EARLY CLOSING.

Evening Star, Issue 2810, 19 February 1872, Page 2

EARLY CLOSING.

To the Editor, S;r, —The grateful thanks of the drapers and others of Dunedin are yours for the local, appearing in the Star of Friday evening, referring to the early closing movement. Pray, sir, do not stop there, but continue to give us your influential aid by agitating the question still more until we gain our point—that of closing business by one o’clock p.m. on Saturday. It j.s impossible for the general public to have 1 aby l adequate conception of the real misery entailed upon sh'opjnetr by the niosj unnecessary and pernicious system of late shopping, otherwise they would not, I am assured, be so callous and unfeeling as to keep so many women and men hard at work whilst they themselves are released from their labors. Some say that it is impossible for drapers and grocers to close so early on Saturday, The impossibility is purely imaginary. Drapers in London allow their employes the half holiday. To come nearer home, there is the example of Christchurch, where all the drapery establishments close at an earlv hour on Saturday, and surely if they can a'fford to dq so, we can also. The average imbiber of working hours ip the old country shops seldom Oh never exceeds'fiftyfour hours per wc.k : here it never 'le?s

than fifty-eight hours, and iu some cases sixty-six and a-half hours. IN o one will for a moment dispute that if there is any necessity at all for late shopping, it certainly exists to a far greater extent at Home than it does in Dunedin. I am informed that three of the leading drapery firms in town are perfectly willing to concede the half holiday, if all the other firms will agree. But here lies the difficulty. It is beyond doubt that two or three establishments will stand out against the system, and of course it is too much to expect that the three referred to will close their doors aud let customers go to those who keep open. What then is to be done ? It has been suggested to publish publicly the names of the refractory ones, and to request that the public will mark their disapproval of the selfishness aud cruelty of these employers by withdrawing their patronage from them. But will the public respond to such a request ? I have such faith in the generosity and kindly feeling of my fellow-citizens, their wives, daughters, and sisters, as to believe that they will, if the whole matter is laid fairly before them, and if the evils and ruined constitutions resulting in many cases to men aud youag women closely confined all the week in shops, is truly exposed and candidly related. By few better than yourself, Mr Editor, could this be done in an able manner. Keenly do husbands and fathers feel the evils of Saturday night work, coming home late at night tired and miserable, everyone but the weary waiting wives in bed, and waking up ©n Sunday morning with a racking headache, totally unfit to take part in the duties of the Sabbath, and too thoroughly unnervated even to greet their little ones cheerfully, or speak such counsels as a father ought to do on such a day. Believe me, sir, your pen will be used in a good cause when you advocate “ early closing." Yours, &0., X. Dunedin, February 19.