“The Chief Inspector shall cause every voting paper to be posted at least four days prior to the date of such election to every elector whose name and address is on the roll of electors for the special board.” The elector must strike out the names of all but those candidates for whom he desires to vote and must return the paper by 4 o’clock on the day of election. Imagine such a process as this in one of our own ill paid trades! The workers in such trades are migratory in the highest degree; by the time that the addresses of all qualified electors had been collected, one third of them, at least, would have ceased to be accurate. This fact alone would lead both to omissions and to duplications. The clerical labour and postage would be so heavy as to be a serious national expense; and the magnitude of the enumeration would render its completion a work of time. I doubt whether a Board to deal with any larger British trade could possibly be elected in less than a twelvemonth; and even such expedition as this would demand the employment of an extensive special staff. The members of the Board, when it has at last been formed may elect an outside chairman, and if they fail to do so, the Governor in Council may appoint one. The Boards may fix “either wage rates or piece work rates, or both; must also fix the hours for which the rate of wage is fixed and rate of pay for overtime.” They may also fix the proportions of apprentices and improvers to be employed; and may “determine that manufacturers may be allowed to fix piece work rates based on the minimum wage.... The Chief Inspector may, however, challenge any rate so paid, and the employer may have to justify it before the Board.” The power to grant a licence to any aged or infirm worker to work at less than the established minimum wage rests with the Chief Inspector. The first Boards were only six in number. Several of these had much difficulty in arriving at a “Determination.” The Men’s and Boys’ Clothing Board, for instance, occupied nine months in drawing up theirs, and finally established both time and piece rates. With the idea of compensating the home worker for incidental expenses and loss of time, the piece work rates were fixed a shade higher than the time rate—with the result that employers ceased to send work out. In other instances where there has been no such difference, the compulsion to pay home workers at something near a living wage has tended in the same direction. Though the number of Boards was steadily enlarged, the legislation allowing their formation was for some years persistently held as experimental, and not until 1904, after eight years of experience were they made a permanent part of the law of Victoria.