EARLY CLOSING REQUISITION.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1184, 20 July 1911, Page 6

EARLY CLOSING REQUISITION.

[To tho Editor."] Sir,—My attention lias been- drawn to two letters that .appeared in your last Saturday's issue. These two letters appear under one heading "Early Closing Grocers)" Nov, Mr. Editor, I intend taking a short cut by replying to these two letters as if they were one. The ■letters aro. signed J. R. Parley and A. Beauchamp. Mr. Barley asks if I am doing it for the love of the thing. Presumably lie means tho securing of signatures without payment. In answer to Mr. Barley's. query I would ask him if he sells groceries out of pure love of being a grocer. I hnrdly. think so. It is very kind" of Mr. Barley to admit that he assisted me t'o foment an' anti-Chinese agitation some years ago. Look at the position ho lias taken up to-day, on a counter petition, where he is Teally assisting tho Chinese to capture the grocery business of this city. Mr. Barley further states that 1 show my ignorance of the trade by .stating that there are concessions in the requisition to small traders in groceries. Mr. Barley states that tho hours iii the grocers' award are tho same as those stated in the requisition, but Mr. Barley is probably not aware that the amended Shops and Offices Act over-rides tho award in the i matter of hours that assistants may work, the hours being 9- o'clock on the long night, whereas the early closing requisition gives till; ten o'clock on all tho long nights of grocers that do not employ assistants. As the large grocers now close at nine o'clock on the long night,. further comment on this point is needless. Mr. Barlev asks can I deny tho fact that I obtained the signatures of most, if not all, the smaller grocers whose names appear on the main, petition by representing to them that the effect of the petition would be to drive Chinese out of the trade? 1 give an emphatic denial to :this statement. What I did say was that the petition aimed at fair trading, between Europeans nnd Chinese who sold groceries, and that the effect of the petition, would bo to shut the Chinese shops at the hour stated in the requisition if those stock " groceries, - That is to say, that Chinese would-be required to cease stocking or selling groceries before they would be exempted from the operations of the gazetted requisition. Mr. Barley (finally states that we have it. on the authority of the honourable the Minister for Labour, that the position of the Chinese would not be affected so far as the selling of groceries is concerned. At the deputation of small grocers to the Minister for . Labour last Thursday in answer to a question by Mr. Fisher) M;P.'; who introduced the deputation, the Minister then replied that the position of tho Chinese shopkeeper would bo one for the Crown law officers to go into.' Mr. Barley asked me t'o withdraw the petition,'but I am afraid there is not' the slightest . chance of grocers withdrawing this main petition as it contains an overwhelming majority of European sellers of groceries in favour of early closing. Mr. Beauchamp says in his letter that I do not. know enough of the trade tn be able to say who is a small grocer and who is a big grocer. Will Mr. Beauchamp suppi.v this information, as I should feel honoured by getting a correct definition of a small grocer from so learned authority. —1 am, etc.,

JOHN CAMERON. Representing Early Closing Petition,