SHOP-KEEPERS & THEIR ASSISTANTS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 28 January 1909, Page 1

SHOP-KEEPERS & THEIR ASSISTANTS.

INFORMATION SOUGHT *ttOM ; ENGLAND. S'Ii.IKINO REPLY FROM WELLINGTON At a meeting of tho New Zealand Shopkeepers' Association held at "Wellington on Monday, the following letter uom the Rational Chamber of Trade (Hull). England, was read :— "Dear Sir. —On behaif of the above chamber, which is numerically the largest association of shopkeepers in the United Kingdom, my committee would consider it a groat favour if you could forward us some information as to the proportion of small and large shopkeepers in Wellington; or, to be more definite, the proportion ol shopkeepers that employ no asfistantk.as compared with those who employ assistants. If not possible for the whole of Wellington, perhaps it could be done for one of the main roads leading out of Wellington My council is under tho impression that in the O.'d Country we have a much larger proportion of small shopkeepers, and we see no other way to obtain information than by trespassing upon some association kindred to our own, which wo suppose you to be. — S. T. Nicholson. Hon. Gen, Secretary." To the letter the following reply waf forwarded : — Shops and Offices Act.— Deai Sir, — All shops are allowed to keep open to any hour providing— {l) That no as sistants are employed other than members of the shopkeeper's family ; or (2) that there is no requisition from a ma jority of any particular trade asking th* local body to close at any specified hou; For example, tobacconists and chemistr in Wellington are closed at 8 p.m. bj requisition, ironmongers at 6 p.m., etc., etc The unfair working of this Act is : — (1) Shopkeepers with children in th< buinsess have an unfair advantage ovei those without; (2) that the larger shopkeepers under the Act can bring thei) assistants back four nights each week by receiving a permit from the Labour Department providing shop is not opened for business ; (3) that in the case of requisitions, a vote of a bare majority put.the small shopkeeper in towns and it tho .suburbs to a di.=aHvant_gr —aj h. loff?, in many ca^es, the whele of the evening ir_t)t>. Furlhw, in my. cpinion, it has caused friction amongst the differem shcptaepeK such as never existed under the old condition;. A further imendnifnt alicv.-ir.jr iha sU.-.tcrs to vcti a:- to -nheti^r Saunrdi;,- or Wednesday 'r.hculd be the eaily-cteing day (1 p.m.) ' T.-a? pas.=ed last year, and it cnrn?.= into ' operation nfst- month. This, we contend, is a very dan.eeroiis clause, ioasmuch as Saturday has always been thi principal shopping day in New Zealand. j Any alteration, if carried out, will caust . tho smaller man to go to the wall, and trade will take time to readjust itself to new conditions. We contend that, af the Act already provides for a weekly half-holiday, and limits the hours of assistants to 52 weekly, further legislation was unnecessary, and will cause unnecessary worry and ansiety to those who have invested their money in business. The Shops and Offices Amendment Act of 1905, which compelled all shops to close at 6 p.m., caused a revolution amongt traders. So much pressure waf brought to bear, and the injustice wn seen to be so great, that it was repealed . the following session. "In connection with the early -closing disputes relating to shops, it is worthy of notice that the agitation has arisen not from large shop!;eep?rs, but from th» different labour unions and agitators which this colony is unfortunately overv.'lielmed with. "I am forwarding under separate co ver, registered, the 17th annual report of the Department of Labour, which will give you the desired information you wish re shops with and without assistants, in all the towns in this Do 'minion. The New Zealand Shopkeepers Association will bS happy to furnish you with any further information at an\ time.— l am, etiv , H. H. Seaton, Presi dent." In speaking to th? subject, Mr Seator said that th« Labour Department 1 ! Journal had furnished him with Eom< very interesting figures with regard t( the employment of shop assistants. Ii Wellington, if h= remembered rightly, there w«re about 1135 shopkfcepeis, onh about half of whom employed assistant* There was also a return showing th< average wages paid assistants in tht different towns. Wellington was. highest with £92 6s per annum, and Auck land was lowest with about £75, with Christchurch and Dunedin in between.