INTERNATIONAL LABOUR
OFFICE

Studies and Reports
Series B

October ö«< ÜI20

Papers relating to Schemes of International
Organisation for the Distribution
of Raw Materials and Foodstuffs.

The difficulties connected with food supplì) during and since
the war have brought into prominence the importance of international reciprocity in the economic relations of the peoples
of the world. At the same time, the view is largely held
that in the present state of world-wide disorganisation, certain
measures would be necessary to assure by means of a system of
distribution of food stuffs and raw materials the well-being of
the world and the restoration of economic activity. On these considerations was based the recent proposal of the International Miners'
Conference (Geneva, 2-6//) August 1920) ', advocating the establishment of an International Coal Office. Very little, however,
has been published to enable an exact statement to be made of the
schemes which have been suggested.
It appears desirable to publish in the present number of
the Studies and Reports, two documents, which, in this connection,
have some interest.
(1) The motion proposed at Washington by the Italian Workers'
Delegate, Mr Baldesi. The proposal was defeated by 43 votes to
40, but it produced a great impression on the world of labour and
it has often been referred to in subsequent discussions.
(2) The report with regard to the constitution of a statistical
office of consumption and supplies which was submitted to, and
adopted unanimously by, the Supreme Co-operative Council in
France. The function of the Supreme Co-operative Council is to
consider all guestions relating to the development of the co-operative
movement. It is a purely consultative body. It falls into two sections,
one representing productive co-operative societies and the other
consumers' co-operative societies. Other sections may be established
by decree to deal with other forms of co-operation. Each section
is composed of twenty-nine members, fourteen of whom represent
the co-operative organisations. Fifteen members are common to
both sections : these fifteen members are as follows : —
i c „ *~^ n ational Labour Office Bulletin of 8th September 1920.

IL0-SR/B2
ENGL
COP. 3

I IH I III I III

')

Three senators, six deputies, two professors in the faculta
of law, the Governor of the Bank of France, two representatives
of the Ministri/ of Labour, one representative of the Ministri) of
Finance.
Finally, it should be noted that the report on the establishment
of a statistical office of consumption and supplies resulted from the
series of resolutions taken by the inter-allied and neutral co-operative conferences, in particular the one that was held in Paris
on the 2Gth, 21th, and 28th June 1919. Co-operators placed
in the foreground of their "post-bellum co-operative programme"
the establishment of international committees to deal with the
problem of food supply. These committees would be entrusted
wilh the duty of " distributing food supplies amonq the nations
in accordance with the needs of each and in so far as the resources
of the world permit."

I
The motion of Mr Baldesi
The text of the motion of AI. Baldesi, which was voted upon
at the Washington Conference is given below.
" The Internationa] Labor Conference considering t h a t the question of unemployment is strictly connected with the distribution
of raw material and with the question of the cost of ocean carriage
for the same, and considering t h a t this question can not be the
subject of a study by this body itself, refers it to the League of
Nations and recommends t h a t it take it up for study and solution."

This motion was put to the vote and defeated by 43 votes
to 40. Its importance was indicated by AI. Baldesi in the minority Report of the Commission on Unemployment. The text
of this Report follows (l) :
REPORT OF AI. BAI.DESI -

Your subcommittee to study the means of preventing or
reducing industrial unemployment decided against AI. Baldesi's
motion that, as the lack of raw materials for industry is a frequent and important cause of unemployment, the League of
Nations should be asked to study the question of their equitable
distribution. The subcommittee decided by a majority vote
that it was not competent to express an opinion on such a subject, on the ground that it was not authorized to deal with
economic problems that have a political character.
(') Nineteenth Session 25th Xov. 1919. Final Record, p. 133.
(-) Final Record, p. 237.

— 3 The minority cannot accept this view of the case, nor does
it accept the opinion likewise expressed that no practical steps
can be taken to improve the distribution of raw materials
between the several countries. The minority therefore wishes
to place its views before the conference.
There has been much talk, the world over, about after-war
industrial reconstruction as affording a means of avoiding in
the future the drawbacks experienced in the past, drawbacks
due, in no small measure, to the varying degree of development
attained in the several countries, but to a yet greater degree
to natural inequalities by which some countries possess great
wealth in the form of mineral and other natural resources
while other countries are entirely devoid of these.
Before the war we witnessed crises due to overproduction,
entailing great distress among the working classes, despite
the abundance of products. Since the war we have experienced
in certain countries the opposite phenomenon of underproduction due to scarcity of the raw materials of industry, leading to
like results, i. e., serious unemployment accompanied by distress (somewhat alleviated by relief measures taken by the
Governments, municipalities, and by private and co-operative
efforts) consequent on the closing down of factories or a reduction in the number of hands they employ.
For this reason the minority considers it of great importance
that the League of Nations be asked to study the question of
the proper distribution of raw materials so as to avoid the
complete economic subjection of some countries to others
which possess those raw materials.
The minority is well aware that such a question can not be
easily solved ; it demands the most thorough and careful study
before steps be taken which, if unsuccessful, would prejudice
the case, as ill-advised practical action would be used as a reason
for ruling out all further action in that direction, no matter
how sound the case for such further action might be. For this
reason the minority asks the conference to call the attention
of the League of Nations to the whole subject, so that the
necessary studies may be made.
The majority on the subcommittee was of opinion that those
countries which possess the raw materials under consideration
might resent any suggestion, on the ground that iL would interfere with their absolute right to dispose freely of what belongs
to them. We might reply to this objection that labour also may
be considered as doubly entitled to respect, as being doubly
the property, first, of the laborer himself and, secondly, of the
country to which he belongs. Yet this has not prevented the countries here represented from desiring to see some international
regulation of the conditions of human labour, without feeling
that in so doing they are any sense humiliated or that their
rights are thereby infringed on. Moreover, it should be borne in
mind that countries may yet possess undiscovered resources,
and that methods may be discovered which will confer value

_

4 —

on raw materials hitherto disregarded even by those who owned
them, and would then place in the hands of those countries a
means of turning the tables. The case of sulphurous- iron ore,
which has become of value since the application of the Martin
furnaces, illustrates the changes which time may bring about
in the valuation of the mineral wealth of a country, and it justifies the conclusion that those who now possess in abundance
the raw materials which the world needs should not feel certain
that a time may not come when they in their turn will stand
in need of products which they do not possess, and that they
may not thus be led to regret the adoption of a narrowly selfish
policy in this matter.
On the other hand, it is generally recognized that we now
have to face problems which can not be solved by simply returning to prewar conditions, but which call for bold innovations,
and it can safely be said that there is no greater social danger
than that of turning a deaf ear to such claims and rejecting
those innovations which present conditions call for.
Broadly speaking, we have on the one hand countries possessing vast quantities of raw materials awaiting the work of man
to convert them to profitable use, and on the other hand we
have nations with abundant supplies of labor anxiously seeking
for those same raw materials in order to render them of value to
themselves and others.
Should this abundant labor be forced to emigrate to those
countries where the raw materials are to be found ? Or would it
not be more just and more humane to make such raw materials
available in those countries where labour abounds ? If it is true
that men should be afforded the opportunity to avoid the
sorrows of exile from their native countries, and that they are
better and more valuable citizens the more they are attached to
the land of their birth, where they have grown from childhood to
man's estate, than the answer can not be doubtful.
If this point of view meets with the approval of the majority of the delegates to this conference, then the conclusion
arrived at by the minority of the subcommittee to call the
attention of the League of Nations to the proper distribution
of the raw materials of industry as a means of preventing unemployment, should be adopted.
In this connection the minority would also draw the attention
of the conference to the importance of the question of ocean
carriage of such raw materials, for excessively high and, more
especially, fluctuating ocean freight rates are a leading cause
of artificially high prices and speculation in raw material.
Here again is a great and important question properly deserving the attention and study of the League of Nations.
The importance of this factor of ocean carriage in determining
the price of the staples was powerfully pointed out by David
Lubin, the founder of the International Institute of Agriculture
in Rome and delegate of the United States to that institute.
He brought the matter to the attention of the American Senate

and House of Representatives, which, after giving several
hearings on the matter and after full discussion in the House,
adopted a resolution calling on the International Institute
of Agriculture in Rome to take the initiative in calling for
an international conference to consider the advisability of
formulating a convention for the establishment of a permanent
international commerce commission on merchant marine and
upon rates for the transport of goods with advisory and investigatory powers.
Upon this subject the minority desires to call the attention of
the conference to the following statements which were made
in the House of Representatives of the United' States in the
course of a discussion upon this question (Cong. Ree, Sept.
1, 1914, p. 14,571). On that occasion one of the members taking
part in the debate, Mr. Alexander, chairman of the Committee
on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, made the following statement:
" Mr. Lubin contends, and with great force, that in order to
steady the world's price of the staples it is necessary to stabilize
the freight rates on the staples, and that this can not be done
until the ocean freight rate on the commodity from the seaboard
to the point of delivery in Europe or South America or
elsewhere in our oversea trade is known with reasonable
certainty.
" It is an international problem which can only be solved
by international agreement." Now here is what Congressman
Norton says of the same subject (Cong. Ree, Sept. 1, 1914,
p. 14575) :
" ...For all ocean rates for bulk products under present
methods and under present shipping practice are subject to wide
variations without notice to the shipper from day to day even
from hour to hour. ...The fact that ocean carriage on staple
farm products can be raised or lowered at a moment's notice,
and at the whim and will of the shipping rings and combinations, leaves room for tremendous gambling operations on grain
prices and levies each year heavy tolls on both the producer
and the consumer. ...Because this condition prevails the federated shipping interests and other gamblers in the price of the
staples, the value of which is estimated to be a hundred billion
dollars a year, and which represents the foodstuffs and raw
materials for clothing and household furnishing of all the people
of all the world, hold the power to dictate at will the raise
and fall in the price of the world's agricultural products. "
It is for the reasons stated above that the minority proposes
(it being granted that the lack of raw materials necessary to
industry is in many countries the principal cause of unemployment, while in other countries which produce such raw materials
unemployment is caused by an excess of production) that the
conference call the attention of the League of Nations to the
importance which a just distribution of raw materials bears
to the prevention of unemployment and the opportunity which
is presented for establishing a permanent commission to assure

such a just distribution among the different countries in accordance with their present and future industrial needs.
It having been shown that the irregularity and fluctuation
of the rates of ocean carriage encourage speculation and manipulation of prices, the minority proposes also that the conference draw the attention of the League of Natjons to the proposal made by .the United States Congress in resolution N° 311
of the month of September, 1914, which recommends as opportune the establishment of a permanent international commission
with advisory powers for the regulation of ocean freight rates.

Report on the creation of an office for the collection
of statistics of consumption and supplies

*

II
(Presented by M. Alberi Thomas, in the. name of the National
Federation of Consumers' Co-operative Societies of France (Fédération nationale des Coopératives de consommation de France)
to the Supreme Co-operative Council (Conseil Supérieur de la
Cooperation) constituted under ihe French Ministry of Labour —
Session 2nd-4th June, 1919).
Organisation or Liberty of Commerce.
During the war the State took upon it to distribute a certain
number of commodities or raw materials, working by strict
rules and on a definite plan.
When, for example, the Ministers of War and Munitions took
over the production of material necessary for national defence,
they controlled the whole iron and steel market ; they allotted
the products of each of the factories in the metal industry
to the dilTerent manufacturing workshops according to the
urgency and the quality of work desired. Moreover, the Ministry
of Munitions, in agreement with the British Government, became
the sole buyer of all steel imported into France.
Similarly, in order to maintain the standard of life for the
whole of the civil population, and so to maintain indirectly
the morale of the fighting forces, France took over the distribution of cereals, sugar, boots and coal. And this distribution
was, in a number of cases, the essential raison d'etre of the
"Executives" that is to say, of the international committees
which dealt with the rationing of such supplies of cereals,
meat and fats as were at the disposal of the Allies.
This organisation undoubtedly made it possible to manufacture war material without serious interruption and gave the

— 7 —

people, in spite of some restrictions, all the necessities of life.
Also it cannot be denied that if the prices paid under these
conditions were very high, they would have been still higher
if the insufficient quantities then available had been put on
an open market.
But this commercial and industrial war control was in direct
contradiction to all the traditions of commerce and industry.
According to theory the free play of economic forces, supply
and demand, and the ultimate reconciliation of conflicting interests, are the sole guarantee of the universal distribution of the
necessaries of life.
As a matter of fact during the years preceding the war,
producers and even middlemen had tried to unite, so as to
rule and direct the markets. They had formed themselves into
trusts in order to take joint action in the manufacture and sale
of one particular product. This, however, was not considered
to be opposed to freedom of trade.
To-day, after the experience of the war, great discussions
are taking place, theoretic in form, but with a widespread
practical application.
Xow that people are passing from war conditions to
peace conditions, some maintain that the only hope is in complete freedom of trade ; others that the wartime organisation
both regularised prices and assured supplies. The one side considers that the initiative of the producers, their foresight, their
calculations and their speculations alone definitely assure to
the consumers all the commodities of which they are in need.
The other thinks that what was done to meet the needs of a
nation at war might be continued for the common welfare of
the people during peace. They think that the consumers as a
whole should have a say as to the transport, distribution, and
cost of articles which are absolutely essential. They claim that
this should be done either by the State or Municipality or else
by the regular organisations for the defence of the consumer,
the Co-operative Societies.
Xecessity ¡or exact information.
It is certainly not the business of the Supreme Co-operative
Council to solve this formidable problem, to decide between
freedom of trade and economic state control. The bitterness of
the controversy which arose when the wartime method was
substituted for the pre-war one illustrates sufficiently well the
complex and disturbing nature of the question as it stands at
present.
The high cost of living produces anxiety in many households
(as may easily be understood), and the question is often asked
in all ranks of society, what causes the rise in prices, what causes
the iluctuations in the economic world.
Even before the war, when the problem of the cost of living

— 8 —
was not nearly so acute and the economic outlook not nearly
so troubled, the question had come under the notice both of
statesmen and of the general public.
About 1910, the League of Consumers (Ligue des consommateurs), presided over by our eminent colleague, M. Gide,
and with M. Fenetrier as secretary, approached the public
authorities on the subject. In 1911, for example, M. Edouard
Vaillant and M. Justin Godart gave expression to the claims
of the consumers in the Chamber. They pointed out vigorously
that changing prices, the alternate glut and shortage of certain
commodities, and the irregularity of their appearance on the
market, were totally incomprehensible to the generality of
people. They showed how the anger of the consumers might
be misdirected through ignorance. They explained the necessity
of obtaining exact information as to how prices were arrived
at, and they asked that an office dealing with consumption
(Office de-la consommation) be set up. In 1911, in 1912, and in
1913, they continued their efforts. Finally in 1914 60,000 francs
set aside in the Ministry of Labour's budget for a department
for recording prices (Service d'Observation des prix) added to
the French general statistical service a small branch which
commenced to collect information.
After the terrible confusion caused by the war, in the present
chaotic conditions of the economic system of all countries, it
would appear more than ever necessary, from every point of
view, to institute an official and unbiassed body to collect
exact information upon all important facts affecting the consumer.
Alongside the "Office des Prix" an office to keep account
of quantities and supplies must be set up at once.
Adequately to defend the interests of the consumers it is
not sufficient merely to follow the movement of prices. Explanation of the variations must be forthcoming. It is on this
condition only that it will be possible to take action against these
variations themselves. Without knowledge of the state of production, without knowledge of the supplies, without at least
an approximate notion of the needs to be met, there is neither
the possibility of combating excessive prices which injure freedom
of trade, nor of organising a practicable scheme of distribution.
Guizot, a supporter of economic freedom, advocated the theory
t h a t " publicity is the corrective necessary for freedom ". Publicity
in this case would consist of putting all information requisite
for the control of freedom of trade at the disposal of the public.
Furthermore, without information no State or Municipal organisation could manage distribution.
What an Office dealing with Internal Commerce should be.
Such an Office would supply information to producers,
consumers and middlemen concerning the amount of goods
or material in the various districts or localities in which thev

— 9 —
were interested, report on the state of the markets, and show
the amount consumed by local requirements and the quantity
left surplus.
It would give the number and the amount of all transactions
in the most important products ; it would follow them from
the moment when the producer or the importer first handles
them up to the time when, having undergone all the requisite
changes and having passed through the maze of intermediaries,
they come to be delivered to the consumer. A perfect organisation should be able to follow the bale of wool from Australia
from the day when the vessel lands it on shore to the time when
the tailor delivers it to his customer in the form of clothes.
Thus the Office for the Registration of Prices and Supplies
would become to all intents and purposes an office for statistics
of internal commerce. As such it would be useful not only
for the protection of the consumer, but to the community
generally.
It appears to us that the creation of this Office should at the
present moment appeal to all those who are anxious for régularisation of economic life.
It may cause some surprise that the Supreme Co-operative
Council should take the initiative in such a matter. Co-operators
are not the only consumers. It cannot be denied, however, that
by their innovations, by the part they have already played,
they have really built up the defence of the consumer. Just as
trade unionists do not work solely for themselves, but for the
whole of the wage-earners of a certain trade, so co-operators
cognisant of all the economic difficulties, knowing the practices
of the parasitic side of commerce, informed of dishonest speculations, have undertaken the defence of the whole of the
consumers by trying to fix prices publicly and by giving the
public information on the matter. They are consciously working,
for the community. They realise more fully than others the service which such an office could render, and it is through their
activity that the advantages of the new organisation may be
realised.
An office of statistics is, at present, the proper foundation
for the régularisation of economic relations by means of cooperation. It is under the direction of the Supreme Cooperative Council that it must operate.
It goes without saying that to try to follow the details of
all transactions in respect of all products is an ideal wThich will
only be reached in the somewhat remote future. Yet in certain
countries investigations in such matters have been carried far.
A glance through the statistical publications of the Department
of Commerce and Labour of the United States reveals full
information for each month.
Here is, taken at random from the collection, a number of
the "Monthly Summary of Internal Commerce of the United
States". It contains the following information :

— 10 —
1. Number of head of cattle arriving and leaving during the month
of April, 1906 . cattle (14 towns), calves (8 towns), pigs (14 towns),
sheep (14 towns), horses, donkeys and mules (12 towns) ; the number of
wagons of cattle (arrived and despatched) for 7 towns, finally, the
stocks of meat on the five principal national markets, according to
information furnished by the Slaughterhouse Authorities.
2. The arrival and despatch of grain, flour and seed-corn, as regards
the following products ; wheat (15 towns), maize (15 towns), oats (15
towns), barley (14 towns), rye (14 towns), seed-corn (6 towjis), flour
(13 towns), with special indication of local consumption, obtained from
milling periodicals and statistics of the quantities which were warehoused in the three principal ports on the Great Lakes (distinction
being made between quantities carried by boat and on rail).
3. The quantitative statistics of numerous products received in or
despatched from different towns (St. Louis, Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Indianapolis) ; for Chicago, for example the statistics relate to
agricultural implements, maize cobs, beef, coal, barrels, eggs, fodder,
skins and furs, ice, iron, bacon, logs, oatmeal, oil, pork, potatoes, salts,
seedcorn, syrup, spirits and liqueurs, starch, tallow, miscellaneous
articles, manufactured articles.
4. Special and detailed statistics of the coasting-trade on the North
Atlantic (information furnished by the Exchanges and Chambers of
Commerce of Boston and Xew York) ; particularly the statistics taken
from the Trade Journal of New York, giving details of twelve products ;
5. Special detailed statistics of the coasting-trade on the Great Lakes.
6. The coasting-trade of the South Atlantic ports and the Gulf of
Mexico.
7. The commerce of the Southern states (cotton, rice, tobacco, etc.).
8. The coasting-trade of the Pacific (63 products for San Francisco).
9. The commerce on inland-waterways.
10. The special trade in coal, coke, petroleum and phosphates for the
whole country.
11. Indication of the current prices of the principal agricultural products in the ports of the Atlantic and Mediterranean (Liverpool. London,
Glasgow, Hull, Le Havre, Rotterdam, Bremen, Hamburg, Copenhagen,
Christiania, Stettin, Genoa, Naples, Marseilles).
12. Finally, the transport tariff per 100 tons on the principal railways.

This is only mentioned as an example. It was thought best
to give it in ils entirety to demonstrate the capital importance
of such an organisation to France, to industry generally, to
the merchant and to the consumer. It would gather together
all such information and from time to time place before the
public a synthetic review- of the state of production and consumption at a given moment.
Doubtless such an attempt on our part would meet with
great difficulties. It is certain that in the United States the
concentration of the products in the slaughter houses and in
the elevators renders the estimation of quantities easier. It is
also certain that the want of organisation in our commerce and
the fact that in certain cases it is not necessary to declare goods,
(a proceeding, however, which, appears to be becoming more and
more indispensable) will cause a certain delay before we could
obtain a really complete statistical survey. All the same, an

— 11 —
Office could start at once, and endeavour to collect and select
from the large amount of scattered information available,
and so enable variations in prices and supplies to be followed
and the reason for them discovered.
Concluions under which such an Office could be created
in France.
At present a large number of Government departments and
private organisations exist, the efforts of which could be usefullv
co-ordinated. Thus, the "Administration des Contributions
indirectes" publishes periodically for each department the
information with regard to supplies of wines and spirits.
If bills of exchange, the values of which could be reckoned
by the stamp duty on them were classified according to
the nature of the articles of commerce to which they refer,
they would give an approximation to the volume of transactions,
in spite of the considerable number, (increased during the war),
of payments in cash or by cheque.
Again, the Ministry of Agriculture in the enquiry on agricultural production and trade published in 1906 (vegetables)
and in 1907 (animals) has furnished a certain amount of fragmentary data concerning the degree of importance of certain
markets ; it would be necessary to continue these investigations in a more systematic and exact manner.
In the same way again, the statistics of the mineral industry published by the Ministry of Industrial Reconstruction and
Mines (Ministère de la Reconstruction industrielle et des Mines)
furnished exceptionately exact figures of the amount of coal
and iron produced in the industry.
Finally, following up these examples, could not the figures
thus obtained from the various Government Departments be
arranged and co-ordinated with the help of a permanent monthly return from the railway companies of the amount and
nature of goods despatched from each station ? Such a return
would have a local as well as a general interest. And could not
this method be adopted for inland navigation, canal or river
transport (usually reserved for particularly heavy goods)
and by port authorities in respect of coastal traffic ?
Besides documents emanating from official sources there is
an abundance of information obtainable from statistics of producers' or consumers' associations ; commercial or financial
tables, official statements of prices, market quotations, special periodicals and merchants' and brokers' circulars. There is a
whole mass of documents and information which exists for
each kind of goods, and each security, but of which only the
specialists are cognisant.
The first task of the Office for Statistics of Internal Commerce
should therefore be to examine and co-ordinate all existing
information.

This is no sinecure. It is for the Government to consider under
what conditions the work can be accomplished. May we be permitted to call attention to two important points.
In the first place, such work could only be carried out by
a competent and expert staff. The imperfect information obtainable and the necessity for intelligent discrimination, require
a staff whose, conscientiousness and competence are of the
highest order. Every care must be taken in the selection of the
administrative staff.
In the second place, it is desirable to have agents and correspondents in some of the more important districts in the country
and even in the chief foreign countries. These should be selected for other qualifications, particularly the opportunity their
position or occupation gives them for keeping watch on economic
events. Their experience would contribute to the understanding
of the rest of the information received.
According to our idea that is how the Government should
organise the Office from its inception.
A second question coming within the province of the Government will arise, that of organisation, on which we take the
liberty of expressing a discreet opinion.
Such a system of statistics of internal commerce, involving at
the same time the recording of prices and of the quantity of
supplies, might be attached to various Government Departments.
Thus, the Ministry of Commerce in its scheme of reorganisation (Bill N° 5978 of the present Parliament) provided for a
department of economic information (Direction de l'Information
Economique). But this will have the special purpose of "giving
direction and precision to the action of the Ministry of Commerce"
and while assisting our attempt it may retain its special purpose.
As a matter of fact such statistical offices, charged with
following and criticising important movements from the national point of view, ought to be centralised and attached
to the Office of the Prime Minister (Présidence du Conseil).
There should be, in fact, in our country a sort of department
of the Prime Minister (Présidence). If this Governmental reform
were carried out, the great statistical services, which would
all be grouped under a Common head, would quite naturally
be attached to this Department.
But, since the Supreme Co-operative Council cannot enter
into these considerations, since such a reform does not seem
imminent, and as the reorganisation of the departments of
the Ministry of Commerce would not meet our purpose, it seems
to us that the most expedient course would be to develop the
existing office for recording prices established in the General Statistical Department of France (Statistique Générale de la France),
and to give it all the means of meeting our wishes. It already
possesses an expert staff which it would be necessary to supplement. Also, the Statistical Department is attached to the
Ministry of Labour, and as mentioned above, through this
Ministry the Supreme Co-operative Council would be able to
fc

— 13 help the Office by guidance or suggestions so as to enable it
really to meet public needs.
We hope that the Office, though part of the Department of
Statistics, would have a real autonomy, that it would not be
tied down to routine methods, that it would be able to multiply its enquiries in all directions, and get into close touch
with actual life. The immediate object would not be to establish scientific results, but to co-ordinate information
sufficiently exactly to make it the basis for action.
i We do not doubt that such work so conducted would immediately have important results.
The French Co-operative movement is to-day sufficiently widespread throughout the country to help materially towards
an enquiry such as this Office would conduct by furnishing information concerning its own activity.
If, some day, apart from the quarrels of factions and the
struggles of business interests, facts themselves compel a solution of the problem of freedom or control, it will be the
work done by the Statistical Office which will enable a result
to be achieved.
An International Office.
But the constitution of the Statistical Office is only the first
step in a wider field. The Office must be the germ of a more
complex organisation, an International Statistical Office.
Mention was made at the beginning of this report of bodies
created by the Allies for the purchase and distribution of cereals
and meat. These bodies were only able to procure these various
commodities with regularity and at equitable prices because
of the information which they had at their disposal of the
resources and production of the various countries and of the
supplies available in the various markets. Similarly they were only
able to carry out a just distribution among the consuming
countries, France, Italy and England, because of their knowledge,
if only approximate, of the real needs of those countries.
The work of the interallied organisations »may sometimes
have been incomplete, and occasionally it was difficult to preserve all their authority. This was due to the fact that the information available with regard to the needs of the different nations
was insufficient. Some well-informed people maintain that if
shorty after the armistice the understandings broke down
in some respects, this was due to two causes. It was undoubtedly
due to a great extent to the wish of the Americans to return to
entire freedom of trade, but it was also partially due to the fact
that the French administrations, incompletely informed and
ill-equipped from the statistical point of view, and perhaps
also indolent and over-confident, were not able to supply a
clear well considered programme of the country's needs and
ask that they should be met by Allies who still realised all
they owed to the sacrifices of France.

— 14 —
At present it is possible that Governments generally still
have faith in freedom of trade. It is reiterated that supplies
are sufficient to feed the world. It is maintained that, even
if it is necessary to come to the aid of the central Empires,
the quantities of cereals, meats and raw materials available
will be sufficient. We accept the prophecy. But, whether optimistic forecasts are verified or not, we believe that the understanding between the nations cannot be effective unless it is
not only political but also economic in its scope.
Production, efficient transport and equitable distribution,
factors which will bind the peoples of the world together, are
perhaps more than ever necessary after the terrible events
of the war. Even with so-called freedom of trade there can be
no enduring peace without some small degree of control. The
inter-allied Co-operative Conference realised this fully. In a
resolution couched in the following terms it called upon the
various Governments to set up an international statistical
office.
It demanded :
" The creation of an international economic office of food statistics which should co-ordinate and direct the inter-allied food
supply committees. By its knowledge of t h e needs, resources and
conditions of consumption and production of each country, this
office would prepare for economic co-operation and division of
labour among the peoples for the period after the w a r " .

Information is obtainable in that direction also, and it will
be for the Government to consider very closely the proposals
which it thinks fit to make to the Allied Governments. In the
first place, international institutes such as the Institute of Agriculture at Rome, the Postal Union, the Board of the Sugar Convention, constitute instruments of information, operating in
all countries, which the International Statistical Office would
be able to utilize. In the next place, an International Statistical
Institution exists which might form the foundation of the new
international office which it is proposed to create.
Here, too, it is for the Government to consider the methods
to be adopted. But the Supreme Co-operative Council considers
itself justified on all these grounds in demanding the creation
of an international statistical office of prices and supplies, in
a word, an international office of commercial statistics, one of
the new institutions the creation of which in the near future
is necessary for political peace and economic activity.

Resolutions.
Accordingly the Supreme Co-operative Council resolves as
follows :
1. That the Government should transform the department

— 15 —
dealing with prices (Service d'Observation des Prix) into an
Office of Statistics of Internal Commerce, dealing with prices,
supplies and movements of different commodities ; that this
Office should work in permanent contact with the Supreme
Co-operative Council which is better qualified than any other
organisation to defend the consumer.
2. That an International Office of Statistics of Commerce
should be constituted and attached to the Secretariat of the
League of Nations. It should be charged with examining the
resources and requirements of the various countries and with
considering how distribution may be carried out to the greatest
common advantage.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE

STUDIES AND REPORTS
Series D (Wages and Hours) No. 12

HOURS OF LABOUR
IN INDUSTRY
CZECHOSLOVAK REPUBLIC

GENEVA
1924t
Price: Is.; 20 cents.

ILO-SR/D12
ENGL
COP. 1