A. _The establishment of a standard rate of remuneration for labour._
This has been proposed to be brought about by three different means,
viz.:--
1. By law or government authority; either (_a_) fixing the minimum
rate of wages, and leaving the variations above that point to be
adjusted by competition (this, as we have seen, is the effect of the
poor-law); or, (_b_) settling the rate of wages generally by means
of local boards of trade for _conseils de prud’hommes_, consisting
of delegates from the workmen and employers, to determine, by the
principles of natural equity, a _reasonable_ scale of remuneration in
the several trades, their decision being binding in law on both the
employers and the employed.
2. By public opinion; this has been generally proposed by those
who are what Mr. Mill terms “shy of admitting the interference of
authority in contracts for labour,” fearing that if the law intervened
it would do so rashly and ignorantly, and desiring to compass by
_moral_ sanction what they consider useless or dangerous to attempt
to bring about by _legal_ means. “Every employer,” says Mr. Mill,
“they think, _ought_ to give _sufficient wages_,” and if he does not
give such wages willingly, he should be compelled to do so by public
opinion.
3. By trade societies or combination among the workmen; that is to
say, by the payment of a small sum per week out of the wages of the
workmen, towards the formation of a fund for the support of such of
their fellow operatives as may be out of employment, or refuse to work
for those employers who seek to give less than the standard rate of
wages established by the trade.
B. _The prohibition of stoppages or deductions of all kinds from
the nominal wages of workmen._ This is principally the object of
the Anti-Truck Society, which seeks to obtain an Act of Parliament,
enjoining the payment in full of all wages. The stoppages or extortions
from workmen’s wages generally consist of:--