three days after a declaration of a strike or lockout "the employer or contractor of the establishment must notify the national labor office." In addition, a decree of 16 February 1923 provided for the establishment "of training courses for the labor inspectors of Montevideo." On 24 October 1922 a decree was issued "amplifying the provisions in force in regard to tenders to the State for public works or material in order to put Uruguayan industry in a more favourable position for securing contracts than foreign industry," and also requiring that "there be included in the contracts made with the State clauses which may benefit the working classes." A law of 15 February 1923 fixed a minimum wage for laborers employed in agricultural or stock-raising work, while requiring employers to furnish the laborers "sanitary living quarters and sufficient food, or in lieu thereof to allow them an additional sum of 0.50 peso (51.7 cents, par) per day or 12 pesos ($12.41, par) per month, as the laborers may desire." The rural minimum wage policy, which José Batlle y Ordóñez in 1919 proposed in the conferences of his party’s leaders that the party advocate a minimum wage for rural workers, proved a divisive one for the Colorados. As noted by one study, “From a three-to-one dominance of the lower house the majority declined to sixty-seven against fifty-six in 1917 and an actual minority of the votes cast in the election. In 1919 the ‘regular’ Deputies of Batlle’s party were in a minority in the Camara. Inability to arrive at a programme that would satisfy all branches of the party and to organize and maintain a strict party discipline enabled the opposition to keep the minimum wage bill in committee for about two years.” President Brum also proposed to a Commission appointed by the National Council of Administration, as a tribute to the Centennial celebrations, a program of laws taken from the plan of the League of Nations. These were (1.) The work cannot be considered as a merchandise or article of commerce. (2.) The right of association. (3.) Payment of a salary that ensures workers the highest possible level. (4.) The workday of eight hours a day or 48 hours a week. (5.) The weekly rest of at least 24 hours. (6.) The abolition of child labor and the restriction of the work of young people of both sexes, in such a