**
it
some information on the record of th› various colo- ail powers as regards the application of Convencions and Recommendations in their non-metropolitan territories.
The Chairman said that as Mr. Roberts' proposal had been supported by speakers from all three groups he would consider it adopted.
The Governing Body instructed the Director-General:
(1) to invite the interested governments to explore, consultation with the most representative organisa- tions of employers and workpeople concerned, and in such manner as appears to them appropriate, methods of developing in practice the powers already existing under article 3 (3) of the Constitution of the Interna- tional Labour Organisation enabling States Members to appoint, in appropriate circumstances, additional advisers from non-metropolitan territories to each of their delegates, and to draw the special attention of governments to this problem in the letters of convocation for the 37th (1954) Session of the International Labour Conference;
(2) to continue the study of appropriate methods of promoting the application of Conventions and Recom- mendations in non-metropolitan territories;
(3) to keep under continuing review the possi- bilities of further developments in working relations with such regional organisations as the Caribbean Commission, the South Pacific Commission and the Commission for Technical Co-operation in Africa South of the Sahara which are largely concerned with matters affecting non-metropolitan territories, and of other solutions tending towards the more effective application of I.L.O. policies in regions where non- metropolitan territories predominate.
The Governing Body adjourned for consideration at its 124th Session the proposal made by the Workers' group that the Director-General should be instructed to prepare a new report for submission to the next session of the Governing Body based on-
(a) a more detailed study of the possibility of granting membership, within the framework of the Con- stitution as it now stands, to those non-metropolitan territories which have reached a certain stage of political, economic and social development and which enjoy autonomy in the field of labour and social legislation;
(b)
a study of the constitutional changes which would be needed with a view to granting associate membership to those territories;
(c) the more immediate possibility of inviting certain non-metropolitan territories to attend the Inter- national Labour Conference as observers, it being understood that they would be represented by full tripartite delegations.
It was agreed that in circulating the proposals of the Workers' group for discussion at the 124th Session the Director-General should append the minutes of the discussion which had taken place at the 123rd Session.
FOURTEENTH ITEM ON THE Agenda Report of the Committee on Industrial Committees
General Discussion.
Mr. Fennema wished to make two general observa- tions concerning the Industrial Committees. In the first place, he noted that the documents for some
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Industrial Committees had grown very considerably in size. At the last meeting of the Plantation Committee the delegates had had to study more than 500 pages of documents in all, and the same applied to the forthcoming session of the Coal Mines. really read all the papers and he urged the Director Committee. As a result, only a very few delegates
General to try to reduce the volume of these reports so that delegates might get a proper understanding of the matters under discussion.
Secondly, he recalled that the time limit set for the advance distribution of the papers for the Industrial Committees was three months for mports on the special item on the agenda and two months for the general report. He drew the Director- General's attention to the fact that in the case of the Coal Mines Committee only one report had been distributed to the delegates in time; the other four reports had been late and the last would be received by the majority of delegates only when they arrived at the meeting. This situation was most unsatis- factory and he urged the Director-General to take every possible step to ensure that the reports were published and distributed in time.
Mr. C. E. Shaw supported the remarks made by Mr. Fennema and reminded the Director-General that he had given a commitment to the Governing Body with regard to the convening of Committees when the documents could not be produced in time.
Mr. Roberts said that the decisions of the Financial and Administrative Committee made it very difficult for the Director-Generał to carry out his commit- ments in this respect and expressed the hope that that Committee would bear this fact in mind when considering budget estimates at the next session.
Sir Richard Snedden di‹d not believe that financial considerations had anything to do with the case.
I. Fourth Session of the Building, Cavil Engineering
and Public Works Committee.
Mr. Waline said that the reservation expressed by Mr. C. E. Shaw at the meeting of the Committee on Industrial Committees and recorded in paragraph 3 of the report was shared by the Employers' group as a whole. The Employers held the view that the reports, resolutions and memoranda adopted by Industrial Committees should not be passed on to governments, and through them to the various organisations, before the Gwerning Body itself had had an opportunity ofsidering them. The meeting of the Building, CEngineering and Public Works Committee had only yjjust been held in Geneva, and although he himself ham had mun opportunity of seeing the reports and resolutions it had adopted, very few of his colleagues were im that position. It was not proper for the Governing Body merely to act as a post office in respect of these documents and he would have wished the decision that the Governing Body was being asked to take to be post- poned to the next session.
Mr. C. E. Shaw said that he reserved his position on this matter because the Industrial Committees had been established as committees of the Governing Body and not as independent conferences, and they should therefore report: to the Governing Body and not directly to governments.
Mr. Roberts said that no questicum of principle was involved, and there were precedents for the action