LATE SHOPPING ON SATURDAY.

Evening Star, Issue 3110, 6 February 1873, Page 2

LATE SHOPPING ON SATURDAY.

To the Editor. Sir. —The Saturday Half-holiday Association did some good work last year when they succeeded in getting the various retail establishments throughout the City to close at one o’clock on Saturday, aud it is to be regretted that one or two of the more narrowminded should have broken through the movement, thereby compelling the otheri

to do the same in order to protect thel selves. Had the retail establishments til promised to support the Association done a the Saturday half-h'diday amongst t| retail trades in Dunedin would by this tirfl have been an established fact, and I f J satisfied the shopkeepers would not hafl been losers, the rights of the public woul not have been interfered with, and an i| valuable boon, would have been couferrl upon one of the most deserving classes of til community, the asistants in the various reta traces ; but, sir, although tho Associatu] failed in securing permanently the object thtj had in view, there can be very little doua that tho action the Association took in tl] matter was tho means of making the prJ prietors of the retail establishments come fl an arrangement to close their places of bus ness at nine o’clock, instead of ten. eleven and in some cases tw«-lve, as was very ofte the case previous to tho Saturday Half-hoij day Association coming into existence. I

will perhaps bo within the recollection < most of your readers that, after this arrange ment was made amongst the shopkeepe? themselves, they advertised in tho paper, some of them individually and others in j body, that their places of business would c closed at nine o’clock on Saturdays froj date of advertisement; that this arrangj ment was carried out and worked well fd some time, is a well-known fact, and yd won d have thought that amongst those whj advertised that they would close their place of business at tho hour named, there wouß bo some at all events who would consider | beneath them to beak their word, no matte how great pressure was brought to bed upon them. That the arrangement has bed broken through is an undeniable fact, am] sir, it is also a fact that late shopping d Saturday is as bad, if not worse, in Dunedi now, than it was pievious to anv attenqj being made to prevent it. Late chopping j back into its old groove, and bids fair frl going beyond it, for I believe there is J largo a number, if not larger, make it a pra| tice te do their shopping at as late an hoij as they did previous to the Saturday Hall holiday Association stepping in to endeavl to get the hours of the retail shoprml shortened. Now, sir, the question naturali arises with the shopman, why does this stal of things exist?-why is it that li

is compelled to work so many bouA longer than other classes of the coifl munity?—is he suffering at the hands I his employer, or at the hands of the pubiitfl I think, sir, that a certain amount of blain can be attached to bo hj, but I will not (■ the shopkeepers an injustice, for I knoA that their assistants have, to a certain eA tent, tfieir sympathies, 'and some A them would very much like to see the hou A of their shopmen shortened. The public afl in a great measure to blame for the sho]A men’s hours being stretched out to thl length they now are, for it is well know! amongst shopkeepers that there is a class il our community who leave everything in thl way of shopping, tdl the last minute, thl consequence being that they reach the shojl where they intend to make the r purchase! just at the time that the shopkeeper shouldl Close his plage of business ; and it is not to bel supposed that the shopkeeper will close hisl shop and turn the customers out; c nse-j quentiy his shopmen have to remain ui;d| supply theqi with what they require. 1 jlon’t know if I would be justified in laying tpe h|ame to ope section of the community more than another. - If I may be allowed the remark, I consider clergy of «•*»• I churches have failed in a part of their duty in not bringing this evil p eminently befon their hearers, as it is they who arc to be seen making their purchases when b,;th th. y and those who are compelled to serve them ought to be in their homes. Perhaps this neglect on the part of our clergy may be accounted for from the fact that a section of them are in the habit of encouraging late Saturday night sboppmg by making their purchases at an hour upon that night when jj- js qypte time tfiey wefe elsewhere. The section of our' clergy referred to promised the Saturday Half holiday Association th it hearty support in seeming the object they wanted, and, if I mistake not, occupied a very prominent position on the platform iu the Masonic Had, at a monster meeting called by that body. The various tradesmen throughout the city have a good deal to answer for to the shopkeepers for the time he selects to buy hia necessaries. 'Jhere is no class of our community, to use a slang term, who have a greater "d ,wn ” upon anything in the shape of injustice, if they are to be in any way affected by it them selves; at the same time I must say they have very little feeling for others, no matter how great the injustice. A very large proportion of the tradesmen in Dunedin enjoy their Saturday half-holiday, but the fact still remains that these v. ry men who could make all their purchases much better on Saturday afternoon, before the hour that they cease work on other days, are to be seen on a Saturday night knocking about from shop to shop, jn many ernes along with yhew wiv'es and families, as late as nine, ten, and even eleven o’clock. A a I said before, they enjoy a half-holiday, and it is a well known fact that as soon as the clock begins to strike the hour when they ought to leave their work, down go their tools most religiously ; or if it is necessary to remain after the hour, they don’t forget to charge; if they don’t wish the retail shopkeepers to enjoy a half-holiday the same as they do, I don’t think it is asking too much at their hands not to try to make them slaves by compelling them to stand behind sae counters till close upon Sunday morning, by which time the very sight of the stuff they want to buy is sufficient to disgust them. The working-man in Dunedin, as well as elsewhere, commands the respect and esteem of his fellow citizen, and very justly so too, as I consider he is an individual of very great importance ; iu fact be is the backbone and sinew of the country ; without him the dountry Would be at a standstill, and he is a man who distinguishes himself in many ways; and I must do him justice and give him credit for having distinguished himself in Dunedin for many years as araongt the last jpkn t6 be foiirtd in the shop of a retail tradesman bn a Saturday night. Why he delights in distinguishing himself as a late shopper I am at a loss to understand ; bat it is nevertheless true, and ho is so regular that the shopman can calculate upon him making his appearance just as he is about to leave the shop ; whilst giving the working-man credit for what is due to him, I cannot give him credit for being consistent. Eight hours is the recognised length of a day s work for a working man, and let any man, no matter wb i he may be, try to make this eight hours nine, and L venture to say he would have all ff ,e working men in Dunedin—l may say in Otago—up in arms against him in a very short space of time. The working men, like the tradesmen, hate anything in the shape of injustice, if it is to interfere in any shape dr form with their own interests ; but as long as they get their own ends served, no matter whether it is at the expense of a retail shopman or anyone else, they don’t care a straw. I trust, sir, that these remarks will be the means of making those who have hitherto been in the habit of late shopping make their purchases a little earlier, so that shopkeepers may have their liberty as well as them at something like a reasonable hour. Jfy inserting the above, you will oblige.—l wn, &c.,' 1 Liberty. Dunedin, February 3.