was lealised that adequate consideration 
 had not been given to the needs of an average family, for clothing and for 
 fuel and lighting, and the £3 17s. wage then declared was for a higher standard 
 of comfort than had been previously considered 
 
 Subsequently the Board dealt with certain country areas and made the 
 following declarations for : — 
 
 • £ s. d. 
 
 The Newcastle District 3 16 6 
 
 The South Coast Area 3 17 6 
 
 The Central Tablelands 31S0 
 
 Also b>^ a separate declaration made in December last, the wage for female 
 adult workers in the Metropolitan Area was declared at £1 19s. per week. 
 
 It was, however, always realised that the intention of the Act would be 
 best carried out by one declaration covering the whole State. During 
 inquiries conducted in country towns it was also made apparent that the 
 development of the State has been retarded bv the assumption that local 
 employees must necessarily accept a lower standard of comfort and receive 
 less wages than those of the Metropolis and the large industrial towns. The 
 distinct decline during recent j^ears in primary production, and tlie failure 
 of urban areas to maintain the same rates of increase in population as the. 
 large cities, also contributed to the Board.'s decision to not further deal with 
 the minimum from a sectional point of view. 
 
 In approaching the inquiry from this standpoint the technical objection 
 was raised that once a declaration had been made the Board was/t/«c/W6' officio 
 as to the area covered by the declaration, and the class of employees included 
 therein for the succeeding twelve months. AVithout deciding the question 
 of law involved in this objection it was thought advisable, in making this year's
 
 31 
 
 declaration, to excopt these areas before mentioned, and also tlie Broken Hill 
 District, and to make a separate declaration as to female adult workers for 
 the whole State at a later date, and after fiirther inquiry. 
 
 In excluding tljcse country areas it was not intended to convey that the wage 
 rates prevailing should be less than the general rate declared. It seems 
 that the Act requires such aniendment as is necessary to enable the Board 
 in a general declaiation to absorb areas covered by separate declarations. 
 The application of the declaration to the whole State necessarily involved 
 some changes in the method of calculation previously adopted. The 
 weighted averages for the State as a whole are different to those of any 
 selected area. After careful analysis of the increases in the cost of living 
 as applied to the whole State, the Board declares that £1 5s. shall be the 
 living wage to be paid to adult male employees in the following defined area, 
 namely, the State of New South Wales, excepting thereout the county of 
 Yancowinna, the areas mentioned in Declarations set out in the New South 
 Wales Government Gazetles, No. 80, of the 23rd day of April, 1920, No. 93, 
 of the 14th May, 1920, and No. 130, of 9th July, 1920. The separate inquiry 
 directed by the Act not being completed, the Board at present makes no 
 declaration as to emplo3^ees engaged in rural occupations. 
 
 The Board was urged to review the standard of comfort contemplated in 
 its previous fixation. . It was urged that a regimen of clothing should be 
 adopted, that rent should be increased to provide for better accommodation, 
 and that the item for miscellaneous expenditure should be detailed and 
 largely increased. 
 
 Mr. McGrath, who very ably represented the Union Secretaries' Association, 
 found that when his claims for such review were considered he was asking 
 the Board to fix a living wage of £6 15s. 6d. per week. 
 
 Mr. Niland and Mr. Jenkins, representing the A.W.U. in connection with 
 the proposal to extend the award to all urban districts, on the assumption 
 that the Board would deal mainly with the increase in the cost of living, 
 brought their proposed total to £4 15s. 9d. 
 
 Mr. Lee, who, although nominally representing the interests of metal- 
 liferous mine-owners and country traders, greatly assisted the Board by 
 putting the case generally for those opposing an undue increase, submitted 
 as the result of his calculations, that the declaration should not exceed 
 £4 7s. for the Metropolitan area, and £4 for the rest of the State. 
 
 It is necessary to again point out that the function of the Board is the 
 fixingr of the basic wage, i.e., the lowest wage to be paid to an adult citizen 
 carrying average responsibility. Appeals to sentiment and arguments as 
 to the necessity for a more equitable distribution of wealth cannot assist 
 a tribujial which is discharging a duty carefully defined by Parliament. The 
 Board has not the power to say what wage it would like to see every citizen 
 receive, or to set up an ideal standard of comfort. The evident abnormality 
 of prices and the continuation of the period of inflation, led the Board to 
 resolve for this year, at any rate, it would not further review the foundation 
 of the living wage. This decision does not exclude future reconsideration 
 of the standard of comfort or the alteration of accepted regimens, or the 
 establishment of a definite regimen for clothing, or any other re-examination 
 of the whole question. 
 
 It must also be borne in mind that no living wage can be fixed with niathe- 
 matical accuracy. The needs of one family are not necessarily the needs 
 of another. The standard of living of one family may be quite as high 
 as that of another, but by the spending of money in different directions 
 the amount absolutely necessary may, without any reduction of the standard
 
 32 
 
 be less. One witness, for instance, with perfect sincerity, was quite con- 
 vinced that he could not meet the needs of a famih' of three, according to 
 his standard, on a less wage than £6 5s. per week. Another workman's wife, 
 with full details of her expenditure for a famil}' of five, allowed that the 
 actual necessities for her family could be met by a wage of £4 8s. per week. 
 
 There was a great variation also between the claims made for the allowance 
 necessary for family clothing and the acutal expenditure. After general 
 acceptance of a regimen of clothing which had been tendered, several 
 witnesses admitted that their families had been properly clothed for a much 
 less expenditure than the regimen provided for. 
 
 The great difficulty in an investigation of this kind is to concentrate 
 attention on the actual fimction which the Board is called upon to discharge — 
 the prescribing of the living wage, not a wage rate for the whole community ; 
 not an assessment of the " value of services rendered, but a determination 
 of what is necessary to meet the normal and reasonable needs of an average 
 family." 
 
 Interested parties fail to distinguish between the living and minimum 
 wage. The minimum wage is fixed by Arbitration Courts after consideration 
 of the general conditions of each industry; the living wage fixed by this 
 Board controls all industries irrespective of their ability or otherwise to meet 
 increased labour cost. As far as possible the Board is bound to deal 
 with the living wage as a matter of actuarial calculation. In doing this it 
 cannot take into account individual families. The living wage is undoubtedly 
 quite inadequate to meet the needs of a labourer with a large family ; it is 
 in many cases more than ample for a single man; it is generally ample for 
 those families in which there are no dependent children. No perfect system 
 can be devised, and no other system than the use of averages has ever been 
 suggested. The difficulties arising from variations in the size of families 
 cannot be met by any general declaration. 
 
 An examination of the awards of the Industrial Court discloses that by 
 far the larger proportion of the population receives a wage rate higher than 
 the prescribed living wage. The wage rate for mechanics and the majority 
 of their assistants and of nearly all partially-skilled labour are above the 
 basic declaration. Those in receipt of the basic living wage are confined 
 mainly to limited numbers of employees on comparatively regular employ- 
 ment in hotels, restaurants, and businesses engaged in the supply and 
 distribution of foodstuffs, to lift attendants, watchmen, and men engaged 
 in the least skilled forms of labour in continuous industries. In the majority 
 of well-defined industries in the State by far the larger proportion of employees 
 are paid on rates higher than the basic declaration. 
 
 But notwithstanding the improved wage rates resulting from tlje last 
 declaration of the Board, it became apparent during the inquiry that large 
 numbers of the wage-earners of the State are on the bare living line. Although 
 the last increase of the basic wage from £3 to £3 17s., with the application 
 of marginal increases to the sldlled workers, greatly relieved the pressure 
 arising from continued increase in prices, the further price inflation which 
 followed the last declaration, coupled with the time lost through sickness, 
 wet weather, and other causes, in many cases rendered the declared minimum 
 ineffective. 
 
 Many typical cases were before the Board, particularly in country districts, 
 in which the living wage had not yet come into force, showing that worthy 
 citizens of high character, whose work was necessary to the community, and 
 whose one desire was to lead normal family lives, were not able to satisfy 
 their reasonable needs. In some cases interesting details were furnished
 
 33 
 
 of devices resorted to by housewives to readjust their method of li\nng to 
 higher costs, and anyone engaged in investigations of this kind is forced to 
 the conclusion that the constant increase in the cost of commodities has 
 become the most prolific source of industrial ferment. 
 
 Incidentally, discussion arose during the inquiry as to the effect of further 
 increases of wages on production and on the future prices of necessary 
 commodities. There is a singular absence of data in Australia as to labour 
 cost in production, but it is quite clear that the oft-reiterated contention 
 that every increase in wages is exactly reflected in prices will not bear 
 examination. Increased labour cost clearly contributes to increases in some 
 prices. We get a definite illustration of this in the cost of transport : with each 
 material increase in wages there is an increase in freightage. But as to the 
 majority of ordinary commodities, prices are controlled by world influences, 
 and not by local variations in labour conditions. 
 
 There is at present no way of estimating to what extent increased prices 
 are the actual result of increased wages. Wages are necessarily reflected 
 in prices, but it is idle to say that wage increases of the last four years are 
 by any means solely responsible for the high cost of living. There is a 
 remarkable confusion of cause and effect in examining this aspect of the 
 problem. Increases in wages have, during the recent years, been more the 
 result than the cause of high prices. If it were the function of the Board to 
 definitely deal with this issue it could not furnish a rejjort of any value until 
 after the adoj^tion of some standard costing system. Such an issue c;an only 
 be incidentally raised, and calls only for the passing comment that the grave 
 discontent arising from ever-increasing prices cannot be allayed by a proposal 
 to keep wages stationary and trust to the future. Another important issue 
 raised in the proceedings was to what extent the Board should consider the 
 efi'ect of its decisions on industries. Mr. Lee urged that any substantial 
 increase in wages would materially reduce emplojmient in mining industries. 
 The Board, without actual evidence on the j)oint, is aware of the decline 
 in the output of minerals. It is recognised that future expansion of mineral 
 ])roduction depends largely on our ability to treat lower-grade ores, and 
 that labour cost is the most serious item of ex])enditure in this industry. It 
 has also been urged that every noticeable increase in the basic wage imposes 
 a heavy burden on the State, and must lead to increases in the charges made 
 by the State for setvioes rendered. 
 
 But these are clearly matters for Parliamentary reviews-. Although a 
 tribunal whose functions are essentially judicial cannot consider the result 
 of its findings unless definitely authorised or directed to do so by the statute 
 from whicli it derives its authority, the Board is bound to consider whether 
 the de(;laration may react by creating unemp]oyn\ent. If the wage fixed 
 applied to the Commonwealth this would not be so material. But the last 
 declaration undoubtedly made this State's general rates higher than those 
 of Victoria, South Australia, and probably all other States, except Queensland. 
 Another undue increase might, and probably would, for a time, lead to slack- 
 ness of trade in such of our industries as are subject to interstate com))etition. 
 
 While this was not a determining factor, it undoubtedly influenced the 
 Board against any immediate further revision of the standards adopted in 
 arriving at last year's determination. 
 
 The Board was asked also to consider the further increase in the cost of 
 some conunodities since the publication of the last available quarterly returns 
 of the Commonwealth Statistician, and, on the other hand, the possibility 
 of a fall in prices during the coming year. It was decided not to take either 
 of these elements into consideration. The Board raunot act on th« i^riceJ* 
 
 *5263a— B
 
 34 
 
 of an article at a civcn date, hut only on averajre j>iioes for tl;e longest [)erio(l 
 for which figure:^ are available, foUowin*; its previous decision; and, on the 
 other hand, unless the evidence established a certainly, cannot base its 
 decisions on a possible fall in prices. 
 
 It became apparent during this inquiry that prices continued to rise at and 
 from the date of last declaration, and that the amount fixed on prices ruling 
 during 1919 was not an effective wage during portion of the year. But 
 exactness is impossible, and regulation, which depends on unforeseen 
 fluctuations in prices, is controlled by consideration of averages for the 
 longest period following the preceding declaration. It is possible that the 
 pinnacle of high prices has been reached, and a decline may set in before 
 the next declaration. When this occurs and a pro]Dosal is made to reduce 
 wages, the system will be ])ut to a real test. Until then the Board must 
 patiently bear the usual charge of unreasoned liberality on the one hand, 
 and of calculated parsimony on the other. 
 
 The avowed policy of the Commonwealth, which has remained unchallenged 
 for manv years, is to impose on all industries the obligation of providing 
 at least a living wage for all employees. There have been, and there are, 
 undoubtedly to-day imperfections in the legislative devices for the carrying 
 out of this polic}'. The confusion between the principles adopted b}' different 
 Australian tribunals is serious, and some uniformity in fundamentals is 
 most desirable. The disconnected systems of wage-fixing of the continent 
 require national co-relation; but, pending public appreciation of this need, 
 the Board can only carry out to the best of its ability the duties imposed 
 on it bv the statute. 
 
 16 [Published in Government Gazette No. 212, of 17th December, 1920.] 
 
 NEW SOUTH WALES BOARD OF TRADE. 
 
 DECLARATION. 
 
 (In Variation and Rescission of Existing Declarations) made under 
 the Industrial Arbitration Act, 1912-20. 
 
 Whereas the New South Wales Board of Trade on the 19th April. 1920, 
 after public inquiry as to the increase or decrease in the average cost of living, 
 found that such cost of living within the area comprised within the following 
 boimdaries : — A straight line drawn from Flat Island to the point at which 
 the Great Northern Railway intersects the western boundary of the Newcastle 
 Police District (as gazetted in Gove.nimerii Gazette No. 201, of the 18th 
 November, 1914), at or near the township of Dora Creek, and from the said 
 point by the western, northern, and eastern boundaries of the said Police 
 District, to the point of commencement — had at the 31st December last 
 increa.sed to £3 16s. 6d., assessed as follows :■ — Food and groceries, £1 13s 5d. ; 
 rent, 13s. 2d.; fuel and light. 2s. 9d. ; clothing and boots, 14s. ; miscellaneous, 
 13s. Id. — and declared that the living wage to be paid to adult male employees 
 within the said area should be £3 16s. 6d. per week, 12s. 9d: per day, and 
 Is, 7i^d. ])er hour. 
 
 And whereas the said Board after further })ublic inquiry as to the increase 
 or decrease as to the average cost of living during the period preceding the 
 28th February last in the area comprised within the following boundaries : — 
 A line commencing at the extreme point of the northern headland of Port 
 Hacking, and following the northern coast-line of that bay to the main South 
 Coast road, then following that road to the top of Bulli Pass, then following
 
 35 
 
 the crest of the lUawarra Coast Range by Macquarie Pass, Macquarie Falls, 
 Stockyard Mountain, and the Saddleback Mountain to Barebluff on the 
 ocean coast-line south of Kiama, and then following that coast-line to the 
 point of commencement — found that the average cost of living within the 
 said area had increased to £3 17s. 6d., assessed as follows : — Food and groceries, 
 £1 14s. 2d. ; rent, 12s. ; fuel and light, 2s. 9d. ; clothing and boots, 1-5?. 6d. ; 
 miscellaneous, 13s. Id ■ — and declared that the living wage to be paid to 
 adult male employees within the said area should be £3 17s. 6d. per week, 
 12s. lid. per day, and Is. 7|d. per hour. 
 
 And whereas the said Board after further public inquiry as to the increase or 
 decrease in the average cost of living during the period preceding the 31st 
 March, 1920, in the area comprised within the following boundary lines: — 
 Starting at Bell (on Western Railway Line), thence by straight lines passing 
 through the following towns or localities in the following order : — Burraga, 
 '■owra. Orange, Mudgee, Havilah Quarries, Rylstone, Newnes to Bell, to 
 include the residentially-occupied parts of the towns or localities mentioned — 
 found that the average cost of living within the said area had increased to 
 £3 ISs., assessed as follows : — Food and groceries, £ 1 14s. 4d. ; rent, lis. Id. : 
 fuel and light, 4s.; clothing, 15s. 6d.: miscellaneous, 13s. Id. — and declared 
 that the living wage to be paid to adult male employees within the said area 
 should be £3 18s. per week, 13s. per day, and Is. 7id. per hour. 
 
 And whereas the said Board after further public inquiry as to the increase 
 or decrease in the average cost of living in the State of New vSouth Wales 
 declared on the 8th October, 1920, that the living wage to be paid to adult 
 male employees in the area defined as the State of New South Wales, excepting 
 thereout the County of Yancowinna, and the areas mentioned in the declara- 
 tions published in Government Gazettes No. 80, of the 23rd April, 1920, No. 93, 
 of the 14th May, 1920, and No. 130, of the 19th July, 1920, being the herein- 
 before iccited declarations, should be £4 5s. per week, 14s. 2d. per day, and 
 Is. 9^d. per hour, 
 
 Now the said Board notwithstanding the existence of the declarations as 
 to living wages made by it for the said defined areas of the State, in exercise 
 of the powers conferred upon it by the Industrial Arbitration (Amendment) 
 Act, 1920, hereby declares that the living wage to be ])aid to adult male 
 employees in the area defined as the State of New South Wales, excepting 
 thereout only the County of Yancowinna, shall be £4 5s. per week, 14s. 2d. 
 per day. Is. 9-jfd. per hour, and for the purpose of such declaration, rescinds 
 the hereinbefore recited declarations of the 19th April, 1920, 11th May, 1920, 
 and 8th July, 1920, and varies the declaration of the 8th October, 1920, 
 by deleting therefrom the words " and the areas mentioned in the declarations 
 published in Government Gazettes^ No. 80, of 23rd April, 1920. No. 93, of 14th 
 May, 1920, and No. 130, of the 9th July, 1920." 
 
 GEO. S. BEEBY, President. 
 
 J. B. HOLME. Dei^uty President. 
 
 W. T. WILLINGTON, ^ 
 
 THOMAS ROUTLEY, I ^ 
 
 E. J. K.\VANAGH. f Commissioners. 
 
 ARTHUR COOPER, J 
 
 T. T. CAMPBELL, ") 
 
 C. J. McRAE. i Audicional 
 
 JOHN ANDREWS, f Commissioners. 
 
 T. C. ARTHUR, J 
 Dated tko 15th day ot Decc?*\:er, 1920.
 
 [Published in Government Gazette Ho. 37, of 11th March, 1921.] 
 NEW SOUTH WALES BOARD OF TRADE. 
 
 DECLARATION. 
 
 (In Variation of Existing Declarations) made under the Industrial 
 Arbitration Act, 1912-20. 
 
 Wherkas the New South Wales Board of Trade, after public inquiry as to 
 the increase or decrease in the average cost of living in the State of New- 
 South Wales declared on the 8th October, 1920, that the living wage to be 
 paid to adult male employees in the area defined as the State of New South 
 Wales, excepting thereout certain areas, one of which was the County of 
 Yancowinna in the said State, should be £4 5s. per week, lis. 2d. per day, and 
 Is. 9^-d. per hour. 
 
 And whereas the said Board on the 15th day of December, 1920, notM'ith- 
 standing the existence of the said declaration and certain other declarations 
 as to living wages made by it for the said area of the State, in exercise of the 
 powers conferred upon it by the Industrial Arbitration (Amendment) Act, 
 1920, declared that the living wage to be paid to adult male employees in the 
 area defined as the State of New South Wales, excepting thereout only the 
 County of Yancowinna, should be £4 5s. per week, 14s. 2d. per day. Is. 9^d. 
 per hour, and for the purpose of such declaration rescinded declarations 
 previously made by it on the 19th April, 1920, 11th May, 1920, and 8th July, 
 1920, and varied the said declaration of the 8th October, 1920, by deleting 
 therefrom the words having reference to the areas covered bv the said declara- 
 tions of the 19th April, 1920, 11th May, 1920, and 8th July, 1920. 
 
 Now the said Board, after further public inquiry as to the cost of living 
 in the said county of Yancowinna, in exercise of the powers conferred upon 
 it by the Industrial Arbitration (Amendment) Act, 1920, and not\\-ithstanding 
 the existence of the said declarations of the 8th October, 1920. and the 
 15th December, 1920, hereby declares that the living wage to be paid to adult 
 male employees in the area defined as the State of New South Wales shall be 
 £4 5s. per week, 14s 2d. per day, Is. 9|d. per hour, and for the purpose of 
 its present declaration varies the declarations of the 8th October, 1920, and 
 of the loth December, 1920, by deleting therefrom respectively the words 
 " excepting thereout the County of Yancowinna," and " excepting thereout 
 only the county of Yancowinna." 
 
 GEO S.. BEEBY, President. 
 
 J. B. HOLME, Deputy President. 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 W. T. WILLINGTON, 
 THOMAS ROUTLEY, 
 E. J. K.WANAGH, 
 ARTHUR COOPER, 
 
 Commissioners. 
 
 T. I. CAMPBELL. 
 C. J. McRAE, 
 JOHN ANDREWS, 
 T. C. ARTHUR, 
 3rd March, 1921. 
 
 Additional 
 Commissioners.
 
 THE NEW SOUTH WALES BOARD OF TRADE. 
 
 DECLARATION. 
 
 The New South Wales Board of Trade, after public inquiry as to the increase 
 or decrease in the average cost of living, declares that the living wages to be 
 paid to adult male employees in the area defined as the State of New South 
 Wales, excepting thereout the county of Yancowinna, shall be £4 29. per 
 week; 13s. 8d. per day; Is. 8|d. per hour. 
 
 GEO. S. BEEBY, President. 
 
 J. B. HOLME, Deputy President. 
 
 W. T. WILLINGTON, ) 
 
 THOMAS ROUTLEY, } Commissioners. 
 
 ARTHUR COOPER, ) 
 
 T. I. CAMPBELL, \ Additional 
 C. J. McRAE, J Commissioners. 
 
 8th October, 192L 
 
 The President : In considering the fixation of the living wage for the 
 ensuing year, the Board of Trade has met with difficulties not characteristic 
 of previous inquiries. The inevitable result of the continued inflation since 
 1914 of taxation, profits, wages and credits has been reached in Austraha 
 as well as in other countries. Costs of production have been raised to*such 
 a plane that pre-war standards of credit, of profit, and of wages have long 
 since been abandoned. The cost of national security and of the processes of 
 Government have similarly increased, and been reflected in taxation. 
 Political policy of the reconstructive order has been vastly added to the 
 burden of taxation. High taxation, high profits, high wages, and easy 
 credits have created and still maintain the disturbance of our economic 
 equilibrium, which has culminated in the present partial collapse. 
 
 With the complex of causes the Board is not authoritatively concerned. 
 Over the element of wages it can exercise some control. But wages as a 
 factor in the cost of living must be controlled according to the terms of the 
 Board's statutory authority, mainly by reference to the cost of living itself. 
 Section 79 (1) of the Industrial Arbitration Act, 1912-20, directs the Board 
 from year to year, after public inquiry, as to the increase or decrease in the 
 average cost of living, to declare living wages. The purpose of Parliament 
 clearly was not to involve the Board in a purely vicious circle of operations, 
 but to enable it to declare a wage which would be a real wage. The Board 
 must not only take pro])er account of the fluctuations in the purchasing 
 power of money, but it must have regard to, i)iter olio, the effect of its 
 determinations and declarations upon the economic balance of industry. 
 The wage rate, if fixed in .some flexible relation to the average cost of living 
 and the purchasing power of money, may have the effect of so reducing 
 employment as to make the wage itself unrealisable. While the wage rate 
 is under the Board's control, the resources from which the wage is paid are 
 not. The maintenance of a standard for those who are fortunate enough, in 
 a general state of economic disturbance, to get wages, is not the public 
 purpose for which the Board was constituted. The maintenance of a 
 standard relative to a general equilibrium of industrial and economic 
 relations is rather the Board's business, and the intention of Parhament. 
 
 The maintenance of a standard of life in industrial circles must inevitably 
 place this country in economic conflict with the rest of the world, if that
 
 38 
 
 standard is to be independent of and greatly above the average standard of 
 life of industrial classes in other countries. The interchange of products 
 between various countries cannot be entirely free while this principle under- 
 lies the methods of Government. Unless it can be demonstrated that the 
 adoi)tion of these standards facilitates and fosters production so that it will 
 stand, at least, at the same level, while the conditions of the workers are 
 improved, the world will not be content to give, in the future, for a smaller 
 amount of the commodity, as much as it gave for a larger amount in times 
 past. The maintenance of an industrial standard of living is, however, so 
 definitely established in the system of government that obtains in the States 
 of the Commonwealth that the political difficulties which it creates need not 
 be stressed. Those difficulties cannot, however, be too much emphasised in 
 relation to the work of the Board of Trade, particularly when it is dealing 
 with the primary industries and protected secondary industries. 
 
 Some attention must also be paid to the effect of the Board's determination 
 on credit. Credit is by no means the least important of the four factors of 
 taxation, profits, wages, and credits that jointly control the economic 
 situation. The organisation of finance and credit has its special difficulties 
 in a period such as that which has existed during and since the war. The 
 credit problems of reconstruction may have been handled well or ill, but 
 the Board has had no evidence tendered to it in this relation. With a 
 decline in prices of commodities, with business dislocation on all sides, and 
 with a growing amount of unemployment, trade losses must be very con- 
 siderable, and may be affected by such action as the Board of Trade may be 
 induced to take in determining rates of wages. Should the Board at any 
 time such as this find itself obhgod to seriously depress the level of wages, 
 it may precipitate an immediate reconstruction of credits that will greatly 
 disturb the commercial world. This fact notwithstanding, the Board 
 receives but little attention in its proceedings and operations from those 
 who should be able to inform it properly with regard to the problems with 
 which the banks arc now and may in future be confronted. It is the interest 
 of all, and not only of the parties to industrial disputes, that a proper level 
 of equilibrium of prices and costs should be w^orked out and preserved. 
 The interests of the banks and of the trading world are probably at stake. 
 Trade liquidations may be neces.sary for the purpose of wage and general 
 readjustments, and those liquidations should be delayed or enforced in 
 accordance, with the requirements of public, and not private, convenience. 
 The credit that encourages private speculation at the cost of public harm is 
 a credit that is improperly controlled. The banks of the country are par- 
 ticularly concerned in the operations of the Board of Trade at such a moment 
 as this, and yet in not one single relation of the Board's work has it received 
 any information upon the subject of the relations of w^ages and credits from 
 financial institutions. 
 
 The Board was urged during its inquiry to give special consideration to 
 the economic issues involved in wage fixation. But the case of those 
 interested in the fixing of a lower basic wage, except as to evidence on the 
 actual variations in the cost of living since October of last year, amounted 
 to a contention that the first essential to economic recovery is a substantial 
 reduction of wage rates. 
 
 It is obvious that a plurality of causes operates in determining the cost of 
 commodities. The return to labour— the wage cost— is one of them, but an 
 equally important clement is the return which other factors have sought 
 and secured in the form of interest, profits, and rents, while taxation and 
 t he control of credit play their important part. An analysis of the operations
 
 39 
 
 even of local enterprises and of State finance and credits shows that, impor- 
 tant, as the increased wage cost has been in maintaining the upward teudcncy 
 of prices, other channels into which the community wealth producuon is 
 diverted carry their share of responsibiUty for high prices, with the conse- 
 quent shrinkage in production. In addition to this, our dependence on 
 foreign markets for the purchase of the bulk of our raw products makes us 
 peculiarly susceptible to any depresiiion operating in the rest of the world. 
 All these forces operate, and their result is reflected in prices. The burden 
 of restoring economic and financial stabiUty cannot rest on the wage-earner 
 alone. Any attempt to meet the position by heavy wage reductions only, 
 instead of by general reorganisation, can only result in the accentuation of 
 our difficulties. As far as this State is concerned, it should be remembered 
 that just after the commencement of the great war, on the 30th of November, 
 1914, Mr. Justice Heydon, as President of the Court of Industrial Arbitration, 
 reviewed the whole position for the purpose of laying down principles on 
 which Wages Boards should act. A great number of apphcations for 
 increases in wages were at that time pending before various Wages Boards, 
 and his Honor, on the reference of many of these matters to the Court for 
 general consideration, held that what was known as the " prosperity allow- 
 ance " which was to be added to the existing living wage should fall into 
 abeyance, and further, that Government employees should not, for the 
 present, look for higher wages, and as to other workers, the presumption 
 was against any claims for increase, although such presumption might be 
 displaced in special cases. 
 
 Notwithstanding this check, deliberately placed by the Court on the 
 upward tendency of wages, prices increased rapidly. Clearly such increase 
 arose from causes other than increasing labour cost. The Court was soon 
 compelled, by reason of the increases in the cost of living, to reconsider its 
 judgment, and a succession of increases in the living wage has since been 
 necessary to meet the decreases in the purchasing power of money. 
 
 The rises in prices in this State clearly contributed to by events occurring 
 in other parts of the world, and by local circumstances other than increases 
 in labour cost. The South Australian Board of Industry, in its recent judg- 
 ment, in which it increased the living wage for that State to 79s. Gd., points 
 out that " although local wages are necessarily reflected in local pricer., they 
 do not determine what those prices shall be." 
 
 It should also be remembered that the New South Wales Arbitration 
 tribunals have, since 1914, repressed inflation of prices. In other countries, 
 in which no organised system of regulation prevailed, wages compartitively 
 increased to a much greater extent than in Australia. In every case it is 
 established that this upward tendency of wages was not originally the cause 
 of the rise in prices. It was in reality a consequence of high prices in order 
 to maintain some relation between wages and the cost of living. The 
 increases in wages in this State since 1914 have ranged from 75 per cent, to 
 90 per cent., but in Great Britain, America, and most European countries it 
 was comparatively much higher in all the more important industries, and 
 was gener.ally accompanied by a shortening of working hours. 
 
 The Industrial Tribunals of this country acted as a buffer during a period 
 in which undue advantage might have been taken of the position by organised 
 labour. There is justice in the contention that the same tribunals arc con- 
 stitiited to act as a buffer during a ])eriod of dejirossion, and to prevent 
 deflation of wages which mav react disastrously. The Board, in considering 
 the grave issues involved, refused to accept the clamorous demand that the 
 only remedy for existing troubles is reduction of wages without proper
 
 410 
 
 r«gard to the ascertained cost of living. To have done so would have 
 resulted in a reduction of the standard of living of industrialists, a devipe for 
 economic salvation which must be the ultimate resort. 
 
 In the recent judgment of the Board of Industry already referred to, the 
 Board, notwithstanding the evidence of the general depression, refused to pre- 
 scribe a wage which would result in a lower standard of living than which had 
 been the foundation of its previous-judgments. In the laft ju'dgment of the 
 Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, dehvered on 24th 
 September last, Mr. Justice Powers, on an application by the Federated Gas 
 Employees' Union to apply what is known as " The Piddiugton Recommen- 
 dation " to the industry, refused the claim, but at the same time declined to 
 reduce the standard on which the Court had fixed its last wage for the lowest 
 classes of labour em]:)loyed in the different industries. 
 
 The Queensland Court of Industrial Arbitration has recently had the 
 whole question of the minimum wage under review, and for the present 
 accepts the £4 5s. standard. 
 
 It will thus be seen that throughout the Commonwealth, industrial 
 tribunals have, since the beginning of the depression refused to authorise 
 a general decrease in the standard of living prescribed by them in more prol- 
 iferous times. The Board is of opinion that; no justification exists for 
 lowering the standard previously prescribed, and, follo\nng its previous 
 d ■'-claration, has arrived at this year's decision mainly on the application of 
 tlie ascertainable change in the cost of living. 
 
 The suggestions which have been made that the Board should completely 
 alter the foundation of the living wage and make a declaration based on the 
 needs of a male adult worker, -without consideration of his family obligations, 
 ^vere not entertained. It is again necessary to review the main principles 
 iipon which the Board acts in discharging its duty. Long before the Board 
 of Trade was created, the fixation of wages was left in the hands of different 
 tribunals. These tribunals, after experimentation, evolved a formula that 
 a Uving wage should be such as would pro\dde for the bare needs of workmen 
 carrying ordinary social responsibiUties. This formula was not prescribed 
 by ParUament, but was the final result of long controversy. Similar prin- 
 ciples have been adopted by all AustraUan wage-fixing tribunals. The only 
 difference is that in the Commonwealth jurisdictions and in sonle of the 
 States, the average family is assumed to consist of a man, wife, and three 
 children, while in this State it is estimated at a man and wife and two 
 children. The correctness of this foundation for a basic wage was never 
 challenged until increases in the cost of living led to increases in wage rates. 
 It was not until the Board of Trade in 1919, in order to meet the abnormal 
 increase in the cost of living, raised the basic wage in this St^ate by 17s. per 
 week, that any proposal was made to depart from the imiversally accepted 
 family basis. The objection to the family wage was just as tenable when 
 the wage was £2 8s. as when it was £3 17s. or £4 5s. Increases in wages 
 which have occurred since have been mainly due to decreases in the pur- 
 chasing power of money. It is true that in a sUght degree the standard of 
 comfort provided for in the original li^nng wage of 48s. has been shghtly 
 improved, but in the main the 85s. prescribed by the Board of Trade last 
 year was, when considered in relation to the increased cost of commodities, 
 practically only the equivalent of the 48s. originally fixed. If 48s. at that 
 time was a fair wage for a man and wife and two children, then the same 
 objection existed, and the same contention must have been put forward 
 that only the needs of a single man should be considered. The Board 
 inherited and followed the precedent of nearly all Australian industrial
 
 a 
 
 tribunals, and has in its declarations been mainly concerned in maintaining 
 efficiently the 48s. wage originally prescribed. In all countries in which 
 there was industrial regulation during the war, and in which in some measure 
 that regulation has continued since the armistice, the minimum has been 
 arrived at by considering families, and not individual needs. The Board, 
 therefore, adheres to the family basis, and will continue to do so unless 
 otherwise directed by Parhament. When the Act was passed the family 
 wage was in operation, and there seems Uttle doubt that the Legislature 
 entrusted the Board with the duty of fixing the general living wage on the 
 assumption that the well established principle would continue. No critic 
 of the principles on which the wage is fixed has ever put forward any other 
 proposal which would stand a close scrutiny. 
 
 The Board has departed from the principle established last year of declaring 
 a wage for the whole of the State, and has, for special reasons, exempted^the 
 Broken Hill area. 
 
 The Metalliferous Mine Owners' Association was specially represented 
 before the inquiry, and submitted figures which have been made public 
 through various sources as to the present state of the mining industry. 
 There is no doubt from the figures submitted that the present cost of pro- 
 duction makes it impossible for Fome of the metaUiferous mines to continue 
 their operations. The fall in the demand for their product and the fall in 
 prices obtainable has been sufficiently pronounced to seriously discourage 
 many mines from engaging in further production. It was urged by the 
 representative of the Association that the Board should specially exempt 
 all metalliferous mines from its declared living wage ; but the Board has no 
 power to do this. It may Umit areas within which the wage shall operate, 
 but it cannot provide for exemptions to meet specific industries. It was 
 suggested as an alternative that the needs of this industry should be one of 
 the elements of this year's fixation. To such a proposition the Board, of 
 course, could not accede. Even if wage? were reduced a long way below a 
 reasonable living standard, there is no certainty that the industry would 
 revive. While labour cost is an important factor in mining, it is admitted 
 that the present depression is largely contributed to by other things. In 
 some instances, particularly in copper areas, the mines have reached a stage 
 in which, although there may be large volumes of low-grade ore, such ores 
 cannot be profitably mined without complete reorganisation of methods of 
 treatment. In some instances the mines are practically worked out, and no 
 readjustment of labour cost sufficient to guarantee their resuming work is 
 possible. It is probable that in other instances if the mines were able to 
 make a special industrial agreement with their workmen, irrespective of a 
 basic wage, resumption of operations might be possible. These, however, 
 are all matters foreign to the declaration of a living wage. But the Board 
 regards the matter as of sufficient importance to urge on the Executive the 
 necessity of a special inquiry into the whole of the metaUiferous mining 
 industry, with a view to its possible revival. In South Australia the position 
 has been met by the fixing of a separate basic wage for mining operations in 
 one district, with a safeguard that tlie wage is sufficient to meet the living, 
 needs of the workmen, according to the standard of comfort prcvaihng in 
 that district in which tli ' mines are ;itua':cd. Son\i; such power might be 
 conferied on this Board. 
 
 In the past the Board has been able to apply a method of deriving wage 
 rates which needed practically no modification from year to year. At this 
 moment that method is inadequate, and must bo abandoned. The Board 
 in each case fulfilled its statutory duty of inquiring as to the increase or
 
 42 
 
 decrease in the average cost of living throughout the preceding year, and, 
 having found an increase over the period, it set itself to determine what 
 wage would be apj)ropriate to the probable conditions of the new wage year. 
 
 The Board could but be guided by the circumstances ascertained and* 
 its inter])retation of the probable efHciency and persistency of the causes 
 that were at work to create and preserve the upward trend of prices. The 
 causes were numerous and not simple in character, and the unprecedented 
 responsibility of the Board was discharged as reasonably as was possible. 
 In effect, the Board, as at present constituted, has hitherto been guided in its 
 assessment of the wage by the average cost of the elements of the wage 
 during the last calendar half-year preceding its declaration. Thus, £1 lis. 4d. 
 was the amount which was used in the assessment as the cost of food and 
 groceries in the declaration on 8th October, 1919, and £1 17s. was the de- 
 rived cost of food and groceries in the declaration of 8th October, 1920. The 
 Boa/d may be saicf to have concluded upon each of those wage-fixing 
 occasions that, notwithstanding a continuous increase in prices up to the date 
 of each of the declarations, the causes of inflation were temporary and of 
 doubtful valency over the wage-period in contemplation, and that, with the 
 probable failure of those causes at a later date in the wage-year, the rise 
 and fall of the curve of prices over the whole period would give a median 
 level of prices equivalent to the average of prices of the last calendar half-year 
 preceding the declaration. The efficiency of the £1 lis. 4d. and of the £1 17s. 
 assessments differed greatly. The following table was submitted in evidence 
 by Mr. D. T. Sawkins, the Statistical Officer of the Board, and brought up 
 to date approximately after the conclusion of the public inquiry. 
 Cost of Board's Regimen of Food and Groceries in Sydney. 
 
 Coaimcnwealth Statistician's latlex-N'umbers. 
 
 Cost of Board's i Allowance by 
 Eeginien. I Declaration. 
 
 Excess (-4-) oi 
 
 Defect (— ) of 
 
 Allowance. 
 
 1919. 
 Oct., 1,8.57) 
 
 Nov., 1,919 y 4th Quarter, 1,S93 
 Dec, 1,C02J 
 
 1920. 
 
 Jan., 1,957^ 
 
 Feb., 2,018 [ 1st Quarter, 1,993 . 
 
 Mar., 2,004 ) 
 
 April, 2,060) 
 
 Mav, 2,052 ^ 2nd Quarter, 2,101. 
 
 June, 2,192) 
 
 July, 2,252 ) 
 
 Aug., 2,314 [ 3rcl Quarter, 2,300 
 
 .Sept., 2,! 33) 
 
 Oct., 2,230 ) 
 
 Nov., 2,191 C 4th Quarter, 2,198 
 
 Dec, 2,173) 
 
 1921. 
 Jan., 2,175) 
 
 J?eb., 2,155 [ 1st Quarter, 2,122 
 Mar., 2,030 ) 
 April, 1,960) 
 
 May, 1,906 [ 2nd Quarter, 1,917 
 Junfi, ,1,879) 
 July, ) 
 
 Aug., y 
 
 Sept.. J 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 1 14 2 
 
 1 16 
 
 1 18 
 
 2 1 7 
 1 19 9 
 
 1 18 4 
 
 1 14 8 
 
 £ s. d. 
 1 11 4 
 
 1 11 4 
 
 £ s. d. 
 (-) 2 10 
 
 (-)4 8 
 
 111 4 ! (— ) 6 S 
 
 1 11 4 
 1 17 
 
 1 17 
 1 17 
 
 (-)IO 3 
 (-)2 9 
 
 (-)l 4 
 
 (t) 2 4
 
 43 
 
 This table shows that the assessment of 1919 was defective throughout 
 each of the four quarters of the wage-year, and was on the average of all 
 quarters defective for the year to the extent of over 6s., and that the assess- 
 ment of 1920 was defective in the first and second quarters of tho wage-year, 
 but more than effective for the whole of that year by the sum of 3d. In 
 effect, the anticipations of the Board with respect to the trend of prices 
 were not realised in the 1917-20 period, but were approximately correct 
 with respect to the 1920-21 period. 
 
 Early in the deliberations of the Board upon the wage now to be declared 
 it became obAnous that in existing circumstances the figures for the first 
 half of the present calendar year would be a very unrehablo guide to the 
 Board when fixing wages for any time thenceforward. There is no lo'" ;(r 
 an upward curve of prices threatening to culminate in a pinnacle followed 
 by an immediate and sharp decline. There is no longer even a question of 
 extremes of jirices of upward or downward tendency with rapid recovery of 
 an opposite direction. The causes of the deflation of prices and the con- 
 traction of credits are of a more stable order than the causes of inflation 
 and expansion which were directing the curve of prices upwards. The 
 question of cause and effect is now more readily comprehended, and can be 
 handled with much greater confidence. From month to month since last 
 December the cost of the Board's regimen of food and groceries has declined 
 consistently. The figures prepared by Mr. Sawkins are : — 
 
 Cost of regimen of food and groceries. 
 
 1921. 
 January 
 February ... 
 
 March 
 
 April 
 
 May 
 
 June 
 
 July 
 
 August 
 
 To look backwards in order to estimate future levels of prices would be 
 reasonable only if one were to take for guidance the period prior to tho 
 month of October, 1919, and an index-number of approximately 1,768 as 
 compared with the index-number of 2,044 by which the Board was guided 
 in assessing the cost of food and groceries for the year 1920-21. Such a 
 course would enable the Board to lay claim to the strictest consistency in 
 its method of work. But the disturbing influences of taxation must, as has 
 before been indicated, shorten the cycle, and there is an unknown factor in 
 the influence exercised by those controlling credits at home and abroad. 
 The Board accordingly is prepared to sacrifice technical consistency for 
 practical efficiency in its methods and work, and it now takes as its guide 
 in assessing the cost of the various elements of the wage the average of tho 
 prices of the months June to August, inclusive, of the present year. If 
 authoritative figures for the month of September were available tho Board 
 would prefer to be guided by the average of the prices of the three months 
 July to September, inclusive. The effect of using this method is to produce 
 a wage of £4 Is. lOd. The Board's function exceeds the mere derivation 
 of prices and costs for times past, and extends to the pre-legislation of a wage 
 for a period of time to come, which the statute under which it operates is 
 
 Sydney. 
 
 Whole State, 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 £ 8. d. 
 
 1 19 4 
 
 1 19 7 
 
 1 18 11 
 
 1 19 2 
 
 1 16 10 
 
 1 17 5 
 
 1 15 6 
 
 1 16 5 
 
 1 14 5 
 
 1 15 3 
 
 1 14 
 
 1 14 6 
 
 1 13 7 
 
 1 14 
 
 1 13 2 
 
 1 13 6
 
 generally regarded aa having fixed at one year. After prices are derived 
 with respect to times past, it is then the Board's duty to interpret them in 
 such a way as ■ to enable it to forecast the effect of prices for a year to come, 
 and to make a wage in accordance with that forecast. The anxieties of 
 this task at this period of time are many and great. 
 
 The Board cannot act on conjecture. It cannot base its ueoision on 
 whether, and to what extent, the fall in prices may continue. But a 
 consistent fall in prices over a period of ten months cannot be disregarded. 
 There is also every indication that the fall will continue. It is reasonably 
 sure that the present prices which local millers pay for wheat will not be 
 maintained after November next. The indications are that the world's 
 parity will load to a considerable fall in the price of w^lieat. This must carry 
 with it a substantial fall in the price of bread. Butter, so far as there are 
 any indications, will also fall further; while on the latest available reports 
 there is a probability that the present comparatively cheap prices of meat 
 will continue, for a long period. But the Board cannot act on these probabili- 
 ties. It is found to act in some way on past experience^', but it can, and has 
 in view of the fundamental change in the trend of prices, decided on the 
 analysis of statistical data in the manner already indicated. 
 
 The Board's first experience on a falling market with a probability of 
 further falls during the year of the wage's operation show^^ how difficult it 
 is, even in legislation, to provide for every contingency. The wage fixed 
 may or may not for the whole year be considerably higher than prices justify. 
 There is doubt as to whether the Board can review its decision. If it can, 
 it proposes to reconsider the matter in January next. If, however, it 
 ultimately decides that it has no power of revision, then the difficulty is one 
 which must be. met by the Legislature. 
 
 The Board therefore recommends that the Act be amended in order to 
 provide for a quarterly review of the living wage in the light of the statistics 
 now being collected month by month by the Board. The purpose of this 
 amendment will be to maintain the wage at a strictly efiective level, and 
 remove the necessity for the violent alteration in wage rates which have 
 characterised past declarations of the Board. 
 
 On full consideration of the matters before referred to, the living wage 
 for male adult workers in the State (excepting the County of Yancowinna) 
 is fixed at £4 2s. per week. 
 
 The declaration is signed by myself, as President; by Mr. Holme, as 
 Deputy-President; and by Mr. Willington, Mr. Routley, Mr. Cooper, 
 Mr. Campbell, and Mr. McRae. 
 
 Two members of the Board do not agree with the declaration, and desire 
 to state their reasons for so doing. 
 
 Mr. T. Arthur : In dissenting from the declaration of the majority 
 decision of the Board as to the living wage to be paid to adult male employees, 
 I deem it essential to briefly set out the method I adopted in assessing the 
 living wage of 8th October, 1919, and 8th October, 1920. 
 
 Food and ' Groceries. 
 
 The Board, for the purpose of assessing this element in the average cost 
 df living, did, in its 1919 declaration, assess a regimen of food and groceries 
 as costing £1 Os. 2d. on 16th February, 1914, and by the application of the 
 Knibbs index-numbers for Sydney for the period January-June, 1919, 
 brought this amount up to date, the £1 Os. 2d. becoming £1 lis. 4d.
 
 45 
 
 In the declaration of 8th October, 1920, I applied the weighted average 
 Knibbs' index-numbers for the State for the period January- June, 1920, 
 when the £L lis. 4d. became £1 17s. 
 
 Both the above assessments were arrived at when the cost of the Board's 
 regimen was continually increasing; and notwithstanding the declaration 
 ha^^ng been declared in October of each year, I could not with unanimity 
 apply index-numbers for later months than June in each year. 
 
 Since Januar)' last the Board has, under section 82 of the Industrial 
 Arbitration Act, 1912, collected data as to prices of food and groceries, rents 
 of four-roomed houses, clothing and boots, materials, fuel and light, from 
 traders in six important towns. Taking into account such data in com- 
 bination with the Knibbs index-numbers for his five chief towns in this 
 State, and properly weighting the city and country, the assessment £1 17s. 
 in 1920 becomes £1 17s. Id. if the index-numbers for the State for the January- 
 June (1921) period be applied 
 
 But as the method adopted when prices were ascending may not be the 
 best method to adopt when prices are descending or fluctuating, in order to 
 assure the efficiency of the wage I believe the most acceptable and reliable 
 indicator is the actual average prices as disclosed by iudex-numbers which 
 appear to be accurate for an appropriate period within the year immediately 
 preceding the application of such index-numbers. 
 
 It would be unwise, when assessing this element, to prognosticate what 
 prices may be in the future. I am aware of recent reductions in such 
 important essentials as meat, butter, and milk, also of recent increases in 
 flour, oatmeal, sago, rice, tapioca, pepper, salt, split peas, and candles, all 
 of which enter into daily use in the worker's home. 
 
 In arriving at an assessment for the items food and groceries, I apply 
 the average index-numbers for the State for the period Januarv-August, 
 1921, and thereby the £1 17s. of 1920 reduces to £1 16s. 3d. 
 
 Reul. 
 
 In the declarations of 8th October, 1919, and Sth October, 1920, I was 
 obliged to be guided by the Commonwealth Statistician's pubhshed figures 
 of predominant weekly rentals. 
 
 The data collected by this Board in relation to rent shows the average rent 
 of a large and representative sample numbering 3,660 four-roomed houses in 
 occupation in Sydney and suburbs to be 16s. 8d. For the remainder of the 
 State, but using the Knibbs index-numbers, the weighted average of rent of 
 similar sized houses is 12s. 6d. Weighting these two amounts, the average 
 rent for all four-roomed houses in the State is 14s. 6d. 
 
 Clothmg and Boots. 
 
 From the data previously referred to herein, ^Ir. D. T. Sawkins, Statistical 
 Officer to the Board, has compiled index-numbers which can be applied 
 accurately to the 1919 assessment of 14s. for this element. Several witnesses 
 were called to testify to the decrease in wholesale prices. Since the wage- 
 earner does not usually purchase his requirements of clotliing from wholesale 
 houses, such evidence does not assist me in coming to a conclusion, and 1 
 cannot, with safety, anticipate retail prices for the future. I apply the 
 index-numbers of this Board for the period January- Auguest, 1921, to thi< 
 asso33ment of 14s. in 1919, and the result is 17s. 2d.
 
 45 
 
 * Fuel and Light. 
 
 My assessment for this item in the declaration of 8tli October, 1919, was 
 38., when I was guided by the price of gas supplied by the Australian Gaslight 
 Company, which was for the half-year preceding such declaration, 4s. 4d. 
 per 1,000 cubic feet. I brought this amount up to date in October, 1920, 
 when the price of gas supplied by the same company had increased to 53. Id. 
 per 1,000 cubic feet. For the period January-August, 1921, the price of 
 gas supplied by this company has been 5s. 9d. per 1,000 cubic feet. I 
 accordingly assess the average cost of this item at 43. 
 
 Miscellaneous. 
 
 In the declaration of 8th October, 1919, I assessed this item at 13s. Id. 
 for Sydney, by adding approximately 20 per cent, to the aggregat-e assessment 
 of £3 3s. lid. for food and grocerie?, rent, clothing and boots, and fuel and 
 light. 
 
 For the want of a better method, after considering the State as a whole, 
 I assess this item now at 14s. Id. 
 
 I find that the average cos^ of living for the State, for the period of 
 January-August last past, has increased o £4 6s. per week, made up as 
 follows ' — 
 
 Food and Groceries 
 
 Rent 
 
 Clothing and Boots 
 Fuel and Light 
 Miscellaneous 
 
 Total 
 
 £ s. 
 
 d 
 
 ... 1 16 
 
 3 
 
 ... 14 
 
 6 
 
 ... 17 
 
 2 
 
 ... 4 
 
 
 
 ... 14 
 
 1 
 
 ... £4 6 
 
 
 
 and that the living wage to be paid to adult male employees should be £4 6s. 
 per week, 14s. 4d. per daj-, or Is. 9id. per hour. 
 
 Mr. Andrews : In disagreeing . with the majority decision of the Board, 
 I would say that under section 79 I am compelled to admit that there has 
 been some reduction in the cost of li\'ing. But taking the declaration of 
 1920, we have been told that at any moment we might reopen the whole 
 question of the s^tandard of living. That being so, I feel that to-day (admitting 
 that the Board takes a man and wife and two children) the standard of 
 living should be a five- oomed house, as against a four-roomed house, and 
 that brings us, on statistical figures, to a rental both for State and metro- 
 politan reas which would make the wage remain exactly where it is at the 
 moment, £4 5.3. There is a difference of 3s. 6d. on our own statistical officer's 
 figures fo the State or metropolis, and that would leave the wage where it 
 is; and it is upon that standard — the alteration in the class of hous? — that 
 I am basing my claim that the wage should remain at £4 5s.
 
 47 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 LIVING WAGES FOR ADULT FEMALES. 
 
 [4707] [Published in Government Gazette No. 26 of 7th February, 1919.] 
 
 The New South Wales Board of Trade, 
 7th Feburary, 1919. 
 Thk following Declaration of tlic 17tli December, 1918, of the New South 
 Wales Board of Trade as to the living wage which sliould be paid to adult 
 females within the following area. — commencing at the north corner of the 
 ca.stern boundary of the jMunicipality of Manly; thence in a generally north- 
 westerly direction to and including the town of Hornsby ; thence in a generally 
 south-westerly direction to and including the towaiship of Emu l^lains; 
 thence in a generally south-easterly direction to and including the townshij) 
 of Sutherland; thence by a line to and including the north-eastern headland 
 of Botany Bay : and thence by the coast line to the point of commencement, — 
 was delivered by his Honor Mr. Justice Heydon, K.C., President of the said 
 Board, on the date named, and is hereby published for general information. 
 
 . H. L. LAMOKD, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 DECLARATION. 
 
 In this nmtter, having discharged our duty of making public inquiry into 
 the increase or decrease in the average cost of living, and having thereupon 
 declared a living wage for adult male emi?loyees in a defined area in and 
 around the metropolis, we have gone on to consider what should be the living 
 wage for adult female employees in the same area. No further inquiry 
 into the increase or decrease of the average cost of living has been necessary: 
 but as there has never been in this State any pronouncement as to the cost 
 of living of female employees, we have thought it fair to allow the parties 
 interested to put before us their views upon the actual cost of living, at the 
 present time, of female employees. Accordingly the employers, represented 
 by Mr. Ferguson, and the employees, represented by Mr. Cantor, have 
 appeared, have called witnesses and put in exhibits, and have addressed us, 
 and we have now to consider our finding. Perhaps we ought to mention this : 
 as the President of this Board has to be a .Judge of the Court of Industrial 
 Arbitration, and as the present President will cease to be a working Judge 
 of that Court, and will enter upon his retiring leave at the end of this year, 
 we gave the parties the option of concluding the case within ten full days, 
 or of leaving the hearing until next year, when there would be another 
 President. They decided to go on, and the time limited has appeared to be 
 am]jle; indeed, all that has been used has been about seven and a half days. 
 
 The inquiry into the living wage for women is particularly difficult and 
 responsible. Tlie industrial position of women is very different from that 
 of men, and is subject to a greater varif.-ty of influences and conditions, 
 bringing about more difficult situations. The boy from his birth, is known 
 to be destined to be a bread-winner, and the whole of his upbringing is governed 
 by that fact, which cannot be ignored or changed. Even the wealthy man's 
 sou is brought up to a career. The son of the worker is, as soon as he has 
 left school, either apprenticed or set to earn money, and he looks forward 
 to a life of work at the occupation which has been selected for him. He 
 knows that he must keep himself and his wife and children. There is never 
 any doubt about all this— that is his lot in life : and there is nothing to make 
 him hesitate or falter or turn aside aside from it. It is'cntirely different 
 with women. AVhen a girl is old enough to work, she has learnt that in all 
 ])robability she v,-ill marry. Her work will be only an episode in her life. 
 It is hardly woith while to go through a long a])prenticeship. And, in fact.
 
 48 
 
 the great majority of girls do marry. The consequence is that the mass 
 of female workers are young, unskilled, and their work has, relatively, little 
 interest or importance in their eyes. Only gradually, upon such as find 
 that they will probably remain single and must face the world alone, is the 
 necessity laid of trying hard to excel and to rise to a leading position in 
 their calling. To such as do this, from their experience, and the development 
 of their characters, and the natural extension of promotion to the older hands, 
 good positions will usually come, aind they will rise above the mere living 
 wage. As the great body fall out of the ranks while they are still young, 
 those who remain are subject to slight competition for the best places, a 
 condition quite unlike that of the males. It is not for such workers that the 
 living wage is needed ; they will rise above it. Then a difficulty is created 
 by the provision of the Statute which forbids the putting into any Award of 
 a lower wage than the living wage which we declare. The occasions are 
 more frequent among women than among men when such a provision would 
 operate as a hardship. During this hearing a case was mentioned in which 
 a young woman was taken into a household as domestic servant at os. a 
 week and her keep. That may hav'e been sweating, but it may have been a 
 great charity. Then the cases in which the necessity of finding an occupation 
 and of earning a living comes in adult life to one who has had no training 
 for it are relatively more frequent among women than among men. An 
 instance comes to my mind of thS daughter of a man who had risen to an 
 honorable and fairly high position in the police force, and who died leaving 
 his wife and daughter unprovided for. The daughter had led a home life. 
 She had to look for work to keep her mother, but she had learnt nothing of 
 outside work. Unless, for a time, such people can work for less than the 
 living wage whilst they are learning, the living wage becomes cruel instead 
 of kind; it persecutes instead of protecting. We mention these not as 
 exhaustiiig the cases of hard^ihip v\'hich a high living wage may aggravate, 
 but as illustrations of the risks in interfering with the industrial conditions 
 of women. In their case, as in the :^trait between Scylla and Charybdis, 
 the channel is very narrovs', and there are dangers on 'either hand. 
 
 Another important consideratioii is that the industrial world is now 
 sensitive throughout to changes in any of its parts. This used not to be so 
 when the bargain^, of the unions v/ith their employers were not published: 
 but the operations of the Arbitration Court during the last seventeen years 
 have altered that. To raise one se: of wages now \\'ithout affecting the whole 
 field is something like try ng to create a column of water in a lake by pouring 
 water on to one spot. 
 
 The first thing which we had to do was to define clearly the subject of the 
 inquiry. By section 79 (2) of the Act, the living wage which we declare is 
 the lowest which can be thereafter awarded. It is therefore the absolute 
 minimum for all adult female workers who are not declared to be slow 
 workers. It is not limited upwards: the Court can give as much more 
 (within a very wide limit) as it thinks proper, and can make all necessary 
 inquiries for that purpose. But it cannot go below our declaration. It 
 seems to us to follow indisputabl}' from this that the class which we have 
 to consider is the humblest of all — the class corresponding to that for which, 
 amongst men, the living wage has been declared. Mr. Cantor, however, 
 argued that, though this view might be very natural, it was inconsistent 
 with the phrase " increase or decerase in the average cost of living " wliich 
 appears in the Statute. " A^-erage," he contended" " applied to the whole 
 class of female workers within the jurisdiction of the Court." though why 
 not to both males and females taken together he did not explain. The
 
 49 
 
 duty of the Board was, therefore, first to find the average cost of living of 
 all classes of female workers, from the highest to the lowest; then (presum- 
 ably) to declare a living wage based upon that average : and then, in subse- 
 quent inquiries, to seek for the increase or decrease in the cost of living 
 since such declaration. 
 
 We do not think this argument can be accepted. In the first place, the 
 section does not say a word about any public inquiry into the cost of living, 
 but only into the increase and decrease of the cost of living, and tliat is the 
 Ohhi inquiry which the Board has to make in open Court. The inquiry 
 which we entered upon in this case, is, therefore, one which we need not have 
 made publicly at all. We have so held it because it seemed to us to be the 
 fairest course for the parties and the best way to inform ourselves. Then, 
 the argument applies to males as well as to females, and if we looked for 
 the average cost of living of all male employees within the jurisdiction of the 
 Court, we should be including salary earners up to £520 a year. Such an 
 average would be probably far above anything that has ever been dreamed 
 of as a living wage. If we assume that the Legislature acted with knowledge 
 of facts and methods notorious in the industrial world, one such fact would 
 have been that tables drawn up by the Commonwealth Statistician show 
 the rise or fall of the value of the sovereign for the whole community, which 
 might fairly be called an "average" rise or fall. We think it probable 
 that the phrase " increase or decrease in the average cost of living " referred 
 to this. In the inquiry made by the Court in 1913-14, into the cost of living 
 of male employees, the worker of the humblest class was taken, and the 
 reasons for doing that in the case of the males all apply to females also. 
 It would be an anomal}', which we can think of notliing to justify, to apply 
 different rules to the two sexes. 
 
 We have, therefore, to take the humblest class of adult female worker — 
 the liumblest class, not the humblest individual. '" Adult " we take to nieau 
 21 years old or over. 
 
 The next point is whether we should take the workers who live at home 
 with their parents, or those who live away from home in lodgings or a rented 
 room. The great majority live with their parents, and these should receive 
 a wage which will relieve their parents of the whole expense of their keep, 
 but not necessarily one which will give their parents a profit. (This follows 
 from the rule laid down in the living-wage judgment of 191-4— that the family 
 to be provided for by the wage was that of the husband, wife, and dependent 
 children : the children over 1 4 were assumed to be earning enough to relieve 
 their father. True, this may not always be the case, but as the number of 
 the dependent family a])peared to average 1-8 per family, tlie fixing of the 
 average at two per family was taken to cover the exceptions.) Those who 
 live away from their parents will probably have to pay more for their keep 
 than the homo expense w-ould amount to. We have come to the conclusion 
 that, though this class is in a very decided minority, it is, nevertheless, the 
 class whose cost of living we must investigate. 
 
 Next, should we consider the female worker as having any greater responsi- 
 bility than that of simply sup})orting herself? We have no doubt ihat in 
 fact she often does help her jjarents and her brothers and sisters; indeed, 
 it must sometimes happen that a ^\'idowed mother or an invalid husband 
 has to be keyt bv the daughter or wife, or a widow has to keej) her young 
 children. Should these cases be taken into consideration? We do not 
 think that they can. Thev are exceptional. The normal life and career 
 are what we have to consider. We do not lower the male living wage for 
 bachelors, or raise it for men with large families; and similarly we cannot
 
 50 
 
 ower it for the woman who lives at home, or raise it lor tlie one who has to 
 keep her husband. 
 
 Nearly all single women who are away from the parental home a])pear 
 to live in boarding-houses, but a few rent rooms and provide their own board. 
 Thirteen large firms put in returns showing the .statements of their employees 
 as to whether they lived at home, in lodgings, or in rented rooms. Adding 
 them all together the proportions come out as follows : — 
 
 Living at home ... ..". ... ... ... ... 484 
 
 Living in lodgings... ... ... ... ... ... 88 
 
 Living in rented rooms ... ... ... ... ... 19 
 
 Total 591 
 
 The boarding-house seems to be cheaper and in man}' ways more convenient, 
 and in the absence of evidence showing that tlie rented room is at all a neces- 
 sity, we do not think that we are bound to provide for it in the living wage. 
 It may be a convenience to some, but the three witnesses who did. seem to 
 take it from choice were all receiving higher wages, and did not belong to 
 the class for which we have to provide. If life iu lodgings cost/ more than 
 life in a rented room, we might still be asked to provide for it on the ground 
 that it saves the worker from cooking her own meals or going outside for 
 them into eating houses, but when it appears that living in rented furnished 
 rooms entails more trouble as well as more expense, we cannot see why the 
 living wage should provide for it. 
 
 The problem, therefore, comes down to this : what minimum wage should 
 be provided to cover the cost of living of the adult female worker of the poorest 
 class maintaining herself , but having no other responsibility, and living away 
 from home in lodgings? 
 
 To help us in this inquiry thirteen witnesses were called for the employees. 
 They were good witnesses, and supplied us with useful information; but 
 we thought that they were all of too high a class. We accordingl}' caused 
 to be summoned certain other female workers, whose industrial positions 
 seemed to bring them nearer to the standard which we have to consider, 
 and this action was to a very fair extent successful, and threw light on the 
 problem. The employers called one female worker, and evidence as to the 
 cost of meals in restaurants. They also put in articles of clothing bought 
 or procured at retail establishments, and supplied us with tables of informa- 
 tion as to the wages and mode of living of their employees. In addition 
 to this, we have had the fact that the living wage for men, based upon the 
 cost of living of a man and wife and two dependent children, has been fixed 
 at £3 per week, of which the share of the wife, according to statisticians, 
 would be about one-third ; and we have had to recognise that a woman 
 living alone, and having every day to go to and return froin business, is 
 under greater expenses than when she was one of a family and going to school 
 or spending all or nearly all her time at home. We have carefully considered 
 and discussed all this material, but we will not go through it in this judgment, 
 and give our decisions on the many details which it has been necessar}' to 
 settle. But for the special circumstances to be presently mentioned we should 
 declare a wage of £1 8s. 6d. There has been, however, of late an extra- 
 ordinary increase in the price of nearly all articles of female clothing. This 
 may be a temporary phenomenon, and while we think that something should 
 be allowed for it in the present wage, wc warn parties that we hold ourselves 
 free to take it off again. In the meantime, for that reason we add Is. Cd. 
 to the £1 8s. Cd.
 
 51 
 
 Accordingly we declare the living wage to be paid to adult female emploj'ees 
 in the area defined in our recent declaration of tlie living wage»^o be paid, to 
 males to be Ihd. an hour, or Os. a day, or 30s. a week. 
 
 CHAS. Cx. HEYDON, President. 
 
 17th December, 1918. 
 
 W. T. WTLLINGTOX, ^ 
 
 THOMAS ROUTLEY, (^ Commissicncrs. 
 
 E. J. KAVANAGH. 
 
 ARTHUR COOPER, 
 
 / 
 
 [4444] [Published in Government GazeUe No. 2 of 2nd January, 1920.] 
 
 The New South Walo> Board of Trade, 
 
 23rd December, 1919. 
 
 TtiF following Declaration of the 23rd December, 1919, of the New South 
 Wales Board of Trade as to the living wage to be paid to adult female 
 employees in the area within the following boundary lines : — Commencing 
 at the north corner of the eastern boundary of the Munici]jality of Manly : 
 thence in a generally north-westerly direction to and including the town of 
 Hornsby, thence in a generally south-westerly direction to and including the 
 township of Emu Plains; thence in a generally south-easterly direction to 
 and including the town of Sutherland: thence by a line to and including 
 the north-eastern headland of Botany Bay: and thence by the coast line 
 to the point of commencement, is hereby published for general information. 
 
 H. L. LAMOND, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 DECLARATION. 
 
 The New South Wales Board of Trade has held the public inquiry prescribed 
 by section 79 of the Industrial Arbitration Act, 1912 (as amended), as to the 
 increase or decrease in the average cost of living of adult female employees 
 in order to declare what shall be the living wage to be paid to the said 
 employees. 
 
 This inquiry extended over seventeen sittings, commencing on the 23rd 
 October, 1919, and concludiiig on the 17th December, 1919. 
 
 Mr. Ferguson appeared for the Employers' Federation of New South Wales 
 and the Master Retailers' Association : Mr. Landon for the Trades and 
 Industrial Unions Secretaries' Association: and Mr. Croft for the Feniale 
 Employees in the ferry services, the Bank Clerks' Association, the Federated 
 Shop Assistants and Warehouse Kmi)loyees" Federation, and the Australian 
 Clerical Association. 
 
 During the course of the inquiry the Board examined 31 witnesses. 
 
 The Board followed the declaration of 1918 in respect of adult female 
 employees to the effect that the problem before the Board was : what mini- 
 mum wage should be provided to cover the cost of living of the adult female 
 worker of the lowest paid class maintaining herself, but having no other 
 responsibility and living away from home in lodgings. The Board determinec)
 
 £ 8. 
 
 d. 
 
 lt3 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 £1 10 
 
 
 
 52 
 
 that for the purpose of the public inquiry and of this declaration the amount 
 of the living wage declared in 1918. viz., 30s., should be regarded as made 
 up as follows : — 
 
 Board and lodging 
 
 Clothing, boots and toilet requisites 
 Miscellaneous 
 
 Total 
 
 The case presented by each of the parties included provision in respect 
 of the following items : — Board and residence, clothing and boots, fares, 
 light and fuel, laundry necessaries, union, lodge, papers, correspondence, 
 amusements, church and charity; and on behalf of the employees it was 
 contended that further allowances should be made in respect of old age, 
 marriage, an annual rest, Christmas Day and Good Friday, and dental 
 attention. The Acting President ruled that provision for old age, marriage, 
 and annual rest were not subjects for which the Legitslature had authorised 
 the Board to make allowance in its declaration of a living wage under 
 section 79 ; and that provision for Christmas Day and Good Friday remained 
 with the functions of the Court of Industrial Arbitration, and was not a 
 function transferred from that Court to this Board. Upon this ruling the 
 consideration by the Board of 'the additional claims, other than that for 
 dental attention, was excluded. An allowance for dental attention has 
 been made by the Board as previously, in the miscellaneous section of the 
 living wage. 
 
 The evidence was not sufficient to enable the Board to estimate the pro- 
 portions in which working women live in the homes of their parents or relatives, 
 or are lodged or boarded and lodged, elsewhere. Upon the evidence before 
 it the Board decided that the living wage should be declared as in the declara- 
 tion of 1918 upon the basis of the cost of board and lodging away from home. 
 The Board came to the conclusion that the cost of board and lodging should 
 be assessed at £1 Is. per week. 
 
 It was suggested at the public inquiry that the Board should appoint a 
 committee of women representing employers and employees' inteiests 
 respectively, to advise it upon the subject of women's clothing. This 
 suggestion was followed by a direct application that the Board should sit 
 with women assessors to assist it in this matter. The Board, however, was 
 of opinion that it was unable to delegate its duties under section 79 to any 
 other authority, and that the public inquiry required by the section must 
 be carried out by the Board alone. The Board suggested that the parties 
 themselves might arrange for a conference between their principal witnesses, 
 upon this subject, and in the event of their agreement upon any points, 
 produce such agreement before the Board in the form of combined evidence 
 of the parties. This suggestion was acted upon, and the Board was thus 
 supplied with a list of the articles deemed to be essential for a working 
 woman's wardrobe. (See Appendix I hereto.) The a.greement in those 
 particulars' as to which no prices had been ascertained was of little, if any, 
 assistance to the Board. Evidence was therefore taken upon the question 
 of the quality and prices of the items as to which agreement had not been 
 reached.
 
 53 
 
 Upon consideration of the whole matter the Board assessed the cost of 
 clothing, boots, and toilet requisites at 10s. Gd. per week. 
 
 The parties agreed that the Board should include under the heading of 
 miscellaneous expenditure, allowances for tram fares, friendly societies, union 
 fee, church and charity, newspapers, stationery and stamps and amusements, 
 '^'he Board included in this section allowances for laundry and dental attention, 
 and assessed tlie cost of the whole at 7s. 6d. per week. 
 
 The Board accordingly has found that the average cost of living of the 
 adult female worker has increased to £1 I'M. Od. per week made up as 
 follows : — 
 
 £ s. d. 
 Board and lodging ... ... ... ... 110 
 
 Clothing, boots and toilet requisites ... ... 10 6 
 
 Miscellaiieous ... ... ... ... ... 7 f) 
 
 Miscellaneous ... ... ... 1 19 
 
 and derlares that the living wage to be paid to adult female employees in 
 the area hereinafter defined shall be O.^d. per hour, 6s. fid. per day, or 
 £1 19«5. Od. ])er week. 
 
 The area referred to is the area within the following boundary lines : — 
 Commencing at the north corner of the eastern boundary of the municiapiality 
 of Manly, thence in a generally north- westerly direction to and including 
 the town of Hornsby; thence in a generally south- westerly direction to 
 and including the township of Emu Plains; thence in a generally south- 
 easterly direction to and including the township of Sutherland; thence by 
 a line to and including the north-eastern headland of Botany Bay; and 
 thence by the coast line to the point of commencement. 
 
 W. EDMUNDS, Acting President. 
 
 J. B. HOLME, Deputy President. 
 
 W. T. WILLINGTON, 
 THOMAS ROUTLEY, 
 E. J. KAVANAGH, 
 ARTHUR COOPER, 
 T. 1. CAMPBELL, 1 
 
 C. J. McRAE, [Additional 
 
 JOHN ADNREWS, fCommissioner- 
 
 T. C. ARTHUR, J 
 
 1 
 J 
 
 Commissioners. 
 
 APPENDIX I. 
 
 I.O.O.F. Hall, Elizabcth-strcct, Sydney, 
 
 22nd November, 1919. 
 To the President and Members, New South Wales Board of Trade, 
 Gentlemen, 
 
 We, the undersigned committee, representing employers and employees now 
 appearing before the Board of Trade in connection with the inquiry into the living wage 
 for adult female workers of the lowest-paid class, having met and carefully considered 
 the requirements of a woman in regard to clothing, boots, and toilet requisites for one 
 year, have unanimously arrived at the following conclusions : — 
 
 (1) That the general cost of the articles under review has increased during the last 
 
 twelve months. 
 
 (2) That normal prices should be taken into consideration, not sale prices. 
 
 (3) That adult women workers should be able to ))urcliase their clothing ready-made. 
 
 (4) That the folloAving schedule comjirises all the artick-s antl tlie number of each 
 
 which we consider essential for one year, exce])t wiicre otherwise stated. Wo 
 have been unable to agree as to quality, except for those items where the price 
 is quoted.
 
 54 
 
 Article. 
 
 Kuniber. 
 
 Trie:. 
 
 
 
 
 £ 
 
 8. 
 
 d. 
 
 Coats and Frocks — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Winter costume 
 
 
 2 seasons 
 
 
 
 
 Summer frock 
 
 
 1 season 
 
 
 
 / 
 
 Winter skirt ... 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 Dark summei skirt ... 
 
 
 1 „ 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 ^Vhite summer skirt 
 
 
 1 „ 
 
 
 
 
 Sports coat ... 
 
 ... 
 
 2 seasons 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 Overcoat (shower proof) 
 
 ... 
 
 2 
 
 
 ..• 
 
 
 Blouses 
 
 ... 
 
 6 for 1 year 
 
 
 
 
 Hats- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Best summer hat 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 Every-day hat for work 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 Winter hat 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 Footwear — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Shoes 
 
 
 2 pairs at \la. 6d. ... 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 
 
 Boots 
 
 
 1 pair 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 Goloshes 
 
 
 1 „ 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 11 
 
 Slippers or sandshoes 
 
 
 1 „ 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 Repairs 
 
 
 3 pairs at 5b. Gd. 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 6 
 
 Hose- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Summer ... . 
 
 ... 
 
 4 pairs 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 Wint«r 
 
 
 2 „ 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 Underwear — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Corsets 
 
 
 2 , 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 Camisoles 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 Knickers 
 
 
 6 „ : 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 Bloomers 
 
 
 2 „ 
 
 
 
 
 Singlets 
 
 ... 
 
 6 summer (1 season) 
 
 
 
 
 Do ... 
 
 ... 
 
 3 winter (2 seasons) 
 
 
 
 
 Underskirt 
 
 
 1 white 
 
 
 
 
 Do 
 
 
 1 black 
 
 
 
 
 Nightgowns 
 
 
 3 summer 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 Do 
 
 
 2 winter (2 seasons)... 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 General — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Umbrella 
 
 ... 
 
 1 for season 
 
 
 
 
 Aprons 
 
 
 2 at 2s. lid 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 10 
 
 Handkerchiefs 
 
 
 1 doz. at 6d 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 Gloves... 
 
 
 3 pairs 
 
 
 
 
 Bathing costume ... ,... 
 
 
 1 (3 seasons)... 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 11 
 
 Kimono 
 
 
 1 (2 years) 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 Handbag 
 
 
 1 (2 years) 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 6 
 
 Hair and clothes brushes 
 
 
 1 each, 2 years 
 
 
 
 
 Comb 
 
 
 1 ... ' 
 
 
 
 
 Toilet soap 
 
 ... 
 
 6 cakes at 6d. 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 Face powder 
 
 
 2 boxes at Is. 3d. ... 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 Talcum powder 
 
 
 1 tin 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Dentifrice 
 
 
 2 tubes paste 
 
 
 
 
 Do 
 
 
 2 brushes 
 
 
 
 
 Vaseline 
 
 
 1 jar 
 
 
 
 "6 
 
 7 
 
 Boot polish 
 
 
 5 tins at 6d 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 Boot and shoo laces ... 
 
 
 3 pairs 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Haberdashery, including needles, cotton, 
 
 pins, 
 
 
 
 
 
 hooks and ej'es, tapes, hairpins, darning 
 
 wool. 
 
 
 
 
 
 thimble, garters, safety-pins, and hat-pins... 
 Sundries, such as items not enumerated as may 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 be neccssarv 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Submitting our Report for your consideration, 
 
 We, remain, Gentlemen, 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 M.^ ANNIE MOODY, ^ Employers' Representatives. 
 
 h'lELDA CASHMAN, 1^. , 
 > Empk 
 
 CATHERINE DWYER,/ 
 
 loyees' Representatires
 
 55 
 
 [4767] [Published in Government Gazette No, 216 of 24th December, 1920.] 
 
 NEW SOUTH WALES BOARD OF TRADE. 
 
 DECLARATION. 
 
 Thk New South Wales Board of Trade, aft^r |iublio inquii y as to the inr-rcase 
 or decrease in the average cost of living, declares that the living wages to 
 be paid to adult female employees in the area defined as tlie State of New 
 South Wales, excepting thereout the County of Yaiicowinna, shall be £2 3s. 
 per week; 7s. 2d. per day; lOiJd. per hour. 
 
 GEO. S. BEEBY, President. 
 
 J. B. HOLME, Deputv President. 
 
 w. T. willington; "] 
 
 THOMAS ROUTLEY, I ,, 
 
 E. J. KAVANAGH, r ^omnu.s^on•^T^. 
 
 ARTHUR COOPER, J 
 
 T. I. CAMPBELL, ^ 
 
 C. J McRAE, ^ Additional 
 
 JOHN ANDREWS, f Commis.sioners. 
 T C. ARTHUR, 
 Dated the 23rd dav of December, 1920. 
 
 [liSOT] [Published in Goi-crnment Gazette No. 37 of 11th March, 1921.] 
 
 NEW SOUTH WALES BOARD OF TRADE. 
 
 DECLAl^ATION. 
 
 (in variation of existing ]3eclaration) made under the Industrial 
 Arbitration Act, 1912-20. 
 
 WAGES OF ADULT FEMALE EMPLC»YEES. 
 AVhehkas the New South Wales Board of Trade, on the 23rd December, 1920, 
 after public inquiry as to the increase or decrease in the average cost of living 
 in the State of New South Wales, declared that the living wages to be ])aid 
 to adult female employees in the area defined as the State of Ntw South 
 South Wales, excepting thereout the County of Yancowinna, should be £2 3s. 
 per week, 7s. 2d. per day, lOjd. per hour. 
 
 Now, the said Board, after further public inquiry as to the cost of living in 
 tlio said County of Yancowinna, in exercise of the powers conferred u]ion 
 it by the Industrial Arbitration (Amendment) Act, 1920, aiid notwithstanding 
 the existence of the said recited declaration, hereby declare that the living 
 wages to be paid to adult female employees in the area defined as the State 
 of New South Wales shall be £2 3s. per week, 7s. 2d. per day, lO^d per hour, 
 and for the purpose of its present declaration varies the declaration of the 
 23rd day of December, 1920, by deleting therefrom tlie words " excepting 
 thereout the county of Yancowinna." 
 
 GEO. S. BEEBY, President. 
 
 J B. HOLME. Deputv President. 
 
 W. T. WILLTNGTON, "| 
 
 THOMAS ROUTLEY, I ., • • . , 
 ■n T T- . T- A T.Ti ^TT > Conimissioner?. 
 
 E. J. KAVANAGH, 
 ARTHUR COOPER, 
 
 I 
 
 3rd March, 1921. T. C. ARTHUR, ' J 
 
 T. I. CAMPBELL, ^ 
 
 C J. McRAE, I Additional 
 
 JOHN ANDREWS, f Commissioners.
 
 5a 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 LIViNG WAGES FOR ADULT MALES IN RURAL INDUSTRIES. 
 
 THE PUBLIC IXQUIKY. 
 
 Ox the 5th July, 1920, the Board, in exercise of its functions under section 
 79 of the Industrial Arbitration Act, 1912-19, and in the process of deter- 
 mining wliat should be the living wages to be paid to adult male employees 
 and to adult female employees in the State, instituted a separate public 
 inquiry into the cost of living of employees engaged in rural occupations. 
 The Board had in the previous year been engaged upon a similar inquiry, 
 but it had refrained, owing to the law under which it was operating 
 having been modified by Parliament in the month of December, 1919, from 
 making a declaration of living wages to be paid to employees in rural 
 occupations during the year 1919-20. The inquiry was nevertheless con- 
 tinued throughout the first half of the year 1920, and was formally 
 reinstituted on the 5th July, 1920. The Board then visited the North 
 Coast districts of the State for the purpose of taking evidence as to the 
 conditions of the rural industries there. It subsequently, when sitting in 
 Sydney on the 7th October, 1920, announced its intention to take notice 
 of, and to consider in the pending inquiry, all evidence taken in relation 
 to rural matters from the 19th day of May, 1919. It then also informed 
 persons interested in its inquiry that they would have an opportunity of 
 revising or reconsidering any portion of tliat evidence, and of giving further 
 evidence on the general issue as to the wage to be fixed ultimately for rural 
 workers. For technical reasons a separate public inquiry into the cost of 
 living of employees engaged in rural occupations was linked with the 
 general living wage inquiry. The declaration of the Board with respect 
 to adult male employees not engaged in rural occupations was made and 
 published on the Sth October, 1920. The declaration of the Board with 
 respect to adult female employees not engaged in rural occupations was 
 made and published on the 15th December, 1920. 
 
 In the course of its separate inquiry the Board called for evidence upon 
 the conditions of the rural industries and of their ability to bear additional 
 burdens in wages, and the probable effect of the same upon production. 
 This inquiry was continued from its reinstitution on the 5th July, 1920, 
 through a series of public sittings held in the metropolis and other parts 
 of the State. Those sitting numbered in all fourteen, nine of them being 
 in places other than the metropolis, and the balance in the metropolis. 
 From the 31st May, 1920, to the 22nd June, 1920, eight public sittings 
 of the Board had been held at Sydney, and the evidence take thereat had 
 been directed principally to what was described as the serious condition 
 of the country owing to the prolonged drought. Evidence was given by 
 representatives of the Railway Commissioners, the Rural Industries Board,
 
 57 
 
 the Irrigation and Water Consei'vation Commission, the Graziers' Associa- 
 tion, and employers and employee? in the wheat and dairy-farming indus- 
 tries. Thirty witnesses were examined in the period between the dates 
 last-mentioned. Fifty-one witnesses have been examined by the Board 
 since the 5th July, 1920. On various occasions advocates of rural em- 
 ployers' and employees' interests have appeared before the Board and taken 
 an active part in its proceedings. 
 
 In the course of its inquiries under section 79 the Board is invariably 
 compelled to have recourse to data supplied from official statistical sources 
 for the purpose of finding a basis for its determinations and declarations. 
 Those who are concerned in the inquiries made by the Board do, indeed, 
 make cases by adducing evidence and propounding theories as to the average 
 c6st of living and the needs of the average family in the community, but the 
 Board has not yet found that such evidence and arguments can take the 
 place of the teachings of official statistics wnth regard to the usages of the 
 community in respect of matters other than clothing. Parties appearing 
 before the Board liave nevertheless helped it to construe and apply the 
 official statistical data. But, while in its more general inquiry with respect 
 to employees not engaged in rural occupations the Board has obtained from 
 statistical publications the most important measure of assistance, it has 
 found that in its separate public inquiry into the cost of living of employees 
 engaged in rural occupations the available statistics have been of much 
 less value. 
 
 THE POSITION OF RURAL STATISTICS. 
 
 Much of the information required by the Board for the purposes of its 
 separate inquiry could not be obtained from the perusal and treatment of 
 existing official statistics. The aggregates given in official statistical pub- 
 lications are not, in the main, co-related. There is no definite means of 
 ascertaining how many wage-earners there were at any particular period 
 in all or any of the branches of rural enterprise, what that labour produced, 
 how much it earned, and for what number of people it provided support. 
 Available statistics throw no liglit upon the probable effect of wage varia- 
 tions on the cost of primary production or the ability of the rural industries 
 to bear additional burdens in wages. The conditions of the rural industries 
 are not, indeed, shown statistically in any such manner as would indicate 
 the relations between land, labour, and capital in rural enten^rise. 
 
 The inadequacy of local published statistics in the connections referred 
 to is not peculiar to the State and Commonwealtli. Local defects in official 
 statistics are similar to those which maj' be found in the statistics of Great 
 Britain and other countries. Accumulating dissatisfaction at the failures 
 of successive British Royal Commissions to obtain sufficient guidance from 
 existing statistical agencies was publicly expressed at the end of the year 
 ]919 in a memorial presented to the British Government by a group of 
 distinguished economists, statisticians, representatives of learned societies, 
 chambers of commerce, and various commercial concerns. The majority of 
 the criticisms levelled in that petition at the existing statistical practices 
 and outlook are applicable with equal force in this State. Lentil these
 
 58 
 
 defects arc in a larKe nioaimire rornedied, the Board will have no sufficient 
 statistical foundation on which to huild decisions affecting the primary- 
 industries as a whole. 
 
 The Board has further been hampered in its inquiry, until very recently, 
 by the inability of the State Statistical Office to make analyses and combina- 
 tions of statistical data on its behalf without payment to it by the Board 
 for such services as it would thus render. 
 
 The Board of Trade, by reason of the conditions of its constitution and 
 work, as eet out in Part IX, as amended, of the Industrial Arbitration Act, 
 1912, must be regarded as tlie agent of Parliament for the purpose of 
 collecting information by which the State is to be guided in its legislative 
 policy, and for the purpose of framing subordinate legislation in connection 
 with living wages and coiiditious of apprenticeship. It is, therefore, when 
 operating as an agency of inquiry^ strictly comparable with committees of 
 inquiry appointed by Parliament from amongst its own members, and it 
 should receive the same enthusiastic and unconditional support from admin- 
 istrative departments as such committees do. If it is to be regarded as 
 nothing more than a departmental agency, the question suisgests itself 
 whether Parliament intended a judicial officer of the State and colleagues 
 associated with him, who are in no sense public servants of administrative 
 rank, to be subjected to the limitations and restrictions emanating from 
 purely departmental policy and inter-departmental relationships. Neces- 
 sarily the Board must be served by officers of departmental rank^ who should, 
 in their turn, be controlled for departmental ends; but the concerns of the 
 Board itself are with the broader interests of legislation, and the processes 
 of legislation and its functions must be exercised accordingly. 
 
 It should be obvious that when exercising a power which may involve the 
 community in a serious disturbance of the conditions under which the 
 national income is distributed, and may alter the share which various 
 sections of the community are to have in the national wealth, the Board 
 should be assisted to the utmost possible extent by all agencies of the State. 
 
 GENERAL ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS. 
 
 The mechanical basis of agriculture and the developments of present-day- 
 transportation and finance have changed the farmers' market from a local 
 to a world market, and have subjected the farmer to world-wide competition, 
 and if prices must exceed costs, the fair costs, in their turn, will be deter- 
 mined by what intelligence and material equipment can produce not only in 
 the environment of a particular local market, but throughout the world. 
 It is primarily and essentially for this reason that Government is interested 
 in smoothing the path of the agriculturist and advancing agricultural 
 interests by organising departments of agriculture, by fostering the develop- 
 ment of scientific knowledge as applied to local conditions, and by furnishing 
 special facilities for obtaining credit for agricultural requirements. The 
 position of the farmer in the scheme of social life is unique. Enjoying the 
 special concern of the State, he is nevertheless deprived, by the conditions 
 cf his existence, of many of the satisfactions which are willingly conceded
 
 59 
 
 • 
 
 to the industrial worker under modem conditions. But if he is at some 
 disadvantage as a consumer, he is accumulating capital, and his basic needs 
 of food and shelter should not be the cause of anxiety that they frequently 
 are to non-rural workers. Economically, and so far as concerns the most 
 important form of public wealth, the increment in land values, the advan- 
 tages of the farmers'' conditions are apparent. It is therefore generally 
 conceded that the landowners' conduct and operations may usefully be made 
 the subject of public criticism, and that the farmer, in his turn, owes a 
 special duty to the State. 
 
 The community is particularly concerned with the standard of life iu 
 rural circles, and the problem of the education of the rural children. 
 National ideals must be served in rural as well as urban relations, and it is 
 probable that the insistence upon improvement in rural standards will have 
 its reflex in efficiene3^ in production. 
 
 The Board is, of course, primarily concerned with the industrial relation- 
 ship in agriculture, and not, to tlie same extent, witli the other and more 
 general matters that have been referred to, and it will emphasise only the 
 matters in which it is primarily concerned. Agriculture, insofar as it 
 depends upon unemployed labour, calls for such services as the ordinary 
 labour market does not usually supply. " After all," says the Lewis Com- 
 mittee on Juvenile Education in Relation to Employment after the war, 
 " agriculture is essentially from top to bottom a skilled industry."* 
 
 Agricultural labour, to be efficient, must be specially trained, but the 
 methods of training adopted have given rise to the impression very widely 
 held that the agricultural labourer is an unskilled worker. There is less 
 segmentation of work and specialisation in agriculture than in the secondary 
 industries. There is less routine and method in agriculture owing to the 
 uncertainty of climatic and natural conditions. On tlie other hand, there is 
 more independence of action and self-direction in agriculture owing to the 
 impossibility of close supervision being exercised over an extensive field of 
 operations. 
 
 In New South Wales, as in the United States of America and elsewhere, 
 the agricultural population is diminishing in its relative proportions. 
 '' Nineteen years ago," says a Select Committee of the Legislative Council 
 on the Agricultural Industry, " 35.7 per cent, of the State population was in 
 the metropolitan area. Now 41.5 per cent, is in that area. In the munici- 
 ])alitios and small towns figures for the same period show 33() per cent. 
 in 1901; now they reach .'3G-4 per cent. On the other hand 307 per cent, of 
 our population inhabited the rural districts iu 1901; and to-day the propor- 
 tion has declined to 22.1 per cent. . . . The area occupied by the 
 l>(>pulation in the city and the municipalities and small towns is very 
 limited, amounting to about 4,000 square miles. The area occupied by the 
 rural population is about -300,000 scpiare miles. . . The number of 
 persons engaged in rural industries has declined from 154,000 in 1911 to 
 139,500 in the year 1918-19. Yet the value of the rural production amoun*^ 
 
 *Fiual Report (England), cd. 8512, p. 7. 
 
 /
 
 60 
 
 at present to about £55,000,000 as compared with the combined value of 
 mining, manufactures, forests, and fisheries, viz., £43,000,000. Despite the 
 excessive population in the city and the urban areas, the rural population 
 accounts for the larger portion of our production."* 
 
 It must not be forgotten, however, that under earlier conditions of agricul- 
 tural work the surplus over his own needs that was produced by the farmer 
 was much less than now, and a much smaller proportion of the population 
 could be maintained in towns and cities. The difference in productivity 
 has resulted from the greater use of machinery of a highly efficient character. 
 Studies made by the United States Department of Labour show that by the 
 methods used in 1830, 100 hours of labour would produce about 46.5 
 bushels of barley, whereas in 1896 it would produce 1,100; 'and that in the 
 production of what each day's labour brought in 3^ bushels in 1830, and 60 
 bushels in 1896.t This position is accentuated to an extraordinary degree 
 i\i Australia. ''Here,'*' said Professor E. D. Watt, in giving evidence to the 
 Select Committee of the Legislative Council already referred to on the 30th 
 September, 1920, " one man's labour will put in and take off a much bigger 
 area of wheat than is the case in any other country I am familiar with. 
 That is partly due to the longer season, and partly to the fact that we can 
 use implements — more particularly harvesting implements — which cannot 
 be used with success in other countries. The modem harvester can be used 
 in Australia. It cannot be used, except in some localities, in either the 
 L'nited States or in Canada, because the head of wheat and the straw do 
 not get brittle enough. That is an advantage we have over them.":}: 
 
 Since the labour generally required upon farms is skilled, the successful 
 conduct of the industry is possible only if the farm families are seK- 
 sufficing in this respect, or if the conditions of farm life and employment on 
 farms are sufficiently attractive to counteract the allurements of town life 
 and work. In the United States of America an attempt is being made by 
 processes of education and demonstration, and the organisation of farmers' 
 institutes to promote a higher type of rural life, and to stem the tide of 
 migratioTi from the countryside. The long apprenticeship that is served by 
 the farm child to the arts of science of agriculture will represent a serious 
 waste of life if the migration is to continue. 
 
 The labour question in agriculture is quite unlike that of the secondary 
 industries, because of unavoidable isolation, because of the essentially personal 
 character of the farmer's enterprise, because of the matter of standards that 
 has already been mentioned, and because of the difficulty' of finding in the 
 ordinary labour inarkets persons who have acquired skill in the breeding 
 and care of animals and plants, and methods of handling stocks and crops, 
 and who possess the moral qualities of self-restraint, self-reliance, independ- 
 ence of judgment as to the demands of times and seasons, and faithfulness in 
 the absence of supervision. The agricultural industry is organised in this 
 State, in Australia, in America, and, indeed, throughout the world, on the 
 
 * First Interim Report of the Select Committee of the Legislative Council 
 (X.S.W.), on the Conditions and Prospects of the Agricultural Industry (C.67 — 
 A. p. iii). 
 
 t " Agricultural Economics," by H. C. Taj'lor. 1919, p. 99. 
 
 t First Interim Keport, Minutes of Evidence, p. G.
 
 domestic or family basis. " If the farms of the whole world were con- 
 sidered, it would still be true," says one of America's leading publicists 
 upon agricultural matters, '* that the typical farm is a family farm."* And 
 he adds, " The most satisfactory solution of the farm labour problem in 
 many parts of the United States is to reduce the size of the fann to what 
 can be handled by the family ."t 
 
 The hired assistant in agriculture cannot, however, be dispensed with, and 
 if the proper attributes are to be found in him his employers must be pre- 
 pared to make his work steady, his hours as regular and reasonable as may 
 be, his condition of life proper, and his wages such as will serve to maintain 
 a standard family according to the well-established principles adopted by 
 the Board and other wage-fixing authorities in this State. If the agricul- 
 tural employee were possessed of no special attributes, it would be difficult 
 to resist a claim made on his behalf that he is entitled to a wage comparable 
 with that fixed under statute as the living wage for unskilled worker in 
 other than rural industries. 
 
 When, in the year 1917, it was contended in the Commonwealth Court of 
 Conciliation and Arbitration that it was not " in the public interest " to 
 make an award for ordinary unskilled labourers on pastoral properties in 
 Australia, the President of the Court said : 
 
 The truth is that these employees on stations have the normal ueedi 
 of the human being as much as employees in the cities; and the objective 
 of industrial peace involves a reasonable satisfaction of these wants. 
 For this reason I ought, prima facie, to provide a minimum wage in 
 order to enable a man to maintain a family. But it is urged that such 
 a wage would mean a revolution in the industry. The greater number 
 of the men are single; and their wages, 20s. or 25s. per week — sometimes 
 even less — with keep for themselves only, are not nearly sufficient in 
 these times of higli prices to enable a man to maintain a family. Many 
 men of 25, 30, 35, or 40 years of age remain unmarried. Some married 
 men arc allowed to live with their families on the station, and I am 
 told that these men are steadier and more trustworthy. They certainly 
 draw more remuneration than the unmarried men from their employers 
 in- money or in kind. The varieties of remuneration are infinite; but 
 most commonly the employer provides a house and rations for the 
 family as well as for the employee; and it may well be that this fact 
 tends to keep down the number of married men. ... I must say 
 that I cannot see how it is for the public interest that unmarried men 
 should be put in a position of undercutting the married men in the 
 matter of remuneration. I cannot see how it is fos the public interest 
 that I should depart from the practice of this Court, as of other labour 
 tribunals — the practice of prescribing the same minimimi wage for 
 adults, whether they be married or not. If these men get a wage 
 sufficient to maintain a family there may possibly be more families; 
 and the problem of spreading population in the vast areas of our con- 
 tinent may be, to some extent, solved. There is certainly the difficulty 
 
 * "Agricultural Economics." Henry C. Taylor, Macmillau Co., 1919, p. 157. 
 t /». p. 15S.
 
 62 
 
 that employers may not aee fit to i)rovide accommodation for more 
 families on their broad lands; and if the man live on the station and 
 the family live in a distant town, the social advantages of family life 
 must be largely lost. But there is not much to choose betv^een this 
 position and the present position — in which men in the prime of life 
 cannot marry at all. It is contended that the occupation of station- 
 hand is not- suitable for a man with a family unless the family live 
 with him on the station. That is quite true; that the occupation is not 
 suitable for a man who wants to marry, unless he gets also enough wages 
 to support a wife and children. The difficulty of finding a family 
 residence on the station applies to both cases — the case of the man who 
 is married, and the case of the man who wants to marry. . . . T 
 cannot compel the employers to give each married man a family resi- 
 dence on the station, but I can at least secure for each man a wage 
 which will justify him in getting married, subject to the difficulty of 
 ' finding a family home. To meet this difficulty I propose that the wages 
 prescribed need not all be paid in money ; so that if the employer should 
 see fit to provide a house on the station he may deduct the rent of it 
 from the wages; and if he should see fit to give the family the use of 
 a cow or a bit of garden ground, or some vegetables or meat, he can 
 deduct the value of the milk or other allowances from the wages. 
 . . But I must see to it that adult men get the basic wage, which 
 I take to be about 63s. per week, looking at Australia, with the four 
 States concerned, as a whole. ... I treat an adult man as entitled 
 to enough remuneration to support a wife and family, whether his 
 family be numerous or small, whether he have a wife or not."* 
 
 Earlier, in 1912, when dealing with harvesting, packing, and forwarding 
 employees in the fruit-growing industries of Victoria and South Australia, 
 the Court based the minimum wage for adult male employees of the 
 unskilled class on the normal needs of the average employee regarded as 
 a human being living in a civilised community, and stated that one of such 
 normal needs was the need for domestic life.f 
 
 It is true that all experienced agricultural employees are not of equal 
 value, but the same assertion can be made of employees, whether skilled or 
 unskilled, in any and every industry. The Board has been impressed with 
 the unanimity of the opinion on the part of agriculturists that the em- 
 ployable labour generally available to them is uneven and even inferior in 
 (luality, but it has heard no argument designed to convince it that there is 
 any essential difference between the basic wage rights of rural and non-rural 
 employees. * 
 
 Credit and finance as affecting rural enterprise* occupies an important 
 position in the scheme of general considerations pertinent to the Board's 
 in<iuiry. The capital necessary for rural equipment and development must 
 
 * A.W.T. r. Pastoralists' Federal Council of Australia and Others, 11 C.A.R., 
 at p.p. 417-420. 
 t Rural Workers' Tnion and Others r. Employers, &c., 6 C.A.R., at p. 71.
 
 C3 
 
 ordinarily be derived in the long event from the surplus of production of the 
 industry itself, but the provision of reasonable faeilties for obtaining credit 
 for rural purposes must be the aim of every wise system of public finance. 
 That system may inculcate the principle of self-help; and, in fact, in 
 countries where agriculture receives the greatest amount of public support 
 it is remarkably self-sustained. Credit on the general economic plane is 
 dependent upon, and relative to the exact and capable treatment of costs 
 of production, upon, in fact, economy in the use of capital. Where an in- 
 dustry is under the special protection of the State the same requirements 
 may not be made, but proper and reasonable conditions are nevertheless 
 essential, and the rural enterprise must adjust itself to those conditions. 
 Organisation of the agricultural industry- may be one of the conditions 
 imposed in the interests of the general public, and it is a resource upon 
 which the farmer may fairly be thro;,vn back by public requirements. Co- 
 operation is a force of which he has hitherto availed himself but little. The 
 average small farm with an efficient modern equipment is almost neces- 
 sarily over-capitalised; that is, it cannot find constant employment or full 
 effective use for such parts of its equipment as are represented by machinery, 
 horses, &:c. Practically the same plant that is required for a 640-acre farm 
 is required on a 320-acre farm. Again, the small farm cannot, in average 
 circumstances, justify the purchase of high-class stock for reasons of a 
 similar kind. The relation of farm capital to labour income calls for special 
 study in this State. A standard of organisation may well be set up in the 
 public ijiterest and applied as a factor determining the fair cost of produc- 
 tion. The responsibility of the State itself is involved in these considera- 
 tions, for the size of the farms must, by political policy, be such as to make 
 the efficient use of modern and costly machinery possible to the farmer. 
 
 Again the question of land values and their relation to the costs of 
 production and the price of products has been raised as a matter incidental 
 to the adjustment by administrative and quasi judical means of the relation- 
 ships between producer, entrepreneur, trader and consumer, and it presents, 
 in the present state of organised knowledge of rural economics, an almos: 
 insoluble problem. Land values, when considered in relation to an industry, 
 as distinguished from an individual, are only notionally a basic element in 
 the price of jjroducts, for they are, in reality, themselves based upon the 
 value of the products that can be derived from the land. The true value of 
 land and production may be ascertained and checked by reasoning to and 
 from, land values, but in determining the respective rights and duties of 
 the farmer and the community there is much to be said in condemnation of 
 the practice of deriving costs of production from existing land values as a 
 basic element. Land values are created both by land users and by specu- 
 lators in land, and the land user is often enough both farmer and .-pecu- 
 lator. Generally speaking, there is a consistent tendency to increase in 
 land values, and lands are purchased both by farmers and others because of 
 the universal acceptance of the principle that lands are safe investments. 
 More is known in all ranks of society with respect to investments in land 
 and mortgages over real estate than of investments of all other kinds, and 
 the all-prevailing confidence in the future of the land leads to an economic
 
 61 
 
 state of facts that cannot be denied. A farmer will buy a farm now that 
 cannot well give him a return that is commensurate with his investment, 
 because lie is convinced that in the time to come his returns will easily 
 average the satisfaction that he desires. He thus enters into the contest for 
 land and disregards its direct productivity, and he discloses the fact that he 
 expects to receive from the land gains other than those that are provided 
 by the crops. The mere investor is in comparable position. So long as 
 his principle is safe he may be content with no returns from it in the way 
 of interest for many years, because he, too, believes that in the ultimate 
 event his purchase will pro^e profitable to him. The price of land is thus 
 inflated artificially, apart from the natural competition that may and should 
 exist between farmers in the economic process of giving to those with the 
 greater capacity the greater opportunity and natural advantage. These 
 tendencies and factors must be weighed when any attempt is made to 
 adjudicate upon the grievances which the farmer advances as against his 
 community in respect of prices and the cost of production.* 
 
 No sufficient survey of the relations between the various factors of pro- 
 duction in agricultural enterprise could be made by the Board as it is at 
 present situated, and it remains unable to do more than generalise in its 
 statements as to the economic conditions of the rural industries and the 
 probable effect of wage burdens upon production. The co-ordination of the 
 various departments of farm enterprise in such a manner as to provide for 
 the economical and continuous use of the available labour and equipment is, 
 of course, the particular problem of the individual farmer. Wise selection 
 of his various enterprises in agriculture is also a primary concern of the 
 individual. But the defects of organisation that transcend mere production 
 and relate to buying and selling are the concern of the community of farmers 
 and of the State. The principal issue which has presented itself to the 
 Board is whether the needs of a human being in a civilised community, and 
 employed in the rural industries, are of paramount importance when looked 
 at from the point of view of what can presently be ascertained as to the 
 conditions of the industries. The Board is driven to the conclusion that 
 'they are. 
 
 When the farmer can secure temporary additions to his capital by facili- 
 ties organised by the State, as should speedily be the case under tie lately 
 inaugurated scheme for the establishment of rural credits and a rural bank, 
 his prospects will be greatly impi"oved. He is frequently in a position to 
 make profitable use of larger capital assets than those which he individually 
 commands, and the element of improved organisation will no doubt be 
 extensively introduced into his affairs by the indirect influences of a wisely 
 administered system of State control of rural credits. 
 
 There is a form of co-operation which is ordinarily not in contemplation 
 when co-operative purposes are discussed. District labour can be organised 
 for qualitative as well as qiiantitative purposes. The conditions of labour, 
 other than the wage, affect productivity directly and indirectly. Some 
 
 * " Economip Conditions. Governmental Finance, Tnlted States Securities." 
 The National City Bank of New York, December, 1920, p. 11.
 
 65 
 
 increases in the cost of labour, otlier than through wage rates, may so 
 increase its efficiency as to produce more than corresponding results in, 
 production. 
 
 The farmer docs not yet realise the great importance of keeping an exact 
 recox'd of his operating costs as a means of preserving his margins of profit 
 and determining what combination of the factors of production is for li;.-i 
 the most economical and iisei'ul. Credit must be more readily available 
 under any and every system of banking when the problem of agricultural 
 costs has been made more clearly referable to accepted standards of produc- 
 tive operations. At the end of each season the farmer should be able to 
 state what costs he has incurred in securing his returns, and in what pro- 
 portion each crop or activity contributed to his financial position. Analysis 
 and combination of the actual facts can alone determine the value of his 
 work, the cost of production, and his own economic position. The true and 
 actual cost of production must be ascertained if the rural industries are to 
 claim and deserve exemption from the general industrial rule, or to exert 
 the influences to M^hich they may properly aspire upon the general market. 
 One important consideration must not be overlooked : Australian production 
 helps to make the world's prices for agricultural products, and the cost of 
 production abroad does not wholly control the market for local and pastoral 
 products. And there is no reason to suppose that the Australian farmer is 
 in anything like the position of an economic marginal producer. The 
 farmer is himself entitled to the Avage that will insure to him the living 
 that is regarded as proper in the community of which he is a member. 
 Costs of production must reflect that standard, other things being equal. 
 Prices as fixed for commodities through State intervention, or, in the last 
 event, by competition, do not fail to recognise this i^rinciple. It is thus to 
 the farmer's own personal interest to see that labour on the farm is 
 adeo.uately remunerated. If the wheat-grower, for example, is to be 
 guaranteed minimum and maximum prices for his crop, based on the fair 
 cost of producing under average conditions, with a fair margin of profit in 
 accordance with the tendencies of the times, standard wage conditions are 
 for him a matter of supreme personal importance.* In countries where the 
 standard of living is high, the arts and science of agriculture are most 
 highly developed, and productivity increases more rapidly than the cost 
 of wages. The burden of competitive wages has, therefore, not necessarily 
 prejudiced rural enterprise. None the less, as production is the mother of 
 wages, labour efficiency is essential as an independent support of standard 
 wjige rates. The rural enterprise must, as a principle of business organisa- 
 tion, compete for the highest grade of labour with non-rural enterprise. 
 When the necessary exact and deliberate analyses of costs and returns are 
 made, and the confusion of investment, labour income, and profits is 
 .'.voided, and the proper credit is given to the coinpeiisation taken in living 
 and other conditions, and when accretions to io^ value of the farm property 
 are brought into account, correct significance '*il] attach to the question of 
 
 *The existing Federal and State guarantees are in i>oint. as Is also the 
 Eugiisli Agricultural Act. l'.>li(t. See ul.^o tlie resolutious of tlie Royal Society of 
 N.S.W., Section of Agri(ullun\ lotli Sei>tt'ml)er. l'.>20. quoted in Minutes of 
 Evidence, p. 2. appended to First Interim ReiKirt of Select Committee on 
 Agricultural Imlustry (Is'.S.W.), 1920. 
 
 52639— C
 
 66 
 
 hire. The farmer is, by habit born of his necessities, a saver of his incoixie, 
 and tends to lose sight of the magnitude of his thrift. 
 
 .Witnesses with an unquestionable claim to be regarded as representative 
 agriculturists, made it plain to the Board that the farmer's need is not 
 cheap labour, but efficient labour and productive labour such as his own 
 family provides under conditions that make for a contented countryside. 
 In a new country, where settlement is sparse, and cheap food the primary 
 consideration, the purpose in view is not to produce the greatest amount 
 per acre, but per man. The human labour factor is of paramount importance 
 in all quarters of the civilised v/orld, but in Australia it carries an added 
 significance.'^ High returns per acre make for high profits when great fer- 
 tility and good seasons combine to assist the farmer. Otherwise, high 
 yields call for high prices, inasmuch as they represent intensive and costly 
 effort and organisation of resources. 
 
 The farmer's conditions are, in many respects, exacting. Fire, drought, 
 flood, and pests may involve him in ruin. His working day is long and 
 lonely, and market disappointments frequently follow in the train of good 
 seasons. But if fortune does not very often come to him with both hands 
 full, her single-handed compensations are obviously substantial. His share 
 in the national dividend is great, and it remains for him to accept tho 
 national wage system as a condition of his work. 
 
 EVIDENTIAL MATTER. 
 
 It happens that ruial employees are not ordinarily engaged in numbers 
 by individual employers, and that the whole of the rural labour force of the 
 State is of no very significant proportions. Evidence upon this aspect of 
 the case is not abundanr, and has been derived mainly from statistical 
 sources. 
 
 Including males and females, the total number of persons " engaged in 
 agricultural and pastoral pursuits " in the State was, according to the 
 census of 1911, 152,000. Including males and females, the total number of 
 persons " engaged permanently in rural occupations " in the State varied, 
 according to the State Statistician, from 151,200 in 1911 upwards to 
 154,400 in 1912, and downwards to 139,500 in 1919. The discrepancy in the 
 figures, as shown by the census of 1911 and hy the State Statistician, is com- 
 plicated by the assessment of females in 1911 in the former case at 4,900, 
 and in the latter case at 24,600, and by the inclusion of shearers, harvest 
 workers, and other casual hands whose occupations are mainly rural in the 
 former case, but not in the latter.f 
 
 An analysis by the Board's Statist of the census fiigures shows that of the 
 147,300 males engaged under conditions not influenced by the war, 17,904 
 
 * See evidence of I'rofessor R. D. AVatt upon Inquiry by the Select Committee 
 on the Agricultural Industry (N.S.W.), First Interim Report, 13th October, 
 1920. Minutes of Evidence, p. 6. 
 
 t See Appendix No. 1. Statement of D. T. Sawkins, p. 25.
 
 G7 
 
 "wer5 employers in agricultural pursuits, and 14,012 employers in pastoral 
 pursuits; that 12,269 were working on their own account in agricultural 
 pursuits, and 7,551 in pastoral pursuits; that 10,468 were assisting but not 
 receiving wages in agricultural pursuits, and 5,512 in pastoral pursuits; that 
 30,819 were wage or salary earners, or out of employment in agi'icultural, 
 and 40,190 in pastoral pursuits; and that 6,139 persons could not be iden- 
 tified as belonging to any of the specified classes in a.gricultural pursuits, 
 and 2,459 in pastoral pursuits. The employee class, approximately stated, 
 and disregarding those unspecified, included, for both sections of the rural 
 industry, some 71,000. Of the 65,000 male wage-earners in employmvnt, 
 about 48,000 were between the ages of 20 and 60, and 45,000 were adults 
 under the age of 60. The unspecified individuals, if included as employees 
 to the extent of 10 per cent., would raise the number of adult male wage- 
 earners under the age of 60 to 49,000. 
 
 In the year 1907 the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitra- 
 tion found that in 1907 the Australian Workers' Union comprised 14,866 
 members in New South Wales, most of whom were engaged in shearing and 
 the occupations allied t() shearing, and that the union represented a very 
 considerable proportion of the shearers and shed hands of the State.* 
 
 The State Statistician's estimate of the number of shearers, harvest 
 workers, and other casual hands in rural work, stands between 20,000 and 
 30.000. The smaller of these two limits is the more in agreement with the 
 other statistical data, and the proportion of adults in this labour force 
 would be extraordinarily high. The inference, therefore, is drawn that the 
 permanent adult male employee of the wage-earning class is pastoral and 
 agricultural pursuits number approximately 30,000.+ 
 
 The adult female employees of the wage-earning class in rural industries 
 are difficult of enumeration. The annual returns, as is suggested by the 
 State Statistician, must include women who devote the greater part of their 
 time to domestic duties. They would include also a large proportion of 
 women who are members of family groups and women who do not fall into 
 the wage-earning category. Women make very valuable contributions to the 
 success of the family farm, and particularly is this the case in the dairy- 
 farming industry. But so far as work out of doors is concerned, there is a 
 tendency to restrict it to male workers, and the State Statistician's opinion 
 must be regarded as well-founded.:}: 
 
 The statistical evidence as to the comparative importance from the human 
 labour standpoint of the various sections of the pastoral and agricultural 
 industries in 1911 shows that farming gjive occupation to 65,267. pastoral 
 work to 43,881, dairying to 23,230, market-gardening to 4,758, fruit-growing 
 to 3,729, horticulture to 1,791, poultry-raising to 1,191, and miscellaneous 
 crops and work, including pig and bee keeping, to 3,040. The State 
 Statistician's figures show that in 1918 cultivation of the soil gave occupa- 
 tion to 47,858 males, pastoral work gave occupation to 40,988 males, dair.v- 
 ing to 21,071 males, and poultry, pig, and bee-keeping to 2,632 males. The 
 
 ♦ A.W.U. V. The Pastoralists' Federal Council of Australia and Others', 1 
 C.A.R.. (i2, at p. 78. 
 
 t See A.W.U. v. Hans Irvine and Ors., No. Go of 1018, p. 7, Coumi. Arbn, 
 Court. 
 
 t See Appendix No. 1, p. 27. . ; ;-
 
 68 
 
 Commonwealth Statistician gives compilations for the Commonwealth 
 accordinq: to grade of occupation of males engaged in various sections of 
 . rural occupations in the Commonwealth, and it is thence found* that the 
 adult wasc-earnors under 60 years of age represent 27 per cent, of all males 
 (^ngaged in farming, 31 per cent, of all m.ales engaged in orcharding, 35 
 per cent, of all males engaged in market-gardening, 44 per cent, of all males 
 engaged in horticulture, 47 per cent, of all^ males engaged in grazing, 1!) 
 per cent, of all males engaged in dairying, and 12 per cent, of all males 
 engaged in poultry-raising. There is little doubt but that the percentages 
 for this State do not differ greatly from those for the Commonwealth. 
 
 The rural industries of the State have been established, and are sustained 
 in the main by the labour of those who own or control the other factors of 
 production, viz., the land and equipinent. Owner, manager, and workman 
 are very generally to be found in the one person, and frequently enough 
 the employees, when they exist, are the sons of neighbours who hope to be 
 independent farmers in their turn. Quite usually the farm family supplies 
 the whole of the labour required on the farm, and the surplus of its members 
 finds occupation and em.ployment on other farms. This condition of things 
 has an appreciable effect upon the industrial relationship of the farmer 
 and his infrequent employees of the permanent class. There is not the 
 distinction in conditions of life between the farmer and his permanent 
 hands that is found in other industries. They may live together as a family. 
 They may work together on more or less equal terms. The control of the 
 work and its general policy are matters of mutual consideration; and 
 supervision, partly for that reason and partly because of the necessary 
 distribution of work, is not close or exacting. The conditions of the farm 
 worked by family labour are generally reflected upon the farm worked partly 
 by employed labour. An interest in the work is thereby encouraged, and 
 the advantages of the system are mutual. But whereas the members of the 
 family are bound by ties of natural affection to one another, and share in 
 the prosperity produced by their combined work, the associated employee 
 must, to be retained, have not only the inducement of sympathetic treat- 
 ment, but such a prospect of acquiring skill and credit as will assure his 
 future. The wage is an important element in these considerations, for the 
 aim of the employee in the agricultural industry is to be an independent 
 farmer. Character and skill may take him far along the road to inde- 
 pendence, but are not likely to suffice alone. If the standard of living for 
 employees in rural industries be below that of employees in non-rural 
 industries, the door of opportunity will eventually be sought through those 
 other industries, and agriculture will be temporarily, if not permanently, 
 robbed of the assistance that it can not well spare.f It is not to be over- 
 looked that the minimum wage rates of the State provide only for the 
 " normal requirements of a member of a civilised community," and any 
 savings appropriated to capital out of such Avages represent, in the case of 
 the married man AAath a family of two dependent children, the acceptance 
 of conditions below 'those fixed as the standard for the State, or self-denial 
 of a peculiarly severe kind. 
 
 *^'cc Appendix No. 1 — ^Memorandum of D. T. Sawkins, at p. 28. 
 t c/. .Vgricultural Economics, H. C. Taylor, pp. 102, 168, &c.
 
 69 
 
 Some evidence has been tendered to the Board upon the conditions of the 
 rural industries and of their ability to bear additional burdens in wages, 
 and the probable effect of the same upon production. The Board has not, 
 however, had very substantial help under these heads from the formal repre- 
 sentations of the parties before it. The difficulties of the task of elucidating 
 the relations of the wage and other conditions of rural industries and their 
 productivity have, no doubt, accounted for the meagre assistance which the 
 Board has been offered in this connection. The Board has fortunately been 
 able to help itself to acquire facts and figures which establish certain definite 
 tendencies in the rural industries, and by them it has to be content to be 
 guided when reporting its conclusions upon the evidence with respect to the 
 burden of wages and its consequences in rural affairs. 
 
 Upon the subject of existing wage rates there is a good deal of uncer- 
 tainty. Each district of the State, and each of the different sections of the 
 rural industries in a district, may have its own wage conditions. This 
 anomaly is, to some extent, explained by the fact that the employees in the 
 >^arious sections are neither numerous, nor organised, nor dependent for 
 their wage rates upon a wage-fixing authority. Again, a large proportion 
 of those who are employed in each section are employed under liviug-in con- 
 ditions, that is, receive board and lodging a;- part of their remuneration, 
 and as there is no recognised standard of accommodation of this kind, the 
 wage rates largely include an indeterminate element which makes com- 
 parison of wage values impracticable. 
 
 In a survey made by the Board in the year 1919 of the conditions of 
 cmplojTnent provided by 178 farmers, graziers, dairy-farmers, and orchardists 
 in the Northern Tableland, the North Coast, South-western Slope, and the 
 Western Slope districts of the State, certain information was gathered 
 which is now referred to. . The survey was based upon a questionnaire in 
 the form of Appendix No. 2 hereto, and the enterprises investigated were 
 taken at random. Committees of members of the Board collected and 
 recorded 'the information gained. The conditions of 435 permanent 
 erajjloyees, ov an .average of 2.4 per enterprise, and of 73(3 casual employees, 
 or an average of 4.1 per enterprise, were reported upon by those, principally 
 (employers, with whom'the investigators came into touch. One hundred and 
 thirty of the emploj'ers had experience of rural work extending over twenty 
 years, thirty-four had experience of ten and less than twenty years, seven 
 had experience of less thaji seven years' duration, and seven had an un- 
 specified length of experience. 
 
 A summarj^ of the results of the tabulation by the Government Statis- 
 tician of the infonnation collected in the courei? of tlie survey api^ears a> 
 Appendix No. 3 hereto, and it will sufiice to indicate here only the moro 
 salient facts. In the Northern Tablelands district the average wage paid 
 in money by fifteen employers to their thirty-two permanent hands was 
 35s. 7d. per week, and to their thirty-nine casual hands fis. Od. per day. In 
 the case of the permanent class the wages were generally supplemented by 
 keep', i.e., unstandardiscd lodging and food. Two-thirds of such employees 
 received no privileges or payments in kind as distinct from keep, and the 
 concessions made to the others were of a comparatively insignificant order.
 
 70 
 
 In the Xorth Coast district the wage rates of the sixty-three permanent 
 hands varied from Ts. Gd. to 15s. per day and from 17s. Gd. to 40s. jjer week; 
 and the wage rates of the thirteen casual employees from 7s. to 14s. per day, 
 the average being 9s. 6d. per day. Concessions included milk, vegetables, 
 butter and eggs, fruit, and a run for a horse, but were of slight value, and 
 not general. On the South-western Slopes the average weekly wage paid to 
 permanent hands was about 34s. Gd. with keep, and from 48s. to 60s. w'ithout 
 keep; and casual employees received from 8s. to 10s. per day. In this dis- 
 trict the great majority of the employees received some concession averaging 
 in value in the case of married males to 6s. 7d. per week. In the Western 
 district the average weekly wage paid to permanent general hands was about 
 33s. 6d. per week with keep, or 54s. without keep, and the weekly wages of 
 harvest hands varied from 54s. to 60s. with keep, and of threshing-machine 
 hands from 48s. to 60s. with keep. Orchard hands in this district were paid 
 an average wage of 8s. without keep. The concessions to married male 
 emjiloyees in this district were fairly general, and of an average value of 
 4s. per week. 
 
 Information collected as to the conjugal condition of permanent 
 employees between the ages of 21 and 60 years showed that 45 per cent. 
 Avere unmarried and 55 per cent, married, and that the average family per 
 married male was nearly 2.2, and the average family per male of the ages 
 t^tated less than 1. Eight employers in the Northern Tablelands district 
 provided houses for fifteen of their married employees, and three employers 
 had such employees living in their homes. Particulars of the house 
 accommodation provided in this district were not specified. In the other 
 three districts employees were found in fifty-one cases to be living in houses 
 of one room, in ten cases to be living in houses of two rooms, and in ten 
 cases to be living in houses of three rooms, in fourteen cases to be living 
 in houses of four rooms, in fifteen eases to be living in houses of five 
 rooms, in three cases to be living in houses of six rooms, in four cases to be 
 living in houses of seven rooms, and in one case to be living in a house of 
 eight rooms. Thirty-nine employees in the three districts were provided 
 ■with quarters, eighteen were provided with one room in the employer's 
 house, one was provided with two rooms in the employer's house, twenty 
 Avere provided with huts, seven wnth tents, two with accommodation in 
 barns, and one with a canvas room. 
 
 Ko estimates of cost vrere given in the information supplied for the 
 Northern Tablelands district with respect to board or rations and lodging 
 or shelter. In the North Coast district the value of keep was estimated at 
 from 20s. to 25s. per week. In the South-western district the average weekly 
 value of board for single men between 20 and 60 years of age was assessed 
 at 20s., and the average weekly value of lodging or shelter for the same 
 class at between 3s. and 4s. In the Western district the average weekly 
 value of board for single men between 20 and 60 years of age was assessed 
 at between 17s. and 18s., and the average weekly value of lodging or shelter 
 for the same class at between 2s. and 3s. 
 
 From a general assessment of the value of the remuneration paid to the 
 various classes of permanent employees covered by the survey, it appears 
 that, including all forms of consideration, the earnings of such employees
 
 71 
 
 when of the age class from 21 to 59, inclusive, stood approximately at from 
 9s. to lis. per day, or from 54s. to 663. per week. This deduction is by no 
 means exact, and, because of some confusion between casual or seasonal and 
 permanent wa.g'c rates, must be rather above than below the actual average 
 rates paid. 
 
 The history of agricultural wages and their relation to the wages of 
 craftsmen and food prices has been traced over the period from 182.3 to 1920 
 in an important statistical memorandum placed before the Board in the 
 course of its inquiry by Mr. D. T. Sawkins. The memorandum is attached 
 hereto as Appendix No. 4. The sources of the information contained in 
 the memorandum are the statistical publications of the State and the Com- 
 monwealth, and supplementary matter supplied by the State Statistician. 
 The conclusions of the memorandum may be adopted as showing fairly the 
 trend of wages and prices in the years treated, and they are now stated. 
 The first table shows the average wages of craftsmen, navvies, and rural 
 Avorkers during each year from 1823 to 1920. The second table shows the 
 average wages of these classes over five-yearly periods, and in a parallel 
 column the cost of a simple food unit containing about enough nutriment 
 to support an average unit of the population for a day. This table shows 
 clearly the tendency of the wage and the cost of food to rise or fall together. 
 Thus during the years 1846-50 craftsmen's wages averaged 5s. a day, while 
 the price of the food unit was on the average 6-3d. Then during the years 
 of the gold fever the average was 14s. a day and the average price of the food 
 unit rose also to lid. During the five years 186G-70, by which time the 
 average wages of craftsmen had fallen to 9s. 3d. a day, the price of the food 
 unit had fallen to 7Td. The rises or falls are, of course, not proportional. 
 Indeed it is the variation from proportionate correspondence between wages 
 and prices which measures variations in the standard of comfort. 
 
 The most striking feature of these conclusions from the immediate point 
 of view is the ratio of the increase in the wages of farm labourers. RedTjcing 
 all of the data, as Mr. Sawkins has done, to index numbers, it is found that 
 the ratio of the weekly money wages of farm labourers to the daily wages 
 of craftsmen and non-rural labourers during the period from 1871 to 1920 
 stands as follows : — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ratio of Weekly Money 
 
 Period. 
 
 Index Nuinbcra of Nominal Wages of — 
 
 Index 
 Number 
 
 of Cost of a 
 Simple 
 
 Food Unit. 
 
 Wages of Agricultural 
 
 Labourers to 
 
 Daily Wages of— 
 
 
 Craftsmen. 
 
 Labourers 
 
 and 
 Navvies. 
 
 Agricultural 
 Labourers. 
 
 Craftsmen. 
 
 Labourers, 
 and 
 
 Navvies. 
 
 ♦1871-187.5 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 1-37" 
 
 1-90 
 
 1876-1880 
 
 109 
 
 102 
 
 112 
 
 118 
 
 1-41 
 
 209 
 
 1881-1885 
 
 114 
 
 114 
 
 128 
 
 115 
 
 1-53 
 
 212 
 
 1886-1890 
 
 104 
 
 114 
 
 124 
 
 114 
 
 1-63 
 
 207 
 
 1891-1895 
 
 93 
 
 94 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 1-47 
 
 203 
 
 1896-1900 
 
 94 
 
 92 
 
 104 
 
 90 
 
 1-52 
 
 217 
 
 1901-1905 
 
 104 
 
 100 
 
 128 
 
 128 
 
 1-68 
 
 2-44 
 
 1906-1910 
 
 109 
 
 104 
 
 148 
 
 131 
 
 1-81 
 
 2-72 
 
 1911-1915 
 
 121 
 
 123 
 
 169 
 
 153 
 
 1-91 
 
 2-62 
 
 1916-1920 
 
 146 
 
 156 
 
 240 
 
 226 
 
 2-25 
 
 293 
 
 'Taken as standard period.
 
 72 
 
 In tbo samo period, significantly onovigh, the total population of. the State 
 qviadrupled, while the rural population increased only by &5 per cent. The 
 cause of the' rates of wages as thusr shown, is at once suggested. Agricul- 
 tural wa.ges are in competition with wage rates in non-rural industries, and 
 the efficiency of the agricultural wage rates must be maintained if agricul- 
 tural enterprise is to depend to any appreciable extent upon employed 
 labour. This position has already been emphasised. 
 
 2\ir. Sawkins tentatively derives effective wages by expressing nominal 
 wages in terms of the price of the food unit. He thus places side by side 
 with his table of index numbers of nominal wages a table of index numbers 
 of all wagc3 translated inot multiples of the weekly food unit. The assump- 
 tion upon which this table is founded is that the price of a unit of food is 
 a satisfactory guide to the general purchasing power of money. Portion 'of 
 this table is also reproduced. 
 
 
 Index numbers of Effectiv 
 
 3 Wages of — 
 
 JIultiples of Cost of Weekly Food 
 Unit of 21,000 Calorie* in — 
 
 Period. 
 
 
 
 
 Weekly Wages of— Weekly 
 
 
 Craftsmen.. 
 
 Labourers 
 
 and 
 !Kavvies. 
 
 Agricultural 
 Labouiiers.* 
 
 3l6nev Wages 
 
 
 Craftsmen. 
 
 '• 1 of 
 Labourers ' Agricultural 
 
 
 
 
 
 or Xavvies. Labourers. 
 
 1871-1875 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 13-9 
 
 10-0 3-2 
 
 1876-1880 
 
 92 
 
 86 
 
 95 
 
 12-9 
 
 8-6 3-0 
 
 1881-1885 
 
 99 
 
 99 
 
 111 
 
 13-7 
 
 9-9 3-5 
 
 1886-1890 
 
 91 
 
 100 
 
 109 
 
 128 
 
 10-0 1 3-5 
 
 1891-1S95 
 
 93 
 
 94 
 
 100 
 
 12-9 
 
 9-4 3-2 
 
 1896-1900 
 
 104 
 
 102 
 
 116 
 
 14-5 
 
 10-2 3-7 
 
 1901-1905 
 
 81 
 
 78 
 
 100 
 
 11-4 
 
 7-8 3-2 
 
 1906-1910 
 
 83 
 
 79 
 
 113 
 
 11-7 
 
 7-9 3-6 
 
 1911-1915 
 
 79 
 
 80 
 
 110 
 
 11-0 
 
 8-0 3-5 
 
 1916-1920 
 
 65 
 
 69 
 
 106 
 
 9-0 
 
 6-9 3-4 
 
 * MoneV' wages only. 
 
 This table shovrs that, whereas the non-rural employees sult'ered a decKne 
 in the standard of life to which they had attained in 1875, the agricultural 
 employee not only maintained, but slightly advanced, his standard of life. 
 Since 1891 average effective wages have suffered a decline by index numbers 
 from 100 in that year to 82 in the year' 1020. In the same period nominal 
 wages as a whole increased by 73 per cent., but tloe nominal wages of agri- 
 cultural employees increased by 102 per cent. 
 
 The rates of payment applicable to casual or seasonal workers in the 
 various sections of the rural industry are generally regarded as being., in 
 excess of what has been fixed as the rate of the living wage in non-rural 
 Industrie?. Some consideration of -such rates appears, however, to be 
 necessary. 
 
 In the pastoral industry information as to the rates prevailing since the 
 year 1907 is to be found in the judgments and awards of the Commonwealth 
 Court of Conciliation and Arbitration. The then existing rates for shearing 
 were £1 per hundred, and hut accommodation, the shearer finding himself
 
 73 
 
 in rations and co&k."-^ Tlie actual earnings at the rate stood, by rougU 
 approximation of averages for New South Wales, at £3 a week gross, from 
 start to fiiaish of the shed; or, deducting- the average expenses attaching to 
 his equipment (2s.), £2 ISs. net.f These rates had applied almost universally 
 throughout New South Wales for some twenty years.:}: In 1902 by agree- 
 ment between the New South Wales Pastoralists' Union and the Machine 
 Shearers and Shed Hands' Uni'On, wool-rollers, piece-pickers, and penners- 
 up were paid SOs. per week and keep, and all other shed hands 25s. per week 
 and keep; § In 1903 the same parties conferred and modified the agreement 
 so as to' provide payment at the rate of 27s. 6d. per week with rations for 
 wool-rollers and piece-pickers, 25s. per week with rations for penners-up, 
 and 223. Gd. per week with- rations for all other shed hands.|| These rates 
 prevailed -g-ererally until 1907. By an a^-ard of the 20th July, 1907, the 
 Court -me^itioiied prescribed the following rates for New South Wales : — 
 Shearers 24s. per 100 shorn of flock wethers, ewes, and lambs (with increas- 
 ing rates for rams over 6 months .old, and stud ewes), subject in the cases 
 where the employer found rations to a reduction of 3s. 3d. per 100 sheep 
 shorn ; and shed hands when v.-ool-rollers, piece-pickers, and penners-up ■ 
 SOs.-pcr week with rations, otherwise if over 18 years of age, 27s. 6d. per- 
 week with rations, but in either case if they " found "' themselves the wages 
 were to be increased by 133. pernveek. 'Eates'w^ere also fixed for cooks and 
 wool-pressers above the minimum adopted in the case of shed hands.*; 
 
 In 1911 the Court again dealt with the rates for the same classes of 
 labour, and determined, when fixing piece-work rates for shearers, to adopt 
 what would enable an average shearer to earn such wages per week as would 
 be the just minimum for the shearer to receive if he were paid by time.** 
 The Court proceeded by finding first the basic or living wage — the wage 
 essential for civilised living with a small household — and then adding n 
 wage for skill or special circumstances. ft The Court held that the answer 
 to the question — Can the industry bear the wages whicli would otherwise 
 be fair? — probably ought, not toaSect the amount of the basic or living 
 wage, but it might, under special circumstances, as where an industry was 
 .struggling for existence, , be, .perhaps, allowed to nffect the amount of the 
 additional wa^e. The rate of 24s. per, 100 sheep shorn had produced for 
 the average shearer, the 'Court concluded, a net return per week of his 
 expedition not exceeding £3.:}::}: Takiiig.the basic or living wage at 42s. 
 the Court added 6s. .per week for the 'time lost and expenses incurred in 
 travelling, and, with the intention of giving the shearer wages equivalent 
 to a time rate of 60s. per week for the expedition, fixed the piece-work rate 
 for flock sheep (wethers, ewes, lambs) at 24s. pr 100 where rations were 
 not found, and permitted a deduction from that sum of 15s. in Nev/ Soutl: 
 Wales where rations were found.§§ In the case of the shed hand, whom it 
 treated as an unskilled worker, the Court said that if 42s. per week were to 
 
 * The A.W.r. T. the rastoraiists" Federal Comicil of Austnalia ami Others, r 
 C.A.II., at P.-80. t/''.p. 84. 
 
 :i: 11). p. 92. § Ih. p. !)3. [] Ih. p. 94. •" Ih. pp. 9S-107. 
 
 ** The A.W.U. r. The Pastoralists' Federal Council aud Others, 5 C.A.R.. p. if 
 
 f;-/J>. p. 73. %tll>. p. 7S. §§7t. p. 105.
 
 74 
 
 remain as the basic wage in the cities, the adult shed hand should get not 
 less than 48s., because the extra 6s. per week at the very least were retjuired 
 to cover the fares and expenses and time lost in travelling. But for reasons 
 arising out of technical questions of jurisdiction, the Court made the 
 minimum rate for all States 37fl. 6d. in cash with rations valued at 10s. per 
 week.* Eates in excess of the shed hands' rates were also fixed for cooks 
 at shearing sheds, wool-pressers, wool-scourers.f 
 
 In the year 1917 (28th June, 1917, the same Court again made an award 
 for the pastoral industry. It found that there had been an increase of 51-4 
 per cent, in the cost of living, and it increased the rate for flock sheep from 
 24s. to 30s. per hundred shorn, with corresponding increases in the associated 
 rates. In 1911 the deduction for keep in Xew South Wales had been fixed 
 at 15s. per week, and it was now fixed at 20s. per week. By this award shed 
 hands and wool-scour hands were given a wage of £3 per week with keep, 
 and overtime rates at time and a half for the first two hours and double' 
 time thereafter. Minimum rates of a higher order were also prescribed for 
 w^ool-pressers and cooks.:}: The award related only to employees who were 
 members of the A.W. Union, and it defined, inter alia, the term " keep." 
 For its purposes " keep " meant good and sufficient living accommodation, 
 and good and sufficient rations, cooked (so far as cooking was necessary) by 
 a competent cook, but in the case of station hands it did not include accom- 
 modaticn under a roof or cookin.g when the circumstances rendered such 
 accommodation or cooking impracticable. 
 
 This award was varied by the Court as from the end of November, 1918. |[ 
 The margin of 15s. per week between the " found " rate and the " not 
 found " rate for station hands having proved to be too small, it was in- 
 creased to 21s., the " found " rate being fixed at 42s., and the " not found " 
 rate remaining at 63s. 
 
 A further variation of the rates for station hands was introduced by the 
 Court as from the 12th June, 1920.^ The minimum rates Avere raised, in 
 the case of adults, other than boundary-riders, to 72s. per week, without 
 "' keep," or 48s. per week, with "' keep," and in the case of adult boundary- 
 riders to 64s. per week, without " keep," or 40s. per week, with " keep." 
 
 In the year 1920 (12th April, 1920), the same Court made an award 
 covering the citrus and other fruit-growers of New South Wales. The 
 industry had not previously been regulated by any State tribunal, and the 
 conditions of labour were varying and chaotic."* The Court prescribed 
 69s. per week for adult male employees, other than casual or seasonal 
 employees, basing its determination upon the cun-ont cost» of living, and 
 
 * A.W.U. V. The Pastoralists' Federal Council of Australia and Others, 5 
 C.A.lt.. p. 90. y 7?^ PI). 10.'-107. 
 
 t A.^y.U. r. Tlie Pastoralists' Feileral Coundl of Australia and Orhers, 11 
 O.A.R.. at pp. 427-431. § Ih. p. 433. 
 
 il A.W.U. r. Tlie Pastoralists* Federal Coum-il of Australia and others, 12 
 C.A.R.. at p. 036. 
 
 ^ If A.W.U. V. The Pastoralists" Federal Council. 1020. Not yet reiwrted. 
 ^** A.W.U. r. W. Artlun- and Others, No. 30 of 1919, Comm. Arbitration Court.
 
 75. 
 
 72s. per week* for ordinary employees of the same class, engaged in or in 
 connection with harvesting, pruning, and packing or forwarding operations. 
 Employees were in this case again the members of the A.W. Union. 
 
 The rates that have been adopted for seasonal or casual work done by 
 employees in the cereal and other farming sections of rural industries have 
 not so far been prescribed by awards of any industrial tribunal. There is, 
 nevertheless, some evidence available as to predominant practice in this 
 connection during the past years. 
 
 The productive efficiency of the industries of the State has been made the 
 subject of statistical treatment by the Board's statist. The average annual 
 production in ISTew South Wales of pastoral, agricultural, and dairy products 
 is thrown into a misleading light when money value statistics only are used, 
 and it has, therefore, been the Board's care to direct its attention to quantity 
 statistics also. Taking pastoral, agricultural, and dairying production by 
 quantity statistics it is found that, when the average of the five years 19U()-i;] 
 is compared with the average of the five years 1915-10, the production of 
 cereal crops increased in the latter period by about 17 per cent. Production 
 of potatoes decreased by 5-i per cent., of wool by 22 per cent., and of wine 
 by 27 per cent., but production of bacon and hams has increased by 13.") per 
 cent., and of cheese by 23.5 per cent. The production of butter shows a. 
 flight decrease of 2.0 per cent.f This record of production is mor<^ sig- 
 nificant when it is reviewed in the light of the meteorological data of the 
 periods compared, and with due attention to the disturbing influences of the 
 demands of the war. 
 
 A highly important statistical table has been prepared by the Govern- 
 ment Statistician according to a schedule designed by the Board's statist. 
 This table appears as Appendix No. o hereto. The table shows details of 
 the improvement in the butter-making quality of milk during the period 
 from 1904 to 1919. Milk regarded as raw material for producing butter 
 improved by about 3 per cent, in the period from 1909 to 1913, as compared 
 with the period 1904 to 1908, and by about 7 per cent, in the period 1915 to 
 1919, as compared with 1909 to 1913. There was a parallel improvement in 
 the cheese-making (juality of the milk. The improvement in the (piality of 
 milk from both aspects combined is of distinct importance. The actual 
 yield of milk in gallons during each year of the period 1904 to 1910 is 
 shown, as is also what may be termed the e(iuivalent yield of milk during 
 each year, the quality of the milk being regarded as constant throughout. 
 Thus a decrease in the average apparent yield of nearly 3 per cent, between 
 the last two five-yearly periods seems, owing to the improvement of 7 i>er 
 cent, in the quality, to be really an increase of about 4 J per cent. 
 
 The Government Statistician has also supplied a table:}: showing th< 
 increase during the last twenty years in the weight of wool per sheep shorn 
 in New South Wales. During the five years 189S-1902 the average greasy 
 
 * The limit fixed by considerations of jurisdiction. O^rc .X.W.T^ r. W. 
 Arthin- and Otliers, No. 30 of 1910, Connu. Arbitration Court. 
 
 t See A]ipen(lix No. (i. 
 
 i Fore fuller statement see Kep<»''l <^f Ifoyal Coiniuission of Imiuiry info tlio 
 Proposed Reduction of the .Standard Working Woelc from 4S to 44 Hours, 
 1020 ; Appendices p. 3G. ..
 
 76 
 
 ileece weiglied 582 lb. Duriuft' the five years 1915-19 the average weight 
 was 7' 18 lb. The average money value of the fleece has increased by 117 
 per cent, between the two periods referred to. 
 
 In sum and in ett'eet the evidence with regard to the conditions of the 
 nu*al industries and their ability to bear additional wage burdens, although 
 conflicting, is, in its main current or general trend, favourable to the 
 imposition of a general industrial wage rule in the rural industries, 
 
 THE DETKRM I NATION OF THE BOAED AS INFLUENCED BY 
 THE TERMS OF THE STATUTE. 
 
 it is the Board's duty, as prescribed by section 79 of the Industrial Arbi- 
 tration Act, 1912-19, " from year to year, after public inquiry as to the 
 increase or decrease in the average cost of living," to declare living wages 
 for adult male and female employees. In the process of this work, the 
 Board must deal separately with the question of the cost of living of 
 employees engaged in rural occupations, and must, if it makes a declaration 
 affecting such lastmentioned employees, separate those employees from adult 
 male and adult female employees generally. In its separate public inquiry 
 preceding the declaration of living wages to be paid to adult employees in 
 rural occupations, the Board must take evidence upon the conditions of the 
 rural industries and their ability to bear additional burdens in wages and 
 the probable effect of the same upon production. The Board must also 
 report its conclusions upon such evidence. The Board may refrain, if it 
 thinks fit, from making a declaration of the living wages to be paid to adult 
 <^mployees in rural occupations. If it docs not refrain from making that 
 declaration, it must, in its declaration, give weight, as far as is reasonable, 
 to its conclusions upon the evidence disclosing the conditions of the rural 
 industries, their ability to bear additional wages, and the probable effect of 
 wage burdens upon production. 
 
 In executing its living-wage fixing function in relation to adult male and 
 female employees not engaged in rural occupations, the practice of the 
 Board has been to pass under review the statistics of the average cost of 
 living of the people of the State. The average cost of living so ascertained 
 is a .general average, and it is, at the least, weighted by the conditions of all 
 classes of those who are engaged in rural occupations. The non-rural liviug 
 wage is thus r^arded as a wage which should, by the terms of the statute, 
 be related to the Avidest possible basis of social usage. The statute clearly 
 indicates, however, that the basis of the living wage for employees engaged 
 in' rural occupations must be something different. The Board must, under 
 it, make a separate public inquiry into the cost of living of employees 
 ■en.gaged in rural occupations as distinct from its investigation of the 
 average cost of liTing of the community; and whereas the living wage to be 
 ■<lcclarod with respect to adult male and female employees not engaged in 
 rural occupations must be related to the average cost of living, the living 
 wages to be paid to employees engaged in rural occupations must be related, 
 to the norm to be ascertained by the separate process of inquiry. It must, 
 therefore, be inferred that the living-wage of adult rural employees is 
 intended by Parliament to be a wage that does not reflfcct the proportions
 
 77 
 
 of the first-mentioned wage. Apart, then, from the considerations due to 
 the " conditions of the rural industries and their ability to bear additional 
 burdens in wages and the probable eflPect of the same upon production," the 
 Board must, in fixing the rural wage, be guided by factors and principles 
 which are independent of those influencing its dcterinination of the non- 
 rural living wage. So it appears that if the conditions of rents or any of 
 the other elements in the rural cost of living make the total of that cost of 
 living lower than the total of the average coot of living, the rural living- 
 wage must be related to a lower monetary standard than the nou-rural 
 living wage, and may, perhaps must, be absolutely and relatively a lower 
 wage. Had it not been for these considerations the Board probably would 
 3iot have hesitated early in the year 1921 to extend the wage declared iu 
 October, 1920, to the rural industries, subject to such deductions as might 
 appropriately be made from such v/agc for board or residence or board and 
 residence and for any customary privileges and payments in kind conceded 
 or made to rural employees. 
 
 The Board is about to open new inquiries as to the increase or decrease 
 in the average cost of living, and as to the cost of living- of employees 
 engaged in rural occupations. It feels that it cannot safely commit itself 
 to a living wage declaration in relation to employees engaged in rural occu- 
 pations before those inquiries have been carried out, and it therefore refrains 
 from making a declaration upon the basis of this report. There is now a 
 general tendency towards normality in conditions in rural as well as otlier 
 industries, and on the completion of the coming inquiries the Board will 
 declare a living wage for rural industries unless it is convinced by what 
 it will hear in the course of those inquiries that it should continue to refrain 
 from doing so. 
 
 The considerations and findings which the Board now publishes for the 
 informntion of those coneenud may be taken as a basis for the further 
 action (.ontemplatcd. 
 
 (■:K0. S. EEEBY, President. 
 
 J. B. HOLME, Deputy-President. 
 
 W. T. WILLIXCTON, ] 
 
 THO-MAS KOUTLEY, [ Commissioners. 
 
 AETHUR COOPER, 
 
 T. I. CAMPBELL, \ 
 
 C. J. McKAE, ! Additional 
 
 JOHX AX DREWS, (' Commissioners. 
 T. C. ARTHUR, 
 Ttli July, 192L
 
 78 
 
 APPENDICES. 
 
 APPENDIX No. 1. 
 
 REPORTS BY STATISTICAL OFFICER. 
 
 Rural Breadwinners of New South Wales. 
 
 10th November, 1920, and 7th Fcbruarj-, 1921. 
 At the Census, 1911, the numbers engaged in agricultural, pastoral, and other rural 
 
 Table I. 
 Census of New South Wales, 1911. 
 
 pursuits were as follo^7s 
 
 Agricultural Pursuits 
 
 Pastoral „ 
 
 Capture of Wild Animals and their Produce 
 
 Fisheries 
 
 Forestry 
 
 Water Conservation and Supply 
 
 Total 
 
 Males. 
 
 77,600 
 69,700 
 2,000 
 1,500 
 6,400 
 2,400 
 
 159,600 
 
 Females. 
 
 1,600 
 3.300 
 
 4,900 
 
 Including males and females, the total is about 165,000 persons. These figures may be 
 compared with the statistics of " Persons engaged permanently in Rural Occupations " 
 which are published annually by the State Statistician. His Statistical Bulletin for 
 June, 1920, gives figures for each year since 1909. The following are selected : — 
 
 Table II. 
 Persons engaged permanently in Rural Occupations in New South Wales. 
 
 Year ended 30th June. 
 
 Males. 
 
 Females. 
 
 Total. 
 
 1911 
 
 126,600 
 
 24,600 
 
 151,200 
 
 1912 
 
 129,200 
 
 25,200 
 
 154,400 
 
 1913 
 
 127,400 
 
 24,200 
 
 151,600 
 
 1914 
 
 128,000 
 
 25,400 
 
 153,400 
 
 1915 
 
 122,500 
 
 23,800 
 
 146,300 
 
 1917 
 
 116,100 
 
 26,100 
 
 142,200 
 
 1919 
 
 113,900 
 
 25,600 
 
 139,500 
 
 These figures exclude those engaged in forestry, fisheries, &c., and mining. Com- 
 paring the figures for 1911 in Tables I and II, it is seen that the census shows 147,000 
 males engaged in agricultural and pastoral pursuits, and the Government Statistician's 
 returns show less than 127,000 males similarly engaged. The difference, about 20,000, 
 is due to the inclusion in the census figures of shearers, harvest workers, and other casual 
 hands whose occupations are mainly rural. The Government Statistician's figures are 
 derived from annual collections with regard to landholders of 1 acre and upwards, 
 and such employees are expressly excluded.
 
 79 
 
 Comparing the years 1911, 1914, and 1919, it is seen that the males have decreased 
 by 12 per cent, since 1911, and by 11 per cent, since the year ended 30tli June, 1914. 
 It would seem, then, that the marked decrense is purely a ^^ar effect, and as such will 
 probably rectify itself -in the ordinary course of things. Therefore, if an estimate is to 
 be made of the number of employees in rural industries Who arc likely to be affected by 
 a living wage declared for them, the estimate should be based rather on the pre-war 
 numbers than those relating to the 30th June. 1919. 
 
 For this purpose it is necessary to distinguish between the employers, the workers on 
 their own account, the persons assisting but not receiving wages, and the Wage-earners, 
 who are comprised in the 147,000 males who were recorded at the Census, 1911, as 
 engaged in agricultural and pastoral pursuits. The following table shows the number 
 in each grade, subdivided according to age : — 
 
 Table III. 
 
 Census of New South Wcdev, 1911. 
 
 Males engaged in Agricultural and Pastoral pursuits enumerated according 
 to grade and age. 
 
 Occupation and Grade. 
 
 Agricultural Pursuits — 
 
 Employer 
 
 Working on own account 
 
 Assisting, and not receiving 
 
 wages 
 
 Wages or salary earner 
 
 Unem ploj^ed 
 
 Not specified 
 
 Age Group. 
 
 Under 14. 
 
 1,148 
 
 743 
 
 5 
 
 23 
 
 Total 1,919 
 
 Pastoral Pursuits — 
 
 Employer 
 
 Working on own account 
 
 Assisting, and not receiving 
 
 wages 
 
 Wage or salary earner 
 
 Unemployed 
 
 Not specified 
 
 644 
 
 972 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 Total 1,624 
 
 15-19. 
 
 20-59. 
 
 Unspeci- 
 flixloge. 
 
 All ag^es. 
 
 Ill 
 
 172 
 
 4,550 
 
 0,317 
 
 119 
 
 409 
 
 15,027 
 9,600 
 
 4,644 
 
 21,822 
 
 604 
 
 4,612 
 
 10,678 
 
 55,859 
 
 2,672 
 2,435 
 
 94 
 1,814 
 
 96 
 1,474 
 
 8,585 
 
 60 
 81 
 
 2,500 
 
 6,262 
 
 100 
 
 50 
 
 94: 
 
 62 
 
 32 
 
 296 
 
 3 
 
 71 
 
 17.904 
 12,269 
 
 10,468 
 
 29,992 
 
 827 
 
 6,139 
 
 558 I 77,599 
 
 11,716 
 6,282 
 
 2.302 
 
 29,188 
 
 790 
 
 1,837 
 
 2,178 
 1,153 
 
 53 
 
 2,463 
 
 96 
 
 549 
 
 9,053 
 
 52,115 6,492 
 
 58 
 35 
 
 14,012 
 7,551 
 
 13 5,512 
 
 312 I 39,197 
 
 3 I 993 
 
 19 I 2,459 
 
 440 
 
 69,724 
 
 The table might be extended to those engaged in the capture of wild animals and their 
 produce, in fisheries, in forestry, and in water conservation and supply. It will, perhaps, 
 be sutlicient to say that these classes respectively included about 800. 500. 5,(t00 and 
 2,000 wage and salary earners of all ages. 
 
 Disregarding for the moment those whose grade was not stated or specified. Table 111 
 shows that the hired labour foive of all ages was about 69,000, and the unemi)l()ved 
 nearly 2,000. Of the 09.000, about .31,000 were bctw.-en 20 and 60 years of age, and some 
 3.000 of these Were in their 21 st ycp.v. Included in 1 ho 69.000 were some 250 farm maii.ipers 
 or overseers, 150 agricultural officials, 3.000 station managers, overseers, or clerks. 200 
 stock and brands officials, and 400 wool classeis or sorters. Of these 4.<M)(t. about 12 
 per cent, were either less than 20 or more than 60 years of age. E.xcluding males of 
 these callings, there remain about ().">.0(I0 w.^'y earners, of whom ^ibout. -1S.(M)0 were 
 between the ages of 20 and (50, and ai)out 45,000 were adults under the age ()f 6(1. 
 
 It is difficult to place the 8,500 " not specified," who form about 6 per cent, of the 
 total. Probably the wage earner would be somewhat more likely to omit details than 
 the employer. Perhaps 9 or 10 })er cent, would give a more likely number to add to the 
 number graded as wage earner. The number of adult male wage earners under iho age 
 of 60 Would then be about 49,000. 
 
 The figures still include shearers, harvest workers, and other casual hands whose 
 occujiations wjrc )-ural to such an iwtent thut they wore included in the agriiMiltiir.il and 
 pastoral groups of the Census by tlu^ Commonwealth Statistician. The State StiMisueian 
 numbers these at between 20,000 and 30,000. The proportion of members of these
 
 80 
 
 itinerant classes, -whose ages lay between 20 and 60, -wonld be considerably greater than 
 in the case of the permanent farm or station hands. Therefore, using the Census figures, 
 it would appear that louglily 30,000 adult males under the age of 60 were permanent 
 wage-earning employees on farms and stations. The following table forms an attempt 
 to sununarisc the foregoing facts and FUggestions : — 
 
 Table IV. 
 Rou(Ui Estimate of Constitution of Male Agricultural and Pastoral Breadwinners of New 
 
 South Wales at Census, 1911. 
 
 Eraploj'crs 
 
 Workers on own account 
 
 Salary earners 
 
 Wage earners, permanent hands 
 
 Wage carnei's, casual hands (including 
 
 shearers and harvest workers) 
 
 Unemployed 
 
 Persons assisting 
 
 Total 
 
 Adnhs under 
 CO ycaro of age. 
 
 Others. 
 
 Total, 
 
 28,000 
 
 17,000 
 
 3,500 
 
 30,000 
 
 19,000 
 2,000 
 6,500 
 
 5,000 
 
 4.000 
 
 500 
 
 19,000 
 
 2,000 
 
 10,500 
 
 33,000 
 
 21,000 
 
 4,000 
 
 49,000 
 
 21,000 ■ 
 2,000 
 17,000 
 
 106,000 
 
 41.000 
 
 147,000 
 
 In addition to the wage earners included in Table IV, there aTc those engaged in the 
 cajiture of wild animals and their produce, fislaing, forestry and water supply referred to 
 above, some of whom would doubtless be affected by a declaration of the living wages to 
 be paid to rural workers. 
 
 As regards female wage, earners. Table I shows that their number is comparatively 
 small. The State Statistician explains the large numbers shown in Table II as follows : 
 "■ In agriculture and in the dairying industry large numbers of females are returned as 
 engaged in those industries. These females, however, are only partly emploj'ed, the 
 greater part of their time being devoted to domestic duties." 
 
 It is impossible to split up the estimated 30,000 adult wage earners under the age 
 of 60 among the various sections of rural enterprise. The following schedule will show 
 how the figures are affected by overlapping of the sections : — 
 
 Table V. 
 M.'VLE =i in Rural Occupations in New South Wa.les. 
 
 Commonwealth Census Returns of 
 Jiales engaged. 
 
 Annual Returns by State Statistician of Males 
 Permaiiently Engaged. 
 
 Industry. 
 
 Number in 
 1911. 
 
 Industry. 
 
 Xiimber in Number in 
 1911. 1 1918. 
 
 Farming 
 
 Market gardening. . . . 
 
 Fruit growing 
 
 Horticulture 
 
 jMiscellaneous crops 
 Agricultural officer . 
 Others 
 
 Total 
 
 Pastoral 
 
 Dairying 
 
 Poultry 
 
 Pigs ..' 
 
 Bees 
 
 Wool-classcrs . 
 Stock officer ... 
 Others 
 
 Total 
 
 57,491 
 
 5^491 
 
 40,008 
 27,449 
 
 1,600 
 
 69,057 
 
 47,858 
 
 47,858 
 
 40.988 
 21,071 
 
 2,632 
 
 64,691
 
 81 
 
 One might uc~.tily infer by ccrapcring tlie totals for tlio first gr-.up that there were in 
 1911 about 20,000 persona casually engaged in agricultural pursuits, and by comparing 
 "Pastoral" together with " Wool-classcrs " and others, that there were more than 
 4,000 persons casually engaged in pastoral pursuits. But by comparing " Dairying " it 
 appears 4,000 odd must be deducted from the 20,000 and the 4,000 just mentioned, and 
 it is impossible to say in what proportions. There is room here for imjjroved co-ordina- 
 tion by the Commonwealth and State Statisticia,ns. Perhaps, too, there are sources of 
 knowledge available to the additional Commissioners of the Board as representatives of 
 associations of enterprises or of employees in primary production, which, if tested, 
 would throw some light on the relative numbers of permanent and casual hands engaged 
 in the various rural occupations. 
 
 In Table III the numbers in each grade have been given according to age for the 
 two group*s, " Agricultural " and " Pastoral," the latter of which includes " Dairying." 
 Similar details are not available for the sections of these groups in the case of the 
 different Stat-es, but they are given by the Commonwealth Statistician for the 
 Commonwealth as a whole. The following table shows these details arranged as 
 percentages applicable to the Commonwealth. There is no doubt that the percentages 
 in this State would be very like these. 
 
 Table VI. 
 
 Percentages according to Grade of Occupation of iMales engaged in various sections of 
 Rural Occupations in the Commonwealth at Census, 1911 : — 
 
 ' 
 
 
 Percentage 
 
 of all Males engaged 
 
 in the Industry of— 
 
 
 Grade of Oocui)atior. 
 
 Fanning. 
 
 Orchard- 
 ing. 
 
 Market 
 Garden- 
 ing. 
 
 Horti- 
 culture. 
 
 Grazing. 
 
 Dairying. 
 
 Poultry 
 liaising. 
 
 Enterprisers — 
 
 Employing hired 
 labour 
 
 per cent. 
 
 28 
 16 
 
 8 
 
 7 
 
 27 
 14 
 
 per cent. 
 
 25 
 20 
 
 4 
 4 
 
 * 
 
 31 
 
 10 
 
 per cent. 
 
 20 
 29 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 • * 
 
 35 
 12 
 
 per cent. 
 
 13 
 
 19 
 
 1 
 2 
 
 « 
 
 44 I 
 21 
 
 per cent. 
 
 20 
 
 G 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 47 
 
 17 
 
 per cent. 
 
 20 
 22 
 
 7 
 9 
 
 * 
 
 19 . 
 
 17 
 
 per cent. 
 13 
 
 Not emplojing hired 
 labour 
 
 02 
 
 Persons assisting — 
 
 Adults under age 60 
 • Others 
 
 2 
 
 Salary earners 
 
 * 
 
 Wage earners — Adults 
 under age 60 
 
 Others 
 
 12 
 
 s 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 100 : 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 100 
 
 100 1 
 
 1 
 
 100 
 
 
 
 *Le88 than } per cent.
 
 82 
 
 APPENDIX No. 2. 
 
 N.S.W. BOARD OF TRADE. 
 
 1919. 
 
 Rural Survey. 
 
 1. Name Owner, Manager, Employee . 
 
 (Strike out wrong claasilication.) 
 
 2. Full Address 
 
 '.i. Business 
 
 4. Experience 
 
 5. Tenure and Use of Land 
 
 6. Hands employed during past year : — Permanent Casual 
 
 7. Character of provisions of — 
 
 Board 
 
 Rations 
 
 Lodging 
 
 Other Shelter 
 
 8. Name and conditions of privileges or payments in kind, n.e.i. 
 
 9. Ho vv' are wages paid ? 
 
 10. What are the ruling district rates of wages?. 
 
 11. Are wages of constant hands payable : — 
 
 (a) For holidaj's taken? 
 
 (6) For intervals pf involuntary idleness? 
 
 (c) For wet days? 
 
 12. What holidays are granted? 
 
 13. To what extent have wage rates varied since beginning of war?. 
 
 14. Can you produce records or accounts evidencing the cost of liWng? 
 
 15. Weekly cost (a) per adult employee to employer; (b) for whole family in the cas8 
 
 of a married employee, of : — 
 
 Groceries s cl. Vegetables s d. 
 
 Bread s d. Boots s d. 
 
 Milk s d. Clothing and Drapery .s d. 
 
 Mea,t ^ d. Other Items s d. 
 
 Ifi. Estimate the percentage by which costs have increased (a) during past 12 months ; 
 (6) during the period of the war, of : — • 
 
 Housing (rt) {h) 
 
 Domestic Equipment (a) (b) 
 
 Food(«) (b) 
 
 17. In what respect has the dietarj' of employees varied during the period of the war? 
 
 18. Will you undertake to keep records of the cost of living'?. 
 
 19. Will you give e^'idence on oath?
 
 83 
 
 
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 84 
 
 APPENDIX No. 3. 
 
 [Report by Stuiisticul Officer.] 
 
 RURAL SURVEY, 1919. 
 
 Spmmary of Results of Tabulation by Government Statistician. 
 
 1. The Govenim?nt Statistician in forwarding on the 14th November, 1919, the tabu- 
 lation of the Rural Survey cards makes the following observations : — 
 
 As you will see from the tabulation, the results do not appear to be very satis- 
 factory, as the cards were not filled in carefully, a large proportion of the headings 
 being " not stated." 
 
 Under headings 10 and 12, the actual particulars returned are shown, as it was 
 very difficult to deduce satisfactory averages from them. 
 
 2. Numbers of Employers and Employees in Districts. — The employers visited were 
 farmers, graziers, dairy-farmers, and orchardistir. The numbers of businesses and per- 
 manent and casual employees in each district were as follows : — 
 
 Number of 
 JJusincss. 
 
 Number of Eiriployccs 
 
 Casual. 
 
 North 
 
 North Coast 
 
 27 
 30 
 65 
 56 
 
 32 
 
 66 
 
 201 
 130 
 
 39 
 19 
 
 iSouth- west 
 
 366 
 
 West 
 
 312 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 178 
 
 435 
 
 736 
 
 Ave ii."j;( . 
 
 ... 
 
 2-4 
 
 4-1 
 
 
 
 3. Experience of Einployers. — The length of experience of the employers in their 
 occupations was as follows : — 
 
 Experience. Number of 
 
 Employers. 
 Less than 10 years <7 
 
 Over 10 and less than 20 years 34 
 
 Over 20 years 130 
 
 Not stated 7 
 
 178 
 
 4. Nature and Frequency of Privileges and Payments in Kind. — A cla3sification of nature 
 and frequency of the privileges or payments in kind is sho^vn in detail in the foUov.iug 
 schedule : —
 
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 03 
 
 
 !«• 
 
 c 3 5 t^ r- 
 
 ;- C; J- 35^= .= 
 
 
 •no 
 
 near 
 
 »D JO ox 
 
 00 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 86 
 
 It will bo noted that two-thirds of the employees in the Northern dititriets received no 
 privilogC'H or ])fi,ymcnts in kind, and the concessions to the others were of a comparatively 
 insignificant order. In the North Coast district, run for hor.so was given in 3 cases, the 
 same i)rivilcgc together with milk in 3 cases, and in 2 cases butter and eggs were given 
 There were 11 oases where vegetable and milk, and 20 cases where fruit was provided. 
 On the whole it may be said that the })rivileges and payments in kind current on the 
 North Coast were of but slight value. In the South-west and West districts the great 
 majority of the emploj^ees received some concession, and the privileges and payments in 
 kind were often of a very substantial character. The average value of the j)rivileges 
 and payments was calculated for the South-west and West districts. For married male 
 between 21 and 60 it was 6s. 7d. per week in the former, and 4s. per week in the latter 
 district. More details are given on page 36. 
 
 5. Periodicity of Wage Payments. — Weekly, fortnightly, and monthly payments were 
 of about equpj frequency, both for permanent and casual employees. On the whole, 
 however, payments were most frequently made as required. The following table shows 
 the figures in somewhat greater detail : — 
 
 Period of Payment. 
 
 Num 
 
 ber of ICmployces (Permanent and C 
 
 asual). 
 
 North. 
 
 North Coast. 
 
 South-west. 
 
 West. 
 
 Weekly, fortnightly, or monthly 
 
 Quart? rly 
 
 10 
 
 3 
 
 12 
 
 46 
 
 57 
 
 12 
 13 
 
 63 
 
 500 
 
 245 
 5 
 
 When required 
 
 198 
 
 Not stated 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 71 
 
 82 
 
 563 
 
 448 
 
 
 
 
 6. Elding District Rates of Wages. — The ruling rates given for general farm hands are 
 as follows : — In the North, sixteen employers gave rates for permanent hands varjdng 
 from 30s. to 40s. per week, and, in the case of one lucerne farmer, 53s. per week, these 
 amounts being the actual money wages paid, and being generally in addition to keep. 
 The average, excluding the lucerne farmer, was 35s. 7d. per week. The rates for casual 
 hands varied from 8s. to 12s. per day, the average being 9s. 6d. per day. In the North 
 Coast districts the rates for permanent hands given show a great range. They vary 
 from 7s. 6d. to 15s. per day. Weekly rates were quoted at from 17s. 6d. to 40s. per week 
 Four rates for married couples were quoted, viz., £96 per annum, 47s. 6d. per week 
 (£123 10s. per annum full time), £18 8s. per month (£221 per annum full time), and £25 per 
 month (£300 per annum full time). For casual employees the rates quoted varied from 
 7s. to 14s. per day, the average rate being about 9s. 6d. per day. In the South-west 
 district the rates varied from 30s. and keep to 40s. and keep, the average quotation 
 being about 34s. 6d. Without keep the rates given were 48s., 50s., and 00s. Casual 
 employees were paid from 8s. to 10s. per day. In the West district, rates with keep for 
 general hands ranged from 30s. to 48s. ])er week, the average quotation being about 
 33s. 6d. Without keep the rates varied from 42s. to 60s., the average of the quotations 
 being nearly 54s. Orehardists' hands were paid from 7s. to 9s. per day, the usual figure 
 being 8s. v.-ithout keep. The following rates were also given in the West district : — 
 
 Harvest hands 54s. to 60s. and keep. 
 
 Threshing machines 48s. to 60s. and keep. 
 
 7. Variatio7i in Wages since beginning of War. — In the North the average increase 
 was given as 22^per c?nt. ; in the North" Coast as 42 per cent. ; in the South-west at Ss- 
 per week; and in the West as 9s. Id. per week. 
 
 8. Employers vAo pay for Holidays taken. Involuntary Idleness, and Wet Days. — 
 
 Payment for Holidays taken 
 
 Yes 
 
 No 
 
 Not stated 
 
 Total 
 
 North. \ North Coast. 
 
 1 South-west. 
 
 West. 
 
 4 
 
 "p. 
 
 Em- 
 ployees 
 affected. 
 
 Em- 
 ployers. 
 
 tr.-6 
 
 Em- 
 ployers. 
 
 Em- 
 ployees 
 affected. 
 
 ■p. 
 
 OS'S 
 
 Hog 
 P.e8 
 
 17-51 
 10 20 
 
 27 I 71 
 Payment for Involuntary Idleness and Wet Davs — 
 
 Yes - ^ 
 
 No 
 
 Notstated i 10 
 
 Tot.al ~27 
 
 22 
 
 52 
 
 57 
 
 149 
 
 50 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 8 
 
 48 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 30 
 
 6 
 
 68 
 
 65 
 
 
 
 197 
 
 56 
 
 121 
 15 
 
 136 
 
 1 2 
 
 3 
 
 13 
 
 37 
 
 62 
 
 196 
 
 56 
 
 1 15 
 
 48 
 
 4 
 
 15 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 10 
 
 20 
 
 13 
 
 16 
 
 68 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 27 
 
 71 
 
 30 
 
 65 
 
 197 
 
 56 
 
 136 
 
 136
 
 9. Holidays granted. — In the North district one employer stated that he gave his 
 employees fourteen days during the year. No other em])loyer irave information. In tlie 
 North Coast district one employer £;ave iioiidays as the public service provides. No 
 other employer gave information. In the South-west district 5.3 out of 6.5 employers 
 gave " any reasonable time," 4 gave twelve days annually, I the Christmas holidays, 2 
 gave eight to ten daj-s, 1 gave one day, and 4 gave no information. In the West district 
 28 gave " any reasonable time," and 28 gave various periods from the Ciiristmas holidays 
 Qr four or five days up to fourteen days. 
 
 Excluding the indefinite description, " any reasonable time," the West district showed 
 by far the most liberal concessions of this kind. 
 
 The information under this heading may be considered in connection with that given 
 under the preceding, whic^h shows that payments for holiday.^, involuntary idleness, and 
 wet days, were made almost universally in the West district, in the majority of cases 
 in the South-west and North Coast districts, and far less liberally in the North district. 
 
 10. Conjugal Condition and Age of Permanent Employees. — In all districts information 
 was given with regard to 166 .single employees and 181 married employees. Practically 
 no information in regard to ago was given in the North district. The information given 
 has been combined for all districts as follows : — 
 
 Age and Conjugal Condition of Permanent Employees. 
 
 Age. 
 
 Number of Permanent Employees. 
 
 
 
 
 Single. 
 
 Married. 
 
 Under 14 
 
 1 
 
 
 Under 14 
 
 6 
 
 
 18-20 
 
 21 
 
 i 
 
 21-24 
 
 20 
 
 4 
 
 2.5-34 
 
 38 
 
 40 
 
 3.5-^4 
 
 25 
 
 51 
 
 4.5-o4 
 
 20 
 
 40 
 
 55-59 
 
 12 
 
 8 
 
 60 and over 
 
 7 
 16 
 
 12 
 
 Not stated 
 
 25 ' 
 
 
 
 21-59 
 
 115 
 
 143 
 
 
 
 All Ages 
 
 166 
 
 181 
 
 
 
 Thus it appears that nearly 45 per cent, of the permanent employees between ages 21 
 and 60 were unmarried. 
 
 11. Families.— The ages of the children were not given on the cards for thi* North 
 district, nor in 45 per cent, of the cases on the cards for the West district. The informa- 
 tion, where stated, has been combined for all districts as follows : — 
 
 Number of Children 
 under 14 in Family. 
 
 Total Number o( 
 Children. 
 
 The average family per married male was, therefore, nearly 2-2, and, using the figures r{ 
 the preceding paragraph, the average family per male between ages 21 luid (iO wa^ Ic-^s 
 than 1, and the average family ixt male of 18 years and over was less than 08.
 
 8S 
 
 12. Period of Employment ivith Present ?Jmploiier. — The period of cmijloyment with 
 present employer -was, the figures show, not dependent to a largo extent en conjugal 
 condition. The figxircs are Buramarised as follows : — 
 
 Nnmhpr of 
 Permanent 
 EmployBes. 
 
 Period of Employment. 
 
 Percentage- 
 total. 
 
 Under 1 year 
 
 1 year 
 
 2 years 
 
 3 years 
 
 4 years 
 
 5-9 years 
 
 10 years and over. 
 Not stated 
 
 Total 
 
 86 
 41 
 -57 
 ?A) 
 25 
 49 
 35 
 18 
 
 25 
 12 
 17 
 10 
 7 
 14 
 10 
 
 347 
 
 100 
 
 13. Didance of Employee from Occw^ai^o??.— Negligible information. 
 Classification of Housing or other shelter provided. 
 
 Kind of Shelter. 
 
 XuTTiber of Employees. 
 
 Korth 
 Coast. 
 
 South- 
 west. 
 
 House .. 
 
 1 room . 
 
 2 rooms. 
 3 
 4 
 5 
 
 7 
 8 
 Quarters 
 
 1 room in employer's house . 
 
 2 rooms in employer's house 
 
 Hut ". 
 
 Tent 
 
 Bam 
 
 Canvas room 
 
 In course of erection 
 
 Nil 
 
 Not stated 
 
 Total. 
 
 Eight employers provide 
 houses in tifteen cases 
 for permanent em- 
 ployees, and in three 
 cases the employees 
 live with the family. 
 
 . Details not given as 
 to number of rooms in 
 house. 
 
 24 
 5 
 7 
 8 
 
 10 
 1 
 4 
 1 
 
 26 
 
 39 
 27 
 5 
 3 
 1 
 1 
 2 
 
 7 
 17 
 
 1 
 17 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 10 
 
 92 
 
 143 
 
 14. Hours Worked. — North District — ^Houxs given in one case only, viz., 48 hours per 
 week. 
 
 North Coast District. — rTwelve employees worked 48. hours per week, one worked 53, 
 crue worked 72, two had no fixed hours, and the rest are classed '" not stated." 
 
 South-west District. — It was stated that seventeen employees worked less than 48 
 hours, 110 employees worked 48 hours, twenty-five worked 50 hours, eleven worked 52, 
 sixteen worked 54 hours. The average weeldy period worked was 48-7 hours. No 
 information was given for per cent, of the employees. ' 
 
 West District. — It was stated the.t eight employees worked less than 48 hours, seventy- 
 nine worked 48 hours, one worked 49 hours, fortj^-two worked 50 hours, and twelve 
 worked from 52 to 56 hours. The average weekly period worked was 48-9 hours. No 
 information wa3 given for 6 per cent, of the employees. 
 
 15. Wage Time Lo^t Durrncj the Year. — For.the North and North Coast, no informa,tion 
 was given. In the South-west and West districts, time was lost in the case of five 
 employees out of 287 stated. The period varied from 15 to 44 days. There were also 
 five who lost time through voluntary idleness. 
 
 16. Areraqe Income. — In the North district wages are shown, but the value of keep 
 has not been chstributed according to the headings. 
 
 In the North Coast district the value ofkeepis said to be 80s. to 25s. per week. From 
 ten employers' cards the average value of keep is 21s. 5d. per week. In the South-west 
 and West districts details are given, which have been tabulated as follows I —
 
 89 
 
 
 
 ! 
 
 ' 
 
 . -3 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 5^ ci 
 
 o~ : o : o" o~ : 
 
 
 
 
 
 S 
 
 o» ■* o 
 
 
 ra- . 
 
 : , : '. / 
 
 
 
 
 
 s (-• 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 c3 ?^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 o : t» CO o o * 
 
 
 
 
 m ! 
 
 g° 
 
 , i-pt e«5 lO 
 
 
 
 "5) 
 
 t ! 
 
 CJ 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■rs 
 
 
 
 
 -n 
 
 
 1 
 
 i-- : ~ — . X c: : 1 
 
 
 t 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 -< CO o 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 p 
 
 
 
 b. 
 
 oo" : m" -H oj o : 
 
 
 ■f 
 
 
 
 'M 
 
 — < •NO 
 
 
 "^ 
 
 
 
 60 ftiid 
 over. 
 
 12/0 
 
 3/- 
 
 2/6 
 36/- 
 
 54/- 
 
 
 
 TJ 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 CC C5 . O 02 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 5 
 
 ■^^^ ^-^ "-^^ ^^ '^^^ "^-^ • 
 
 
 
 'S 
 
 eo 
 
 
 r- 'N ic -t o >o : 
 
 
 
 § 
 
 <! 
 
 c-i 
 
 ■"S- o 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 r; 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^_^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 c t: 
 
 ^v • ^^ ^L ^^ ^^ • 
 
 
 
 
 
 C3 y 
 
 o : CO «5 ^ >o : 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 o S 
 to ^ 
 
 =5 
 
 ^ CO lO 
 
 
 1 1 1 1 I 
 
 
 
 "S) 
 
 to 
 
 1 
 
 o" : CO w t~ <N : 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 -fl 
 
 53 
 
 (N CO-: CO 
 
 
 u 
 
 . • ■ ^ ^ . 
 
 
 *u 
 
 
 
 '^ 
 
 o~ : ^^ w o o : 
 
 
 
 
 
 rj 
 
 C-4 CO >o 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 T3 . 
 
 o 
 
 ".It' fH 50 -* •* •* 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 
 rt ? 
 
 CO «j (N CO 00 e<5 : 
 
 s 
 
 
 
 §o 
 
 -H (NO 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 s 
 
 -^s 
 
 
 ci 
 
 ^1 O Ol o t^ t^ 
 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 oa 
 
 in 
 
 
 
 'fl 
 
 
 SO 
 
 1 
 
 OO"" r-i lO O 00 05 : 
 
 
 
 
 P 
 
 • < < < < . 
 
 
 
 
 
 '^ 
 
 ; o c^i t-^ >s J 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ol 
 
 CO ■* 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 t^ 
 
 
 
 
 •>jooAV Joil -pc pxr- s! tIo.i:i 
 
 
 p c 
 
 
 
 
 JO OniB.V r)St!J>1.\B 01(4 '?.)0AOI(llH.) .'iJltllS 
 
 
 ^^ *n 
 
 
 
 
 pur pouivui u30M)dix .unnuaj.ijjip 
 
 
 x"5? 
 
 
 
 
 '40U op' iiJiqAV 'spnrj) .sid.iioiiluiH 
 
 
 i-^ 
 
 
 
 
 unj iniuj '•>p.).^\ j.)cl -sc;: oj -sOo , 
 
 
 \^ 
 
 
 
 
 aq o} il,)o.M JO >tii|U.v ,)i(} a\oi|u sjunibuj 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 r s 
 
 
 *M 
 
 
 
 
 -saaipsoii 
 
 
 "S 
 
 
 
 
 oiii OJ 8njp.ioa:)B pojnqujsip ii.iiKi 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 lint svi| (l.i.i>i JO onfPA oqi jnq ti.«oi|8 1 
 
 
 j= 
 
 
 
 
 aai: tio3B,v\ su: pu« 'I!: 'Oi: '«o wr. 
 
 
 c 
 
 
 
 
 fcauipudii aoj spiti.) oiu uo iKiAjii .jiijua o^ 
 
 
 'i^ 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 i ^ = 
 
 : 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ," 
 
 
 o '-* : 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 
 *^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 >1 
 
 
 Ig or She 
 
 ges or 
 kind. 
 Wages , 
 
 +-»■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ff 
 
 a ■ 
 
 C 
 
 
 "o 
 
 
 
 
 the 
 ard 
 tion 
 dgin 
 
 s in 
 mcy 
 
 tal 
 
 her 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 a. 
 
 
 
 
 •^ J. p p3 H^J fU g S H C 1 
 
 
 *E 
 
 
 
 
 ^, .^^ ^ ^ ^?^ ■— -- 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 J'-Soo C3 o — CfN eo Tj 1 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 ^Jj C) Ol CO CO CO CO CO 
 
 
 fi 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 < 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 S8 
 
 « Pi? 
 O g 
 
 is X " ^ 
 
 -».:J at '^ 
 
 CCJ -3. 
 
 — » II - g 
 
 p f3 ? X 
 
 ti'=' ■•■' '"•&. 
 £« e g — 
 
 — ? c ^=^ 
 
 ■io ill's 
 
 2 *; ~ as a 
 
 c S"^ >'^ 
 c — i* fc ^^ 
 
 — i =- y 
 ■3 & *^ o *i 
 
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 £ o ;►•" >• 
 
 •a— 5 c5 
 
 r' '^ = I - S 
 ^ ^ S OC — "I 
 
 ctJ c « c 
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 c| S
 
 90 
 
 APPENDIX No. 4. 
 
 13th December, 1920. 
 
 REPORT BY STATISTICAL OFFICER. 
 Wages and Pkices of Food in New South Wales from 1823 to 1920. 
 
 The follo-vrtng tables have been prepared With a view to tracing the relation of the 
 wages of agricultural labourers to those of craftsmen, from an early date in the history 
 of New South Wales, until the present time, and for the purpose of comparing wages 
 throughout this period of nearly a century with the cost of a certain quantity of food. 
 
 Tliere are certain statistical difficulties in the problem of representing by means of 
 abstract numbers the course of either Wages or prices over a long period of time, which 
 Cannot be entirely surmounted. It is not possible to represent perfectly by means of 
 abstract numbers the course of the price of a specific quantity of even a single article, 
 or the course of the wage of one particular type of labour over a period of time, unless 
 the qualities of the article or the qualities of the labour of Which the price is stated are 
 absolutely constant during the period. Nothing is constant. A bushel of wheat weighs 
 perhaps 56 lb. one year and 62 lb. the next. The average meat eaten about the year 1830, 
 was much inferior to the average meat eaten during recent decades, since refrigeration 
 and cheap ocean transport began, about forty years ago, to make the world one market 
 with universally recognised standards of quality. Even in the early nineties the bulk 
 of the butter consumed was salt, and in times not much farther from our oWn the com- 
 monest quality of moist sugar was usually found on the tables of the people. As regards 
 labour, even if precise information were available with regard to the working day of a 
 Wage-earning blacksmith from the earliest times, the nature of his work could not be 
 regarded as constant. His work has been divided as industry has developed. The 
 demand for certain divisions of him has increased and for others diminished. 
 
 If such considerations tend to modify the plain arithmetical meaning of a column 
 of figures purporting to represent the course of the price of one article or of one type of 
 labour, how much greater are the modifications of meaning of a column of figures which 
 may pretend to represent the course of j^rices in general or of wages as a whole. Is it 
 possible to generalise the price of commodities or of labour? Certainly not for those 
 early times with regard to which the data are so meagre. The generalised Wage for any 
 year would be the average wage of all labour, found by weighting the wage in each class 
 in proportion to the numbers engaged in that class. For the generalised price of com- 
 modities and services might be taken the average price of all commodities and services 
 consumed by an average unit of population, found by weighting each according to the 
 quantity consumed. But services are difficult to measure, and the age constitution of 
 the population varies, so that the average unit is variable. The science of statistics has 
 advanced during the scientific renascence of our times, but not far enough yet to 
 make it possible to prepare quickly such series of truly representative numbers. 
 
 The following tables have been prepared on a simpler and far less satisfactory basis. 
 They have, nevertheless, a meaning. An idea of the trend of wages and prices during 
 the period can be gathered from them. The first column of Wages shows the average 
 wages in terms of the currency of the year of four types of craftsmen, viz., carpenters, 
 brickla3'ers, masons, and blacksmiths, from the year 1823 onwards. The second shows 
 the average wages of labourers and navA-ies from the yea.r 1872, and the third the average 
 wages of farm labourers from 1823 to 1900, with the exception of the years of the gold 
 fever, for which the wages of this class are not given in the year books. From the year 
 1901 onwards the wages of boundary riders, milkers, and shearers, are shown as Well as 
 those of farm labourers. The sources of this information are the official year books of 
 the State, and for the later years the publication of the Commonwealth Statistician. 
 and supplementary matter courteously provided by Mr. H. A. Smith, the present Govern- 
 ment Statistician. Our knowledge of prices and wages during the earlier years of the 
 history of the State is due largely to the research undertaken by Sir T. A. Coghlan. The 
 volumes entitled " The Wealth and Progress of NeW South Wales," particularly those 
 or 1893 and 1898-9, contain most valuable records.
 
 91 
 
 Table I. 
 Wages in New South Wales from 1823 to 1920. 
 
 
 Daily Wages, without Wcelily Wages, with board 
 
 Piece rate 
 per 100 
 sheep. 
 
 
 board or lodging, of — 
 
 and lodging or rations, of — 
 
 Year. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Craftsmen(l). 
 
 Labourers, 
 and Xavvies. 
 
 Boundary 
 Riders. 
 
 Farm 
 Labourers(2). 
 
 Milkera. 
 
 Shearers. 
 
 
 s. d. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 S. d. 
 
 g. d. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 1823 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 8 
 
 
 
 1833 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 8 8 
 
 
 
 1835 
 
 6 9 
 
 
 
 
 8 8 
 
 
 
 1836 
 
 6 11 
 
 
 
 
 8 8 
 
 
 
 1838 
 
 6 8 
 
 
 
 
 9 7 
 
 
 
 1843 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 5 9 
 
 
 
 1844 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 5 9 
 
 
 1845 
 
 4 1 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 6 11 
 
 
 1846 
 
 5 2 
 
 
 
 
 7 8 
 
 
 
 1847 
 
 5 6 
 
 
 
 
 8 10 
 
 
 
 1848 
 
 5 3 
 
 
 
 
 8 1 
 
 
 
 1849 
 
 4 9 
 
 
 
 
 6 U 
 
 
 
 1850 
 
 4 6 
 
 
 
 
 6 11 
 
 
 1851 
 
 6 8 
 
 
 
 
 7 8 
 
 
 
 1852 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 10 9 
 
 
 
 1853 
 
 14 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1854 
 
 23 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 1855 
 
 16 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1856 
 
 13 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 1857 
 
 12 9 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 18.58 
 
 10 8 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 
 1859 
 
 9 10 
 
 ... 
 
 . 
 
 
 13 5 
 
 
 
 1860 
 
 10 9 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 13 5 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 1861 
 
 10 8 
 
 
 
 
 13 5 
 
 
 ... 
 
 1862 
 
 10 9 
 
 
 
 
 13 5 
 
 
 ... 
 
 1863 
 
 9 8 
 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 1864 
 
 9 4 
 
 
 
 
 11 6 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 1865 
 
 9 4 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 11 6 
 
 ... 
 
 
 1866 
 
 9 4 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 11 6 
 
 
 
 1867 
 
 9 4 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 11 6 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 1868 
 
 9 4 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 11 6 
 
 
 
 1869 
 
 8 8 1 
 
 
 
 12 3 
 
 
 
 1870 
 
 9 8 
 
 
 
 
 12 9 
 
 
 ... 
 
 1871 
 
 8 8 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 10 9 
 
 
 
 1872 
 
 9 3 
 
 7'"0 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 ... 
 
 1873 
 
 10 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 1874 
 
 10 6 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 ... 
 
 1875 
 
 10 5 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 1876 
 
 11 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 
 ... 
 
 1877 
 
 10 U 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 1878 
 
 10 6 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 
 ... 
 
 1879 
 
 10 6 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 
 
 1880 
 
 10 4 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 
 
 1881 
 
 10 3 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 ... 
 
 
 1882 
 
 11 3 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 17 6 
 
 
 
 1883 
 
 11 3 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 17 f) 
 
 
 
 1884 
 
 11 3 8 
 
 
 
 17 6 
 
 
 ... 
 
 1885 
 
 11 3 8 
 
 
 
 17 f) 
 
 
 
 1886 
 
 10 2 8 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 1887 
 
 10 6 8 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 17 8 
 
 
 
 (1) Average wages of carpenters. bricklayerH. masons, and blacksniltlis. 
 
 (2) Annual rates quoted In olHcial records from 1823 till 1862. The rai 
 
 rato8 iuBerted are got by dividing 
 
 by 52.
 
 92 
 
 Table I — continued. 
 
 
 Daily Wages, without 
 
 Weekly Wages, with board 
 
 
 Piece rate 
 per 100 
 sheep. 
 
 Yrar. 
 
 board or lodging of — 
 
 and lodging or rations, of — 
 
 
 Craft?incii(l). 
 
 Labourers 
 and Navvies. 
 
 Boundary 
 Kiders. 
 
 Farm 
 Labourcrs(2). 
 
 Milkers, 
 
 Shearers. 
 
 
 R. d. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 S. (1. 
 
 8. d. 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 8. d. 
 
 1888 
 
 10 4 
 
 8 
 
 
 17 8 
 
 
 
 
 1889 
 
 10 4 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 15 4 
 
 
 
 
 1890 
 
 9 6 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 15 4 
 
 
 
 
 1891 
 
 9 10 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 15 4 
 
 
 
 
 1892 
 
 9 8 
 
 6 7 
 
 
 
 13 6 
 
 
 
 
 1893 
 
 9 3 
 
 6 3 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 
 1894 
 
 8 10 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 12 6 
 
 
 
 • .. 
 
 1895 
 
 7 8 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 12 6 
 
 
 
 • •• 
 
 1896 
 
 8 8 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 12 6 
 
 
 
 
 1897 
 
 8 10 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 13 6 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 1898 
 
 9 
 
 6 6 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 • .- 
 
 1899 
 
 9 4 
 
 6 9 
 
 
 
 13 6 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 1900 
 
 10 2 
 
 6 10 
 
 
 
 16 3 
 
 
 
 
 1901 
 
 10 3 
 
 6 10 
 
 17" 6 
 
 17 6 
 
 16 
 
 "3 
 
 20' "0 
 
 . 1902 
 
 10 2 
 
 6 11 
 
 17 6 
 
 16 
 
 16 
 
 3 
 
 20 
 
 1903 
 
 10 2 
 
 7 1 
 
 16 
 
 16 
 
 16 
 
 3 
 
 20 
 
 1904 
 
 10 
 
 7 1 
 
 16 
 
 16 
 
 16 
 
 3 
 
 20 
 
 1905 
 
 10 4 
 
 7 
 
 20 
 
 20 
 
 16 
 
 3 
 
 20 
 
 1906 
 
 10 6 
 
 7 1 
 
 17 6 
 
 17 6 
 
 17 
 
 6 
 
 24 
 
 1907 
 
 10 6 
 
 7 1 
 
 17 6 
 
 17 6 
 
 17 
 
 6 
 
 24 
 
 1908 
 
 10 G 
 
 7 1 
 
 18 9 
 
 18 9 
 
 17 
 
 6 
 
 24 
 
 1909 
 
 10 10 
 
 7 5 
 
 21 3 
 
 22 6 
 
 21 
 
 3 
 
 24 
 
 1910* 
 
 11 1 
 
 7 6 
 
 22 6 
 
 22 6 
 
 22 
 
 6 
 
 24 
 
 1911 
 
 11 2 
 
 8 6 
 
 22 6 
 
 22 6 
 
 22 
 
 6 
 
 24 
 
 1912 
 
 11 8 
 
 8 6 
 
 22 6 
 
 22 6 
 
 22 
 
 6 
 
 24 
 
 1913 
 
 11 8 
 
 8 6 
 
 22 6 
 
 22 6 
 
 22 
 
 6 
 
 24 
 
 1914 
 
 11 11 
 
 8 6 
 
 22 6 
 
 22 6 
 
 22 
 
 6 
 
 24 
 
 1915 
 
 12 2 
 
 8 10 
 
 22 6 
 
 22 6 
 
 22 
 
 6 
 
 24 
 
 1916 
 
 13 
 
 9 3 
 
 22 6 
 
 27 6 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 24 
 
 1917 
 
 13 3 
 
 9 6 
 
 22 6 
 
 27 6 ■ 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 24 
 
 1918 
 
 13 5 
 
 10 
 
 38 6 
 
 35 
 
 36 
 
 6 
 
 30 
 
 1919 
 
 14 5 
 
 12 10 
 
 40 
 
 35 
 
 36 
 
 6 
 
 30 
 
 June. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1920 
 
 17 2 
 
 12 10 
 
 40 
 
 35 
 
 36 
 
 6 
 
 30 
 
 It is regretted that owing to the limitations of time and staff it has not been possible 
 to include a graphical representation of the rates shown i« the preceding table. The 
 following table shows the average of the preceding figures for periods, mostly of live 
 years. A further column is included showing the average price during the corresponding 
 period, of 1 lb. of bread, 1 lb. of fresh beef, 1 oz. of butter, 4 oz. of sugcv, and 1 lb. of 
 potatoes. This simple composite unit of food has an energy value of about 3,000 calories. 
 It does not, of course, represent the usage of a man throughout the century to which the 
 tables refer, for the usage had varied considerably. Professor Thorold Rogers, in his 
 comparisons of wages during six centuries in England, used for the most part the price 
 of wheat as a standard of reference. Sir Robert Giffen, for comparisons which he made, 
 used index-numbers based on the price of meat on the hoof, and other commodities as 
 Well as wheat. Fortunately, We have re^dy at hand, owing to the researches of Sir 
 Timothy Coghlan, the data for a more comprehensive standard. 
 
 (1) Averase wages of carpenters, bricklayers, masons, and blacksmiths. 
 
 (2) Annual rates quoted in official records from 1823 till 1862. The rates inserted are got by dividing 
 by 52. 
 
 •During recent years rates for these craftsmen are given at per hour. The dailv amounts inserted in 
 the table have been derived by multiplying the hourly rate by the ordinary numberof hours of labour per 
 week and dividing by six.
 
 93 
 
 Table II. 
 Average Wages and Cost of Food in New South Wales in Periods (mostly quinquennial) 
 
 from 1823 to 1920. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Weekly 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Daily 
 
 Wacrs 
 
 witliout 
 
 wages with 
 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 
 board and lodging 
 
 hoard and 
 
 Cost of a 
 
 
 Year. 
 
 
 of— 
 
 
 lodging or 
 
 Food lnit(2) 
 
 1 
 
 Rei.'.arKs. 
 
 
 
 
 
 rations of — 
 
 eqnal to 3,000 
 Calories. 
 
 
 Craftsmen ('). 
 
 Labourers 
 
 and 
 Navvies. 
 
 Farm 
 Labourers. 
 
 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 d. 
 
 
 1823 
 
 6 
 6 
 6 
 4 
 5 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 10 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 8 8 
 
 8 8 
 
 9 2 
 (J 2 
 7 8 
 
 10-4 
 8-7 
 9-4 
 6-3 
 6-3 
 
 
 18.33-35 
 
 
 1836-38 
 
 * 
 
 1843-45 
 1846-.50 
 
 > Extreme depression. 
 
 1851-55 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 
 
 11-0 
 
 Gold fever. End of depression. 
 
 1856-60 
 
 11 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 11 
 
 
 12" 7 
 
 11-0 
 9-8 
 
 
 1861-65 
 
 Sir John Robertson's Land 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Act, 1861, threw land open 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 for selection before survey. 
 
 1866-70 
 
 9 
 9 
 
 3 
 
 9 
 
 7 
 
 11 11 
 13 4 
 
 7-7 
 7-2 
 
 
 1871-75 
 
 Beginniuf; of expansive public 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 workK policy and large ex- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 penditure from loans. 
 
 1876-80 
 
 10 
 U 
 
 8 
 1 
 
 7 2 
 
 8 
 
 ' 15 
 17 
 
 8-5 
 8-3 
 
 
 1881-85 
 
 American railway mania. Re- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 frigeration process intro- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 duced, 1881. 
 
 1886-90 
 
 10 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 16 7 
 
 8-2 
 
 Beginning of depression. !\ruch un- 
 employment. Strikes and di.spiites 
 in eoal-iiiining, maritime, and pas- 
 toral indu^'tries. 
 
 1891-95 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 6 7 
 
 13 4 
 
 7-2 
 
 Trades luiionism very active, ]890-i>l. 
 Three months' strike at Broken 
 Hill, 1892. Baring crisis in London 
 Bad harvest in iCnropc. .\ustra- 
 liau banking crisis and American 
 crisis and railway collapsi'. 189:i. 
 
 1896- 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 G 5 
 
 13 11 
 
 6-5 
 
 Marked extension of agricul- 
 
 1900. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ture. 
 
 1901-05 
 
 10 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 17 1 
 
 9-2 
 
 Trade boom in Tnitcd Kingdom 
 al'ont liiOO. Federation con- 
 summated, l'.)01. Industrial Ar- 
 bitration Act, VMM. 116 new 
 trade unions formed in 1!M)1-1. 
 
 1906-10 
 
 10 
 11 
 14 
 
 8 
 9 
 3 
 
 7 3 
 
 8 7 
 10 11 
 
 19 9 
 22 6 
 32 
 
 9-4 
 11-0 
 16-3 
 
 
 1911-15 
 
 
 1916-20 
 
 
 
 
 The foregoing tables show strikingly the effect of the gold discoveries on the wages of 
 craftsmen. From a level of 5a. or 6a. a day, which was, roughly speaking, the standard 
 u]) to the year 1850, there is a jump to a new level of about lOs. a day after the gold fever 
 liad subsided. This level, subject to oscillations of about Is. above and below it, Was 
 maintiiined almost uj) to the years just preceding the recent great War. These sums 
 are, of course, expressed in terms of the currency of the moment. To esfimate ;!Jid 
 compare tlieir jnirciiasing power, the column in Table 11 showing the cost of a simple 
 food unit may be taken as a guide. Prices of this food unit were, in 1880. about tho 
 same as before the extreme depression of the forties. From the year 1S81. which marks 
 the introduction of refrigeration, there was a steady fall in the price of tiiis unit, until 
 it reached a minitnum in tho last quinquennium of the 19th century. ThencofofWard 
 there Was a gr.adual rise inits price, which was vastly accelerated during the war. 
 
 The study of this price table together with world's price index-numbers such as those 
 shown in the Commonwealth Statistician's Industrial Branch Report No. 9, p. 231 and 
 \). 2.35, Report No. 10, ]). 172, and elsewhere (^), shows that (he increase in the total 
 production of gold has had but small etTeet on the prices of cummodlties. The grajih of 
 the total production of gold in Mr. Layton'H " Introduction to tho Study of Prices," 
 
 (1) Average wages of carpenters, bricklayers, masons, and blackfinilths. 
 
 (-) 1 lb. of broad, 1 lb. of fresh beef, 1 oz. of butler. 4 oz. of sugar, and 1 lb. of potntoCS. 
 
 (3) Ji.g., Layton'3 introduction to the Study of I'rlees, 1912 (Cirapli.).
 
 94 
 
 would lose much of its effect if it Were replaced by a graph of the gold production per 
 unit of the gold-consuming (or gold-hoarding) population of the world. In view of the 
 existence of an oriental gold sink of apparently limitless capacity, it would seem wiser 
 to devote some of tlie labour spent in discussion of the gold theory to tiie consideration of 
 some obvious reasons for the price increases which have taken place since the year 1900. 
 
 It has already been noted that the year 1881 marks the beginning of the present era 
 of development of the world's production of food stuffs. During the last four decades 
 both land and ocean transport have developed enormously. Immense areas have during 
 that period been opened up in North America, later in Australia and the Argentine and 
 more recently in (Siberia. From 1880 to 1890 the number of meat-producing animals in 
 the world increased faster than the consuming population; production overtook con- 
 sumption, and prices fell. " In all the history of Europe," says a recent writer (^) 
 " except perhaps in insolated districts during short intervals of time in the Middle Ages, 
 there never Avas such a period of abundance as during the years 1890-1000." Since 
 1900 the meat-producing anipials of the world have, however, increased at a much slower 
 rate than the consuming population (-), and prices have shown a general upward tendency. 
 The years 1894-1900 mark the lowest points of the curve of world's prices {^). The 
 number of cattle, sheep, and pigs, combined into " cattle units " per head of the world's 
 meat-consuming population, decreased between 1901 and 1911 by 2h per cent, in Europe, 
 by 15i per cent in North America, by 1 per cent, in South America, while in Australia it 
 increased by 10 per cent. On the whole, the decrease was about 8 per cent. The decrease 
 in North America, Which was due to the very rapid industrialisation of the United' States, 
 may be seen more clearly by noting that in the five years from 1900 onwards the United 
 States exported more than 60 per cent, of the total of surplus beef supi^lies from all 
 countries, and that the corresponding proportion in 1913 was 2 per cent. During that 
 year, in order to tap other American supplies, the United States tariff duty on butter Was 
 reduced from 6 cents to 2h cents per lb., and the duties on meat, cream, and milk, were 
 entirely removed. The population of the United States is about 100 millions, one-sixth 
 of the meat-consuming population of the world. At the present rate of increase, its 
 increment of population in less than four years is more than the present population of 
 Australia. During the last few months local industrialists have commented unfavourably 
 on the export of butter and eggs from Australia to America, but the fact is that we are 
 competing in a hungry world for our own products. The industrial (non-food producing) 
 populations of the world are increasing, and they are making desperate efforts to maintain 
 and even to raise their standards of living. It is very doubtful whether they will succeed. 
 
 A second striking feature of Table II is the relatively rapid increase in the wages of 
 agricultui'al labourers as compared with the wages of craftsmen and navvies. This is 
 shown more clearly in Table III, which follows : — ■ 
 
 Table III. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Index 
 
 Ratio of Weekly Money Wages 
 
 
 Index Numbers of Nominal 
 
 Wages of — 
 
 Number of 
 
 of Agricultural Labourers 
 
 Year. 
 
 
 
 
 Cost of a 
 
 Simple 
 
 Food Unit. 
 
 to Daily Wages of — 
 
 
 Craftsmen. 
 
 Labourers 
 
 Agricultural 
 
 rs.nffo.v.0., 1 Labourers 
 Craftsmen, j ^^^ Navvies. 
 
 
 
 and Navvies. 
 
 Labourers. 
 
 
 1823 
 
 62 
 
 • .• 
 
 65 
 
 144 
 
 1-44 
 
 ... 
 
 183.3-35 
 
 65 
 
 • ., 
 
 65 
 
 121 
 
 1-37 
 
 
 1836-38 
 
 70 
 
 
 69 
 
 131 
 
 1-34 
 
 ... 
 
 1843-4.5 
 
 44 
 
 
 46 
 
 88 
 
 1-42 
 
 
 1846-50 
 
 51 
 
 
 58 
 
 88 
 
 1-53 
 
 
 1851-55 
 
 144 
 
 ... 
 
 
 153 
 
 
 
 1856-60 
 
 118 
 
 ... 
 
 
 153 
 
 
 
 1861-65 
 
 101 
 
 
 94 
 
 136 
 
 1-27 
 
 ... 
 
 1866-70 
 
 95 
 
 
 90 
 
 107 
 
 1-29 
 
 ... 
 
 *1871-75 
 
 100 
 109 
 
 lOO 
 102 
 
 100 
 112 
 
 100 
 118 
 
 1-37 
 1-41 
 
 i-g'o 
 
 1876-80 
 
 209 
 
 1881-85 
 
 114 
 
 114 
 
 128 
 
 115 
 
 1-53 
 
 2-12 
 
 1886-90 
 
 104 
 
 114 
 
 124 
 
 114 
 
 1-63 
 
 2-07 
 
 1891-95 
 
 93 
 
 94 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 1-47 
 
 203 
 
 1896-1900 
 
 94 
 
 92 
 
 104 
 
 90- 
 
 1-52 
 
 217 
 
 1901-05 
 
 104 
 
 100 
 
 128 
 
 128 
 
 1-68 
 
 2-44 
 
 1906-10 
 
 109 
 
 104 
 
 148 
 
 131 
 
 1-81 
 
 2-72 
 
 1911-15 
 
 121 
 
 123 
 
 169 
 
 153 
 
 1-91 
 
 2-62 
 
 1916-20 
 
 146 
 
 1.56 
 
 240 
 
 226 
 
 2-25 
 
 2-93 
 
 •Taken as standard period. 
 (1) E. W. Shanahan, M.A.. D.Sc., in his book " Animal Food-stuffs," Routledge, 1920. 
 (') H. R. Hooper in Statistical Journal, 1909, p. 316. 
 (') See Knibbs' Industrial Branch Report No. 9, p. 231, and elsewhere.
 
 95 
 
 From 1861 to 1865 the weekly monej' wage nf the a-ririniltural labourer was about 
 1'27 times the daily wage of the craftsman. Hi3 relative position gradually improved 
 until 1891-95, when it suffered a temporary set-back. Thence onwards it recovered the 
 lost ground and still further improved, so that during the five vears ending with the 
 year 1920 his weekly money wage was about 2-25 times the daily wage of the craftsman. 
 The next column of the table shows, moreover, that between the period 1871-75, and the 
 period 1916-20, the ratio of the weekly money wage of the agricultural labourer to the 
 daily wage of the labourer or nav\'y increased from 1-9 to 2-9. 
 
 In the first Interim Report from the Select Goramittce of the Legislative Council on 
 the Agricultural Industry, dated 13th October, 1920, very valuable evidence by .Mr. 
 H. A. Smith, the Goxemment Statistician, is included, which shows that during the last 
 fifty years the rural population of the State has declined from about 50 per cent, to 22 
 per cent, of the total population. The figures may be quoted in another way: — They 
 show that from 1871 till 1919 the total population of the State quadrupled, while the 
 rural population increased by 65 per cent. 
 
 One economic fact has its counterpart in another. The more rapid increase in the 
 wages of the agricultural labourer as compared with the wages of craftsmen and navvies 
 to which attention has been directed in Table III, may be regarded as the counteqiart 
 of the relative diminution of the agricultural population. This seems to be a most 
 important correlation. If the Board's decisions are contrary to economic tendencies 
 they cannot be effective. If, on the other hand, the Board's decisions are in tune with 
 those tendencies, whether they anticipate them or merely conservatively follow them, 
 they are, at any rate, unlikely to cause economic disturbances. 
 
 The next table. Table IV, shows indcx-numters of real wages of the several types, 
 without making any allowance for varying degrees of unemployment during the century, 
 and exhibits the wages as multiples of the food units. The unit provides a daily standard 
 of 3,000 calories, a convenient number from which multiples on any other basis, such 
 for example, as 3,300, can easily be derived. The daily standard being taken as 3,000, 
 the weekly standard is 21,000. The period 1871-75 has been taken as the basis period. 
 
 Table IV. 
 
 
 Index Nun 
 
 ber of Eflcctivc 
 
 Wages of — 
 
 Multiple of Cost of Weekly 
 21.000 Calorics in 
 
 Food Unit of 
 
 Year. 
 
 
 , 
 
 
 Weekly Wages of — 
 
 Weekly 
 
 
 Craftsmen. 
 
 Labourers 
 1 and Navvies. 
 
 i 
 
 Agricultural 
 Labourers. 
 
 * 
 
 
 Money 
 
 
 Craftsmen. 
 
 Labourers 
 or Navvies. 
 
 Wapes of 
 Auricultiiral 
 Labourers. 
 
 1823 
 
 43 
 
 
 45 
 
 5-9 
 
 
 1-4 
 
 1833-35 
 
 54 
 
 
 54 
 
 7-5 
 
 
 1-7 
 
 1836-38 
 
 53 
 
 
 53 
 
 7-5 
 
 
 1-7 
 
 1843-45 
 
 50 
 
 . 
 
 52 
 
 70 
 
 ... 
 
 1-7 
 
 1846-50 
 
 58 
 
 1 
 
 66 
 
 8-1 
 
 
 21 
 
 1851-55 
 
 94 
 
 ! ' 
 
 
 13- 1 
 
 
 
 1856-60 
 
 77 
 
 1 
 
 
 10-7 1 
 
 
 1861-65 
 
 74 
 
 1 
 
 69 
 
 10-4 
 
 '2-2 
 
 1866-70 
 
 89 
 
 
 84 
 
 12-3 
 
 2-7 
 
 1871-75 
 
 100 
 92 
 
 100 
 
 86 
 
 100 
 95 
 
 13-9 100 
 12-9 8-6 
 
 3-2 
 
 1876-80 
 
 3 
 
 1881-85 
 
 99 
 
 99 
 
 111 
 
 13-7 i 9-9 
 
 3-5 
 
 1886-90 
 
 91 
 
 ! 100 
 
 109 
 
 12-8 1 100 
 
 3-5 
 
 1891-95 
 
 93 
 
 1 94 
 
 100 
 
 12-9 9-4 
 
 3-2 
 
 1896-1900 
 
 104 
 
 1 102 
 
 116 
 
 14-5 i 10-2 
 
 3-7 
 
 1901-05 
 
 81 
 
 78 
 
 100 
 
 11-4 , 7-8 
 
 3-2 
 
 1906-10 
 
 83 
 
 79 
 
 113 
 
 11-7 , 7-9 
 
 30 
 
 1911-15 
 
 79 
 
 80 
 
 110 
 
 110 80 
 
 3.5 
 
 1916-20 
 
 65 
 
 69 
 
 106 
 
 90 
 
 6-9 
 
 3-4 
 
 •Money Wages only.
 
 96 
 
 The indcx-aumbcrs of effective wages in column 2 of Table IV' have approximately the 
 same ratios as the numbers in column 5 ; column 3 corresijonda similarly with column 6 (it is 
 a mere coincidence without any significance that the digits in these two columns are identi- 
 cal); and column 4 corresponds similarly with column 7. These correspondences mean that 
 it has been assumed that effective wages may be derived by expressing nominal wages 
 in terms of the ])nce of a particular food unit. This proposition cannot bo accepted 
 unreservedly, and it is not meant so to assert it. The dietai-y habits of the people have 
 changed, the consuniiition of meat ])er head, for example, liaving fallen by about 40 per 
 cent, since 1911. This matter waa discussed in my memorandum, on Food published in 
 June last. Probably the meat purchased has been more effectively consumed, so that 
 it has been found necessary to purchase, for purposes of absorption and waste so 
 much as before. Thus the fact, shown in column 5, that the average weekly wage of 
 the craftsman during 1911-15 contained the price of eleven of the weekly food units 
 chosen, while during 1916-20 it contained the price of but nine of those units, was to 
 some extent modified by the proved change in the actual unit of food consumption. 
 More generally, can it be held to be proved that the variations in food alone are approxi- 
 mately representative of the variations in the general purchasing ])Gwer of money. 
 Mr. Knibbs did not think so when he initiated the scheme on which liis tables are based. 
 His tables of the general jjurchasing pov/er of money are based on the variations in the 
 price pf the combination of the food unit actually consumed about the beginning of the 
 present century, together with an average unit of shelter. The experience of the United 
 States, during recent years, tends to show, however, that the price of a unit of food is a 
 better guide to the general purchasing i:)ower cf money than the price of a combination 
 of units of food and shelter, and the Board has determined to make a thorough test of 
 this question by collecting prices of all the elements which make up the cost of li^-ing 
 according to a defined standard. The Federal Basic Wage Commission, in its recently 
 published Report, adopted the Board's view, and recommended that a Federal Bureau 
 of Labour Statistics be established, whose duties should include that of making a similar 
 comprehensive collection of prices. The Commonwealth Statistician has had under 
 consideration for some time the question whether it is desirable to extend the price 
 collections to clothing and other commodities in spite of the difficulties involved. Mean- 
 wlule, wa may regard index-numbers of effective wages wliich are derived by considering 
 wages in relation to the prices of food alone as of at least equal authority with those 
 based on the price of food and shelter in combination. 
 
 If the figures in Table IV be studied, it will be seen that they present unsatisfactory as 
 well as satisfactory features. The economic position of both the craftsman and the 
 agricultural labourer improved vastly between 1823 and 1875. During the last five years 
 of tliis half century they were both twice as well off as at the beginning. The position 
 thus gained was nearlj^ maintained by the craftsman, and also by the navvy, until about 
 1900, and the position of the agricultural labourer improved still further during this 
 further Cjuarter of a century. A '" wages system " or " capitalistic system " under which 
 the material comfort of the wage-earner can be doubled during half a century and nearly 
 maintained for a further quarter of a centurj'^ would not appear to be fundamentally bad. 
 Moreover, the figures do not form a complete measure of the increase in material comfort. 
 For instance, the hours of labour have decreased. Pavements, roads, railways, are now 
 provided at no greater effective cost than earlier means of transport. The quality of the 
 bread, sugar, meat, butter and other things has improved. 
 
 \\ ith the dawn of a new century, however, a change seems to have come. The average 
 number of children under the age of 16 dependent on the married male, which had already 
 indeed shomi a tendency to decrease between 1880 and 190p, suffered a fall between the 
 censuses of 1901 and 1911 from nearly 2-2 to 1-8. The figures in Table IV seem to 
 indicate a considerable fall in the material comfort of both the craftsman and the nav\-y 
 since the beginning of the century, and that this falling tendency has been accelerated 
 during the war years. The agricultural labourer seems, however, to have maintained 
 his position. 
 
 This matter is so important that all available statistics which bear on it should be 
 considered. In my report, section I, dated 26th August, 1920, on the Purchasing Power 
 of Money, effective wage index-numbers derived from Mr. Knibbs' statistics and based 
 on the price of food and shelter combined (his basis), were shown in Table VI. This 
 table indicated a considerable fall in the standard comfort of the wage-eamer since 1910, 
 but not so great a f-all as that shown in Table IV above. In view of the doubt whether 
 Mr. Ivnibbs' basis is the best, and for purposes of comparison with the figures shown in 
 Table IV, index-numbers of effecti\e wages have been computed from liis statistics of 
 average wages on the basis of his indiix-numbers of the prices of food alone. Mr. Knibbs^
 
 97 
 
 researches into wages current before the year 190(3, refer to single years separated by 
 five-year intervals. The following table shows the general tendency since 1891, the 
 earliest date for wliich he gives wage statistics : — 
 
 Table V. 
 
 Index-numbers of Average Effective Wages in New South Wales based on the prices of 
 
 Food and Groceries only. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Average Nominal 
 Wage. 
 
 Index-number* of 
 
 Price of Food and 
 
 Groceries. 
 
 Average Effective 
 Wage. 
 
 1S91 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 1896 
 
 95 
 
 85 
 
 113 
 
 1901 
 
 100 
 
 96 
 
 104 
 
 190G 
 
 103 
 
 100 
 
 102 
 
 1907 
 
 106 
 
 98 
 
 108 
 
 1908 
 
 106 
 
 107 
 
 99 
 
 1909 
 
 109 
 
 106 
 
 104 
 
 1910 
 
 112 
 
 104 
 
 108 
 
 1911 
 
 117 
 
 103 
 
 113 
 
 1912 
 
 123 
 
 118 
 
 105 
 
 1913 
 
 126 
 
 118 
 
 107 
 
 1914 (1) 
 
 127 
 
 120 
 
 105 
 
 1915 
 
 129 
 
 146 
 
 88 
 
 1916 
 
 134 
 
 • 159 
 
 85 
 
 1917 
 
 143 
 
 161 
 
 89 
 
 1918 
 
 147 
 
 162 
 
 91 
 
 1919 
 
 158 
 
 186 
 
 85 
 
 1920 
 
 188 
 
 230 
 
 82 
 
 It is important to observe the correspondence which seems to exist between effectivo 
 wages and the productive activity of the nation. If wo ooinparo effective wages during 
 the two five-year periods, 1909-1913 and 1915-1919, wo note that the average effective 
 wage fell between these two periods by about 19 j)er cent. It is reniarkui)le that the 
 productive efficiency per unit of ]X)pulation fell lietween the same periods by about 22 
 per cent., as was shown in his Honor .Judge Beebys rcpf)rt of his recent inquiry- into the 
 44-hours (jucstion. 
 
 The figures in Table V still do not indicate so great a fall as tiie figures n-lating t.o 
 craftsmen shown in Table IV. They refer, however, to the average wages of many olnssea 
 of wage-earners taken together. Tiic following tai)le shows tlie chnnues, since 1H91, in 
 the average wages of separate groujjs of wage-earners in the ('ommonweaith. Similar 
 statistics for the individual States are not immediati^ly available, but the general trend 
 has been about the same in New South Wales as in the Commonwealth ('). 
 
 (') From the year 1914, wlicn nominal wages began to ad't'ance rapidly, tlii> averngo throngli each year 
 has been t:ikin. C) cf. average nominal wages for the Commonwealth In Table V and for Xew Sout h 
 
 Wales in Table VI. 
 
 52639 -D
 
 ^8 
 
 Table VI. 
 Indkx-numbers of Nominal Wages of Groups of Wage-caraers in the Commonwealth. 
 
 Group. 
 
 Wood, Furniture, &c 
 
 Engineering, Metal Works, &c. 
 
 Building 
 
 Mining, Quarrjdng, &c 
 
 Rii! and Tram Services 
 
 Agricultural, Pastoral 
 
 Dj;ncstic, Hotels, &c 
 
 1891. 
 
 1896. 
 
 All Groups 
 
 1,000 
 1,000 
 1,000 
 1,000 
 1,000 
 1,000 
 1,000 
 
 1,000 
 
 919 
 998 
 940 
 927 
 1,003 
 9(52 
 929 
 
 1901. 1908. 
 
 997 
 1,016 
 1,066 
 
 941 
 1,030 
 
 921 
 
 934 
 
 1911. 1916. 
 (1). 
 
 1919. 
 (l.) 
 
 1,000 
 
 1,100 
 
 1,030 
 
 1,143 
 
 1,086 
 
 1,229 
 
 964 
 
 1,053 
 
 1,031 
 
 1,121 
 
 988 
 
 1,234 
 
 944 
 
 1,383 
 
 1,218 1,445 
 
 1,302 1,626 
 
 1,380 1,578 
 
 1,252 1,521 
 
 1,246 1,544 
 
 1,579 2,017 
 
 1.553 2,089 
 
 964 
 
 1,000 , 1,021 1,180 i 1,397 1,726 
 
 Here we see the reason for the more favourable indications of Table V as compared with 
 those of Table IV. Although nominal wages as a whole increased between 1891 and 
 December, 1919, by 73 per cent., yet the nominal wages of workers in the building trades, 
 wood and furniture trades, engineering and metal trades taken together incr^esed by only 
 ^•5 per cent. The nominal wages of agricultural labourers, on the other hand, increased 
 by 102 per cent., and those of persons engaged in personal services by 109 per cent. If 
 account be taken of these differences, it will be found that the indications of Table IV 
 a s regards both craftsmen and agricultural labourers are approximately correct. 
 
 (') The end ot the year. 
 
 APPENDIX No. 5. 
 
 MEMORANDUM BY STATISTICAL OFFICER. 
 
 Milk Production, 1904-1919. 
 
 20th June, 1921. 
 
 Attached is the table referred to in my memo, of the 1.3th April as having been pre- 
 pared by the Government Statistician according to a schedule which I communicated to 
 an officer of the Bureau whom he sent to consult with mc. 
 
 Columns (4), (5) and (6) show the details of the improvement in the butter-making 
 quality of milk during the period taken. This is conveniently represented by the index 
 numbers in column (7), which show that milk, regarded as raw material for producing 
 butter, improved by about 3 per cent, in the period 1909-13 as compared with the period 
 1904-8, and by about 7 per cent, in the period 1915-19 as compared with 1909-13. 
 
 Columns (8), (9), and (10) show the details of the improvement in the cheese-making 
 quality of milk. This is also represented by index-numbers in column (11). 
 
 Column (12) shows weighted index-numbers measuring the improvement in the quality 
 of milk from both aspects combined, the butter-making aspect being, during the period, 
 much more important commercially than the cheese-maki ig aspect. 
 
 Column (12) shows the actual yield of milk in gallons during each year of the period- 
 and the last column of the table shows what may be termed the " equivalent yield" of 
 milk during each year, the quality of t'-ie milk being regarded as constant throughout. 
 Thus a decrease in the average apparent yield of nearly 3 per cent, between the last two 
 five-yearly periods is, owing to the improvement of 7 per cent, in the quality, or perhaps 
 .partly in the methods of treatment, seen to be really an increase of about 4i per cent.
 
 99 
 
 a2 
 
 O 9. 
 
 it 
 
 20 
 
 -^ a 
 
 O is 
 
 upq 
 
 o . 
 
 
 ■— 
 
 "S 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 h= >.° >. 
 
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 APPENDIX No. 6, 
 
 Table supplied by Mr. H. A. Smith,, Government Statistician, sbo^ng the number of 
 Sheep shorn in New South Wales, and the estimated weight and value of the averag© 
 fleece. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Number of Sheop 
 Shorn (Includiug 
 lambs). 
 
 Estimated weight of 
 
 wool (in grease) per 
 
 sheep shorn. 
 
 Estimated value of 
 
 wool per sheep 
 
 shorn. 
 
 
 millions. 
 
 !b. 
 
 8. d. 
 
 1898 
 
 41-2 
 
 5-61 
 
 2 11 
 
 1899 
 
 34-6 
 
 5-61 
 
 4 1 
 
 1900 
 
 38-4 
 
 6-22 
 
 3 8 
 
 1901 
 
 40-4 
 
 6-20 
 
 3 4 
 
 1902 
 
 27-6 
 
 5-47 
 
 3 5 
 
 *1903 
 
 
 
 
 1904 
 
 si's 
 
 6- 12 
 
 4 "2 
 
 1905 
 
 371 
 
 6-50 
 
 5 
 
 1906 
 
 41-7 
 
 6-82 
 
 5 5 
 
 1907 
 
 4S-6 
 
 6-47 
 
 5 8 
 
 1908-9 
 
 41-9 
 
 6-82 
 
 4 9 
 
 1909-10 
 
 431 
 
 7-33 
 
 5 
 
 1910-11 
 
 44-5 
 
 7-07 
 
 4 il 
 
 1911-12 
 
 44-0 
 
 7-24 
 
 4 9 
 
 1912-13 
 
 38-4 
 
 7-07 
 
 5 2 ' 
 
 1913-14 
 
 37-9 
 
 7-93 
 
 5 10 
 
 1914-15 
 
 37-3 
 
 7-20 
 
 5 1 
 
 1915-16 
 
 30-9 
 
 7-09 
 
 6 1 
 
 1916-17 
 
 321 
 
 7-39 
 
 8 11 
 
 1917-18 
 
 35-6 
 
 7-08 
 
 9 
 
 1918-19 
 
 37 
 
 * 
 
 7-13 
 
 8 9 
 
 • Information not available. 
 
 Liformation for the years 1898 to 1906 was obtained by the Government Statistician 
 from the reports of the Stock Department, and from 1907 * onwards from returns 
 furnished to the Bureau of Statistics.
 
 101- 
 
 NEW SOUTH WALES BOARD OF TRADE. 
 
 DECLARATION. 
 
 The New South Wales Board of Trade, after public inquiry as to the increase 
 or decrease in the average cost of living, and having made a separate public 
 inquiry into the cost of living of employees engaged in rural occupations, 
 and after taking evidence upon the conditions of the rural industries and of 
 their ability to bear additional burdens in wages, and the probable effect of 
 the same upon production, and having reported its conclusions upon such 
 evidence, and having taken such conclusions into consideration, declare 
 that the living wages to be paid to adult male employees engaged in rural 
 occupations in the State of New South Wales (excepting thereout the 
 county of Yancowinna) .shall be £3 63. per week, or lis. per day. And 
 further declares that the following deductions may be made from such 
 wages for board or residence or board and residence. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 per week. 
 For residence comprising a separate house of three rooms 
 
 or more ... ... ... ... ... ... 12 
 
 For residence comprising less than three rooms ... ... 5 
 
 For board and residence ... ... ... ... ... 1 4 
 
 For board without residence ... ... ... ... 19 
 
 The Common Seal of the New South Wales Board of Trade was affixed' 
 hereto this twentieth day of October, 1921, by direction and in the 
 presence of the majority of the members of the said Board, who 
 also sign this declaration. 
 
 GEO. S. BEEBY, President. 
 
 J. B. HOLME, Deputy President. 
 
 (L.S.) W. J. WILLINGTON, 1 
 
 THOMAS ROUTLEY, J- Commissioners. 
 
 ARTHUR COOPER, J 
 
 T. C. ARTHUR, Additional Coumiisaioner. 
 
 Dated this twentieth day of October, 1921. 
 
 Report under section 79 (Ih) of the Industrial Arbitration 
 
 Act. 1912. 
 
 Section 79 of the amending Industrial Arbitration Act of 1918 provided 
 that the Board of Trade, in declaring its living wage, should make a sejiarate 
 public inquiry into the cost of living of emi)loyees engaged in rural occu- 
 pations, and should ]nake a separate declaration as to the living wages to be 
 paid to such employees, and should declare wliat deductions might be made 
 from such wages for board or residence or board and residence, and for any 
 customary privileges or jiayments in kind conceded to or made to such 
 employees. It is clear that the Act originally imposed on this Board the 
 duty of fixing the living wage for all classes of adult employees- inr hiding 
 those engaged in rural occupations— but that the wage covering rural 
 occupations could be different, both as to amount and method of payment, 
 to that prescribed for others.
 
 102 
 
 On the making of its first declaration on the 5th day of September, 1918, 
 the Board confined itself to the fixing of a wage for the metropolitan district 
 and did not conduct a separate inquiry as to the rural wage. In the following 
 year an inquiry was held, but no wage was fixed. The Board left itself open 
 to accusation of failure to discharge its duty, as the portion of the section 
 relating to rural industries is just as mandatory as that relating to the general 
 wage. Special circumstances arising from the war were considered sufficient 
 to justify the course pursued. In the following year — that is, on the occasion 
 of its third declaration — the position had been altered by an amendment of 
 the Act. Section 8 of the amending Act, No. 50 of 1919, assented to on the 
 / 23rd December, 1919, provided that in the course of the pubhc inquiry 
 preceding its declaration of the living wages to be paid to adult employees 
 in rural occupations, the Board should take evidence upon the conditions of 
 the rural industries and of their ability to bear additional bu'dens i:i wages, 
 and the probable effect of the same upon production, and should report its 
 conclusions upon such evidence, and further should take such conclusions 
 into consideration and give effect thereto as far as is reasonable in making 
 its declaration, and might also, should it think fit, refrain from making such 
 declaration. This section relieved the Board of the definite obligation 
 imposed by the original Act. The amendment was passed during a period 
 in which all primary industries were suffering from the effects of drought. 
 A separate inquiry w^as held during the ensuing year, and the serious effect 
 of the drought was considered a sufficient reason for refraining from making 
 a declaration for that year. A further inquiry, however, w^as instituted, 
 and on the 7 h July last, the Board furnished to the authorities its conclu- 
 sions upon the evidence given. This report amounted in substance to a 
 statement of the Board's reasons for having up to that dato refrained from 
 making a declaration. Following this report, the Board entered upon its 
 annual inquiry as to the living wage to be declared for the year following the 
 7th October, 1921, and again opened a separate inquiry as to the living 
 wages to be paid to male employees in rural industries, and (under the 
 amending section) as to the conditions of rural industries and their ability 
 to bear additional burdens in wages, and the probable efiect of the same 
 upon production, and as to whether or not under the circumstances it was 
 justified in further refraining from making a declaration. This inquiry was 
 continued from time to time, and concluded on the 26th day of September 
 last. At the conclusion of the inquiry, after full dehberation, the Board, by 
 majority, decided that on the evidence it saw no reason for refraining from 
 making a declaration for the ensuing year. It is necessary to state the 
 reasons for this decision. Unfortunately, before a statement of such reasons 
 bad been prepared, information from some source which the Board has been 
 ■unable to trace was supplied to a newspaper, and the decision was announced 
 "Vfithout the reason i. 
 
 Section 79 of the Act before quoted imposes upon the Board a definite duty. 
 Reading the original section in conjunction with the amendment-., the 
 majority of the members of the Board regard the Act as imposing upon them 
 the duty of prescribing a wage for rural industries unless the industries are 
 unable to bear the burden of a fixed wage, or unless some special circum- 
 stances exist which justify abstention from making a declaration. The 
 reason for the last abstention was definite. The industry had sufiered very 
 severe losses through drought. The wheat crop was almost a failure, the 
 pastoral and dairying industries had sufiered heavy losses of stock. But 
 the seasonal disadvantages disappeared last year, and with the exception of 
 shortage of stock, the State was favoured with a bounteous period of
 
 103 
 
 productivity which there is every reason to believe will continue. The special 
 reason which led to last year's abstention has, for the time being, disappeared. 
 The Board, therefore, must approach the matter from a different standpoint. 
 Taking primary industries as a whole, is it justified by any special circum- 
 stances prevailing in refusing to further discharge the duty imposed by the 
 Act. It was admitted by the associations represented that, from the seasonal 
 point of view, the last twelve months had been exceptionally favourable, 
 and that in this regard the prospects of the future were good. It was 
 admitted that up to the middle of last year, the primary producers had also 
 been favoured with high returns for their products. A perusal of the figures 
 available show that up till the 30th June, 1920, primary producers reached 
 the high-water mark of return for their products. The following table 
 demonstrates the general prosperity of the industries for the financial year 
 1919-20, except as to wheat production : — 
 
 1916-17. 
 
 1917-18. 
 
 1918-19. 
 
 191B-20. 
 
 Vahie of Production. 
 
 Pastoral f 
 
 Agricultural £ 
 
 Dairying and Farm- 
 yard £ 
 
 Quantity lb. 
 
 Value f.o.b. Sydney £ 
 
 Quantity buHh.| 
 
 Value ij 
 
 ' Quantity lb. 
 
 Value at place of 
 production £ 
 
 Pastoral 
 
 Cultivating 
 
 Dairying 
 
 21,576,000 
 20,362,000 
 
 26,842,000 
 13,012,000 
 
 28,435,000 
 13,685,000 
 
 29,8r)5,000 i 33,972,000 
 12,280,000 i 13,582,000 
 
 7,640,000 9,419,0(X> 10,035.000 11,073,000 11,793,000 
 
 Wool Produced. 
 
 262,045,000 270.-525,000 284,188,000 
 12,291,000 I 17,750,000 i 19,538,000 
 
 Wheat Produced. 
 
 66,764,000 j 36,598,000 [ 37,712,000 
 13,352,900 I 7,166,000 | 7,385,000 
 
 Butler Produced. 
 
 59,632,000 79,364,000 | 80,468,000 
 
 3,198,000 4,740,000 I 4,953,000 
 Males engaged in Pastoral Pursuits. 
 
 38,000 
 56,470 
 21,980 
 
 38,600 
 52,260 
 22,360 
 
 41.000 
 47,860 
 21,070 
 
 ,305,013.000 |296,641,000 
 I 20,374,000 I 19,776,000 
 
 I 18,235,003 I 4.388,000 
 I 3,588,650 I 2,194,000 
 
 66,009,000 , 63,135,000 
 4,537,000 1 4,712,000 
 
 43,800 [ 53,300 
 
 43.340 I 47.(X>0 
 
 24,560 24,700 
 
 Number of Live Stock as at 30<A June. 
 
 1917. 
 
 1918. 
 
 1919. 
 
 1920. 
 
 Horses 719,50*3 
 
 Cattle 2,415,800 
 
 Sheep 
 Swine 
 
 32.600,700 
 281,200 
 
 733,800 742,200 
 
 2,76.5,900 3,161,700 
 
 36,196.400 38,621,200 
 
 359,80'3 396,200 
 
 722,700 662,300 
 
 3.280,700 3.084.300 
 
 37,3S1.9(X1 29.249.200 
 
 294,600 253,900 
 
 Average Prices of Fat Live Stock at Fleininglon Saleyards. 
 
 
 1916. 
 
 1917. 
 
 1918. 
 
 1919. 
 
 1920. 
 
 Bullocks and steers 
 
 Wethers (Crossbred) ... 
 
 Wethers (Merino) 
 
 Porkers 
 
 £ R. 
 
 18 9 
 1 13 
 
 1 11 
 
 2 9 
 4 15 
 
 !d. 
 
 "3 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 f 8. 
 
 16 13 
 1 14 
 
 1 11 
 
 2 17 
 .6 
 
 d. 
 
 
 3 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 £ 8. 
 17 
 1 13 
 
 1 11 
 
 2 10 
 4 3 
 
 d. 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 3 
 
 £ 8. 
 
 18 8 
 
 1 10 
 
 1 9 
 
 3 7 
 
 4 17 
 
 d. 
 
 9 
 3 
 3 
 6 
 
 £ B. 
 
 18 7 
 1 16 
 1 15 
 4 4 
 6 18 
 
 d. 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 Baconcra 
 
 (> 
 

 
 104 
 
 Who&t Produced— 1920-21. 
 
 Quantity .)3,71G,()00 bushels. . 
 
 Valued at £20,U3,OUO 
 
 Average Pricca of Fat Live Stook at Flemington— £ s. d. 
 
 I?ullocks and Btcers 12 3 
 
 VVethor3 (CrosHbred) 1 9 
 
 Wethers (Merino) 116 
 
 Porkers 4 3 6 
 
 Baconers 5 18 
 
 In some respects these figures are not quite conclusive, as the periods 
 during which tho quantity of wool was produced, and the periods on which 
 the number of sheep available are calculated, do not correspond; but 
 generally, the results of recent years, notwithstanding the drought condition, 
 which affected sections of the primary industries, have been highly satisfactory, 
 The wheat farmer had very low results for the years 1918-20 inclusive, but 
 for the year just terminated a record crop was harvested and sold at a price 
 much higher than for any previous year in the history of the State. The 
 dairying industry has also, in spite of drought conditions, during recent 
 years furnished producers with unusually high returns. At present this 
 section of the primary-producing group is seriously affected by decline in 
 export trade, but there is no reason to regard this as permanent. The 
 wool position has improved during the past few weeks, notwithstanding 
 the pessimistic forecasts of six months ago. During the last quinquennial 
 period, the primary industries have, as a whole, prospered more than for any 
 other five recorded years. These facts left those who opposed the fixation 
 of the rural wage with only one arguable reason in support of their contention 
 that the Board should further abstain from carrying out the duty imposed 
 on it by the Act. The contention was that the decline in prices offering 
 for wool, cattle, hides, and skins, and for our surplus butter, and the 
 uncertainty of the wheat market, were sufficient reasons for continuing to* 
 leave primary industries without any form of industrial regulation. But 
 fluctuations in prices offering for our products have occurred ever since we 
 became an exporting country, and probably will continue through all time. 
 These variations cannot be accepted as a reason for permanently refraining 
 irom the fixation of a rural living wage. If the circumstances now prevailing 
 are sufficient to justify further exemption, then it is apparent that the Board 
 will never be able with any consistency to make a declaration. Every 
 reason which has prevailed in the past has disappeared. The only reason 
 left — that is the fall in prices and the uncertainty of the foreign markets — 
 is not regarded by the Board as sufficient for arri\'ing at a decision which 
 will amount to a determination under no circumstances to fix the wage. 
 The amending section of the Act was not devised to relieve the Board of its 
 responsibility; it merely gave the Board a discretionary power to be 
 exercised when special circumstances exist. Those circumstances do not, 
 in the Board's opinion, now exist. They may arise again in the future, 
 and can be considered by the Board in future declarations. The Board is 
 forced to the conclusion that the special circumstances which led to its 
 refraining from fixing the wage during the previous years do not now exist; 
 that the industry will not as a whole be injured by the fixation of a minimum 
 wage for adult employees, and that the interests of the State ^vill be con- 
 served by giving to agricultural labour an industrial status not previously 
 recognised. There were some other special reasons for abstention urged 
 by parties before the Board, but they were not founded on facts peculiar 
 to the last twelve months. It was contended, for instance, that the increase 
 in the cost of railway transit of recent years was good reason for the Board's
 
 105 
 
 refusing to exercise its power; but increased labour, cost of production,- 
 and higher cost of transit arc not peculiar to this industry or to this State. 
 Similar increases have occurred in all countries. There is no statistical 
 information available to facilitat:; comparisons of the relative increases of 
 costs in this and in other countries; but the Board, using the general know- 
 ledge which it has acquired in various inquiries, knows that generally the 
 increased cost of production in this country has been no greater, if as great, 
 as in other countries which export surplus primary products. Circumstances 
 which are peculiar to all industries cannot bo reasonably pleaded as special 
 reasons for the exemption of one industry from industrial regulation. It is 
 unnecessary to traverse the general arguments which were submitted against 
 the fixation of a wage. It was very strongly urged that the conditions 
 under which primary production is carried on are so different from those 
 of secondary and distributive industries that no wage standard of universal 
 application could be successfully applied. This, however, is not a matter 
 for the Board's consideration. It may be an argument in favour of the 
 contention that under no circumstances should primary industries be 
 brought under industrial regulation. The opinion that any such form of 
 regulation is politically inexpedient may or may not be sound. But^ the 
 Board is not concerned with such questions; its function is to honestly 
 discharge a duty imposed on it by the Legislature. That duty is expressed 
 in clear terras, and in the opinion of the majority of the Board no special 
 circumstances now prevail sufficient to justify it in further refusing to declare 
 a living wage for male adults engaged in rural occupations. 
 
 There was some confusion in the arguments submitted by witnesses called 
 to make general statements against the fLxation of a wage. It was generally 
 contended that the class of labour offering for rural occupations was inf (trior. 
 It was agreed that the work called for skill. As mentioned in the Report 
 of the Board on Rural Industries, previously quoted, " agriculture, in so far 
 as it depends upon employed labour, calls for such services as the ordinary 
 labour market does not usually supply. Agricultural labour, to be elHcient, 
 must be specially trained, and is not unskilled work. . . . The hired 
 assistant in agriculture cannot be dispensed with, and if the proper attributes 
 are to bo found in him his employers must be prepared to make his work 
 steady, his hours as regular and reasonable as may be, his conditions of life 
 proper, and his wages such as will serve to maintain a standard family accord- 
 ing to the well-established principles adopted by the wage-fixing authorities 
 of the State." It was apparent, on the evidence, that the industry as a 
 whole, notwithstanding the skill and knowledge required, offered to wage- 
 earners a much lower return than any other occupation. The Board was 
 reminded of the tendency of even sons of farmers to migrate to cities, where 
 higher wages were offering, and the declino in the number of persons cugaged 
 in agricultural occupations was frcqueiitly referrcid to. That the low wages 
 paid might contribute to the shortage of skilled Ijibour and to the migration 
 to the city of labour which should iiaturally r<Mn;iin in the country does not 
 seem to have been seriously considered by the jn-imary producers. It is 
 more than probable that the adoption of some reasonable wage standard 
 will attract working men willing to seek permanent employment in agricultural 
 pursuits, and will lead to the building up of that reserve of conqietent 
 agricultural labour which is so badly needed. 
 
 It is tiue that seasonal variations and the regulation of prices ])y world 
 influences make it dithcult for primary producers to estimate their labour 
 requirements for any given year, or to as>e;is the amount wliich they can 
 afford to pay for hired labour. A high rigid standard would be injurious;
 
 106 
 
 but the Board of Trad(!'s function is to revise the wage from year to year, 
 and in primary industries particularly consideration can be given each year 
 to any special circumstances prevailing or threatening. The fixation of a 
 wage which does not exceed that paid by average reputable employers will 
 not injure the industry. To-day if a workman desirous of following rural 
 occupations seeks employment he knows that ho is following the lowest paid 
 occupation in the State. The adoption of agricultural labour as a calling 
 is a confession of failure — an admission that the workman is forced to follow 
 the lowest paid occupation in the community. And yet the occupation is 
 o9.<i of the most important; it is one which calls for training, knowledge, and 
 initiative; it is one which is particularly important in a country whose whole 
 prosperity depends on its export of surplus primary products. The lifting 
 o' tie industry to a definite industrial plane, with an " effective " wage 
 approximating that of the lowest grades of labour employed in urban and 
 xnetropolitan areas, will not be injurious. In wheat-farming the fixation 
 of the wage determined on by the Board, when applied to the actual pro- 
 duction of wheat, will not seriously increase the cost of production. The 
 fixation of the wage in the dairying industry will not add perceptibly to 
 the eost of producing a pound of butter or a gallon of milk. In the fruit- 
 growing area the standardisation of conditions on the rates determined on 
 by the Board will not add materially to the cost of production, while in the 
 pastoral industry the Board's determination will not conflict with the minim-a 
 prescribed by the Commonwealth Courts. 
 
 Having arrived at a determination to fix a wage, the Board was forced to 
 -consideration of the economic possibilities of a sudden and heavy increase 
 in labour-cost of primary production. 
 
 On the 7th July last the Board reported generally upon the conditions of 
 the rural industries of the State. 
 
 The economic situation in the world before the war was founded upon a 
 complex system of production and exchange. To this system, for want of a 
 better, the world has, since the war, reverted. It was left for the events 
 of the war to deixionstrate how true Vi^as the organic conception of the economic 
 world, and how natural was its development. A common standard of value 
 and a common measure of value were lost during the war. Credit as com- 
 manded by Governments became the supreme test, and not for the purpose 
 of government only, but also for the purpose of Government-controlled 
 industry. Inflation of currency, of credit, of prices, and of compensations 
 accordingly demoralised the situation, and hopes were raised of a general 
 reconstruction of the social order. The impossibility of international relation- 
 ships upon any but a universally agreed and natural economic basis has 
 since been realised. Domestic finance and reconstruction stand upon the 
 same foundation. What the world permits through finance constitutes the 
 limit of reconstructive operations. The conditions of production and 
 exchange are controlled by practically what amounts to universal assent — • 
 that is, production and e;s;change depend upon a system having world-wide 
 support. Economic laws may be modified in their incidence within the 
 sphere of governmental control but goods and services uncorrelated in 
 value cannot be foisted upon an unmlHng outside market. Co-operation 
 in world markets admits of but a limited degree of elasticity in the arrange- 
 ments of home markets of an ancillary or subordinate position. The world 
 thus eventually determines at what pace reconstruction shall take place 
 within the nation. This is a truth of general application, but its validity 
 is emphasised by what is evident in a consideration of the living-wage problem 
 of the rural industries.
 
 107 
 
 Temporarily the world has lost the equilibrium that was established in 
 the long period of peace before the war as between the producers of all 
 primary products, the producers of manufactured goods, and the great groups 
 concerned with the operations of trade and transportation. The basis 
 of economic life being the exchange of goods and services, it is not sufficient 
 to maintain and increase production alone, for consumption also must be 
 maintained and must keep pace with production. Whatever, then, harms 
 a section of the producing, service-giving or consuming community harms 
 the whole. Each section has its counterpart in another, and production is 
 no more important economically than is consumption. One cannot conceive 
 of supply without demand, or demand without supply. So, also, unemploy- 
 ment in one group of industries means loss of profits and loss of market-s in 
 others, and a general depression throughout the community. It is important, 
 therefore, that wage rates should not show a tendency to lag behind the level 
 of prices, on the one hand, or fail to.readjust themselves to falling prices on 
 the other. Great classes of workers, such as those engaged in the secondary 
 industries, must have their wage conditions assimilated to price conditions. 
 Nothing breeds discontent more readily than the disadvantageous comparison 
 of v\-ages as between groups of employees ; but what has far worse effect is a 
 discrepancy in wage rates which, being above the level of prices, must be 
 maintained at the expense of other wage receivers and the community. A 
 high-wage rate giving preferential treatment to an important group of 
 employees makes for high cost of production and a lower scale of consumption 
 for the low-wage man. The same considerations apply to profits upon a 
 generalised scale. 
 
 The wages paid in the secondary industries must eventually conform in 
 eome way to prices available for farm products. The equality of values 
 which is essential to economic equilibrium will produce this eflect. 
 
 The mechanisation of agriculture makes for a strict dependence of primary 
 upon secondary industries, but the farmer can only buy according to his 
 means. On the other hand, the secondary industries depend upon the primary 
 wealth of the State for their establishment, and largely for their continued 
 existence, and must give commodities and services at such rates as will 
 preserve the demand arising from the primary industries. But the prices 
 of primary products are controlled by the economic situation in the world 
 as a whole. When primary products generally decline to pre-war prices, 
 or something like them, then no influence, political or other, can maintain 
 the labour rates and profits of the secondary indu.stries a.-; inflated during the 
 course of and since the war. Graziers and farmers are consumers as well as 
 producers, and with the loss of some of their purchasing power the market 
 for the labour of those who supply their needs will automatically contract, 
 and thereafter the general labour market will reflect the exhaustion of the credit 
 of those who are thrown out of employment. One serious wave of unemploy- 
 ment ha so far been experienced. With tiie fall in the value of primary 
 products there will be others if a disharmony between the prices of primary 
 products and the rates of wages and profits in urban industries is not 
 promptly insured against. It is essential that there should be forthwith 
 opened a way to the readjustments of the relations between the prices nf 
 primary products and manufactured goods by wage-controls and otherwihi*. 
 Failure to so provide will result in an inevitable process of shock and count^T- 
 shock as consumption and production react in a decline of conmion well- 
 being until the incidence of the burden has been generalised, and common 
 effort on a readjusted plane of values makes again for prosperity. Th^ 
 wave of unemployment already experienced has accounted for a considerftble
 
 108 
 
 reduction in producing and consuming power within the State. Equilibrium 
 IniH already been lost and needs to be restored, and the shock of declining 
 prices for primary y)roduct8 can be anticipated and absorbed without 
 unnecessary harm by the exercise of reasonable intelligence. There is no 
 advantage to either the State or the employees in secondary industries 
 while this want of equilibrium continues. The standard of living of employees 
 in the secondary industries cannot really be advanced by a want of corre- 
 spondence between wages and prices unless, indeed, it be advanced in the 
 face of the resistance of the world. 
 
 The true farmer is not, like the employer in the secondary industries, an 
 entrepreneur or intermediary whose principal task is the work of organisation. 
 The farmer is essentially a wage-earner, for he largely depends upon the 
 return going to the labour factor in production. He does not only provide 
 employees with a means to earn wages immediately payable out of the 
 production and sale of commodities and services at prices which not only 
 reimburse the cost of land, equipment, and labour, but remunerate also the 
 organiser as well. The farmer has been well described as a labourer who 
 buys for himself a lifelong job. He necessarily asf50ciated other labour with 
 himself, but under conditions of the secondary industries. This point has 
 already been emphasised in the Board's report of the 7th July last. The 
 farmer's return, to be adequate, must reimburse the cost of his equipment, 
 but his labour income is the true test of his success and efficiency. He 
 ordinarily lays claim to no reward for management and organisation simply 
 because he does not affect the position of the entrepreneur and because he 
 is essentially a fellow-labourer with those who assist him. 
 ■ Supply of capital ia not available to him upon the condition of its avail- 
 :abiHty to the organisers of secondary industries. He is a great borrower, 
 but he wants loans for long periods, and not on short call, and the security 
 that he oSers is so related to the element of his personal character that it 
 differs from other commercial securities. A separate credit system is therefore 
 usually provided, privately or publicly, for his use, and when it is not set 
 up by the community for his betterm.ent it is generally an expensive system 
 to the farmer. 
 
 He, Avhile thus badly placed for the purpose of commanding capital, has 
 his difficulties intensified by whatever disturbs the system of urban credits, 
 costs, and prices. In periods of short production, unemployment, and 
 general depression, the tendency of credit is to concentrate upon the highest 
 classes of safe securities, and there is also a decline in the amount of savings 
 available for the purpose of credit. The farmer is qua controller of capital, 
 s\ibject to Ihe disadvantage of not enjoying a just relativity of charges in 
 the form of interest, while the strictest international control is imposed 
 upon him in respect of the prices of his products. His labour income tends 
 to be depressed by the credit difficulties of his case, and if those difficulties, 
 being more local than general, aro not allowed for in the nice adjustments 
 resulting from the application through world markets ol; the economic lule 
 of supply and demand, the farmer suffers accordingly. 
 
 In periods of general prosperity the exchange of products and services is> 
 as nearly as may be, upon a just balance. 
 
 Unemployment disappears because wage rates are not too high, and 
 employment continues because wages rates not being too low there is a con- 
 stant and effective demand upon the commodities and services which satisfy 
 the usages of the community. There is an equiUbrium set up — as between 
 the farmer's producing and consuming activities and those of the other 
 classes, but the process of equilibration has regard to world-wide conditions.
 
 109 
 
 Thia arbitrament of values is fundamental. The farmer is allowed, in return 
 for his production, so much of the general production as is meet in the light 
 of world standards. His purchasing power is thus limited. As the prices 
 of products and services in the farmer's country grow out of harmony with 
 the prices of farm products in the world markets the farmer's purchasing 
 power loses efficiency, and his standard of living must decline. When this 
 happens, the farmer no longer maintains his volume of consumption, and 
 the efiorts of the employees who have been supplying the farmer's local 
 needs will no longer be required, and unemployment in secondary industries 
 will follow. This section, also, ceasing to consume at standard rates, will 
 involve the other sections of the labour market in a depression which cannot 
 fail to become general. Any plan to maintain the level of secondary wages 
 in the face of a diminished purchasing power on the part of the primary 
 producer will most certainly frustrate itself. 
 
 A just counterpoise of wage rates with the prices of primary products 
 and of wage rates with wage rates is the aim of well-advised administration. 
 The preent problem is the less complicated if, in connection with it, the 
 farmer be regarded as having the character of a wage-earner. 
 
 The Board pointed out in its report of the 7th July last that adult rural 
 ■employees are not ordinarily engaged in numbers by individual employers, 
 and that the number of adult male wage-earners under the age of 60 might 
 be regarded as standing at 49,000 in these industries. On the other hand, 
 it was shown that, including males and females, the total number of persons 
 engaged permanently in rural occupations in the State was approximately 
 150,000. If, then, the number of adult male wage-earners in the rural 
 industries be enlarged from 49,000 to 120,000 by the inclusion of graziers and 
 farmers working on their own account, the relative importance of the farming 
 community as consumers compared with the wage-earner consumers of urban 
 industries is very much enhanced. Recurring periods of prosperity in the 
 history of the past may be looked to to show what were the right relations 
 of and the form of values in consumption and production, and in the i-xchange 
 of products and services. Official statistics record and exhibit under tables 
 of the purchasing power of money in the form of wages the exact conditions 
 under which, in times past — recent or remote — the exchange of products 
 and services of all kinds has taken place. Every important group of con- 
 sumers and wage-earners nmst, for the purpose of wage f xation, bo taken 
 into account, for what prejudices such a group affects all, destroys the 
 general equilibrium, and entails a common adversity. The group of rural 
 producers constitutes a class that obviously cannot be left out of this 
 account. Unless, then,- the wage relations of this group are properly 
 adjusted to wage rates in urban industries, and all wage rates adjusted to 
 prices, the whole industrial organisation will eventually feel the repercussion 
 of any harm that may be done to that labour. 
 
 If the farmer suppose that he, having his prices fixed l)y world markets, 
 can afford to disregard any defect of the consuming and purchasing powers 
 of the great urban grou])s of employees, and thinks, that he has only to fe ir 
 an undue inflation of urban wage rates, he has but to look closely at his own 
 records of experience, when he mu.st marvel at the mp >rtanco of the 
 uncalculated elements in his affairs. The Board has paid, in the course of its 
 inquiry, a good deal of attention to the average expenditure and return per 
 acre to the wheat-growers of the State. It is also aware of the effects of 
 computations of the same kind with respect to wheat-growing abroad, and it is 
 impressed with a fact that emerges in the course of its inquiry. Costs and roturn.s^ 
 tend in normal years to approximate, but it isclear that the world's wheat prices,
 
 110 
 
 wjjile greatly affecting the farmer'a general financial position, do not altogether 
 determine that position. The accumulated wealth of the countryaide, the 
 great and prosperous inland cities and centres of population, and the records 
 of taxation all point to a substantial and widely generahsed prosperity in 
 rural circles. Tliis prosperity must then reflect and depend upon the 
 prosperity of the great wage-earning classes of the State, for thoy con- 
 stitute the consumers of the products of pastoral and agricultural operations. 
 The efiectivo purchasing power of these classes is, then, the foundation of 
 the prosperity of the farmer and grazier. A lack of efiective demand for the 
 products and' the by-products of the farming industries on the part of the 
 urban populations, such as must accompany the prevalence of extensive 
 unemployment in the secondary industries, is of paramount concern to the 
 rural producer, for it represents to him a serious failure of markets. But 
 50,000 farm employees cannot themselves be left out of account. The 
 maintenance of a general equilibrium of prices and wages is essential to the 
 farmer's prosperity, and that equilibrium cannot but be influenced by the 
 conditions of the relatively important class of farm employees. 
 
 The farmer's position has lately been extremely favourable. His purchasing 
 power was never higher, and he was able to make long-delayed improvements. 
 But he is already adapting himself to a new condition of afi'airs. With the 
 decline in the price of farm products, that seems to be inevitable, he must 
 be placed in a very difficult poE;ition unless the cost of the commodities 
 that he purchases is correspondingly reduced. These costs will be made 
 up of wages, profits, taxes, and interest, and will go to urban workers, inter- 
 mediaries, government in all of its various forms, and those who control 
 rural credits. If the decline in the values of primary products is dispropor- 
 tionate to the decline in the urban elements of costs, there will be an all- 
 pervading depression with extensive unemployment until the necessary 
 readjustment is forced, by sufiering, upon the community. At the farmer's 
 expense a reduction of the cost of living precedes a reduction in wage rates, 
 and it is reasonable for him to expect that the cost of living should be 
 mitigated by corresponding reductions in urban wages and profits, in taxes, 
 and in interest. There is, of course, no doubt that the farmer has not 
 Bufiered alone through the drop in prices. Wage rates abroad, with profits, 
 have declined, and profits at home have already suffered from the shocks 
 of enforced readjustment. The farmer's case is, however, in point in this 
 declaration, and his conditions may therefore be emphasised. 
 
 The process of readjustment must involve wages unless there be a common 
 and world-wide consent to the reconstruction of right wage relations. If 
 wages are kept at their present level while costs decline, it must be under- 
 stood that the standard of life of the wage-earner is being advanced at the 
 expense of the standard of the community. There is a distinction to be 
 drawn not only between real and nominal wages, but also between real 
 wages and gold wages. Gold wages are the only kind of wages that count 
 in foreign trade competition. They depend upon the exchange situation 
 at any particular moment. It is the gold wage that ultimately limits the 
 real wage. Even between the component parts of the British Empire there 
 is need for th^ stabilisation of exchange, and intra-Empire trade has its own 
 problem of the gold wage. 
 
 The control exercised by the Legislature over domestic capital and 
 organisation, buttressed by the co-operation not only of the wage-earners, 
 but of all important groups of producers and consumers, may appreciably 
 ameliorate? wage rates and the standard of living within certain limits ; but 
 it is inconceivable that it should raise the standard of living of a section of
 
 Ill 
 
 employees at the expense of the standard of living of the community generally. 
 Apart from its moral aspects, any attempt to make such a distinction would 
 tend to disturb the balance of wages and prices generally, and would probably 
 result in serious unemployment. 
 
 This is not therefore an appropriate time for a substantial alteration by 
 way of improvement of the wage-earner's average standards, assuming 
 that the Board were able to make that alteration. The Board's declaration 
 aims at reflecting, subject to the decline in price levels, the average of the 
 conditions conceded by reputable employers in those industries. 
 
 In deriving tlie wage the Board has not abandoned the principles under- 
 lying its determinations with respect to the living wage of adult male and 
 adult female employees, other than those engaged in rural occupations. 
 These principles may be re-stated thus — (1) the average cost of living should 
 be calculated upon the basis of the average requirements of unskilled 
 workers; (2) the calculation should be made with reference to the require- 
 ments of a family of husband, wife and two children ; and (3) the standard 
 of living should be such as to provide a w^orker of the class indicated, and 
 a dependent family, with th : normal requirements of members of a civilised 
 community. 
 
 . Rural occupations can be divided into four well-defiued groups — 
 (1) Pastoral; (2) agricultural, including mixed farming; (3) dairying; and 
 (4) fruit growing. 
 
 The pastoral industry has been under some form of industrial regulation 
 since 1907, when the rates payable to shearers were first fixed by the 
 Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration. This award was 
 varied from time to time, and was ultimately extended to station hands. 
 The lowest minimum wage for this class of labour was, on the 12th June, 
 1920, fixed by the Court at 72s. per week without keep, or 483. per week 
 ^^^th keep, and for boundary-riders 64s. per week without keep, or 40s. per 
 week with keep. The reasons stated by the Federal Court for imposing 
 minimum standards on the pastoral industry are set out on pages 8 and 9 
 of the Board's report of the 7th July last. At the time of the inclusion of 
 all classes of pastoral labour in the award, it was urged by the pastoralists 
 that the standardisation of wages in the industry would be disastrous, and 
 the Pastoralists' Association was specially invited, on the occasion of this 
 inquiry, to submit evidence as to the actual effect of the Federal awards 
 on the industry. Beyond some fragmentary statements that the fixing 
 of the wage for station hands had led to the employment of less labour, no 
 evidence was forthcoming. The Pastoralists' Association evidently had 
 not, since the wage was prescribed, kept records sufficient to determine the 
 actual increased labour-cost of production. As against general statements 
 not supported by convincing evidence, the Board considered all availablti 
 [statistical data as to the development of the industry. The first general 
 award which set the labour standard for the pastoral industry was made on 
 the 28th June, 1917. For the year preceding this award, the value of pastoral 
 production was £26,842,000; for the three years following it was 
 £28,435,000, £29,865,000, and £33,972.000. Speciarcircumstances favourable 
 to Australian trade undoubtedly contributed to this great increase in values, 
 but the actual quantity of wool produced also increased ; for the year preced- 
 ing the award it was 270,525,000 lb., for the following three vears it was 
 284,188.0001b., 305,613,000 lb., and 296,641,000 lb. It was admitt.-d that, 
 although the award of the Commonwealth Court covers only the res[)ondents 
 named in the industrial dispute, it was generally accepted as the prevailing 
 standard for the industry. The award is at present under review by the
 
 112 
 
 Commonwoalth Court. The employers are asking for a substantial reduction 
 in the minima fixed, while the emjiloyees submit a claim for a substantial 
 increase. Neither party claims, however, that the industry should be 
 released fiom control. The decision of this Board, therefore, as far as the 
 pastoral industry is concerned, will not be material. The wage proposed 
 by this Board is less by 6s. a week than that at present operating in the 
 industry. It was apparent from the evidence of witnesses that so long as a 
 g neral basic wage for rural employees in this State did not exceed that 
 fixed by the Commonwealtb Court, the matter was not one of grave concern 
 to the pastoral industry. 
 
 In the agricultural and mixed farming section, no award has up to the 
 present been made in this State. The matter was strongly contested by 
 representatives of the Farmers and Settlers' Association and the Primary 
 Producers' Union, and it was urged that the fixation of a minimum wage 
 exceeding the lowest rates prevailing would result in diminution of the 
 labour employed; in a disturbance of the methods of agriculture; and in 
 the breaking up of the spirit of co-operation now prevailing between 
 agriculturists and their hired labourers. 
 
 As pointed out in the report of the Board on Rural Industries, previously 
 referred to, difEerent districts have evolved district rates for hired labour, 
 ranging from about 25s. per week and keep, in some centres, to £2 5s. per 
 week and keep in others. It was established, during the proceedings of the 
 Board, that seasonal labour engaged during the harvest time and, to a lesser 
 extent, during the ploughing and sowing period, commands a much higher 
 rate of wages than the minimum now contemplated. The representatives 
 of the Farmers' Association admitted that the decision of the Board was 
 not likely to afiect seasonal labouj. Their opposition was confined to regula- 
 tion of the wages of what are known as "' permanent hands."" It was 
 contended that much of this class of labour would be dispensed with if a 
 minimum were fixed. It was also submitted that the fixing of a VN'age would 
 lead to the unemployment of a large number of old men, who are not worth 
 the wage payable to a labourer of average capacity. Full consideration 
 was given by the Board to these contentions, and to the evidence furnished 
 by different farmers rs to the rat'i of wages paid. The Board is satisfied 
 that the rate prescribed will not impose a serious additional burden on 
 reputable farmers, and that the cases of old and incompetent vv-orkers can 
 be met by a liberal use of the provision of the Act under which permits to 
 work for a lower wage can be secured. The advantage of standardising 
 employment in the industry, of guaranteeing to the wage-earner who is 
 inclined to follow country p^irsuits at least a living wage, and of encouraging 
 ■the employment of married men will far outweigh the temporary effects 
 arising from disturbance of the present system. 
 
 The fruit-growing indu^.try ha ; not, up to the present, been under any 
 general industrial control. On the 12 Ji April, 1920, the Commonwealth 
 Court of Conciliation and Arbitration made an award covering citrous and 
 other fruit growers of New South Wales; but the award of the Court was 
 only binding on the parties to the dispute, and, with the exception of citrous 
 fruit growers in the Murray River districts, the award did not affect the 
 industry. The wage fixed by the Court was 69s. per week for permanent 
 hands, and 72s. per week for casual and seasonal hands. The rates of wages 
 paid in thi ; industry vary considerably. In southern irrigated areas it 
 generally approximates that fixed by the Commonwealth Court. In the 
 Bathurst and Orange districts it is lower than in the south, but higher than 
 that prevailing in the fruit area surrounding the metropolis. In the areas
 
 133 
 
 adjoining the metropolis, including the Gosford district, the wages vary 
 considerably, but are generally lower than in other parts of the State. It 
 was also established that in the latter areas the producers receive lower 
 returns for their product, mainly because of its inferiority to that of 
 irrigated areas. For the high-grade fruits grown in the Yanco and Murray 
 River districts there is a ready market at a high price, but the citrous fruits, 
 and even stone fruits, grown in the areas which serve the metropolis and 
 the city of Newcastle are generally inferior to those produced in the 
 southern parts of the State, and command nmch lower prices. The Board 
 closely considered the evidence submitted by fruit growers, and is satisfied 
 that the wage proposed will not impose a serious burden on their industry, 
 but will ])robably result in the attraction of a better class of labour to the 
 occupation. In the dairying industry liired adult male labour is not a 
 serious clement. By far the greater part of the industry is carried on by 
 family labour, which will not be directly affected by the fixation of a 
 minimum wage for male adults. Where adult male labour is hired, the 
 wages now paid generally range from 25s. to £2 per week with board and 
 lodging. It was admitted that farmers have considerable difficulty in getting 
 competent male adult labour when it is required. The hours of em})loyment 
 are necessarily long, the work is exacting, and only a poor class of labour 
 is offering for wages so nmch below those of other occupations. The Board 
 is satisfied that the fixation of a wage of 42s. per week, with board and 
 lodging, will not impose an undue burden on the industry, and will 
 ultimately result in a better class of labour being procurable. 
 
 The employees engaged in primary production necessarily work under 
 conditions, as to payment for services rendered, different to those prevailing 
 in secondary and trading industries. Rural workmen can be roughly 
 divided into four groups— («) those who with their families live in a house 
 provided by the employer on the farm or station; {h) those (either married 
 or single) who receive board and lodging in part ])ayment of their wages; 
 (c) those who are provided with shelter without food; and {d} those who 
 are provided with food, but who reside in premises not on the farm or station 
 on which they work. 
 
 It is the duty of the Board to declare what deductions can be made from 
 the minimum wage fixed for the various forms of accommodation })rovided 
 by the employer. The Board met with considerable diificulty in tliis con- 
 nection. A division of opinion in connection with the shelter element of 
 the wage manifested itself, but it has been found possible to make a decla- 
 ration of a fixed sum comprehending shelter and board. On the basis of 
 compromise adjustments between the elements of the wage as translated 
 into money, a majority of the Board agree to the total sum of £3 63. per 
 week. 
 
 The Board is further directed by the Act to declare what deductions may 
 be made from wages for any customary privileges or payments in kind 
 conceded to or made to such employees. The evidence shows that many 
 sporadic practices prevail in different districts, in some cases the employee 
 is provided with a run for a horse, or the us(i of a cow, &c. ; in others ho 
 receives milk, vegetables, fruit, or other foodstuffs, or other privileges, in 
 part payment of wages. It is impossible to schedule all these j)riviloges, 
 or to attach any fixed monetary values to them. The Board is therefon; of 
 opinion that it should not provide for deductions, excejit as before men- 
 tioned. It is thought better to leav(? matters of this kind to contractual 
 arrangement. The employer will not be entitled t<t make deductions from^wuucs 
 other than those provided for, but he will be free to make arrangements with
 
 Hi 
 
 his workmon as to the price which they sha 1 pay fur privileges and supplies. 
 This win impose a slight change in the methcd of fixing wage contracts. It 
 will probably necessitate the farmer having some written arrangement as to 
 what is to be paid for supplies of farm products and privileges. But the 
 imposition of this slight duty i . considered less irksome to the employer 
 than any attempt to attach a monetary value to the varying customs of the 
 occui)ation. 
 
 Under the terms of section 79 (3) of the vVct, the Board for the present will 
 deal with ap])lications of aged, infirm, and slow workers for permits to work for 
 less than the living wage. But provision will be made as rapidly as possible for 
 the investigation of applications and the issue of permits in the localities in 
 which the applicants are employed. 
 
 The Common Seal of the New South Wales Board of Trade was affixed 
 hereto this twentieth day of October, 1921, by direction and in the 
 presence of the majority of the members of the said Board, who 
 also signed this Report. 
 
 GEO. S. BESBY, President. 
 J. B. HOLME, Deputy President. 
 W. T. VvlLLINGTON, "] 
 (L.s.) THOMAS ROUTLEY, {► Commissioners. 
 ARTHUR COOPER, J 
 T. C. ARTHUR, Additional Commissioner. 
 
 Rural Basic Wage Declaration. 
 
 In recording our dissent from the finding of the majority of the Board — 
 
 That on the evidence submitted the Board sees no reason for refraining 
 from making a living wage declaration for adult male employees in 
 rural occupations for the ensuing year, 
 
 wefdo so on the grounds that the finding is against the evidence and the 
 weight of evidence tendered to and considered by the Board. 
 
 The Legislature, in amending the Act and incorporating 1 (b) of section 79, 
 clearly had in view the necessity of keeping under careful review the exi- 
 gcnci s of the rural industries, and extended the powers of the Board, and 
 directed the Board to take evidence upon the conditions of the rural 
 industries, and of their ability to bear additional burdens in wages and the 
 probable effect of same upon production, giving the Board discretionary 
 power, should it think fit, to refrain from making such declaration. 
 
 Thirty-two witnesses were examined by the Board after the re-opening 
 of the inquiry on 5th September. The evidence of practical witnesses, with 
 few exceptions, was clearly to the effect that rural industries in their re- 
 spective sections were not in a position to bear increased burdens in wages ; 
 and the imposition of a rural basic wage would certainly biing about the 
 dismissal of employees and the diminution of production. 
 
 In the report issued by the Board of Trade, dated 7Lh July, 1921, it 
 states on page 24 : — 
 
 The Bgard is about to open new inquiries as to the increase or decrease 
 in the average cost of living, and as to the cost of living of employees 
 engaged in rural occupations. It feels that it cannot safely commit itself 
 to a living-wage declaration in relation to employees engaged in rural 
 occupations before those inquiries have been carried out, and it there- 
 fore refrains from making a declaration upon the basis of this report. 
 Th re is now a general tendency towards normality in conditions
 
 115 
 
 in rural as well as other industries, and on the completion of the 
 coming inquiries the Board will declare a living wage for rural industries 
 unless it is convinced by what it will hear in the course of those 
 inquiries that it should continue to refrain from doing so. 
 
 On page 4 of the report issued by the Board, it is definitely set out : — 
 
 Much of the information required by the Board for the purposes of 
 its separate inquiry could not be obtained from tho perusal and treat- 
 ment of existing official statistics. The aggregates given in official 
 statistical publications are not, in the main, co-related. There is no 
 definite means of ascertaining how many wage-earners there were at anv 
 particular period in all or any of the branches of rural enterprises, what 
 that labour produced, how much it earned, and for what number of 
 people it provided support. Available statistics throw no light upon 
 the probable effect of wage variations on the cost of primary production 
 or the ability of the rural industries to bear additional burdens in wages. 
 The conditions of the rural industries are not indeed shown statistically 
 in any such manner as would indicate the relations between land, labour, 
 and capital in rural enterprise. 
 
 Until these defects are in a large measure remedied, the Board will 
 have no sufficient statistical foundation on which to build decisions 
 affecting the primary industries as a whole. 
 
 On the 28th October, 1920, the Board resolved, infer alia : — 
 
 That groups of members of the Board should visit the various farming 
 districts with a view to facilitating the ascertainment and collection of 
 the information specified on a rural survey card prepared by the Board ; 
 and further, that in the course of their movements from centre to centre, 
 such groups should endeavour to discover farmers who are keeping 
 accounts or other records of their operations. 
 
 On the 10th February, 1921, these reports were submitted, and a number 
 of farmers were selected who kept records. 
 
 In one of these sectional reports it was recommended that the stati.stica\ 
 officer should immediately arrange for inspection of the accounts and data 
 referred to, and furnish a report on same. This was not done, and the 
 Board, on the 9th Juno, 1921, by resolution, in.structed the respective 
 sectional committees of the Board to pursue their investigations, particu- 
 larly as to the cost of production of wheat. 
 
 It was also resolved by the Board that all data so collected should be 
 submitted to the Board at the principal inquiry in the form of a statistical 
 case supported by such representative witnesses as the Board may select. 
 
 Seventeen farmers in the west and south-west supplied all information, 
 r 'suiting in an average cost per acre for tho 1920-21 soason of 71s. Id. per acre. 
 
 Nine farmers in the north and north-west revealed a figure of 67s. without 
 allowing for depreciation. 
 
 The methods of Mr. W. F. Anderson, of Lockhart, in arriving at his co<it 
 of production, disclosing a figure of GSs. 7d., were submitted in detail to 
 the Board, and the amount of cost as shown was not challongod. 
 
 The basis of wages cost on which these figures were found were, on the 
 higher scale, associated vrith seasonal work. 
 
 The evidence furnished by witnesses to the Board at the inquiry revealed 
 that the average value per acre for wheat in the last season reached £6 8s. 
 lid. per acre on an average yield for the State of 17-2 bushi^ls per aorf, and 
 assessed at the guaranteed price of 7s. Gd. per bushel at railway station.
 
 116 
 
 The figuros published by the Government Statistician as presented in 
 Exhibit 38 show the average value per acre of wheat over the last ten-year 
 period to be £2 10s. Id. for an average yield of 11-27 bushels per acre. 
 
 During the past six years the wheat industry has been entirely under 
 pooling conditions, so that the yield and the marketing receipts can be 
 accurately determined. This period includes the two best years on record, 
 viz., 1915-16 and 1920-21. 
 
 The average yield over the period is 11-86 .bushels per acre, and the price 
 realised averaged, over the same period, £2 IBs. 7d. per acre. 
 
 The present position of the wheat industry is critical and uncertain. It 
 is clear that the guarantee price which protected the farmer last season will 
 not be repeated. There is no certainty that the pooling operations will be 
 continued, and there is strong probability that the world market will form 
 the basis of price for next season's wheat, both for export and local sales. 
 
 Sir Joseph Carruthers, in giving evidence before the Board in its previous 
 inquiry, directed consideration to two elements — 
 
 1. The farmer cannot pay wages beyond what he can earn as gross 
 
 returns from his produce, viz., from prices. 
 
 2. The farmer is limited by the cost to him of producing, which is a 
 
 certain thing to be met, whilst the price and the crop is proble- 
 matical. 
 
 " A farmer knows that with labour at 8s. per day the cost per acre for 
 sowing and harvesting will be so much, and he reckons there is a chance of a 
 profit ; but with every shilling rise he is taking a risk of a lesser or no profit. 
 If forced to pay a wage beyond his views as a practical man, he will get out 
 of the farming or reduce his area to what he can manage without labour. 
 The public will suffer thereby. 
 
 " The fixation of a living wage at present can do no good, because it will 
 make a rigid rule in an industry where both the output and the prices are 
 governed by matters over which the farmer has no control, such as season 
 and the market. 
 
 " The Board is not dealing wath an organised industry like mining, manu- 
 facture, or urban occupations, but with an industry utterly disorganised and 
 demoralised by the terrible crises of bad seasons and low prices and bad 
 interference of controlling bodies. 
 
 *' If one of the elements of cost, viz., wages, is fixed, that will stand as a 
 determination in fact by the Government and by law; whilst, on the other 
 hand, the output and the price will be entirely at the risk of the farmer, and 
 he will have to stand the cost even if his fields are withered and do not yield 
 a single grain. 
 
 " No other industry stands in such a position. 
 
 " A miner receives an award rate, but there is a certainty of so much coal 
 or mineral won, and a market price for it. 
 
 " So in a factory there is an output per hand and a market for the' output. 
 
 " So in building there is an accomplishment of work which is paid for by 
 measurement or by contract, or other estimate. 
 
 " But in farming there is an element. of risk that all labour may be in vain, 
 and there is never a guarantee of an output. 
 
 " Just at this time, when the output has not paid the cost for years past, 
 it will be very unwise to add to the difiiculties by making rigid rules as to 
 wages. 
 
 " If a living wage is fixed by the Board for rural labour, it will be followed 
 by an award, and there will immediately be all the restrictions and rules
 
 117 
 
 associated with such an award adding to the worries and troubles of a class 
 of men who, at this juncture, are fairly overwhelmed with existing trouble. 
 
 " I strongly urge that it is an inopportune time to interfere in the matter 
 at all. I honestly believe that the farmer will have to pay from £3 to £4 
 per week for his efficient labour in the field, or go \\-thout it; but there is a 
 supply of inefficient labour that is worth less and can only be paid what it 
 is worth. 
 
 " May I say again that the industry is not organised like urban industries, 
 nor even like the pastoral industry. Farming is a primitive industry. There 
 is no such thing as apprenticeship, no beginner class of labour, and no 
 improver-class recognised by any rule or law. 
 
 " Yet every farmer knows that sailors, and boys and men from every walk 
 of town life, come into the country and for a time work as f rmcrs. They 
 have to be taught most of the work, and alongside a good, efficient farmhand, 
 they are not worth very much. 
 
 " If a living wage is to be fixed, and these men are employed, they must 
 get it, and they will not be worth it to the farmer ; yet if he pays them less 
 he will be breaking the law. 
 
 " The relation between prices and wages will always exist, and it is useless 
 to say to the farmer, ' You must pay the wages or get out,' because the 
 result of his getting out would mean a death-blow to the settlement of our 
 lands and to peopling them." 
 
 In regard to the pastoral industry, and the evidence tendered in its behalf, 
 we attach importance to the affidavit furnished by Mr. J. W. Allen, General 
 Secretary of the Graziers' Association, and the summary marked A attached 
 therewith. This shows that in the pastoral industry taxable incomes of 
 54 per cent, of the whole group were under £500 ; and the same return dealing 
 with the incomes of taxpayers who earned their gross income mainly in the 
 capacity of farmers, 67-5 per cent, show taxable incomes of under £300 for 
 the year 1918-19. 
 
 Annexur^ E with the same affidavit shows a startling decrease in the 
 value of wool since the Taxation Commissioners' figures were compiled. 
 From October, 1920, to July, 1921 (inclusive), the average realisations ft^r 
 merino and crossbred wool declined from Is. 5-4d. per lb. to 8-8d. per lb. 
 
 In the dairying industry some considerable evidence was tendered. 
 Exhibit No. 1 dealing with production in all departments — butter, cheese, 
 whole-milk and bacon. Taking the State Statistician's figures as to the 
 number of persons employed in the industry, the figures of the State Dairy 
 Department, and the Sydney wholesale prices for 1918-19 for the various 
 products of the dairy-farm, the gross earnings per employee averaged £211. 
 The accuracy of the computations was not challrnged, and the Board has a 
 knowledge that the market prices on which the calculations were based are 
 not now obtaining. 
 
 The suggestion that dairying is carried on by family labour is largely true, 
 but some evidence of em]iloyment was tendered in Exhibit No. 17. Mr. 
 M. P. Dunlop had, as from lOth May to the date of submission of evidence, 
 engaged for rural employees, mostly in the dairying districts, 32 men at 
 prevailing rates of wages, according to qualification. To increase the 
 burden of wages in this industry can only lead to unemployment. 
 
 In the fruit industry the orchardist has to depond on the one hand of 
 export sales, while, on the other hand, he is subject to Interstate com]ie- 
 tition owing to heavy imjiorts. Mr. John Neil, of the Farmers and (Jraziers' 
 Association, in his statement, referred to the fact that many factories had 
 restricted operations, and that he did not think that 20 per cent, of the
 
 118 
 
 summer-fruit growers made a profit on their turnover, the prospects for the 
 coming summer being quite as black. 
 
 We therefore refrain from declaring a rural basic wage at the present time, 
 for the following reasons : — 
 
 1. The cost of living does not press so heavily on the workers in rural 
 
 industries as upon workers engaged on secondary occupations. 
 
 2. In declaring a basic wage for rural industries, and in fixing a minimum 
 
 wage based on the estimated requirements of a family comprising 
 man, wife, and two children, regard must be given to the effect 
 which such wage, universally applied, will have on the production 
 of food and the employment of labour. 
 
 3. The basic wage declared by the Board is the minimum at which rural 
 
 workers may be employed, and which must be paid to the least 
 efficient workers, and proportionately higher wages must be paid 
 to skilled workers. 
 
 4. The basic wage as fixed by the Board must be paid, whether the 
 
 worker can be profitably employed or not, and in this respect rural 
 industry differs from secondary industry, in which workers are 
 continuously employed on productive work. 
 
 5. Without legislative enactment wages for rural workers have advanced 
 
 in a greater degree than other classes of labour. 
 
 6. It must be recognised as a fundamental principle of economic law 
 
 that wages and all other expenses of an industry can only be paid 
 out of the profits of that industry. 
 
 7. The values of all classes of farm products show a serious decline and 
 
 depreciation, and are dependent entirely on open competition in 
 the markets of the world. 
 
 8. Concurrently with such depreciation in value, the cost of production 
 
 has substantially increased. 
 
 9. The determination of a basic wage at the pri;-3ent time will create 
 
 considerable unemployment and decrease in production of primary 
 products. 
 
 The majority determination to fix a basic wage for rural industries left 
 the Board to determine the issue as to what that wage should be, and under 
 section 79 to " declare what deductions may be made from such wages for 
 board or residence or board and residence, and for any customary privileges 
 or payments in kind conceded to or made to such employees." 
 
 Unlike other declarations made by the Board, there is no starting point to 
 meet the limitations under section 79, " that the Board shall make a separate 
 public inquiry into the cost of living of employees engaged in rural occupa- 
 tions." No evidence was tendered during the inquiry as to the actual cost 
 of living, and consequently the only determination that might be made 
 should be reflected from the Board's inquiries into the cost of living in other 
 declarations, and more particularly the declaration of 8th October, 1921. 
 Mr. Sawkins, the statistical officer of the Board, gives the cost of the Board's 
 regimen of food and groceries for the wiiole State for August at £1 13s. 6d., 
 and there is no evidence to suggest that this cost is likely to be increased in 
 the coming year; in fact, there is evidence to suggest that the downward 
 trend in prices is likely to continue to a lower level. 
 
 Taking the food and groceries regimen — the items meat, vegetables, 
 potatoes, milk, butter — it is obvious that these must cost less in the rural 
 centres outside the urban areas than has been estimated by the Board in its. 
 other declarations. The element of rent clearly cannot be measured by any
 
 119 
 
 standard applying the same conditions, nor can fuel and light be measured 
 in comparison with metropolitan or urban standards. Clothing is even more 
 difiicult to determine, and in miscellaneous it is clear that the allowances 
 for fares, union dues, papers, and other items do not occur in rural occu- 
 pations. 
 
 On the whole, by calculation, excluding rent, it will be found that £2 14s. 
 is nearly equivalent to the Board's ascertainment of the cost based on figures 
 of another period when higher prices obtained. 
 
 All this applies as to the married man with wife and two children, but 
 does not meet the case of the unmarried employee whose wage, according 
 to custom, is generally described as so much in cash, plus keep. The Board 
 has not been able to ascertain with any degree of accuracy the proportions 
 of mariied employees and unmarried employees, and it is largely a matter of 
 conjecture. 
 
 Clearly, if £2 14s. can be accepted as the cost of living for man, wife, and 
 two children, again excluding rent, the rural employee who receives his food 
 and accommodation is in altogether a difierent position, and to assess food 
 and accommodation is very difficult. To assess rent for housing at any 
 arbitrary figure is dangerous, in view of the fact that the Board has nothing 
 before it to indicate rental values or standard houses, such as has been 
 supplied in the inquiries preceding other declarations. 
 
 In a report by th(! statistical officer, 13th December, 1920, published as 
 Appendix 4 in the Board's report of July, 1921, Table 1, the weekly wages 
 paid to farm labourers as at June, 1920, is shown as 35s. with board and 
 lodging or rations. 
 
 In Table 2, taking the last quinquennial period, the amount is shown as 
 32s. with board and lodging or rations. 
 
 In Table 3 the relative increase in the nominal wage of agricultural 
 labourers, as compared with craftsmen, is indicated by index numbers. 
 
 Taking the quinqiiennial periods, 
 
 1901-1905— Craftsmen 104, Agricultural labourers 128. 
 
 1916-1920— „ 146, „ „ 240. 
 
 Table 4 deals with the effective wage by comparison over the same periods. 
 
 1901-1905— Craft mien 81, Agricultural labourers 100. 
 
 1916-1920— „ 65, „ „ 106. 
 
 In his concluding remarks, the statistician says : — 
 
 " Although nominal wages as a whole increased between 1891 and 
 
 December, 1919, by 73 per cent., yet the nominal wages of workers in 
 
 the building trades, wood, and furniture trades, engineering and metal 
 
 trades, taken together, increased by only 55 per cent. The nominal 
 
 wages of agricultural labourers on the other hand increased by 102 per 
 
 cent." 
 
 In the light of these important statements — \yith a knowledge that no 
 
 evidence has been tendered to suggest any increase in the rate of money 
 
 wages, with direct evidence that in seasonal occupations in some industries 
 
 good wages are actually paid— wo cannot subscribe to a declaration that, in 
 
 effect, fixes a wage for employees engaged in rural occujiations at £2 2s. with 
 
 board and lodging, irrespective of the qualifications of the emi)loyees on the 
 
 one hand or of the ability of all or any of our primary products to pay such 
 
 wage, as a minimum. 
 
 In regard to the married employee living on the farm in a house provided 
 by the farmer or landowner, the position is somewhat dilTrrent. The 
 principle previously laid down by the Board of Trade and other tribunals
 
 1:^0 
 
 that there can be no differentiation in the wage paid to the married and the 
 unmarried emjiloyiMi, the establishment of a wage assessed to cover the needs 
 of the married employee at £3 68. per week, reducing this amount in 
 effectiveness by an assessment of rent at 12s. per week, can only lead to 
 endless trouble as between employer and employee. 
 
 Beyond this, whether the labour of the married man will, by reason of 
 his steadiness, ultimately benefit the farmer or not, the Board in considering 
 this aspect is taking a risk in the fields of conjecture. 
 
 The further difficulty of assessing what might be a reasonable amount to 
 cover board and residence is great. It may lead to the suggestion of a 
 standard, and while witnesses variously estimated this amount at from 
 20s. to 25s. per week, they were clearly estimates, and j^rompted by the 
 witness' knowledge of the peculiar conditions of his individual case, where 
 many things may obtain which were not made clear to the Board. 
 
 T. I. CAMPBELL, \Additional Commis- 
 C. J. McRAE, J sioners. 
 
 20th October, 192L 
 
 Statement by Mr. Arthur. 
 
 I agree with the decision of the majority of the Board that the Board 
 should not refrain from declaring a living wage for male adults in rural occu- 
 pations, but I disagree as to the wage which the majority of the Board 
 declares. In order that rural industries may be brought under a living wage 
 declaration, I have signed the declaration embodying the wage agreed to 
 by the majority; but this does not imply that I agree with the amount 
 fixed. My signing of the declaration is solely to ensure that some living wage 
 shall come into force in rural industries. 
 
 The statistics before the Board show that the industry has, during the 
 last five years, been in an exceptionally prosperous condition; and thah in 
 spite of drought spells, the returns to primary producers have been better 
 than for any preceding five years. The prices secured for our produce have 
 been exceptionally high, and it must be admitted that the industry to-day 
 is in a prosperous condition. Last year I agreed with the majority of the 
 Board in refraining from fixing a wage, because of the drought. There had 
 been a failure of the wheat crop, while pastoralists had suffered heavy losses 
 of stock. But the drought is over ; the last wheat crop was an exceptionally 
 good one, which commanded a higher price than ever before obtained. The 
 prices for pastoral and dairy products kept up, and until the beginning of 
 the year the prospects of the industry were exceptionally bright. It is 
 true there has been a decline in export trade, but I have no reason to believe 
 that this is permanent. 
 
 I am of opinion that the rural worker should receive at least the same rate 
 of wages as the basic wage in other occuj)ations. He should be in a position 
 to maintain the same standard of living as his fellow- workmen in towns and 
 cities. While at the place of his work he might not be able to live up to the 
 same standard, I think that the Board should not deprive him of portion of 
 his wage for such a reason. His actual cost of living may be less than for 
 those who are employed in city or town occupations, but he should receive 
 some compensation for the lack of social conditions which characterise his 
 employment. 
 
 In my opinion, the wage should have been fixed at £4 6s. per week. 
 
 T. C. ARTHUE, 
 
 Additional Commissioner.
 
 121 
 
 Statement by Mr. Andrews. 
 
 While agreeing with the decision of the majority of the Board that the 
 time has arrived when a basic wage for rural employees should be declared, 
 I yet disagree with the wage arrived at. That being so, I must refuse to 
 sign the declaration. 
 
 I want to see this country developed, and if we are to fix a wage for rural 
 workers at a lower standard than that fixed for urban workers, the drift from 
 the country to the city will be greater than ever. It seems to me that the 
 same wage should be declared for rural workers as for urban workers. 
 
 After nearly twenty years' experience as an organiser of the A.W.U., I feel 
 convinced that 12s. per week deduction for rent is wrong, becausi; in my 
 opinion not more than 10 per cent, of the employers give to their employees 
 shelter that is worth anything like 12s. per week. The great bulk of rural 
 employers give shelter of the most primitive kind. 
 
 JOHN ANDREWS, 
 
 Additional Commissioner. 
 
 [Published in Government Gazette, No. \~2, of 25tli November, 1921.] 
 Appointment. 
 In pursuance of the powers conferred by section 79 (3) of the Industrial 
 Arbitration Act, No. 17, 1912, as am^-nded, the New South Wales Board of 
 Trade hereby appoints all Clerks of Petty Sessions and all Acting Clerks of 
 Petty Sessions as persons to whom any aged, infirm, or slow worker engaged 
 in any rural occupation, who may deem himself unable to earn the living 
 wages declared by the Board of Trade, may apply for a permit in writing 
 to work for less than such living wages. 
 
 The Common Seal of the New South Wales Board of Trade was affixe<l 
 hereto this twenty-fourth day of November, 1921, by direction and in the 
 presence of the Members of the said Boarfl, who also signed this appointment. 
 
 GEO. S. BEEBY, President. 
 J. B. HOLME, Deputy President. 
 W. T. WILLI NGTON, ) 
 (l.s.) THO^IAS ROUTLEY, [ Commissioners. 
 ARTHUR COOPER, ) 
 
 EWS, ( 
 R, ) 
 
 Dated this twenty-fourth day of November, 1921 
 
 T. I. CAMPBELL, \ 
 C. J. McRAE, ( Adflitional 
 
 JOHN ANDREWS, C Commissioners. 
 T. C. ARTHUR, 
 
 REGULATIONS. 
 
 [Published in Government Guzette, No. IC!), of IStli November, 19'21.] 
 
 [3239 J Department of Labour, 
 
 Sydney, 15th November, 1921. 
 
 HIS Excellency the Govornor-in-Council, in pursuance of the provisions of 
 sections SI (1) and 8S of the Industrial Arbitration xVct, 1912, as amended, 
 and following upon the determination made on the 20th day of October, 
 1921, hy the New South Wales Board of Trade in exercise of the powers 
 and functions conferred upon it by section 79 (1) of the said Act, deolarin^ 
 that '• the living wages to be paid to adylt male employees pngaf?ed in ruTal 
 occupations in the State of New South Wales (excepting thereout the
 
 Per w 
 
 eek. 
 
 £ 
 
 p. 
 
 d. 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 19 
 
 0" 
 
 122 
 
 county of Yanoowiiina) shall be £3 Gs. per week, or lis. per day." And 
 further declarinj^^ " that tlic following deductions may be made from sucli 
 wages for board or residence or board and residence: — 
 
 For residence comprising a separate house of three rooms 
 
 or more 
 For residence comprising less than three rooms . . 
 For board and residence 
 For board without residence . . 
 
 has been pleased to malce the following Regulations incorporating the said 
 determination and matters ne<-espary or convenient to be prescribed for 
 carrying such determination into effect. 
 
 GREGORY McGIRR. 
 
 INDUSTRIAL ARBITRATION ACT. 1912, AS AMENDED. 
 
 Sections SI (1) and 8S. 
 
 REGULATIONS. 
 
 Living Wages in Rural Occupations. 
 
 1. (a) The living wages to be paid to adult male employees engaged in 
 rural occupations in the State of New South Wales, excepting thereout the 
 county of Yancowinna, shall be £3 6s. per week, or lis. per day, provided 
 that the following deductions may be made from such wages for board or 
 residence or board and residence, viz. : — 
 
 Per week. 
 £ s. d. 
 For residence comprising a separate house of three rooms, 
 
 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 
 
 For residence comprising less than three rooms . . ..050 
 
 For board and residence .. .. .. .. ..140 
 
 For board without residence . . . . . . . . . . 19 
 
 (h) Adult male employees entitled to the said living wages, whether in 
 full or subject to any deduction as aforesaid, may, within six months after 
 sucn money has become due, apply to an Industrial Magistrate for an order 
 directing the employer to pay the full amount of any balance due to such 
 employee in respect of the said living wages. Such order may be so made 
 notwithstanding any smaller payment or any express or implied agreement 
 to the contrary. The Industrial Magistrate may make any order he thinks 
 just, and may award costs to either party and assess the amount of such 
 costs. 
 
 (c) Such employee may within the said period of six months, in lieu 
 of applying to an Industrial Magistrate for an order, sue for any balance 
 due as aforesaid in any District Court or Court of Petty Sessions. 
 
 (d) The provisions of section 49 of the Industrial Arbitration Act, 1912, 
 and of the regulations for the time being in force thereunder, shall mtitatis 
 mutandis apply to any proceedings to recover payment of the said living 
 wages or any part thereof. 
 
 (e) Any person committing a breach of this Regulation shall be subject 
 to a penalty not exceeding £50. 
 
 Permits to work for less than the Living Wages in Rural Occupations. 
 
 2. Application for a permit to work for less than the living wages declared 
 for adult males in rural occupations under section 79 (3) of the Act shall be 
 made to the Registrar or other person appointed by the Board of Trade to 
 issue permits, and may be made in the Form 1 hereto or to the like effect.
 
 123 
 
 3. The Registrar or other person appointed as aforesaid may in any 
 particular case adopt any mode of procedure that ho considers just in order 
 to facilitate the determination of the matter of the granting or refusing of 
 the permit, and may issue interim permits pending such determination. 
 
 4. Every permit shall be in Form II hereto or to the like effect, and may 
 be .granted upon such conditions as are deemed to be proper in the circum- 
 stances. 
 
 5. In addition to the copy of any permit which is required by section 79 
 (3) to be forwarded to the Registrar, such other person appointed as afore- 
 said to issue permits shall also send to the Registrar every application for a 
 permit, together with all papers relating thereto, within three days after 
 the determination of the matter, which shall thereupon be filed in the Registry-. 
 
 6. Every application for the cancellation or amendment of a permit may 
 be in Form III hereto, or to the like effect, and shall be lodged at the office 
 of the Registrar, and the applicant shall also forthwith serve a copy of such 
 application upon the holder of the permit sought to be cancelled or amended. 
 
 7. Within fourteeen days after ser\'ice of the application, the person 
 whose permit is sought to be cancelled or amended may lodge with the 
 Registrar sai answer to the application, and shall within the said period 
 serve a copy of the answer on the applicant. 
 
 8. The Registrar shall, at the expiration of fourteen days after the date 
 of the lodging of the application, and whether or not the answer has been 
 lodged, fix a day for the hearing of the application, and shall notify the same 
 to the parties. 
 
 9. The Registrar, on the day so fixed, or on any later day to which the 
 hearing is adjourned, shall hear and determine the application upon evidence 
 in such form as the Registrar may think proper, and on such records of the 
 ofiice of the Registrar or of the Board of Trade as the Registrar may refer 
 to. 
 
 10. No fees shall be charged or payable in respect of any proceeding 
 under Regulations 2 to 9. 
 
 INDUSTRIAL ARBITRATION ACT, ir^l2-20. 
 Form I. 
 
 Section 7!) (3)— Regulation 2. 
 
 Application for Permit to Worl: for la^s than titc JJrinn Tr«.^r« Declared for 
 Adult Males Engaged in Rural Occupations. 
 
 Application No. of ID 
 
 (Applicant) 
 
 (Address) 
 
 (Occupation) 
 I iiEUEBY apply for a permit to woric in rural oprupations for a rate of wages 
 
 les.s than tlie declared living wages, viz., P*-*"" ..!**^,. . and 
 
 subject to the conditions that such i)orniit shall coiitiiuic for a period of 
 , and apply to enii)li)yinent wilh [}:ame of cuiploycr, 
 or if for various emploj/nients, insert the trord "general"]. 
 The grounds of this uiy ai>pli(ation are: — 
 Dated at , this day of . If) . 
 
 (Sitpiature of Ai>plieant). 
 
 To the Industrial Registrar, or to the Clerk of Tctty Sessions, Court-hou.se,
 
 124 
 
 Memobandum of Mattebs Appeabiko Upon IIeabinq op Applicatiow. 
 Detebmimahon, 
 
 INDUSTRIAL ARBITRATION ACT, 1912-20. 
 
 Form II. 
 
 Section 79 (3)— Regulation 4. 
 
 Permit to Worlc for Less tlian the Living Wayes Declared for Adult Males 
 Engaged in Rural Occupations. 
 
 I HEBEBY grant a permit to for a period of 
 
 months to work as an aged, infirm, slow worker [strike out words which are 
 
 unnecessary] in rural occupations for less tlian the living wages declared with 
 
 regard to such occupations, that is, at a wage of P^^w^k 
 
 subject to the conditions following: — 
 
 1. 
 
 2. 
 
 Dated the day of 192 . 
 
 Industrial Registrar or other OflScer issuing Permit. 
 
 Endorsed upon this sheet are the provisions of the Act and Regulations 
 under which this permit is granted. 
 
 INDUSTRIAL ARBITRATION ACT, 1912-20. 
 Form III. 
 
 Section 79 (3)— Regulation G. 
 
 Application for Cancellation or Amendment of Permit. 
 
 Before the Industrial Registrar. 
 
 In the matter of an application by for cancellation or 
 
 amendment of i)ermit. 
 
 I HEREBY apply to the Registrar for the cancellation or amendment of permit 
 
 (No. Petty Sessions District , ), to work for less 
 
 than the living wages declared for adult males employed in rural occupations. 
 
 which permit was issued to on the 
 
 day of , 19 , on the following grounds : — 
 
 {Signature) 
 
 (Date) 
 To the Industrial Registrar.
 
 125 
 
 APPENDIX I. 
 
 In the StrpBEME Coubt 
 OF New South Wales. 
 
 Mutual Life and Citizens' Association Co. Ltd. v. The Ministee for Labouk and 
 
 Industry and others. 
 Judgment of His Honor the Chief Justice, Sir \Vm. CuUen. 
 
 The Industrial Arbitration (Amendment) Act, 1918, in certain particulars, trenched 
 upon the principle of arbitration embodied in the principal enactment of 1912, and upon 
 the compulsory wage-fixing powers of the Industrial Tribunals, i.e.. Court or Boards, 
 charged with the carrying ovt of that principle. Thus in section 79 it enabled a new 
 corporate body, to be linown as the Board of Trade, unconnected with those tribunals, 
 to make a declaration after public inquiry respecting what it speaks of as " living wutjes," 
 the result of whicli was that no award could thei-eafter be made for wages lower than the 
 living wages so de(;lared, nor could any industrial agreement bo entered into (or by 
 consequence filed at the office of the Registrar under section 11) for wages lower than 
 such living wages. Any aged, infirm, or slow worker, engaged in any rural occupation, 
 who might deem himself unable to earn such living wage«, was empowered to apply to the 
 Registrar or to any person appointed by such Board for a jjermit in writing to work for 
 less than the living wage. 
 
 It was provided by direct enactment in section 24 (B) that — 
 
 " All employees engaged in rural industries shall be entitled to be paid tlie living 
 wages declared in their regard by the Board of Trade, but with the exception of 
 employees whose conditions of employment have been regulated by any award, 
 shall not be otherwise subject to the provisions of this Act." 
 
 Another provision relating to the living wage, was added in new section 24 (A) 2. 
 
 " Whenever an award relating to anj' skilled occupation (ixes minimum wages 
 higher than the living wage, the amount of the excess of such minimum wages above 
 the living wage shall be the same in the case of males and females doing tiie same 
 class of work." 
 
 But there was no provision made in any part of the amending Act in regard to employees 
 engaged in other than rural industries, in any way correspf)nding to that which appears 
 in section 24(B), nor is any other consequence directly attached to the declaration of the 
 Board of Trade on the subject of tlie living wage. The Act, liowever, as we liave seen, 
 gave by diretit legislation to individual employees engaged in rural industries the Ix'nefit 
 of a compulsory minimum wage, which in the case of all other industries could only be 
 obtained by industrial unions through arbitration under section ;U, ix^ud of course in 
 connection with section 14 which gives to the Court all the jjowers and jurisdictions of a 
 Board. The restriction contained in section 79 (2) in repnrd to future industrial agree- 
 ments or awards did not, of course, in any way bar the industrial tribunals froip awarding 
 minimum wages higher than the liv-ing wage, or from prescribing diffen-nt scales of 
 minimum wage in regard to different classes cif work in the same kind of industiy ^o long 
 as nothinii lower than the living wage should bo prescrilied as sui'h minimum. Tlie 
 question now before us arises not luxder section 79, but section 81 (1), which reads as 
 follows : — 
 
 " Upon the exercise by the Board of Trade of the powers and functions 
 specified in the two preceding sections, the Governor may make regulations incor- 
 porating tiie determinations and directions of such Board, and any matti^rs necessary 
 or convenient to be prescribed for carrying such doternuuations and directions into 
 effect." 
 
 The Act had. by sei;tion 80, clothed the Board with verj* extended powers of dealing 
 with the subject of a])j)n'nticij.ship, and the carryinu out of the deeisions and recommen- 
 dations of the Board under that section might call for a considerable body of regulations. 
 But the question now before us is wlu^tlu-r the rcgulatioii-makinL' ]K)wer i-onfern-d on the 
 Executive bj- section 81 (1) enabled it to give cojnjjulsory force to a declaration resijcetin^r 
 wages under section 79 (1), in the case of what one may call non-rural workers, whicii 
 would be equally cflective with the direct legislative jjrovision under section 24 (B) in the 
 case of employees engaged in rural industries. Section Si (2) does not on the face of it 
 carry such a consequence, because it relates only to ]K'rsons affected by existing awards. 
 Many such awards might, and doubtless would. ])rovide for minumum wape»« nn Wifih a» 
 or higher than the sum likely to be fixed by the Board of I'rade a.s a livinn wane, and 
 different grades of employees in the same industry mifiht have ditierent scales of minimum 
 wages presiiribed for them in the award. And inasmuch as section Si does not cx]>ressly, 
 nor I think by any necessary implication, provide that the E.xecuti^v itself should be 
 constituted a wage-fixing authority, and inasmuch as the Act still remains an arbitration
 
 126 
 
 corle to bo administored by the existing arbitration tribunals, except insofar as the 
 Tyonislaturn itself has taken this power out of their hands, it seems to mc that section 81 
 eonteniplated not only tliat any necessary adjustment of exisfina awards b'eyond bringing 
 U]) the n^inimuin wage to the standard declared, should be dealt with by them, but also 
 that the extension of the benefit of the Board's declarati(yn to employees who had never 
 (obtained the benefit of an award should also be left in their hands, to be dealt with from 
 time to time as new a[)plications come to be made to them, under the machinery already 
 })ri)vided in the Princi^ial and amending Acts, that their jurisdiction was meant to be 
 jealously preserved except insofar as the amending Act expressly took it away is indicated 
 by leaving unaltered section 28 of the Principal Act, which is in these words : — 
 
 " Unless otherwise expressly provided in this Act, an award, whether made under 
 
 this Act or the repealed A(;ts, may be rescinded, added to, or varied, only on 
 
 application or reference to a Board in pursuance of tliis Act. 
 
 But the Court may, at any time, on its own initiative or on application made to it» 
 
 prohibit any proceeding of a board or varj' or rescind any award made under this 
 
 Act or the repealed Acts." 
 
 One such express provision is contained in section 81 (2), and it is clear from the very 
 wording of section 28 that you cannot by implication read into section 81 any qualification 
 of the sole power of the Arbitration tribunals to vary existing awards. 
 
 Turning to the regulation in question in this case it will be seen that its framers foresaw 
 certain difficulties that must arise through asserting a power in the Governor to turn that 
 w'hich was a mere declaration of the Board of Trade into a compulsory order, binding upon 
 employer and employee alike, whether the industry in which they were engaged was the 
 subject of an award or not. It was ob\nous that in the case of non-rural employees this 
 would expose to the total loss of employment all workmen who by reason of age, infirmity, 
 or slowness, raiglit be unable to earn the living wage so declared. To get over this difficulty 
 f!lause 5 of the regulation purported to lay down a rule upon the siibject, although the 
 Act had made no such provision. In justification for this it was boldly claimed on behalf 
 of the respondents that the Executive Government was made the judge of matters necessary 
 or convenient to be prescribed for carrj'ing the determinations and directions of the Board 
 into effect. But this contention would imply that the Governor had unlimited power to 
 prescribe all such directions as he might choose to call necessary or convenient, and was 
 not in any way concerned to inquire whether such directions came within the sphere 
 entrusted to him by the Act. This would amount to the clothing of the Executive with 
 an independent legislative power for whicii I can see no warrant in anything contained 
 in the Act. To use the words of Lord Davy in the case of Rossi v. Edinburgh Corporation 
 (1905 A.C. at p. 29): — 
 
 " I am of opinion that you cannot under the guise of gi^dng better effect to the 
 
 provisions of a statute extend the statute to the prohibition or the restraint of trades 
 
 which are not included in the statute." 
 
 That was a case in which Magistrates were authorised to make regulations in regard to 
 certain street traders. At page 30 of the Report, Lord Robertson said : — 
 
 " I kiiow of no principle upon which the Magistrates can be held entitled to eke 
 out what they may consider a weak prohibition by imposing an additional one." 
 
 I think that principle is applicable to all regulations making authorities under a statute 
 without distinction, and applies as fully to the regulations made b}^ the Governor under 
 section 81 or section 88, as to those niade by the Judge under section 72. In so sajnng 
 I am assuming for the purposes of this case that sections 81 and 88 can be read together, 
 and that the power to'impose penalties under the latter section would in all other resjxjcts 
 applj', though the regulation complained of purports to be made only under section 81. 
 But on the view already expressed I do not think it necessary to discuss this question. 
 
 For the reasons mentioned I am of opinion that, insofar as they purport to penalise 
 either emploj^er or employee outside any award or industrial agreement for paying or 
 accepting wages below those declared by the Board, the regulations in question are ultra 
 vires. 
 
 It was further contended by the respondents that, even assuming this to be the case, 
 it is outside the power of this Court to afford relief to the aggrieved party by way of 
 prohibition, and for this reliance was placed on the concluding subsection of section 55. 
 
 On the ^aew I take of the group of sections 53 to 55, it is unnecessary to inquire into 
 the nature and extent of the immunity accorded by the subsection relied on. Hitherto 
 thiis provision, like that contained in section 58. which was the subject of a decision by 
 this Court in the case of In re Brennan (15 S.R. 173), has been regarded as a more or less 
 effectual protection of the Arlntral tribunals against interference in regard to the methods 
 adopted by them for the purpose of securing industrial peace. It woiild appear stran^je 
 that the Legislature should, as contended, have extended that immunity to a more
 
 127 
 
 coraraand of some outside authority assuming to usurp thn functions of thoso tribunals, 
 or at all events that such an innovation should \yo. inti-oduoed without Komo express 
 provision. And I think a glance at tliese sections will make it clear that this has not 
 oecurred. Section 51), with which Part 8 of the Act commences, empowers the Registrar 
 or an Industrial Magistrat* to order the paj-ment by any niemlx>r of an industrial union 
 of any fine, levy, penalty, or subscnj)tion payable in pursuance of the rules of the union. 
 Section ")!■ provides that when an order is made under sections 44, 4(), 47, 49, oO, 52, or 
 53, that any person or union shall pay the amount of any money due or any penalty, 
 such order shall have the effect of a judgment, and the amount be recoverable "as such.' 
 
 Of the sections here named, section 44, shortly stated, empowers the Court of Industrial 
 Arbitration itself to order " anj' \Kn-.son, including an industrial imion of employers," to 
 pay a penalty for acts in the nature of a. lo'dcout or instigating thereto. Section 4() 
 empowers the Court to order any trade-union whose executive or members are taking 
 part in or aiding or abbeting an unlawful strike to p.ny a jienalty. Sectiftn 47 merelv 
 relates to a defence that may be set up in proceedings for an order or direction under the 
 last preceding section. Section 49 empowers the Registrar to order a defaulting employer 
 to pay any balance duo to an employee in respect of the ])rice or rate fixed by an award 
 or industrial agreement for work done by him. Section 50 emjiowers the Registrar or 
 an Industrial Magistrate to order any i)erson conimitting a breach of an award or industrial 
 agreement to pay a penalty. It also enables an order to be n^ade for costs accf)rding to 
 the event in proceedings for breach of an award or industrial agreement. Section 52 
 empowers the Court to order an employer to pay a penalty for dismissing an employee bv 
 reason of the feet that the employee is a meniber of a board or of a jtrade-union" or an 
 industrial union, or on certain other analogous grounds. The effect of section 53 has 
 been mentioned already. Coniint: now to section 55, it will be seen that it relates onlv 
 to orders of the Registrar orany Industrial or other Magistrate or Justices, uniier the Act 
 imposing a penalty or ordering the paj-ment of an}^ sum of money or any penalty, and in 
 every such case an appeal is to lie to the Court. The jurisdiction entrusted to-an Industrial 
 or other Magistrate or Justices, in procccdingr; for the recovery of penalties, extends by 
 virtue of section 01 to penalties imposed by or under the Act " or the regulations." But 
 section 55 only mentions orders under the Act, and is silent about things done under the 
 regulations. 
 
 Whatever, therefore, may Ix; the scope of section 55 (4), it docs not seem to me that tjie 
 conviction now in question can be brought within it. 
 
 The rule nisi in my opinion must bo -made absolute. 
 
 The rule is made absolute without costs. 
 
 W. F. OWKX, 
 
 Associate 
 
 In the Sttpreme Court of "^| 
 
 New SoTiTn Wales. )■ 
 
 Full Court. j 
 
 Coram : Sir WILLIAM CULLEX, C.J. 
 WADR. J 
 PRIXG, J. 
 
 Ex parte : Mutual Lifk and Citizens Insuran<"e Co. Ltd. (Aj)plicants) v. 
 
 MtNisTKR FOR Lai'.ot'r AND iNnu'^THY (Respondents). 
 Wade, J. ; 
 
 The api>licants in this matter were convicted by the Chief Industrial Magistral'' on the 
 12th August last on a complaint that " they did fail to pay to an employee the minimum 
 ■weekly rate ')f wage, £4 5s., lx!in<i the living wage prescrilx-d for sucii adult male jiei-won 
 as aforesaid by ret£uiatit)ns made under the authoritv of the Indu^itrinl .Arbitration 
 Act of 1912 and duly published in the New South Wales Gorentmtnl dazcltc, contrary 
 to the said regulations and the Act in such case made and provided." 
 
 The applicants now ask for a prohibition in ros]H?ct of .■luch order on the grounds — 
 
 (1) That the ^lagistrale had ho jurisdiction over the s.iid employee, or over the 
 
 subject matter of his wages. 
 
 (2) That neither the Industrial Arbitration Act nor the regxilations authorised tie 
 
 imposition of a jx-nalty. 
 On behalf of the Minister it was urged that the Magistrate had jurisdiction in these 
 matters; and, further, that even if his order was erroneous in law prohibition would not 
 lie.
 
 128 
 
 The material sections for consideration are sections 79, 80, 81, and §8 ot the Industrial 
 Arbitration Act, 1912-18. It will l)e useful at the outset to consider the historj' of 
 legislation upon the subject of wages before dealing with the actual sections alxjve- 
 mentioned. The various Statutes during the last twenty years dealing with oomplusory 
 arbitration have this common feature that the tribunals are empowered to impose com- 
 pulsory conditions inter alia as to wages. These conditions are arrived at after hearing 
 of evidence by the tribunal and embodied in awards. The obligations so imposed can 
 be enforced in a variety of ways at the instance of one party against another. These 
 Industrial tribunals may impose obligations on persons who do not seek the assistance 
 of the Court, but only when an award has been made in respect of the industry they belong 
 to. The duration of an award may be three years, but recently (in consequence of the 
 rapid and continuous increase in the cost of living) applications to review the wages 
 fixed by awards have been frequent; and before they have expired. This involved 
 the hearing of evidence in the case of each applicant, the inquiry was often prolonged, 
 the evidence before the different tribunals traversed the same ground, there was much 
 useless repetition of e%adonce and delay; the awai-ds were not made on a uniform basis; 
 and the relative value of labour in ditleront industries was not always preserved. By 
 these methods the Industrial Tribunal prescribed a living wage to overcome these 
 difficulties, the Industrial Arbitration Act of 1912 was amended, and under the Act 
 No. 17 of 1918 .T Board of Trade was established. Its provisions are thereby incori)orated 
 in the principal Act. The Board exercised various functions in respect of industrial 
 matters, and amongst others v/as empowered '" to hold a public inquiry from 3'ear to year 
 as to the increase or decrease in the average cost of living and declare what shall be the 
 living wage to be paid to adult male employees, and adult female emploj^es in the State 
 or any defined area thereof." {See section 79 (1)). 
 
 The existing system was radieallj^ changed; one tribunal was empowered to investigate 
 the question of wages for the whole State. The individuals engaged in the various 
 industries might or might not be present and be heard at such inquiry and the wage 
 so declared became a standard minimum wage for at least a j'ear. It was to govern 
 future awards and hidustrial agreements, subsection 79 (2). Further, under section 
 81 there was " an option reserved to the Governor to make regulations incorporating 
 such declaration of the ]i^'ing wage, and upon publication of such regulations the pro- 
 visions of awards relating to the matter dealt with by tlie Board of Trade shall cease to 
 have effect 81 (2). Such are recognised facts, and it may be inferred that the intention 
 was to secure uniformity of decision, an annual revision, certainty, and a considerable 
 saving of time. The point to be remembered is that this machinery was a simple and 
 comprehensive method oi' altering the standard of wages of one tribunal, instead of manj-. 
 The Board of Trade was to supply the figures, but the authority to make the.se wages 
 binding was still the Industrial Court. It might award a higher but not a lower wage 
 than declared by the Board. 
 
 The applicants urged that the Board of Trade's pro^risions are merely ancillary to 
 and in substitution of portion of the Industrial Arbitration Statutes giving relief to 
 persons who are governed for the time being by awards of the Court: and they were not 
 intended to give power to the Executive, by publication in the Gorernmenf Gazette of 
 regulations, to interfere with voluntary contracts between persons who were not governed 
 by award. 
 
 In my opinion the contention of the appellants is correct. An examination of the 
 sections in question supports this ^■iew. Section 79 empowers the Board of Trade to 
 declare what shall be the living wage for adult employees in this State. Subsection 2 
 provides for the wage so declared being incorporated in subsequent awards or industrial 
 agreements, but there are no words in that section compelling the payment of that wage 
 to all adult employees, whether governed by an award or not. Indeed, counsel for the 
 Minister did not claim that this section in itself created an obligation except in respect 
 in future awards and industrial agreements. The section further provides that the 
 Board of Trade shall make a separate inquiry into the cost of li\nng of emploj'ees engaged 
 in rural occupations, and shall make a separate declaration as to the living wages to be 
 I^aid to them. As it stands this section has no binding operation in respect of emploj'ees 
 in rural occupations. This -^riew is confirmed by reference to section 24 (b), which pro- 
 vides that " all employees engaged in rural occupations shall be entitled to the living 
 wage declared in their regard by the Board of Trade, but with the exception of employees 
 whose conditions of emploj-ment have been regulated by any award shall not be otherwise 
 subject to the provisions of this Act." As this pro-snsion had been deemed necessary 
 to secure the benefit of the li\ang wage at once for rural emploj^ees (a section of the general 
 body of adult male employees), it would follow that under section 79 adult male employees 
 engaged in occupations other than rural are not entitled to the li\-ing wage, and if they 
 are, it must be under some other section of the Act. 
 
 It is said that words declare what shall be the living wage to be paid to adult male 
 employees in the State entitle all employees to be paid such wage. If tliis be the cortect
 
 129 
 
 ruling, then the words must apply to all omployeos, whothor umii-r an aw.inl or u<>t, 
 and whcthiT engaged in a rural orcupalion or not. Under sueli ein'UMLst.vn<es tlic 
 enabling words of section 24 (6) are wholly unneeessary, likewise the pruvisicin uf sub- 
 section (2) of section 79. Had the words Ixjen " declare what shall U- llie living wages, 
 which wages shall Ijc paid to adult nialc employees," &.e., the jMisition would Ixj ditieivnt. 
 In short, section 79, subsection (1) is, in my opinion, declaratory only, the combined 
 efiEect of sections 79 and 24 (6) is as follows : — 
 
 (1) To set up a standard minimum wage to be paid in future awards or industrial 
 
 agreements to all adult employees. Subsection (2). 
 
 (2) To enable rural workers to claim at once the declared wage if they are not under 
 
 an award. 
 
 (3) To leave unaffected adult employees other than niral, whether they arc under 
 
 an award or not. 
 
 Are then the employees of the applicants afTected by .section 81? It is there provided 
 that the Governor may make regulations ineoi-porating the determinations and directions 
 of the Board of Trade and any matters necessary or convenient to be prescribed for 
 carr3''ing such deternunations and directions into effect. It will be noted that a dis- 
 cretion is vested in the Governor to make such regulations. If they are not made the 
 position created by section 79 rerhains unchanged; but if the discretion is exercised, 
 and if such regulations are made, then on publication certain limited results follow. 
 Section 81 (2) declares " upon the publication of any such regulation the ])rovisi(ins 
 of awards relating to the matters dealt with by the Board of Trade shall cea.se to have 
 effect." Thus, one section of those mentioned in sub-heading 3 above secure relief, 
 i.e., those who are subject to an award. 
 
 In my opinion that is the sole effect, and no more was intended by the D^gislature. 
 But it was argued that after such regulations have been published the employers or 
 persons whose wages are not fixed by an award are compelled to pay the living wage. 
 Where is such obligation to be found in 81 (1)? Subsection (2) does make a limited 
 change. It will be noticed there is no reference therein to industrial a','reemcnts. Wages 
 nowadays are fixed either by industrial awards or industrial agreeiuciits. nr by MiiunUiry 
 agreement between persons outside the ])rovisions of such Statut*-. Why simuld the 
 industrial agreements be omitted from the o])eration of sub.section (2)? The ]>ayment 
 of wages by such industrial agreements is equally binding with the )>ayiuent of wages 
 fixed by an award and can be enforcei.1 by similar metliod and without the 
 consent of the parties. The contract is equally binding during the curifn<'y of either 
 the award or the industrial agreement. Evidently the object was to alter awanls for 
 the reasons above mentioned, leaving i)arties who "had agreed as to the la'e i.f wages to 
 stand by their industrial agreenient, or by consent to modify it. If then the living wage 
 is not to operate in respect of industrial .agreenients which are ivcognised as a feature 
 of industrial arbitration a fortiori should contracts be excluded for wages vohmtarily 
 agreed to and ovxtsidc the operations altogether of Indtistrial Courts? These ]K'oj>le 
 have not thought fit to approach the Couit for compulsory awards, nor deemed it neces- 
 sary to put their bargain into the form of an industrial agreement; but it is o]H>n to them 
 to a])ply for an award under section 79 (2), and thus obtain the award of a wage whi<h 
 shall not be less than the living wage declared by the Board of Trade. Parliament wjvs 
 concerned with those only who are bound by an award under |H'nalty to accc]>t a waiie 
 less than what the Board of Trade might declare shall lie the living wage, and who sulTcr 
 liuaiuially if they obey the award. To the above (|ucstion two aiiswei"s ha\f W<n 
 supplied, firstly, that it was deemed neccs.sary to insert Si (2) to nullify certain awards 
 of the Court l)ecause they lia\e a quaM statutory force; but the sauie argument applies 
 to industrial agreements which althcnigh arrived at diffeivntly are of equal authority 
 with awards; secondly, the concluding words of .section 81 (1) im|M)ses an nbligalion 
 for the ])ayment of the living wage to jkm-sous who aiv not governed by an award. I'ikiu 
 this there is the obvious eoiumeiil that if subsection (1) ai)plies to all adult cm])loyces it. 
 is sufficiently wide to cover the tliix-e forms of contra<'ts for wages (<t) umler an awanl ; 
 (b) under an industrial agreement; and (c) by voluntary agreement. .\nd it is dillioilt 
 to see why Parliament has set out the effect of such juiblicatiim in sulisection (2) with 
 rcsjx^ct to one only of these three classes. I am of o])inion, however, that the concluding 
 words of section 81 ccmtain no eomiiulsory jxnver, but am merely for the )iuri>ose <>f 
 providing machinery for carrying into effect the determination of the Board of Tni<le 
 under sections 79 and 80, the extent of their (qn-ration In-ing determined by a nfennce 
 to all the sections \mder consideration. The (Jovenmr is eiupoweixMl " t^t make irgula- 
 tions which incori>orati' tlu- dctcrininations and dinctii'us of the Board, and any nialt<TS 
 necessary or convenient, ^vc . . ." For the purpose of eonstnjction llie word 
 "necessary" may lx> left out. lf(- has " power to iiicori>orate matters thenfor that ftrt> 
 convenient to be jjrescribrd for carrying such determination and directions into effect." 
 To my mind, that clearly indicates tho proccduri- that may bo adopted for giving effect 
 52639— E
 
 130 
 
 to any of tlio delorminat.if)ns which the Board may arrive at vinder spctions 79 or 80. 
 [ fail to SCO how the word " convenient" can be read as evidence of the imposition or 
 an oblij,'ation as to the payment of wages. The operative woids arc in subsection (2). I 
 liold tliat adult employees who are not rural workers and who are not uiulcr an award 
 are unatlected. 
 
 Further, if the conviction in this case is sound in law a serious anomaly must arise 
 in respect of wages to I)e paid to slow and aged workers. Under section 27 provision is 
 niadc for aged and inlirm workers obtaining a permit to work for less than the living 
 wage prescribed by an award. That is in the interest of em])loyers and employees. 
 The former may l)e excused from paying "the award wage to men whose earning power 
 is below normal, and old men are not deprived of the means of a livelihood. The jwint 
 to bear in mind is that this section only applies where an award has Ijccn made; and 
 people who are not mider an award cannot enjoy the benefit of those provisions. The 
 wages of rural workers had not been fixed by any award, at the date when the Board 
 was established. Then section 79 and section 24 (b) .provide that workers in rural 
 occupations shall entitled to be paid the wage declared by the Board of Trade whether 
 imdcr an award or not, and that an aged and infirm worker may obtain a permit to 
 work for less than the declared wage (see section 79 (3) ). Without this section the 
 claim of aged workers in rural occupations for permits could not operate because the 
 worker is not under an award. 
 
 Now let us turn to the worker other than niral, who is not under an award. If he is 
 entitled to be paid the living wage declared by the Board of Trade he is entitled to the 
 full amount, and there is no machinery for the relief of an employer who engages an 
 aged worker, nor to the aged employee who is not equal to earning the full wage. The 
 employer is faced with the alternative of paying the full M-age if he engages slow workers, 
 or employing only men who can earn the wages declared. The fact that the Legislature 
 has been careful to provide for aged and slow workers if engaged in rural occupations 
 and omits to extend the same benefit to another class not engaged in rural occupations, 
 confirms me in the opinion that' the operations of these sections are limited to employees 
 whose wages are fixed by an award. 
 
 Mr. Owen then raised the pomt that there is no power to impose the penalty referred 
 to in section 7 for a breach of the regulations incorporating the li^dng wage. I agree 
 with the views expressed bj' his Honor. Under section 81 the Governor is empowered 
 to incoiijorate regulations to give effect to that part of the Act dealing with the declara- 
 tion of the living wage. Section 88 (/) empowers liira mider such regulation to impo.sc a 
 penalty for a breach thereof. This has been done. 
 
 There remains now the question whether although the decision of the Industrial IMagis- 
 trate was wrong in law a prohibition can issue for excess of jurisdiction. Penalties 
 imposed by the Act of 1912-18 or one of the regulations can be recovered before a 
 Stii)cndiary, Police, or Industrial ilagistrate, or any two Justices of the Peace (section 61) 
 An ap}>eal lies from the decision -of such officers to the Court of Industrial Arbitration 
 (section .")5). Such appeal may be by re-hearing (section 55 (1) ), or by case stated for 
 the opinion of the Court (55 (2) ). Then section 55 (3) adojits the procedure of the 
 Justices Act, 1902, in respect of these two forms of appeal. Section 55 (4) declares : 
 '■ No other proceedings in the nature of an a]ipeal from any such order or by proliibition 
 shall be allowed." 
 
 It is argued that this last provision was limited to redress that might be awarded by 
 way of statutory prohibition, and left the remedy of prohibition at common law still 
 untouched with the right to approach this Court for redress. I camiot accept this view. 
 The same argument was advanced in Baxter r. Netv South Wales Clicker."' Association, 
 10 C.L.R., p. 114. Mr. Justice Isaacs' (at p. 158) disposed of that argument, and held 
 that prohibition included commtm law iirohibition both imder section 55 and section 58, 
 which tleal with decisions of tiie Industrial Court itself. 
 
 Is this Court by section 55 (4) precluded from issuing a common law writ of ])rohibition 
 against the Chief Industrial Magistrate? There have been numerous decisions as to 
 whether and how far 3)roliibition would lie against the Court of Lidustiial Arbitration, 
 and the Legislature has from time to time curtailed the xiossibihty of issuing a ]>rohibition 
 against this body. The case of Ex parte Clancy (1 C.L.R., p. 181) in 1904 was the first 
 case in which the r[uestion was raised in the High Court, whether the decision of the 
 Industrial Court could be conti'oUed for excess of juristhction. The relevant section 
 was AS follows : " Proceedings in the Court sha.ll not be removeable to any other Court 
 by certiorari or otherwise, and no award, order or proceeding of the Court shall be . . . 
 liable to be challenged, appealed against, reviewed, quashed, or called in question by any 
 court of judicature on any accoimt whatsoever." It was claimed that this section 
 excluded the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to interfere -with the proceedings of the 
 Arbitration Couit in any way. In that case the High Court held that prohibition would
 
 131 
 
 1 
 
 ie, and Griffiths, C.J., stated (p. 196): "Sections taking away the right to certiorari 
 and other remedies have al^^ays been construed as not extending to cases in which the 
 Court with a limited jurisdiction has exceeded its jurisdiction." 
 
 In subsequent j-ears prohibitions Were frequentlj' issued on the authority of this 
 decision. In 1908 the law was altered, and the following provision Was a<lded by section 
 52 : " The validity of any decision shall not be challenged bj' a prohibition or otherwise." 
 It will be noticed that the Word prohibition is now for the first time introduced. In 
 Baxter v. New South Wales Clickers'' Association, 1909 (10 C.L.R., 114) an application 
 Was made to the High Court for special leave to appeal from a decision of this Court, 
 who had refused to grant a prohibition against the Industrial Court. The High Court 
 rescinded the special leave to appeal tliat had been granted, but the opinions of the Judges 
 are of great vulue in ascertaining now if and under what conditions prohibition will now 
 lie to the Chief Industrial Magistrate. Griffiths, C.J., (p. 131) stated as follows : — 
 
 " I have great difficulty in accepting the argument that every order purporting 
 to be a decision of the Judge of the Industrial Court is unchallengable for want of 
 jurisdiction. If, for instance, he asserted a jurisdiction to try indictable offences, 
 or to grant probate or administer the trusts of a deed of Will, it might very well be 
 contended that an order made in the exercise of such asserted jurisdiction was not 
 a decision within the meaning of section 52 .... I cannot doubt that an 
 order made by the Judge purporting to be a decson of the Court Would, if made 
 with respect to a matter outside his jurisdiction be void or that any person who 
 endeavoured to enforce it would do so at his peril, and would have no defence to an 
 action of trespass. Possibly it. was intended that this should be the only mode 
 of raising the objection, but I do not think that it can be inferred from section 52 
 that the jurisdiction of the Court has no limits except those which it thinks fit to 
 impose upon itself. 
 
 " I am at present disposed to think that an order or determination of the Industrial 
 Court, wliich appeared on the face of it to be made with resj^ect to a matter within 
 the purview of the Act, ought not to be regarded as a " decision " within the meaning 
 of section 52. 
 
 " On the other hand, it is clear that the Legislature intended that the Court should 
 have jurisdiction to decide Without appeal or challenge any question of law (including 
 * a construction of the Statute) arising incidentally in the course of the case, which on 
 the face of the proceedings, ap])ears to relate to an industrial matter, and that if a 
 question so arising Was one that could ordinarily be raised by proceedings undef 
 prohibition that remedy should not be open. But whether this authority extends 
 to deciding questions of jurisdiction arising upon a contraction of the A\ct conferring 
 the jurisdiction of the Court is quite a different question on which I prefer to hoJ 
 my judgment in suspense. I do not think that any such case is likely to arise.' 
 
 Barton and O'Connor, JJ., pp. 144-9, expressed views to the same effect. 
 
 Isaacs, J;, however, was of a different opinion. He states, at p. 156 : — 
 
 "The first question is whether a decision of the Industrial Court is in any cas« 
 open to prohibition. Section 52 (that is of the Industrial l)isj)utes Act. of 1908) 
 says the validity of any decision shall not be challenged bj' prohibition or otherwise. 
 Now, I must say I have found it extremely difficult to perceive the possibility of 
 any reasonable doubt in the face of these words. They are clear, distinct, and unmis- 
 takeable." 
 
 He was evidently greatly influenced by the stringent wording of the section under 
 discussion, but at the same time he suggests that prohibition may yet lie if the pnWers 
 are not used buna fide for the purposes for which they are conferred. He says, on p. 102 : — 
 
 " If an Industrial Court were to sentence an employer or an employee to i)enal 
 
 servitude, or to eternal deprivation of industrial rights, or to fine him £1,000, the 
 
 order Would be so outragvous and iuirt>asoiial)le as to be altogether beyond the pale 
 
 of the Act, and could not be sup{)orted as a bona Jidr exercise of judicial i)oWor. 
 
 I make no doubt the Supreme Court would prohibit an act so n>anifestly lawless 
 
 from being carried into execution. But the Legislature, in reposing its ccmtidence 
 
 in the Lulustrial Court, of course leaves out of consideration all such wild and 
 
 irrational conduct, and so should We." 
 
 It is reasonable to suppose that these views might be modified in considering section 
 
 55 (4), where the Words are more general and the officers concerned include Justices of 
 
 the Peace, a body of much lower status and experience than the Industrial Court. 
 
 Since then this Court has made a definite pronouncement upon this subject in Ex parte 
 Brennan (1915, 15 S.R., 173). The Chief Justice there says, at p. 183, referring to section 
 58 of the present Act, which is more stringent than section 52 of the Act of 1908 : —
 
 132 
 
 " But be thp reason what it may, the provisions of the Bcction 58 of the present 
 Act have been couched in \ ords which so far from negativing prohibition altogether, 
 supply an ex])rcHS test to bo applied to cases where that remedy is sought. The 
 Wf^rds in which that test' is stated afford an exceedingly wide scope to the Judge 
 in sltaj)ing his orders, but that scope is exceeded if lu^ goes beyond industrial matters, 
 and matters which on the face of the jiroccedings appear to be or to relate to industrial 
 matters. If he does so the power of prohibition vested in this Court restraining 
 tribunals of limited functions from exceeding their jurisdiction, has not been inter- 
 fered with." 
 The recent decision. Bank of Neiv South Wales v. Bank Officers' Association (21 S.R., 593) 
 in no way conflicts with the above. 
 
 Redress by proliibition is equally in the interests of the liberty of the employer and 
 the employee. In Clancy's case an employer obtained relief. In Ex parte Brennan the 
 employees obtained the issue of a prohibition against a threatened order of the Industrial 
 Court involving imprisonment. On principle, therefore, and on authority, it would 
 appear that conditions may arise under which, in spite of the strict words of section 
 58, prohibition will lie to the Court of Industrial Arbitration, and the argument is equally 
 effective whether the Industrial Court's decision is an original determination or an appeal 
 from the Cliief Industrial Magistrate. And it follows, in my opinion, that under the 
 appropriate circumstances, a prohibition may be issued by this Court directly against 
 an order of the Industrial Magistrate. 
 
 The question now remains whether the circumstances are such in this case as to justify 
 the granting of the writ. Mr. Flannery claimed that at the utmost there has been a 
 misconstruction by the Tribunal of some statute arising incidentally in the course of the 
 proceedings, and claims that jurisdiction to enter upon the inquiry and convict is clearly 
 afforded by section 61. That section, no doubt, provides for the recovery of penalties 
 before an Industrial Magistrate, but something more is required to give ju isdiction. 
 The section reads :— 
 
 " Any penalty imposed by or under this Act or the Regulations, may be recovered, 
 &c." 
 It is necessary, therefore, to inquire whether the penalty has been imposed by the Act 
 or regulation, and to ascertain What is the subject matter the breach of which authorises 
 the recovery of a penalty. It is encumbent, to fall back on the interpretation of sections 
 79-81, from which alone he can derive authority to entertain or deal with the complaint, 
 and, if my view is correct, he has given himself jurisdiction to act by an erroneous inter- 
 pretation' of the law. He has (to quote the Words of Griffiths, CJ.) decided the question 
 of jurisdiction arising upon the construction of the Act conferring the jurisdiction of the 
 Court. 
 
 There is still another matter. At the hearing it was admitted, and it likewise appeared 
 upon affidavit, that counsel for the Minister admitted that the emploji^ee to whom it was 
 charged the applicants had not paid the declared living wage. Was not governed by an 
 award under the Industrial Arbitration Act. Under such circumstances I am of opinion 
 that the proceedings before the Industrial Magistrate (again quoting the Cliief Justice) 
 appear on the face to be in respect of a matter not within the purvnew of the Act, and, 
 consequently the conviction is subject to prohibition as not being an order within the 
 meaning of section 55. 
 
 For these reasons I am of opinion the rule should be made absolute for the issue of a 
 writ of prohibition. 
 . T. C. YOUNG, 
 
 16th December, 1921. Associate. 
 
 Judgment of Mr. Justice Pring. 
 
 The principal question in this case is whether section 79 of the Industrial Arbitration 
 (Amendment) Act, 1918, No. 16 of 1918, confers on the Board of Trade power to declare 
 a living Wage to be paid to employees other than those who are engaged in an industry 
 which is the subject of an award or an industrial agreement. The Board of Trade is a 
 new tribunal, created for the first time by section 74 of the Act. Certain powers Were 
 conferred and certain duties imposed on it which Were different from those conferred and 
 imposed on the Courts of Industrial Arbitration. Sections 79, 80, and 82 contain the 
 Board's chief powers and duties. In no one of these sections is its jurisdiction expressly 
 limited to employees who are working under awards or industrial agreements. In each 
 section the Words are quite general. By section 79 the Board is directed from year to 
 year, after public inquiry as to the increase or decrease in the average cost of living, to 
 declare what shall be the li%ang Wage to be paid to adult male employees, and to adult
 
 133 
 
 female employees in the State or any defined area thereof. And it is directed to make a 
 separate inquiry and declaration as to employees engaged in rural occupation. This 
 living wage is often — though incorrectly- — spoken of as a minimum wage. The Board is 
 not concerned with any inquiry as to a minimum wage ; it has merely to ascertain what 
 is a living wage. I carmot understand why any difference in this i-espect shoiUd be made 
 between an employee who is, and one who is not, worldng under an award or industrial 
 agreement. Each is equally entitled to live, and the object of the Legislature seems to 
 have been to ensure that all employees should be able to live with a reasonable degree of 
 comfort. For some reason rural employees have been placed in a better position than 
 others, since by sccition 24 b they are immediatelycntitled to be paid the living wage declared 
 in their regard by the Board. But in the case of other employees the mere declaration 
 by the Board has no effect until the Governor proceeds under section 81. By that section 
 he may make " regulations incorporating the determination and directions of such Board, 
 and any matter necessary or convenient to be prescribed tor carrying such determination 
 and directions into effect." So that until the Governor acts as directed by this section, 
 the mere declaration of the Board has no effect so far as non-rural employees are concerned. 
 If there were no more in sections 79 and 81 than I have already referred to I cannot 
 understand how it could be contended that the general words " to be paid to adult male 
 employees and to adult female employees in the State," must be cut down so as to embrace 
 only employees working under awards or industrial agreements. The words are as 
 general as possible, and the reason for the inquiry and declaration by the Board, namely, 
 that every employee should have a living wage, would seem clearly to include all classes 
 of employees. But it is contended, as I understand, that subsection (2) of section 79, 
 and subsection (2) of section 81 indicate that the living wage can ordy be declared in 
 respect of employees who are worldng under awards or industrial agreements. I do not 
 a'^ree with this contention. The reason for the two subsections is, I think, ob\-ious. It 
 would bo manifestly useless for the Board to declare a living wage, and for the Governor 
 to incorporate that in regulations, if the Industrial Arbitration Courts could nullify the 
 acition of the Governor, and by their awards provide for a less wage than that so declared. 
 It was to prevent the possibility of a clash between the declaration of the Board and the 
 awards of the Industrial Arbitration Court or industrial agreements that the subsections 
 were passed. Subsection (2) of section 79 provides for future awards or industrial agree- 
 ments. They cannot be made or entered into for wages lower than the living wage 
 declared by the Board. Subsection (2) of section 81 was intended to prevent an award 
 already in existence from clasliing with the action of the Governor. Accordingly it 
 ])rovided that on the publication of the regulations the provisions of the awards relating 
 to the matters dealt ^\dth by the Board of Trade should cease to have effect. In other 
 words such provisions are thereby expunged from the award ; leaving it open to employer 
 or employee to apply for a fresh award or a variation of or addition to the old award, 
 but not so as to conflict with the regulations made under section 81. Both subsections 
 were necessary in order to produce harmony between the awards and the declaration by 
 the Board, and its subsequent ratification by the Governor. General words in a statute 
 may, of course, be restricted to the subject matter -with wliich the statute is dealing if it 
 can be seen that they are not intended to operate beyond it. Here as I think, the statute 
 intended to ensure that every employee should have a living wage, and there is, therefore, 
 no reason for restricting the general words of section 79, and on the contrarj' there is 
 every reason for not so restricting them. 
 
 A second contention was that there was no jurisdiction to impose a penalty, as section 
 Si does not give the Governor power to pass a regulation providing for a penalty. But 
 I tliink this diffiemlty is got over by section 88 (/) wliich confers on him a general jjower to 
 make rules for giving effect to the provisions of the Act, and for imposing penalties for 
 breach thereof. Lastly it was objected that the regulations purported to be made in 
 pursuance of section 81 (I) and not of section 88. I do not think there is any substanct 
 in this objection. It was not, in my opinion, necessary to the validity of the regulations 
 tliat any section should be referred to; and the omission of a reference to section 88 cannot 
 therefore invalidate them. 
 
 I think the rule should be discharged. 
 
 E. BEAVER, 
 
 Associate. 
 
 62639— F
 
 134 
 
 NEW SOUTH WALES BOARD OF TRADE. 
 
 DECLARATION. 
 
 The New South Wales Board of Trade, after public inquiry as to the increase 
 or decrease in the average cost of living, declares that the living wages to be 
 paid to adult female employees in the area defined as the State of New South 
 Wales, excepting thereout the county of Yancowinna, shall be at the rate of 
 £2 Is. per week. 
 
 The Common Seal of the New South Wales Board of Trade was affixed 
 hereto this twenty-second day of December, 1921, by direction and 
 in the presence of the majority of the members of the said Board; 
 who also sign this declaration. 
 
 GEO. S. BEEBY, President. 
 J. B. HOLME, Deputy President. 
 W. T. WILLINGTON, ) 
 (l.s.) THOMAS ROUTLEY, V Commissioners. 
 ARTHUR COOPER, ) 
 T. I. CAMPBELL, | Additional 
 
 C. J. McRAE, j Commissioners. 
 
 Dated the 22nd day of December, 1921. 
 
 In declaring the living wages to be paid to adult female employees, as 
 required by section 79 of the Industrial Arbitration Act, 1912, as amended, 
 we dissect the elements of such wage as follows :• — Board and lodging ; 
 clothing, boots, and toilet requisites; and miscellaneous. 
 
 Board and Lodging. 
 
 During the Public Inquiry no evidence was tendered to the Board as to 
 the cost of board and lodging. We must, therefore, rely on our own knowledge 
 as to the cost of this item, and have no reason to alter our assessment of 
 23s. 8d. derived in 1920. 
 
 Clothing, Boots, and Toilet Requisites. 
 
 The evidence tendered to the Board as to the prices under this heading is 
 unsatisfactory. We accept as the most reliable guide the data collected 
 by this Board, and assess this element at 10s. 
 
 Miscellaneous. 
 
 In assessing this item we include tram fares 3s., union 3d., church and 
 charity 6d., new^spapers and stationery Is. Id., amusements Is. 4d., dental 
 and lodge Is., laundry 2s. 2d. Total 9s. 4d. 
 
 We find the average cost of living for adult female employees is : — 
 
 £ s. d. 
 Board and lodging ... ... ... ... 138 
 
 Clothing, boots, and toilet requisites 10 
 
 Miscellaneous 9 4 
 
 12 3 
 
 and that the living wage to be paid to adult female employees should be 
 
 £2 3s. per week. 
 
 JOHN ANDREWS, "I Additional 
 T. C. ARTHUR, | Commissioners.
 
 335 
 
 The Irving Wage for Adult Females, 1921. 
 Statement of Eeasons for Declaration. 
 
 The first declaration of a livinn; wage for adult female employees was made 
 on the 17th December, 1918. The declaration ap])lied only within a defined 
 area, which may be shortly described as the Sydney ^Metropolitan District. 
 In this declaration, it was shown that the Industrial Court had, when making 
 its inquiries into the cost of living of male employees, taken workers of the 
 humblest class as those whose circumstances had to be considered in deter- 
 mining the amount of a male living wage, and that there was nothing to 
 justify any departure from that rule as between the two sexes. The Board 
 also found and declared that, upon the evidence before it, the great majority 
 of adult women workers lived at home with their parents, but it concluded 
 that its duty was to make a wage provision appropriate to the conditions of 
 those who lived away from home in lodgings. The Board would not consider 
 the female worker as having any greater responsibility than that of simply 
 supporting herself. The problem was accordingly stated thus : What mini- 
 mum wage should be provided to cover the cost of living of the adult female 
 worker of the poorest class, maintaining herself, but having no other responsi- 
 bility, and living away from home in lodgings ? The wage was fixed at 
 £1 10s. per week. Somewhat earlier in the year, tliat is, on the 5th September, 
 1918, the Board had fixed the living wage for adult males at £3 per week. 
 
 In its second declaration of the year 1919, the Board modified the statement 
 of its ])roblem to read : "What minimum wage should be provided to cover 
 the cost of living of the adult female worker of the lowest paid class, maintain- 
 ing herself, but having no other responsibility, and living away from home 
 in lodgings ? The Board also took occasion to state that, for the purj^ose 
 of its inquiry, the living wage declaration of 30s. in 1918 should be regarded 
 as made up of board and lodging, 16s. ; clothing, boots, and toilet requisites, 
 8s. 8d. ; and miscellaneous, 5s. 4d. After its public inquiry in 1919, the 
 Board found that the cost of board and lodging had been increased, and should, 
 for the purposes of its second declaration, be assessed at 21s. per week. In 
 relation to the clothing element of the wage, the Board permitted itself to be 
 guided by suggestions for a regimen of clothing, boots, and toilet requisites 
 unanimously made by the principal women witnesses of the parties then before 
 the Board, and assessed the cost of that element at 10s. 6d. per week. Under 
 the heading of Miscellaneous Expenses the Board included allowances for 
 tram-fares, friendly societies, union fee, church and charity, stationery and 
 stamps, and amusements at an assessed total of 7s. 6d. per week. The Board 
 accordingly found that the average cost of living of adult female workers 
 had increased to £1 19s. per week, and on the 23rd December, 1919, declared 
 that sum to be the living wage to be paid to them in the Metro])olitan area. 
 On the preceding 8th October the Board had declared a living wage for adult 
 males at £3 17s. per week. 
 
 The Board made its third declaration of the living wage to be paid to adult 
 female employees on the 23rd December, 1920. This declaration had relation 
 to an area defined as the State of New South Wales, excepting thereout the 
 County of Yancowinna. The wage fixed by this declaration was £2 3s. 
 per week. The living wage for adult males, as fixed on the 8th October, 
 ,1920, was £4 5s. 
 
 On the 11th March, 1921, the Board, after public inquiry as to the cost 
 of living in the County of Yancowinna, declared that the living wage to be 
 paid to adult female em])loyees throughout the State of New South Wales 
 should be the weekly and other rates contained in its declaration of the 23rd
 
 136 
 
 December, 1920. This declaration was, in effect, a variation of the declara- 
 tion of the 23rd December, 1920, by deleting therefrom the words " excepting 
 thereout the County of Yancowinna." 
 
 For the purposes of comparative treatment, the elements of the wage of 
 December, 1920, may be taken to have been : Board and lodging, 23s. 8d. ; 
 clothing, boots, and toilet requisites, lis. 5d. ; and miscellaneous, 7s. lid. 
 An attempt was at this time made strictly to relate the elements of the 
 wage for adult females to those of tHe wage payable to adult male employees 
 under the then current declaration of the 8th October, 1920. The Board 
 had, indeed, considered in 1919 the question of the relation that ought to 
 exist between the living wages declared for men and for women, and had 
 gone carefully into the history of the relations established by past practices 
 between men's wages and women's wages.* English experience, as then 
 brought to the Board's knowledge, showed that women's wages were, on 
 the average, about 40 per cent, or 50 per cent, of men's wages up to the 
 tinie of the war, but subsequently rose to rather more than two-thirds of 
 the men's wages. Australian statistics, on the other hand, showed that 
 the average weekly wage payable to adult females was, at the 31st December, 
 1914—18, 48 per cent, of the average weekly wage payable to adult males 
 throughout the Commonwealth, and that in the State of New South Wales 
 alone the percentage stood at 47. The Board then also ascertained that 
 as the result of scientific research in England, Europe, and America, the 
 food requirements of adult men and women could be very strictly compared, 
 and that a woman might be regarded as the equivalent of between -8 and -9 
 of the man unit. Comparison of the costs of necessaries other than food, 
 in the two cases, did not stand upon the same scientific plane, and any 
 deductions that might be based upon conjectures in this connection would be 
 likely to involve the Board in error. The established proportions were noted, 
 but it was not then regarded as wise to commit the Board to a definite deter- 
 mination of the manner in which the woman's living wage should be related 
 to the living wage for the adult male with family responsibilities. The 
 Board accordingly contented itself at that time with reducing the living 
 wage for adult females, with the assistance of index numbers, from the basis 
 cf the declaration of the preceding year, but. element by element. 
 . When making its declaration of the year 1920 the Board found itself 
 unable to rely upon tne evidence tendered as to the cost of the commercial 
 board and lodging available to industrial women. Its acculmulating ex- 
 perience, moreover, confirmed rather than destroyed the inferences drawn 
 in the course of the inquiry of 1918 with respect to the proportions of such 
 women who lived at home, lived in lodgings, and lived in rented rooms. 
 The dilemma in which it found itself with respect to boarding-house charges 
 was, indeed, so great, that it determined to assess the values of the elements 
 food, shelter, fuel, and light ordinarily combined in boarding-house accom- 
 modation, and to add to those values a marginal allowance adequate to 
 provide a return for the enterprise and other services of the boarding-house 
 keeper. Ha^ang made this departure, it proceeded to assess clothing 
 requirements strictly in relation to the allowance under that head in the 
 male or family wage, again with the marginal additions that appeared to be 
 necessary. The miscellaneous items of the women's wage were also reviewed 
 in relation to the miscellaneous section of the male or family wage. The 
 period in respect of which the computations were made was the second and 
 third quarters of the calendar year. The derivations thus made were then 
 combined to produce the total result already indicated. 
 
 * See " Statistical Considerations relating to the Living Wage for Adult Females, 1919," by D. T. Sawkins, 
 in Bulletin of Board of Trade, " Living Wage (Adult Females), 1919," p. 562.
 
 137 
 
 In addressing itself to tlie task of deriving the wage now to be declared, 
 the Board adhered to and developed the methods which it had used in deter- 
 mining the wage declared in 1920. In view, however, of the altered economic 
 circumstances of the day, as disclosed in the course of the public inquiry as 
 to the increase or decrease in the average cost of living for the year, and in 
 view of the fact that it now establishes a relationship between male and female 
 living wages, it has based its computations upon the costs appropriate to 
 the three months ending the 30th September last. 
 
 The parties who appeared before the Board in the course of the inquiry 
 just concluded were unable to help it to determine what is the current cost of 
 accommodation for an adult single woman in commercial boarding houses. 
 The process of analysis and combination of appropriate charges v/as therefore 
 relied upon exclusively. The element of board and lodging is compounded 
 of the elements of food and groceries, house rent, fuel and light, domestic 
 investment, and domestic service. The composite element can, it follows 
 be assessed in the light of the Board's determinations under the male wage 
 declaration. Food and groceries were, for the three months ending the 
 31st Auguest, 1921, shown to cost, in relation to the needs of a man, wife, 
 and two children, £1 14s. The rent of a four-roomed house for the same period 
 was found to be 14s. 6d., and the cost of fuel and light was fixed at 4s. 
 Due to the declining trend in prices, the cost of the item of food and groceries 
 had, for the quarter ending a month later, fallen to 33s. 5d., but the rent 
 and fuel and light were unreduced in cost. The sum of the three sets of 
 figures, namely, 33s. 5d., 14s. 6d., and is. is £2 lis. lid. This sum, divided 
 by three, gives a quotient of 17s. 4d. as the figure appropriate to one-third 
 of the composite family unit. So far the derivation can be regarded as apply- 
 ing only to the materials, and provision in respect of investment and service 
 is necessary. After due deliberation, the Board has determined to increase 
 the 17s. 4d. by 33.'j per cent., and thus derives a figure of £1 3s. Id. as the 
 sum to be allowed in respect of the cost of commercial board and lodging. 
 
 A concrete illustration of the adequacy of this allowance in relation to the 
 male or family living wage may be hsd by assuming that a woman rents an 
 average four-roomed cottage for the purpose of accommodating in it, at 
 the sum fixed, three women workers who are earning the living wage. She 
 will, out of the moneys collected for her three lodgers and boarders, be able 
 to buy the materials necessary for their maintenance and her own. She 
 will be able to pay the rent, and will have a margin that will provide for 
 her own accommodation, and she will have means wherewith to meet all costs 
 in respect of fuel and light on account of her boarders and herself. The 
 allowance thus derived errs, indeed, on the side of liberality. As has already 
 been stated, the food requirements of a woman are scientifically shown to be 
 between -8 and -9 of the inan-unit costs, whereas this computation regards 
 them as the equivalent of man-unit costs, and a margin is therefore left to 
 meet cases of inevitable accident or other misfortune and mistake on the 
 part of the housekeeper. And the woman's position is otherwise safeguarded 
 for a substantially later jieriod than that selected might have been chosen 
 as the time basis of tlie Board's computation — a period which would probably 
 give a total cost for food and groceries of 32s. Id. instead of 33s. 5d. The 
 Board necessarily is left in a difficulty by the pronounced trend in the direction 
 of decrease in the prices of commodities in the class of food and groceries. 
 It must content itself, however, with an indication of these difficulties, and 
 a reiteration of its desire that Parliament will see fit to give it power to 
 review its wage declarations more frequently than once jDcr annum.
 
 138 
 
 In the male or family living wage, declared on the 8th October, 1921, the 
 clement of clothing was assessed at 16s. 2d. There was also contained in the 
 miscellaneous element of the wage an allowance in respect of haberdashery 
 and household requisites. Portion of that allowance may be approj^riated 
 to repairs of clothing and toilet requisites. In its task of relating the single 
 woman's needs to those of the family in this connection the Board accordingly 
 takes the sum of 17s. 6d. as representing as much of the male living wage 
 as can be reasonably appropriated to the provision of clothing, boots, and 
 toilet requisites. When making this calculation the Board does not overlook 
 the fact that by the 30th September, 1921, the assessment of the clothing 
 item of the male living wage at 16s. 2d. would be corrected to 15s. 9d., and 
 that there would be a small reduction of the total amount incorporated in 
 that wage in respect of miscellaneous expenses. Assuming then, that 17s. 6d. 
 is a fair allowance for a man, his wife, and two children in respect of the 
 items clothing, boots, and toilet requisites, one-third of that sum would 
 appear, theoretically, to be the allowance of one of the three adult units 
 provided for in the wage. But all through the work of the Board there has 
 been a tendency to apportion to those units something other than a mathe- 
 matical third of the assessment. The inclination of the Board, as already 
 crystallised in an earlier decision, is to allow the woman 38 per cent., the 
 man 37 per cent., and the children 25 per cent, of the sum assessed. Taking 
 these proportions of the sum of 17s. 6d., the married woman's share stands 
 at 6s. 8d. But, again, the married woman's circumstances are essentially 
 different from those of the single industrial woman. As the Board pointed 
 out in its declaration of the 17th December, 1918, it has to recognise that a 
 woman living alone and having every day to go to and return from business 
 is under greater expense than when she was one of a family and going to 
 school or spending all or nearly all of her time at home. Moreover, the 
 industrial woman is compelled to buy articles of clothing that might be made 
 by the domestic woman, and has less time and opportunity for the repair of 
 her clothes than the woman living at home. " There is," says the Report 
 of the War Cabinet Committee on Women in Industry.* " force in the argu- 
 ment that a portion of that part of a man's wages which goes to the support 
 of his wife is equally required by the bachelor or spinster to pay for domestic 
 service if industrial efficiency is to be maintained." The exact value of the 
 economy in clothes that can be effected by the domestic as against the 
 industrial woman cannot, of course, be strictly assessed. Its value, never- 
 theless, is probably substantial, and, on the whole of the considerations 
 deliberated upon by the Board, in this connection, the conclusion is 
 arrived at that in order to meet the special needs of the industrial woman 
 50 per cent, should be added to the sum of 6s. 8d. derived as above stated. 
 The element of clothing is thus assessed at 10s. 
 
 The items comprised in the miscellaneous element of the wage as declared 
 in the three years past are fares, union fee, church and charity, newspapers 
 and stationery, amusements, laundry and washing material, dental attention, 
 and lodge. In 1918, the total assessment in respect of these items was 
 5s. 4d. ; in 1919, it was increased to 7s. .6d. ; and in 1920, to 7s. lid. 
 
 In 1919, when the railway returns showed, in respect of workmen's tickets 
 an average cost of 2s. 0|d., the Board assessed the fares item in the male 
 living wage for the metropolis at 2s. 6d. In 1920, when the railway returns 
 showed an average cost of 2s. 3-69d., the Board assessed the metropolitan fares 
 item at 3s. This year, with the railway returns showing an average cost of 
 
 * Cmd. 135. 1919, p. 177, quoted in Bull. Living Wage (Adult Females), 1919, p. 678.
 
 139 
 
 2s. 9|d., the Board assessed the metropolitan fares item at 3s. 6d. The 
 wage as declared was, however, for the State as a whole. The male wage 
 declared in the year 1920 for the State, excluding the metropolis, included 
 in its miscellaneous section an allowance of Is. in respect of fares. The male 
 wage for the same year for the State as a whole included an allowance of 2s. 
 in respect of fares. The increase in the cost of fares in the twelve 
 months after the wage was fixed was 22-5 per cent., and this increase was 
 taken into account when the last male living wage was fixed. In the case 
 of the women's wage there is also to be considered a recent alteration of the 
 policy of the Railway Commissioners under which women no longer enjoy a 
 33 per cent, reduction of fares on the railways, if they are in receipt of more 
 than 40s. per week. But this concession was never available so far as 
 workmen's tickets were concerned on trains or trams. On the ferries women 
 still enjoy a real concession which is now approximately the equivalent of 
 20 per cent, of the male rates. But the ferries are used by a minor proportion 
 of the industrial women only. On the whole, the Board concludes that it 
 should make the same provision in respect of fares in the case of industrial 
 women as it has made in the case of men. The item of fares has, therefore, 
 been assessed at 2s. 5d. per week, whereas it previously stood at Is. 9d. 
 The other items of the miscellaneous section of the wage are assessed as 
 follow : — Union fee, 3d. ; Church and charity, 6d. ; newspapers and stationery, 
 Is. Id.; amusements. Is. 4d; laundry and washing material. Is. 4d. ; dental 
 attention and lodge, Is. The total of these assessments is 7s. lid. • 
 
 Combining the three elements of the wage, the Board has accordingly 
 found that the living wage which ought to be paid to adult female employees 
 in the State is £2 Is. per week, made up as follows : — 
 
 £ s. d. 
 Board and lodging... ... ... ... ... J 3 1 
 
 Clothing 10 
 
 Miscellaneous ... ... ... 711 
 
 Sydney : Williani Ai>ii!<.'i,'atc Gullick, Government Printer.— 1922.
 
 i
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY I 
 
 Los Angeles 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 I'orm L9-3 7m-3,'57(C5424s4)444 

 
 TJp.w ?=;r>n -hh Wftlps. 
 
 UC SOUTHER 
 
 4c-'2'l Board of trade, 
 Afi2N47 " 
 
 1922 Compendium of 
 
 liTJng wa^e 
 
 declarationls and reparte, 
 
 HD 
 4924 
 A82N47 
 1922