CHAP. 7.— INTERFERENCE WITH WAGES IN CANADA 65

The report of the Minimum Wage Board of the Province of
Saskatchewan for the 12 months ending April 30, 1927 (p. 44), agrees
With the experience of Ontario. Of 314 female employees in laundries
and factories 84 received more than the minimum rate, while of 333
employees in mail-order houses 228 received more than the minimum.
In hotels and restaurants, 382 out of 682 employees received wages
above the minimum. From these figures the wage board concludes
that the fear that the highest paid workers might be reduced to
equalize the additional wages paid to the lower paid workers has
been disproved by experience.
The Department of Labor of the Province of British Columbia
states in its annual report for the year 1919 (p. 85) that the fear
that the minimum wage might become the maximum has proved
groundless, since “more than an average of $2 a week per employee
'S being paid over and above the legal minimum.” In 1926 the
average paid was $17.05, while the minimum wages ranged from
$12.75 to $15.50. Taking $14 as the average of the rates established
 by the orders, the wages actually paid exceeded the minimum
by $3. “The margin has increased considerably. The report for
1919 (p. 85) states also that the constantly reiterated assertion
that a greater number of girls under 18 years of age were being
employed since the introduction of the minimum wage appears also
to be disproved by a comparison of the returns, which indicates
Practically no change.” The same report states that coupled with
bye gomaral rise in wages “ there is a perceptible decrease in the hours
of labor”

[nfluences on Discharges and General Conditions of Employment

There have been some discharges of women in Ontario who were
considered not worth the minimum by their employers, but these
Women have generally been able to get employment in another occu-Pation
 and there to earn more than the minimum, by putting more
Chergy into their work.** The chairman of the Minimum Wage Board
of Ontario, J. W. Macmillan,* states that there has been no deleterious
effect on employment, and also that the law has tended to reduce the
hours of work ‘and to improve the relations between employers and
employees.
Increase of Efficiency

The Department of Labor of British Columbia states in its annual
report for the year 1919 (p. 85) that many employers had bettered
their methods of work ; they “ became more careful in the selection of
New hands and demanded greater efficiency not only from these but
Trom their executives and heads of departments.”
Influence on Industrial Peace

In the conferences of the Minimum Wage Board of Ontario with
the employers the right of every employee to a living from his own
“ Letter from Prof. J. G. Jackson, of the Department of Political Science, University
Of Toronto, dated Mar. 16, 1028.
“ International Labor Office. International Labor Review, Geneva, Apr. 1924, p. 507:
Minimum Wage Legislation in Canada,” by J. W, Macmillan.