There were at the end of 1905—the latest date for which the Report of the Factory Inspectors is available—38 Boards the determinations of which were in force. The wages and conditions fixed by these Boards vary to a remarkable decree, and it is to be regretted that the smallest advances seem in general to have been granted in the worst paid trades. In some cases the established minimum for a competent adult worker is sadly low. For instance the female chocolate coverer of over 21 has a minimum of only 17s. weekly, while her fellow worker who is under 21 but over 18 may be paid as little as 14s. a week. The minimum for a youth of the same age is also 14s. but the adult male chocolate coverer (a person whom I have never found in England) must be paid not less than 30s.[89] Worse still is the case of the jam trade in which the minimum for “females of 18 years and upwards” is but 14s.[90] Such determinations as these point to a desire on the part of the Board rather to prevent a further drop of wages than to effect a rise to what may be esteemed a “living wage.” Still, even to arrest the downward course is a step in the right direction, and the example of the millinery trade, in which there is no Board, shows that the jam maker at 14s. is probably better off than she would be were there no determination at all in her trade. Miss Cuthbertson reports that in 1901 the average wage for milliners was 11s. 4d. per week per individual. “In 1902 the average fell to 11s. 1d.; in 1903 to 10s. 4d.; in 1904 to 9s. 10d.;—and possibly this year will witness a further fall.”[91] Yet the trade steadily grows, the number of persons employed rising from 758 in 1901 to 1410 in 1904. Dressmakers, however, who work under a determination, average 12s. 3d.[92] The determination in this trade did not come into force until September 1904; and in 1903 the average wage of dressmakers in Victoria was 11s. 11d. These averages, of course, include apprentices and learners. The established minimum for a competent dressmaker is now 16s. per week.[93]