The Ashburton Guardian. Magna rst Vrritas rt Prævalabit. THURSDAY, MAY 24, 1888. EARLY CLOSING.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1849, 24 May 1888, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, MAY 24, 1888. EARLY CLOSING.

1 We have on more than one occasion spoken of the movement made by Mr Joyce, member for Lyttelton, re the compulsory early closing of shops as one which has our sympathy. "We notice that m all the larger towns, and notably m Dunedin, very much support is given to the proposal, and it is a matter for . comment that so far no public action , has been taken by the employers or employees m Ashburton. The public here i should be well informed as to the nature i and intention of tfie Shop Hours' Bill, 1 but for the benefit of those who may not be bo acquainted with its provisions, we may say briefly that the Bill provides . that three weeks after it is passed all retail shops m the Colony (with the exception of hotels, restaurants, chemists', and newspaper offices) shall be closed from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. on every day of the week, except Saturday ard the eves of public holidays, when they may be kept open till 10 p,m. A shop m which trades of two or more kinds aro carried on shall be closed for the purpose of all such trades, and no employe is to be allowed to remain m the shop beyond one hour after the time of closing, except for the purpose of stock-taking. Customers who have entered a shop before the J closing hour strikes may be served after it has struck, but must bo out of the shop by an hour afterwards ; and m cases of sickness, goods are allowed to be supplied after hours, as well' as to persons resident on the premises. An employe infringing the Act without the knowledge of his employer is to bear thepunishment, which is a fine of not less, than £2 or more than £5 for the first offence, nor more than £10 for the subsequent offence. This shortly is tho leading idea of the Shop Hours' Bill, and the success which it has met with so*far must be very encouraging to the member for Lyttelton. We should like to see the Ashburton tradesmen go heartily mto support it. The benefit to themselves as well as to their employees can hardly be estimated. Taking the general run of shopkeepers m the country it may be safely said that they favor the proposal, and Ashburton should not be one of the last to join m what is a movement m the right direction. The eight hours' sy&tem has long been recognised among artizans, and we cannot see why shopmen, clerks, etc., should not have their hours fixed also. There is no uniformity m the hours of closing among shopkeepers, and consequently while some keep open to a late hour to catch the late trade, the others who would close early it such closing were simultaneous aro bound m the interests of their customers to keep open also, and hence a great evil is perpetrated upon employees whose hours are lengthened without increase of salary and to the detriment of their health and recreation. |