EMPLOYMENT OF FEMALES ACT.

Evening Star, Issue 3932, 1 October 1875, Page 2

EMPLOYMENT OF FEMALES ACT.

A meeting was held at the Athena.-uin Hall last evening to consider the Lull brought In fore the General Assembly by Mr Donald Keid iu amend the Employment of Females -Act. Dpwar Is of 100 people were present and the Mayor occupied (be chair. Mr; tout said ho would submit a resolution protesting, on behalf ot the citizens, against any such alteration in the Factory Act as was proposed by the Bill now before Parliament. If the I egislature did not interfere with matters concerning the hours of labor, the resit 1 1 would bo disastrous to the State. The people of Dunedin, he believed, were decidedly against any amendment in the Act. The amendment proposed would do away with the Saturday half-holiday and also make arrangements for work from six o’clock iu the morning till six o’clock at night. It would destroy the efforts of the Factory .Act in Dunedin altogether, and be trusted that It would not be passed. He moved —“That the law at present regulating the hours o? female labor iu warehouses, factories, &c., is satisfactory ; and that the Bill now before the General Assembly proposing to amend the said law is nnjustifiab'e and un called for, and will (if carried into effect) prove baneful to the physical and moral wellbeing of the women aim children employed in all such places. (- \ pplause.) Mr Hogg seconded the motion. He knew of one instance in Dunedin where females were employed for tight hours, and then took'bundles of work home and were occupied till all hours in the night, and this was because they could not earn a living by eight hours’ day labor, the prices not being good enough. He would 1 ke to ecb such employers sent to gaol. Mr J. L, Gll.blbs agreed to a great extent with the remarks of Mr Stout, but at the same time Hie amendment of the Factory Act was to

apply in cases where a large amount of capita had been expended in machinery, and the alter* ation in the Act was to act beneficially for the working classes as a whole. For in,l business that returns a profit of Li»,000 a year requires 1.50,000 invested in inacmneiy. At 10 per cent, the cupit 1 would bring in Ij>v 00 a-year, showing a loss of 1.2,000 a-vear; whereas if that machinery could be worked on two shifts instead of one, it would briny inaprofitof 1.0,000. lie had no particular case m view at the present time.- (ijh ! Oh !) He said it was next to prohibition to compel the machinery to lie idle for sixteen hours out of the twenty-four, and thought the Factory Act should bo amended —(No !) He held that in no ca°c should the hours of labor be extended to a longer period than eight hours, Mr Garrick said they had to protect those who could not protect themselves from the grasping greed of capitalists. The change was only required to make the fot tunes of a few people. iho Mayor read the following telegram, which, he said, was evidently intended to be read at this meeting : —“ Wellington, 30th •September, 1875. Kelt's Bill enables women and to bo worked eight hours every day, beginning from 6 o’clock a,m. to 6 o clock p.m. It takes away the h.Vf-holiday on Saturday, and every other holiday.—J, Bradshaw.” iho motion was then put and carried unanimously. Mr STor r said he had received a telegram from v\ clhngtoa stating that the Factory Bill had been so far amended an to leave open the question of holidays The other part of the Bid had Ke.-u retained—viz., to alter the hours from six to six. Mr Cahuick would move—“ That the chairman be requested to telegraph the above resolution to the City members in the General Assembly, and also to Mr Bradshaw, Dr Menzts. and Sir John Richardson.” Mr Sherwin, senior, seconded the motion. Mr Girlies said he was opposed to any time of labor extending over eight hou s. Mr Stout said the Factory Act did not apply to men, but referred only to women and chddren, and was to allow them to work on shifts at unreasonable hours, Mr Cariick’s tnolio>. was then carried unanimously, with the addition of Mr Miuaudrew’s name.