has been established for
any industry Government Departments will consult it, and not the Trade
Board, on any questions affecting that industry; but the constitution of
the Council should make provision by which Trade Boards can be
consulted. Roughly speaking, "the functions of the Trade Board will be
called into operation mainly in the case of the less organised trades,
and the highly organised trades will be the sphere of the Industrial
Councils." These, in their most developed form, will be national,
district, and local.

A memorandum which has official sanction states that the chief duty of
the Trade Boards, on the other hand, is to fix minimum rates of wages
which can be imposed by law. They are needed primarily to insure that in
trades where the workers have no official organisation to guard their
interest a living wage shall be secured for all. They are statutory
bodies set up under an Act of Parliament just passed, and will be
connected with the Ministry of Labour, by which their members are
largely nominated. The work of such Boards is being extended.

Detailed discussion of the character of the work which may be expected
to be done by the councils and of its probable effects would be beyond
the scope of this volume, and would require special knowledge of the
industries concerned. It will vary in different industries and in
different places. In some, success may be confidently expected, in
others there will probably be failures. The aim of the proposal is
certainly one to be desired, and the method for attaining it promises
many beneficial results. There appear to be some dangers involved which
it may be well to consider. Useful work may be hindered owing to, first,
the time and attention required for the meetings and discussions of the
various councils, and the risk that clever and fluent talkers may
prolong debate and generate friction and may perhaps exercise an undue
influence. Probably this will not be found a serious danger. Experience
over a considerable district shows that those who are chosen by the
Trade Unions to represent them are usually clear-headed and businesslike
men, who grasp a point quickly and, while carefully guarding the
interests of those whom they represent, are fair-minded and ready to do
all they can to promote the national interest also. Secondly, there may
be a tendency to interfere too much in questions of management, even
where full and detailed knowledge of trade conditions of t