118 MINIMUM WAGE LEGISLATION IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES

appointed to prepare the text of a convention and of a recommendation.
 Doctor Feig, substitute delegate of the German Government,
was chosen as “ rapporteur.” }
By a vote of 27 to 17 the commission decided that the convention
should not be restricted to home-work trades, but should first apply
to them. A majority of the employers’ delegates decided to submit
 to the conference a motion that home-work trades only should
oe affected by the convention. The final report of the commission
was accepted by a vote of 31 to 7, 8 members abstaining from
voting.
The conference itself adopted article 1 of the convention by a
vote of 63 to 27; article 2 by a vote of 68 to 2; article 3 by a vote of
75 to 4; article 4 unanimously; article 5 by a vote of 71 to 17. The
final vote was 73 for the convention and 27 against it. The twothirds
 vote necessary for its adoption was thereby achieved. All
workers’ delegates voted “yes.” All governmental delegates voted
likewise, except those of the Governments of Hungary and Yugoslavia,
 who voted “ no.” The delegates of the employers of Italy and
Holland voted “yes”; those of the employers of South Africa,
Brazil, Chile, China, Finland, Latvia, Norway, Rumania, and
Uruguay abstained from voting. The employers’ delegates of the
other nations, including those of Great Britain, voted “no.”
The only part of the recommendation which was seriously contested
 was that stating the principles of wage fixation recommended
to the various States—* suitable standard of living ” of the workers,
regard being had to wages for similar work in adequately organized
trades or, in the absence of such standards of reference, to the general
level of wages.!s
- Mr. Giirtner, delegate of the German employers, moved that the
special conditions of the industry, with regard to the conditions of
supply, production, and competition should be taken into account;
but the motion was lost by a vote of 52 to 27. The recommendation
was finally adopted by a vote of 69 to 9.
There were, however, some fluctuations in the voting before the
final formal vote, the opposition against the convention losing in
strength, while the votes against the recommendation increased in
number. The instructions finally received by the delegates were
somewhat in variance with the votes they had cast at the close of the
discussions. The final formal vote was as follows: For the convention,
 76; against, 21. For the recommendation, 81; against, 18.
The convention in its final form provides (art. 1) for the creation
 of machinery for fixing minimum wages in trades (particularly
in home-work trades) “in which no arrangements exist for the
effective regulation of wages by collective agreement or otherwise and
wages are exceptionally low,” 1e
The nature and form of the machinery, the methods for its operation,
 and the selection of the trades where they are to be applied are
left to the discretion of the signatory States.’

Data taken from the minutes of the conference preserved at the International Labor
Office in Geneva,
1 See appendix, p. 124.
16 See appendix, p. 121. .
7 Compare the brief summary of the main provisions in the International Labor Reriew,
 August, 1928, Geneva, -p. 160.