LABOUR REQUESTS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 245, 10 July 1919, Page 5

LABOUR REQUESTS

DEPUTATION TO MINISTERS A _ number of requests were made to Ministers of the Crown by representatives of the Federation of Labour and the New Zealand Labour Party yesterday. The Ministers', present wore Sir James Allen (Acting-Prime Minister), the Hon. AV. I). S. Mac Donald (Minister of Mines), and the Hon. W. 11. Herries (Minister of Labour). Koplying to various speakers, Sir James Allen said tlio widows' pension as provided by law was not ali that it might be. lie had no doubt that the Government would give consideration to'what had been said on the subject. As to the request that the Government should do mure in connection with the enrolment of electors, ho said that the Government had made considerable efforts to induce people to enrol, but unfortunately, there wero certain electors who apparently did i.ot value tho voter's right, and did not troublo to get on the roll. Any Government in New Zealand must bo imxio.is that all persons really entitled to vote should be on t'Jie roll. Ho thought that a man had an individual responsibility to see that lie did got on tho roll. . The ext'onsion of tho nranicipnf' trading powers was a matter for. the consideration of the Government. Ho thought tho general opinion in New Zealaud was 1 that municipal trading powers ought to be extended, and that they should bo as wide as it was safe to make them. Ho ivould submit the matter to the Minister of Internal Affairs, and also bring it before Cabinet, anil see if anything could ho dono during next session. With tl)e questions relating to tho hours of shop assistants ho would not deal, leaving them to tho Minister of Labour. On tho general question of tlio limitation of hours ho would oiler a ftw remarks. His opinion was that it mail ought not to ho required to work longer than the time during which he could give efficient labour, without overtiring himself. Ho approved of tlio reduction of the hoiio to thoso during which a worker could givo efficient labour during tho whole time that ho was at work. To reduce hours to this limit he tihougiit was proper, but there was a limit liolow which hours could not bo reduced without ins* to the community. Reduction below this point must mean reduced out-, put, with consequent loss to all sections of tho community. Ho did not mean to infer that -10 'hours a week was trio short a time for shop assistants to work, although his opinion was that shop assistants could work more than this time without being over tired. Ho recognised the right of every worked' to a. certain amount, of leisure, but was it a good thing at present for people to have too much idle timo? Tho Hon. W. 11. Herries, referring first to the enrolment of electors, said that registrars all over tho country were busy transferring electors to the idle of the new electorates where the boundaries had been changed. AVhon this was Cone he intended to ask tho'assistance of tho Post Office to put new electors on tho rolls. Mr. Holland: AVill tho genenl election come tlien? Mr. Herries had nothing to say on this point. Regarding tho Shops and Offices Act, lie said that tlip matters that lad been raised had been before ths Department for sorno time. As a matter of fact, an amendment'' to tho Shops and Offices Act, tho Factories Act, and the Arbitration Act, had been on the stocks for two or three years, but recently there had not been time for domestic legislation.