Note 139 — Chapter X · —THE REGULATION OF WAGE LEVELS

The various courts in the Australian dominions tended on the whole to confirm existing differentials, occasionally changing the relative position of particular groups, when it has seemed clear to the court that the wages of these groups as compared to other groups is "unreasonable" considering all those factors which are considered to form the ground of "reasonableness" in the matter of differentials. Thus Justice Brown of the Industrial Court of South Australia has expressed himself on this very subject. "In the matter of such perplexity some guidance is afforded to the court by custom. It seems to me I cannot do better than proceed on this basis. I shall state the preëxisting wage, consider whether it is prima facie unreasonable applied to preëxisting conditions, and then if I find it not prima facie unreasonable, I shall consider whether any variations of the wage should be made in view of conditions now existing." (Hook Boys' Case—South Australia Industrial Reports, Vol. I, 1916-7, page 29.)