SATURDAY HALF-HOLIDAY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 406, 15 January 1909, Page 4

SATURDAY HALF-HOLIDAY.

:r- .' WOIffiERS QUITE APATHETIC. ;,;/- ;, BITTER.WORDS BY ATJNIDN '■■ :;.)■■■'■ ;..■;■.;-.SECRETARY..;■■■:■■■•■■ ] :• : .,- : The universal Saturday half-holiday movement does, not seem to make much progress.' ■. Mr. M. J. Reardon (secretary of the General Labourers Union), reporting to the Trades CouriciJ' last night, said : he and Mr.vE.f J.' Carey, who had been ..appointed -to 'get signatures to the petition .in favour" of "the" Saturday half-holiday, for shops,,had not had much,success. . Four .'thousand . signatures * were-required/ andthey had. only., got four or five hundred., .They, ■had put iii a lot of time-4nor6 .perhaps, than' was fair: to those who.paid their salaries. v'Thby felt that at' ■ tho presont .rate they would not get the ■ 4000; signatures within the time linut. .The ' ;working men seemed to be supremely .selfish; i. They could not imagine the staffs in the shops 1 Jiaving, the,same privileges' as' themselves. ' They hked..to go-about in their best clothes '-. watching other people working. ~,ThatVwas why, iii many instances they refused : to'sign the petition. So short-sighted .were they, when paid union speretanes ' were, .concerned, i that they .asked his colleague and. himself - who was paying'.them-for. what they were . then doing. . There were men/in that room. ■ who went round making beastly aspersions 1 as 1 to what was being done with" uliion funds.'. In 'j their,, efforts to get signatures to the petition/ .' they'had been, met, with insinuations .that' , certain wealthy shopkeepers liad been bribing , ; them to-do something to injure the small j; shopkeepers, whereas they only wanted to ;, help;the shop (issistants,. It was a.great/pity j| ..that'vthe Labour '■'movement'"' could not' be , purged of some of the sniall-minded men who ,- were connected with it in this city:- -In re- ,: gard to the petition, Mr. Carey and himself i had done all they could,'and if the council J' sincerely wished to see-tho Saturday: halfj holiday movement succeed, it should set up I' a oommittee.that. would' not. be accused of being bribed, j '"■:.-: ■'■ '■ : .• • .- •■..'■• . r Aftera short discussion" the. council resolved to employ.a canvasser for a"week, or .. longer if necessary, ■'. to obtain signatures j' to the petition. : , ; ■ ■..' ; i' ■.' ■■'. '"■ ; . i '•' '' " ' ' '■ '" .'. ■'■'■■ -\