CHAP. 5.—BRITISH TRADE BOARDS 35

In the inquiry by Miss Bulkley it was found that about one-half
of the manufacturers in the trade studied had granted increases of
wages to the women. The salaries of qualified workers had remained
anchanged, while the nonqualitied workers had profited by the minimum
 wage. Increases had been particularly good in southern England
 where wages had been very low. In the north about 3 pence per
dour had always been paid, and by the fixation of the boards this
figure simply became a general rule of the country. In one place
(Ipswich) the workers had protested against a proposition to increase
the min‘mum wage to 314 pence per hour, being afraid that slow
workers would be dismissed. Experience showed that some manufacturers
 had endeavored to compensate the higher wages by comoelling
 the workers to work more quickly and to produce more.
Some workers, interrogated by Miss Bulkley, even replied that they
preferred the old system of work, saving. “It is slavery getting the
Minimum.”
On the other hand, the employers had given their attention to
2reater regularity of work; they were no longer lenient toward
workers who came late in the morning. They had introduced laborsaving
 machinery, improved their methods of work, and thereby, to
2 large extent, had compensated the new costs. For a long time they
Were able to maintain the prices at the old level, and it was only dur-Ing
 the years immediately preceding the inquiry by Miss Bulkley that
they had been compelled to increase their prices; but this corresponded
 to the general increase of prices in England (and the rest
of the world) during the second half of the war and immediately
“hereafter.
Sixty-six per cent of the female home workers whom Miss Bulkley
nterrogated replied that their earnings had increased. The number
of home workers had decreased, while that of factory workers had
tncreased. The fixation of time rates had been insufficient in the
case of home workers, as it was too difficult to determine the length
of time needed for making the various products.
Miss Bulkley found that in the beginning the trade-unions were
strengthened by the introduction of the law, but that phenomenon
Was of rather short duration. On the other hand, the employers, whe
formerly had not been organized, formed in 1910 the British Paper
Box Manufacturers’ F ederation, the better to defend their interests.
Other difficulties arose, not so much from this legislation as from
the increase of prices in raw materials. In N orthampton, for
‘nstance, the employers were compelled to increase their prices by 10
ber cent although the salaries of workers, which had always been
rather high, had in no way been changed by the introduction of the
Minimum wage legislation. Business in general had not been de-Creased
 by the increase in prices. More boxes were used than before,
and export was larger than import.
These inquiries seem to show that the British law has increased in
2 modest way the lowest salaries of working men and women, particuarly
 as regards home workers. Some of the less capable have been
dismissed, but, as in Australia, special licenses have been granted
to old workers and defective workers authorizing them to work at

, ‘2 But “he women also no longer lost their time, without pay, when waiting for work,
or they had to be paid the minimum wage even while waiting. —T.eague of Nations Union.
Toward Industrial Peace (report of Conference of League of Nations Union, London,
Pebruary, 1927). London, 1927. bp. 40.