26 MINIMUM WAGE LEGISLATION IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES

to the dispute, under an impartial chairman. (Arts. 4, 5.) If no
settlement is arrived at within 14 days, the authorities shall take a
secret ballot of the workers concerned, to determine whether they
wish to accept the recommendation of the council of conciliation or,
if the case has been submitted to a labor dispute committee, whether
they wish to strike or not. The results of the ballot shall be published
 in the press. = (Art. 7.)
Strikes are forbidden if they take place before seven days after
the ballot, or before expiration of the agreement. Every striker in
that case may be fined £10. (Art. 9.) Employers have to wait a
similar time before declaring a lockout (arts. 11 and 12), and may be
fined £500 if they break the rules. (Art. 13.) Unions inciting to unlawful
 strikes may be fined £1.000, or £10 for each of their members.
(Art. 15.)
Principle of Wage Fixation

AFER the above-cited war-time legislation, the cost of living was
one of the essential considerations for the fixation of minimum
wages by the court. In November, 1922, however, careful inquiries
 into the movement of prices, trade balance, banking facilities,
ste., were undertaken, particularly to ascertain the net wealth of the
country as one of the factors to be considered in visualizing the
“fair standard of living” as a relative entity. Since 1928 trade
conditions have been declared to be one of the main considerations
to be taken into account in fixing the minimum wage.
Different rates, as we have seen, have been fixed for workers of
different skill, even when the system of national wage minima was
employed, and more so, of course, to-day after the reestablishment of
different rates for different industries. The present system, therefore,
 combines the living-wage principle (as a general minimum of
existence), the fair-wage principle (differentiation by skill), and the
principle “ wages the trade can bear,” in the adaptation of the rates to
trade conditions.” This synthesis seems to combine more systematically
 than that in any other country the cardinal interests of all
parties concerned.
Application of the Laws

AY ARDS are in force, based on one or the other of the two acts,
for all important industries, except for agricultural and pastoral
 employees and for railway employees, the working conditions of
the last-named group being settled directly with the railway department.”
 In 1927 there had been filed under the industrial conciliation
and arbitration act 20 industrial agreements, 134 recommendations
of councils of conciliation, and 126 awards of the court of arbitration.
 The great majority of disputes submitted to councils of conciliation
 were substantially settled by them, there being failure in
only 9 cases.

1 Classification, which seems to take into account the main principles apnea in the
gn various countries, proposed in Burns, E. M.: Wages and the State, London, 1926,
p. 268.
13 New Zealand Official Year Book, 1928, Wellington, p. 785, and Précls of the Labor
a &gt; New Zealand, administered by the Department of Labor. Compiled March, 1925.
ellington, p. 5.
" New Zealand. Department of Labor. Report for 1926-27, Wellington, bv. 4.