1920.] 



Official Notices and Circulars. 



1137 



a note published in the issue of the Journal Officiel for the 14th 

 October, 191 9, gives particulars of an Act passed by the French Govern- 

 ment respecting the formation in France of 

 Agricultural Credit different kinds of agricultural benefit societies, 

 Facilities for with a view to assisting the population in 

 Devastated Regions districts devastated by the War. The con- 

 in Prance. ditions of formation of these Societies are to 

 be decided by the Ministries of Agriculture 

 and Food, and Finance. The Societies may receive State loans through 

 local banks. All people connected with agricultural development, in 

 any way, may form themselves into credit societies. Rural artisans, 

 who do not employ more than two men continuously, such as shoeing- 

 smiths, smiths, implement repairers, harness-makers, shoemakers, and 

 charcoal burners, also come within the provisions of this Act. 



Decisions have recently been given by the High Court on two 

 points of importance in connection with the administration of Part II. 



of the Corn Production Act. One case was 

 Legal Decisions heard on the 21st and the other on the 22nd 

 affecting January before the Lord Chief Justice and 



Minimum Wages. Justices Avory and Sankey. 



In the first case the Agricultural Wages 

 Board appealed against a decision of the Knaresborough Bench. 

 The Board had proceeded against an employer for the non-pa3nTient 

 of the minimum to a horseman who was engaged on a contract of 

 service for one year, which was still running, at a wage of ;;^2o 

 per annum, in addition to board and lodging. The Court have 

 decided that while the contract is void as regards the amount 

 mentioned therein, it was still a contract for service for a year, and that 

 the liability to pay the worker not less than the minimum wages did 

 not arise — and in fact that no legal liability to make any pa^Tiient 

 arose — until the end of the term. If then the employer failed to pay a 

 sum which for the whole term of service amounted to less than the 

 minimum rates fixed, he would commit an offence, but until that time 

 no offence could, in fact, be proved. The effect of this judgment appears 

 to be far-reaching, as it seems to imply that any man engaged for a year 

 is dependent on the good-will of his employer for any payments during 

 his year of service. 



In the case heard on the 22nd January, the Agricultural Wages 

 Board appealed against a decision of the Warwick Bench, the point at 

 issue being whether a private garden from which a certain amount of 

 produce is sold comes within the definition of a market garden under 

 the Corn Production Act. The judgment lays down that a market 

 garden is a holding cultivated wholly or mainly for the purpose of the 

 trade or business of market gardening. The decision of the High Court 

 clears up a question about which there has been much discussion, and 

 the appeal was taken by the Wages Board so that uncertainty might 

 be removed for the future. 



Both decisions were given in full in the issue of the Wages Board 

 Gametic for 2nd February. 



