A CHINESE PUZZLE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1398, 26 March 1912, Page 6

A CHINESE PUZZLE.

FOfl THE MAGISTRATE TO SOLVE. WKDXESDAY HALF-HOLIDAY. At the . Magistrate's Court yesterday a Chinese'shopkeeper, named Cluing Wall, was charged with employing an assistant after one o'clock on the afternoon of Wednesday, March 13; and also, with failing to clu.se his shop on the same afternoon. 3lr. Le Cren, ivlio represented the J)epni'liiK'nt, said that tlio defendant was the keeper of a shop in which wore sold groceries, fruit,' and vegetables. 'Grocery shops »w! nut allowed to keep open on Wednesday afternoons, but fruit shops were allowed to do business. The. premises were run sis nno shop during the ljulk oC the week, and the assistant was employed ns iv general storo liiind, not as. n server, of fruit and vegetables., only. On -IVedncitlnys a parlition was let down, and the shop thus divided, and whilo the sido containing tlic> groceries was clowd. the portion in which the- fruit amdtlie vegetables wore stocked was kept' oi>ch- for business. Tho practice, said 31r., iLe Cren, had been going on for some time, and he hail heen instructed to put a 'stop'to it. He had sent n circular out i concerning the decision to stop the practice, and the defendant had been among those circularised. The "Wednesday afternoon immedintcly following Mis' receipt of the circular defendant! had closed. On tlio next Wednesday afternoon the defendant had Kept: open, .and. when spoken, to on th-a subject, had sivid that he had had Jejfal advice to thri effect that the Act permitted him to tap open. 'All other Chinese running a. similar class of business had closed. This' case, added 3k. Lo Cren, could not • be- taken as a test action; the working '.of the Act was v?ry dear, and the intention of the Legislature quits plain.

'flip defendant was represented b.v Mr. A. L. Herdman, who asked the, Court to treat (he caw as a tost. It had b»en .1 practice of tlio Chinese tradesmen to divide their shops on Wednesday afternoons, and to sell, in the one half, fruit and vegetables. The case was an interesting one, and ' a most.- important one to those traders. He submitted that tho defendant had strictly complied with the law. The Court had to consider what the position was as regarded the Wednesday afternoon trading , . Tho Act ordered that all shops should close, except shops which sold fruit and vegetables—tho kind of shop the defendant kept. The whole of the facts went to prove"that the defendant sold nothing on Wednesday afternoons but fruit and vegetables, so he was within the lav.- in keeping open. What defendant did diiriug the" week did not matter. On Wednesday afternoons, in order to comply with tho Act, defendant let down a shutter, and thereby divided his shop. "Let me put it this way," continued Mr. Hordman. "Is there anything to prevent this man, on a Wednesday afternoon, erecting a tent on a vacant snot in Tjainfcton Quay and selling fruit and vegetables? Nothing at nil." His Worship: Must a tniitercr who has a shop in which he sells fruit and vegetables register it?

Mr. Le Cren: Yes. His Worship: What penalty is there for not registering? Mr. Lo Cren: A penalty not exceeding £W.

Mr. Herdman: I submit that this is not a matter of whether ho has registered the shop or not. The facts are perfectly simple. I submit it would bo a stretching of the Act if this man is prevented from selling goods which are authorised. We say that tho' law expressly permits us to sell these goods, and, therefore,- wo don't commit an offence.

Mr. Le Cren said that the shop had been registered as a wholej and as one shop, and that defendant could not, for .any purpose, cut off part of it and call it another shop. On the registration form defendant had signed himself as a grocer and fruiterer. As an nualosy, if a cart was out delivering goods after the time of closing, the main shop was deemed to be open. His Worship- reserved decision Mr. Lo Cren: May I ask your AVorship to give judgment before Wednesday, if possible. He (meaning defendant) .has already had two Wednesdays. * Mr. liiddell: I don't think any great .damage can be done. : Mr. Herdman: Ton have allowed it to go for years, so it doesn't matter. Mr. Le Cren: I don't mind; it is the other shopkeepers who are crying out.