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and rapidly deping

situation. Before, however, I Put 5 His fingect, perhaps I may pause for a moment to say a few words on the position of my own country in relation to some of the problems to which the Director-General has drawn attention.

whole

Economically, the year 1948 was for us a year of steady progress. We were successful in improving our general balance of payments position, and, although our labour force increased by only 2 per cent., industrial production as a rose by about 12 per cent. above the 1947 level. At the present time the number of persons in civil employment in Great Britain stands at almost the highest point ever recorded. These include a large number of workers from other countries whose help we have appreciated. The figures of unemployment represent only 1 per cent. of the total number of insured workers and unemployment continues to go down. The demobilisation of the wartime armed forces has been completed.

It is now likely that the civilian working population will remain at about its present level, and that the present pattern of employment will become stabilised— subject, of course, to the normal changes that necessarily occur in an economy which is adaptable and alert. With this relatively stable labour force our present objective is to improve still further our productivity while maintaining our financial stability. Our primary aim is to solve the problem of our dollar deficit. We have received most timely assistance from the United States under the European Recovery Programme and in the form of credits from Canada. This assistance is temporary and we are determined to stand on our own feet as quickly as possible. We are working in close co-operation with the Commonwealth countries. We are also working closely with other European countries through the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation, which is based upon a conception of a common effort to solve common problems.

In fact, British recovery is only part of an almost world-wide problem and our tasks must be seen in the framework of international effort in many fields. It is for this reason that I welcome the comprehensive survey contained in the Report- before the Conference.

No praise is too high for the work of the International Labour Organisation in its efforts to establish fair standards of living and to improve conditions of labour in all countries. But I should like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the increasing attention given by the International Labour Organisation to the efforts of Member States to promote improvements in the material and social conditions of the people in non-metropolitan territories. This interest is reflected in the report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions.

His Majesty's Government are deeply sensible of their obligations, not only in regard to the provision of information on the application of Conventions to non-metropolitan territories, but also to ensure that the necessary labour and inspection services are available to secure the effective implementation of the social legislation enacted by colonial Governments.

Since the war progress has been made in building up colonial labour depart- ments. In all but the very smallest territories there are now very active labour departments which have done and are doing a great deal towards securing improved working conditions and fostering the growth of good relations between employers and workers.

While I am on the subject of non-metropolitan territories, there is one particular point I must make. I regret that, in discussing the question of remuneration in colonial territories, the Director-General should have placed so much emphasis on and should have attached so much credence to certain state- ments by the Trusteeship Council Visiting Mission to Tanganyika. Leaving aside any question of fairness and impartiality on which this Organisation has always prided itself, I am sure that on reflection the Director-General will agree with me that in the long run it will do the Organisation little service for it to publish, with complete approval and without awaiting the comments of the party criticised, allegations which the I.L.O. itself has had no opportunity to check and which the authority attacked has been given no opportunity to answer.

It is therefore necessary for me to say here, for the purposes of record, that the comments of the administrative authority, which were communicated to the Secretary-General on 10th May and released to the press on the following day, and therefore were not available when the Director-General signed his report, show that the observations of the Visiting Mission are open to question on several important points.

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Page 589; how to turn to some of the ideas whit the fee67-General has expressed on the future development of the Organisation's work, ideas which have, to some extent, already been translated into action in the course of the past This year has seen a new and growing emphasis upon the operational functions of the Organisation.

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My Government welcomes this development, believing that in the rapidly evolving world in which we live to-day there is a real need to assemble and provide for those who need it most the fullest information and the best available advice and assistance on their current practical problems. This year has, in fact, seen the development of the Organisation's operational work in Europe, the Far East and, more recently, in Latin America. I feel that it was most happily symbolic of our time that it should have fallen to the lot of a representative of the great Asian country of India to open, as Chairman of the Governing Body, the recent Conference of American States Members of the Organisation.

The conception of promoting a truly world-wide application of the Organisa- tion's influence through the decentralisation of its activities is not, of course, a new one. The system of regional conferences, for instance, has its origin in the pre-war years. This showed an appreciation of the fact that, although the ideals of the Organisation were common ideals, they had to be considered in a number of special contexts if they were to result in world standards based on the greatest measure of common agreement.

So with the evolution of the Organisation's operational work, the particular problems of different regions and different countries must be closely studied if the programme as a whole is to embody a realistic appreciation of practical requirements.

The

My Government particularly welcomes the reference by the Director-General to the relationship between these new developments and the I.L.O. operational work of the Organisation should, in fact, be regarded as the comple- ment of the functions of the Conference as a deliberative and legislative assembly. The provision of technical advice and assistance should not only make assured the practical implementation of international standards, but should also result in the progressive improvement of those standards. Before I leave this subject there are two further points I would like to submit.

First, I should like to express my Government's appreciation of the initiative taken by the President of the United States to promote an expanded programme of technical assistance for economic development through the United Nations and the specialised agencies. The views of the International Labour Organisation on the relationship between economic and social development are well known and long established, for they are embodied in the Constitution and in the Declaration of Philadelphia. I am sure that this Organisation has an important contribution to make to the development of this far-reaching scheme, and I hope that it will co-operate to the full in those fields which fall within its competence.

Secondly, I should like to stress that not only must co-operation with other international agencies be developed and strengthened, as the Director-General rightly says, but that we must all, as States Members of the International Labour Organisation, co-operate actively with the Organisation and with each other. As I see it, an international organisation such as this can only help individual countries to help themselves. It cannot do the work for us. Perhaps I may be allowed to illustrate this by reference to the problem of migration for employ- ment-which is on the agenda of the present Conference. While the Conference may adopt international regulations, and while the Organisation may arrange special conferences to discuss practical migration problems, the ordered develop- ment of migration can, in the last resort, only be effected upon the basis of concrete plans and agreements worked out between the countries concerned.

I would like now to turn for a few minutes to some of the items on the agenda of the present Conference. I have briefly referred to the subject of migration for employment, and I feel that it is peculiarly apposite that the revision of the current regulations should fall for discussion this year. The development of migration is of the first importance if the world's man-power is to be fully utilised, and it is, therefore, all the more essential that migrants should be assured of all proper safeguards. I would, however, like to suggest that the problems with which we are faced are detailed and complex. Not all may be suited to international regulation. In the case of some, propisions which ought be suitable for one category of migrant might not necessarily be applicable to others. My Government feel that it is essential that the regulations adopted by the Conference

should be sublage 50 perm6the widest possible acceptancePage plenfientation. They should, while sacrificing no essential safeguards, be drawn up in a form sufficiently flexible to permit, in the interests of the migrants themselves, the widest measure of common agreement.

The question of vocational guidance is one which is closely linked to last year's discussions on the organisation of the employment service. The formula- tion of international regulations on these two subjects well illustrates the truth that the minimum standards established by the Conference and the Organisation's operational work should complement each other. It also illustrates the necessity of integrating national and international efforts in the man-power field.

It is hardly possible to exaggerate the importance of an adequate employment exchange service as the foundation of national schemes to secure the effective distribution of man-power. So, also, a system of vocational guidance properly conceived and organised should secure that talents and capabilities are fully utilised in the interests both of the individual worker and of the community at large.

The Conference sets the standards; it is for the individual countries-aided and advised if need be by the Organisation itself to implement those standards. I am glad to be able to announce that my Government proposes to ratify the Convention adopted last year concerning the organisation of the employment service. It also proposes to accept (with one reservation) the associated Recommendation.

Last year the Conference adopted another Convention which may properly be regarded as one of the most important in the history of the Organisation. I refer to the Convention on freedom of association and the protection of the right to organise. It was indeed an impressive achievement that the Conference was able to adopt without a dissentient vote a Convention on a subject of such difficulty and complexity. The principles dealt with in this Convention lie at the very root of the Organisation's work. May I express the hope that this Convention will be widely ratified and that all States Members will co-operate in providing the Director-General and the Governing Body with the fullest possible information on their law and practice in regard to the matters covered by the Convention.

So far as the United Kingdom is concerned, the Conference is already aware that my Government has announced its intention to ratify this Convention in respect of Great Britain where the law and practice are fully in accord with the Convention's requirements. The instrument of ratification has now been deposited and was received by the Director-General this morning.

The work which was begun last year at San Francisco with the adoption of this Convention is being continued this year with the consideration of a proposed Convention on the application of the principles of the right to organise and to bargain collectively and with a first discussion on industrial relations. This constitutes an impressive programme of international legislation on matters which during the last years have been the centre of much attention, and even of controversy. Particularly on matters such as these, international regulations to be effective must be such as are capable of widespread acceptance and implementation. I therefore sincerely hope that this year and at the next Conference it will be possible to secure the wide measure of agreement which was obtained at San Francisco.

As a lifelong trade unionist, and with a family history of active participa- tion in the trade union movement of my country, I can speak with knowledge and feeling of the fundamental value to the workers of the positive rights of associa- tion and collective organisation. In some countries, these rights have only been assured after many bitter struggles. It is now for us to do all we can to assure these basic rights to all. It may be that in certain countries, particularly in those with a long history of collective organisation, the full exercise of freedom of association and the right to organise may in its turn have raised other problems of its own.

My Government considers that such matters are the proper responsibility of the two sides of each individual industry. It does not consider that they are suitable for national or international regulation. I would urge that the Confer- ence should not be diverted from the task of ensuring to all those positive rights of association which are the basis of sound relations between employers and workers. Page 507 of 662