H.—ll.

Ratification of International Labour Office Conventions. During last session the following were formally ratified by the Government with the assent of both Houses of the Legislature : — List of Conventions ratified by New Zealand. (а) Convention limiting the hours of work in industrial undertakings to eight in the day and forty-eight in the week ; (б) Convention concerning unemployment—adopted by the International Labour Conference at its first session (Washington, 29th October to 29th November, 1919) ; (c) Convention for establishing facilities for finding employment for seamen—adopted by the International Labour Conference at its second session (Genoa, 15th June to 10th July, 1920) ; (d) Convention concerning the rights of association and combination of agricultural workers ; •(e) Convention concerning workmen's compensation in agriculture ; (/) Convention concerning the application of the weekly rest industrial undertakingsadopted by the International Labour Conference at its third session (Geneva, 25th October to 19th November, 1921) ; (g) Convention concerning workmen's compensation for accidents —adopted by the International Labour Conference at its seventh session (Geneva, 19th May to 10th June, 1925) ; (.h) Convention concerning the simplification of the inspection of emigrants on board ship— adopted by the International Labour Conference at its eighth session (Geneva, 26th May to sth June, 1926); (i) Convention concerning seamen's articles of agreement —adopted by the International Labour Conference at its ninth session (Geneva, 7th to 24th June, 1926) ; (j) Convention concerning the creation of minimum-wage-fixing machinery—adopted by the International Labour Conference at its eleventh session (Geneva, 30th May to 16th June, 1928) ; (k) Convention concerning forced or compulsory labour ; (I) Convention concerning the regulation of hours of work in commerce and offices —adopted by the International Labour Conference at its fourteenth session (Geneva, 10th to 28th June, 1930); (:m) Convention concerning the protection against accidents of workers employed in loading or unloading ships (revised 1932)— adopted by the International Labour Conference at its sixteenth session (Geneva, 12th to 30th April, 1932) ; (n) Convention concerning employment of women during the night (revised 1934) ; (o) Convention concerning workmen's compensation for occupational diseases (revised 1934); (p) Convention ensuring benefit or allowances to the involuntarily unemployed —adopted by the International Labour Conference at its eighteenth session (Geneva, 4th to 23rd June, 1934); (q) Convention concerning the employment of women on underground work in mines of all kinds ; (r) Convention concerning the reduction of hours of work to forty a week; (s) Convention concerning the reduction of hours of work in glass-bottle works —adopted by the International Labour Conference at its nineteenth session (Geneva, 4th to 25tli June, 1935) ; (t) Convention concerning the reduction of hours of work on public works—adopted by the International Labour Conference at its twentieth session (Geneva, 4th to 24th June, 1936) ; (u) Convention concerning the minimum requirement of professional capacity for masters and officers on board merchant ships —adopted by the Internationa] Labour Conference at its twenty-first session (Geneva, 6th to 24th October, 1936); {v) Convention concerning the reduction of hours of work in the textile industry—adopted by the International Labour Conference at its twenty-third session (Geneva, 3rd to 23rd June, 1937). Che ratification of these draft conventions introduces an obligation on the part of the Government to make annual reports thereon to the International Labour Office in terms of Article 408 of the Treaty of Versailles, which reads as follows : — Bach of the Members agrees to make an annual report to the International Labour Office of the measures which it has taken to give effect to the provisions of conventions to which it is a party ..." ASSISTED IMMIGRATION. There has been no change in the position since the last report. During the year assisted passages were granted to ten migrants (previous year eleven). As explained in last year's report, the cases approved of in recent years have been those where a portion of a family has been previously in receipt of assisted passages and there was a promise implied that applications in respect of other members of the family would receive consideration later.

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