The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 1879.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 7, 8 January 1879, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 1879.

The Employment of Females Act, 1873, more commonly known as Bradshaw's Act' was passed in, 1873 and has been twice' amended, in 1874 and 1875. In Dunedinand some of the other larger towns it is carried out with great strictness. The chief provisions of this enactment are as follows: The word ' Factory ' means any manufactory, workshop, or other establishment or business where any female, child, or youug person shall bo employed. ' Child ' means a boy or girl between the ages of 10 and 14 years. " Young person " meaus any boy or girl between the ages of 14 and 18. 'Female' means any person of the female sex over the age of 18 years ' Employ ' applies to any manual labor exercised by way of trade, or for purposes of gain in or incidental to 'the altering, repairing, ornamenting, finishing, or otherwise adapting by way of trade or for purposes of gain or for sale, any article. No person may be employed under the age of 10 years in any factory, and either employer or parent or guardian allowing such person to be employed is subject to a penalty not exceeding £50. Every workroom is to be properly ventilated. Every female i3 to have a holiday on every Saturday afternoon from 2 o'clock, and on Sunday, Christmas Day, New Year's Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, aud any other day set apart as a public holiday, without loss of wages. No child, young person, or female may be employed' continuously for more than four hours and a half without an interval of at least half an hour for a meal. During the time allowed for meals no child, young person, or female shall be allowed to remain in auy room in which their employment is being carried on, and if they are allowed so to remain they shall be deemed to bs employed in contra vention of the Act, and the employer would then be liable to a penalty not exceeding £5o Notices must be posted in conspicuous places iv each factory specifying the hours between which the period of employment is, &c, and true copies of such notices must be signed by the employer and sent to the Resident Magistrate of the district to be filed at his office; a copy of such notice is also to be sent by the employer to the Inspector of Police. It is to be the duty of some person to be appointed by the Resident Magistrate to see that the provisions of the Act are properly carried out, and to report thereon to the Resident Magistrate. The Resident Magistrate may also authorise in writing any person to inspect any workroom at any time during work hours. The Act is not to apply to saleswomen behind counters during the time the shop or factory is open to the public, but the moment the shop is shut, then the Act applies at once to all saleswomen detained to do any work. Finally the penalty generally for all breaches of the Act is not exceeding £50, to be recovered in a summary way before two Justices of the Peace, Such are the leading provisions of this salutary law, and as we have reason to believe that not a single employer in Nelsou has complied with all its requirements, it will be well for them to set their houses in order to avoid unpleasant interviews with the local Justices. Upon euquiry we find for instance that no employer has filed at the Resident Magistrate's office the notice as to the hours men tioned above, and we wonder how many notices as to such hours have been posted iv conspicuous places in each factory.