The support given to the 40-hour week proposal laid by
the Italian Government before the Governing Body of the International Labour Organization at Geneva is striking, the Government delegates of France, Germany, 'Canada and Czechoslovakia all declaring themselves favourable, while the employers' group as a whole reserved its decision till a study of the question already initiated by the Governing Body should be completed. The object of the proriOsal; of course, is to reduce unemployment by spreading employment, and 'the American 'Federation of Labour is standing for a much shorter week still. The• difficulty is that to add to the -wage-total means adding further to the costs of production, while if the wage-total is not increased no increase in purchasing-power results from the change. But the unemployed would no doubt benefit, at the expense of the employed, and there is a little (though not in in the case of fairly low-paid 'manual Workers) in the argument that since the demand for bare necessities is always relatively steady, while the demand for any kind of luxury fluctuates, a spread of the purchasing-power of individuals at a lower level tends to make for stability.
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