address, that d cau du no belies Si’, Wau to veld vic dfodse tial Uie people ueed tills moucy bévause OL the high cost of living. Lar be it from me to dilate ioday on aspects of the matter which might be more properly considered if and when the actual salary imereases come before the House, but for the purpose oF the Address before us, Ho is still bighiy essemtia: iiat hon. menrbers should have impressed upon their Ininds the faet that while it has been polated oat ty Loth previous speakers that these people are now underpaid, the mere fact that the Government has ai i:ast appointed a Salaries’ Commissioner is an ad- mission that they regard salaries below what they should be; and since these facts are uncontrovertible, then something should be done to redress these un- fair ‘balances im so far as this type of worker is con- cermed. Therefore, Sir, T make no apologies for reminding the House. that the cost of ving in Rar- bados as today higher fhan if is in enix otter West Indian Colony in the area. It is higher than che cost of living in Great Britain, it is higher than the cost of living in Canada, and it is higher than the vost of living in the United States of America. Foodstuffs, clothes and tho basic necessities of fire, cost more in Barbados today than they do in these places. Due mainly. Sir, to the poliey of the Gov- ernment it has directly contributed to the cost of living by increasing Customs Duties: its policy as regards commodities from America is the most strin- gont in the area where they allow far Jess than wy other West Indian Island. Tiverybody knows... . Mr. SPEAKER: The hon. member is now pursuing a different line of argument. Mr. CRAWFORD: I must Sir, most necessar- What T want to respectfully submit is: that. there can be no argument for giving this | onus on inereased wages to this type of worker unless ono can prove that the cost of living entitles him fo it and T am swhmittine that Hfooen the one hand vou directly inerease the cost of living by taxation poliey and on the other hand, von purposely restrict the cheapest goods from coming to the market-——and that 23 what vou are doing with American commodities— there is no question about it. Tn the other islands ot the West Indies the dollar expended in proportion is far in excess for essential commaditics than in Bar hadns, T reneatedly hear Commission Merchants whose business takes them to the other West Indian Istinds marvelline af fhe comparatively bie orders which thev ean get in a small island like St. Vincen! or St, Kitts for American goods in comparison with what they ean get in Barbados, There is not one sinele essential conmmodity tn Barhedos today whieh von cannot get cheaper from America than fron Great Britain, 6.40 p.m. Kiven when allowance is made for the difference in exchange for putting sterling on a par with the zmerican dollar, even the basic commodities, every vingle one cam be obtained cheaper from. America than from Great Britain. The policy of the Govern- ment is to see that the minimum amount of goods is bought from the Amerikan market, but goods are obtained mainly from Kngland. Mr. SPEAKER: I think the hon. member has well elaborated on that. Mr. CRAWFORD: T regret very much that ft am not allowed to say anything more on the matter because T have some facts for the House which are astounding. Be that as it may, since the Govern- ment is directly responsible for the actual existence of this type of worker, and since the Government is adding an unnecessary burden to the back of this pardiish dy, Sar, A an ep JANUARY L7, Lot type ol worser, they the obligation falls on them, ay i said eurlier, to endeavour to make this burden as light as possible for the worker. lf, ior the future, that is to say, if afier tue salary revision, We may expect some more reasonable scale of remuneration, then as some sort of gesture for ali lie years that these people were underpaid and exploited, the Government might well eudorse tie suggestion contained in the Address. Whether you call it a Christmas bonus or not, they should make some adequate lump sum payment to this type ot worker between now andi 3lst December. As I said, we expect that when the salaries are revised, the waves WHE commemorate with the ability of the Guv- ernment to pay, considering the enormous wealth awluch is extracted from the Country, and if the wages are going to be reasonable in the future, let them discharge that responsibility for the past by do- ing sulnethiny along the lines indicated in this Ad- dress. Mr. HAYNES: Mr. Speaker, while 1 see many good points in what the hon. Mover of the pass- ing of this Address has said, especially with regard to the lower brackets of the Unestablished Stai of the Civil Service, yet, [ am not in favour of the title of ihe Address. With regard to the question of an in- centive bonus, I believe that most of the personnel in charge of Departments could make note of all the points of efficiency or working conditions and those points could be considered by the Departments, and wnd au incentive honus could be given on that Seale, if you like, at Christmas time. I am quite sure that ‘he money thus spent would; be money well spent if ‘hat svstem were adopted, but I certainly cannot con- ceive the idea of the hon. senior member for St. Lucy proposing that this Christmas bonus should be given in this way. T do not think that any rational person could conceive of it, I will support the Address if aon, mnembhers would insert an amendment alone the lines ] have indicated. Mr. BARROW: 1 do not regard it as a sound economic policy to withhold the just reward of their work from the workers for eleven months of the year and then give them something at a time when it is nighly unlikely that the workers will be able to re- serve any of the money which is given to them for purposes other than those of their own advancement. At the same time, human conduct being what it is, certain eeonomic habits of seasonal spending are 1eeply ingrained in this Colony. I would be the last person to oppose the idea that at the very time when the demands on the resources of the working class man are at their highest, his purchasing power should be increased in some measure in the way in which the purchasing power of the clerk who is fortunate enough to work with a big business firm is increased. We all know that in certain business under- takings in this Island, the employers pay big bonuses to their workers including themselves, because they consider themselves, hy some peculiar act of mental eymnastic to be workers, although they may be sit- ting in chairs and doing absolutely nothing all the day long; but in order to cover up their reluctance 10 pay into the Treasury of this Island, the excess profits which they are making from time to time, especially under a so-called Labour Government they have adopted; the device of paying fantastic Lonuses ti the region of $7,000, $8,000 or $9,000. to themselves as Directors, and therefore. as employees of the firms which they control, varving in inverse proportion to the rank of the particular worker im the firm down the Seale to bonuses of $800 and $400 a month.