The Feilding Star, Oroua & Kiwitea Counties Gazette. Published Daily. TUESDAY, SEPT. 3, 1895. DOMESTIC SERVANTS' HALFHOLIDAY.

Feilding Star, Volume XVII, Issue 56, 3 September 1895, Page 2

The Feilding Star, Oroua & Kiwitea Counties Gazette. Published Daily. TUESDAY, SEPT. 3, 1895. DOMESTIC SERVANTS' HALFHOLIDAY.

♦ The gentleman who has the honor to represeot. the Invercargill constituency in tbe House, Mr J. W. Kelly, has introduced a Bill with tha above interesting title. It is evidently in tended to be " a purely democratic " measure because although housemaids, parlourmaids, kitchenmaids, laundres* 868, cooks, general servants, waitresses, nurse girls, and house-assistants are included we observe that the higher toned " lady help " is rigidly excluded from the schedule which " brings up the rear " of the Act. It ie proposed that — if the Act e?er comes into foree — all- domestic servants shall have a half-holiday from the hour of three of the clock, in the afternoon of one working day in each week, within the limits of cities, boroughs, and town districts, under the provisions of the Shops and Shop Assistants' Act, 1894. Where an employer has more than one domestic servant he may fix the day provided that nno domestic servant shall be entitled to the half holiday of tbe shop osrJ slants. Of course for breaches of the Act the employer — as usual — may bo fined five pounds, while an offending domestic goes free. . Now,

we are aware that a certain amount of ridicule has already been cast on this Act. People who have laughed at it are wrong. It will supply a long felt want. The marriage rate of the colony has been falling off for some years. But, let the domestic servants and the shop assistants have a half- holiday on the same afternoon, what will be the result? Why the marriages which will ensue will send up the rate surprisingly and all necessity for " encouraging immigration " will be done away with. So our readers will see that the Invercargill Keily is not such a fool as the Act of which he is the putative father would make him appear to be. More power to the elbow of the bold Kelly. This Act is an exception from all other Labor Bills in that no new inspectors are intended to be appointed.