902 



International LABorR Conference. [Jan., 



light work connected with the harvest, provided that such employment 

 shall not reduce the total annual period of school attendance to less than 

 eight months." 



(3) "The provision of Article 1 shall not apply to work done by 

 children in technical schools, provided that such work is approved and 

 supervised by -public authority." 



Living-in Conditions of Agricultural Workers. — In many 

 countries this question is one of considerable importance, and the 

 Recommendation adopted is intended to secure improved con- 

 ditions in those cases where housing accommodation is provided 

 by employers. It runs as follows : — 



"That each Member of the International Labour Organisation which 

 has not already done so take statutory or other measures to regulate the 

 living-in conditions affecting agricultural work in its countrj^ and after 

 consultation with the employers' and v. orkers' organisations concerned if 

 such organisations exist. 



" That such measures shall apply to all accommodation provided by 

 employers for housing their workers either individually or in groups or 

 with their families whether the acconnnodation is provided in the houses 

 of such employers or in buildings placed by them at the workers' disposal. 

 " That such measures shall contain the following provisions : 

 (a) " Unless climatic conditions render heating superfluous, the accom- 

 modation intended for workers' families, groups of workers or 

 individual workers, should contain rooms which can be heated. 

 (h) "Accommodation intended for groups of workers shall provide 

 a separate bed for each worker, shall afford facilities for 

 ensuring personal cleanliness, and shall provide for the separation 

 of the sexes. In the case of families, adequate provision shall be 

 made for the children, 

 (c) " Stables, cowhouses and open sheds should not be used for 



sleeping quarters. 

 " That each Member of the International Labour Organisation take 

 steps to ensuie the observance of such measures." 



It may be thought that comparatively little has been effected 

 by the considerable machinery that is brought into play at an 

 International Conference. Probably agriculture is of all 

 industries least susceptible to international regulation, but 

 something is accomplished if this fact comes to be realised after 

 full discussion between the parties concerned — the employers, 

 the workers, and the Governments. From the purely national 

 point of view, again, British agriculture stands to gain if the 

 restrictions on the unlimited use of labour which are dictated by 

 humanity, and have become customary under our social con- 

 ditions, can be thus incorporated in the practice of other 

 competing countries. 



