Manawatu Herald. [Established Aug. 27, 1878.] TUESDAY, NOV. 29, 1904. “ The Shops and Offices Act.”

Manawatu Herald, 29 November 1904, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. [Established Aug. 27, 1878.] TUESDAY, NOV. 29, 1904. “ The Shops and Offices Act.”

The Labour Department ware not long getting to work over the noncompliance with the above Act by those claimed to be affected. When the Act was first pat into operation, some trouble arose as to what 44 combined districts” really meant, and eventually one of New Zealand’s most learned solicitors told a deputation that as the “ combined districts” had not been gazetted, the Act need not been taken any notice of. This contention has been borne out by Dr McArthur, S.M., at the Wellington Magistrate’s Court, in a case brought by the Labour Department against a shopkeeper, Mr Tanner, to test whether the “ Combined Districts ” under the “ “hops and Offices Act ” exist. The Magistrate upheld the view of defendant’s counsel, who held that the Act could not be enforced, because the “ combined districts ” under the Act had not been specified. Subsection 3 of section 8, Dr McArthur said, provided that the Minister shall specify each combined district. This cast a duty upon the Minister which was imperative. The contention that the combined district was created under subsection two of section eight he disagreed with. He looked upon this subsection solely as a definition

of “combined district,” not its creation. To read in the words sugf- sted by counsel for the prosecution would be usurping the functions of the legislature. He thought it obligatory on the Minister to specify an area and the boundaries of com bined districts, and until that had been done the combined district of Wellington does not exist. The Magistrate accordingly dismissed the case. This definition should put an end to the friction which has been rampant, and the Labour Department will undoubtedly have all “ combined districts ” gazet'ed, and so block up the most glaring loop-hole of the Act.