DISTRICT WAGES BOARDS 97 



himself and his family in physical health 

 and efficiency. 



(2) We therefore think a district wage-board 



system desirable by which a statutory 

 minimum wage would be settled for each 

 district. There is no doubt that hitherto 

 the farm labourer has in most districts found 

 it impossible to protect himself by combina- 

 tion. This is mainly attributable to his 

 isolated position and comparative want of 

 mobility in seeking better-paid employment. 

 This helplessness results in many agricultural 

 labourers, especially in those districts where 

 competitive industries do not exist, faihng 

 to obtain an economic wage.^ 



(3) The experience gained under the Trade Boards 



Act shows that in trades for which minimum- 

 wage legislation has been enacted friction 

 between employer and employee has been 

 reduced, strikes have been avoided, and bad 

 employers forced to adopt the methods of 

 good employers. Persons who have had 

 experience of the working of that Act state 

 that workers brought under the Act have, 

 after a short time, greatly increased in 

 efficiency. 



(4) The relations of the ex-Service men with the 



farmers are likely to be more harmonious if 

 a regular machinery is created for bringing 



1 In the words of a high authority, " Considering the compara- 

 tively skilled character of his work, he is much worse paid than 

 his fellows in any other industry" (A. D. Hall, Pilgrimage of 

 British Farming, p. 443). 



