PUKEKOHE'S HALFHOLIDAY.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 135, 21 January 1916, Page 1

PUKEKOHE'S HALFHOLIDAY.

Saturday Again Fixed. That hardy annual, the selection of the day of the statutory weekly half-holiday in the borough of Pukekohe, again came up for discussion at the meeting of the Borough Council on Wednesday, rival deputations being present to urge the claims both ot Wednesday and Saturday as the day of the holiday. The debate extended close upon a couple of hours, and in the end the Council's choice again fell on Saturday for the half-dav cessation from the stress of business for the ensuing year RIVAL PETITIONS The following petitions were presneted and read to the Council, viz:--"We, the undersigned shopkeepers of Pukekohe, request you to make Wednesday in each week for the ensuing period the day upon which the halt-holiday be observed instead ct Saturday as heretofore, the closing hour for Saturdays to be 'J p.m.":—(Signed) A 0 Woollett, H W King, W Wright, Uwen McLean, Cecil Koaaiey, Beatty and Marshall, H J Kollinsan, Allan and MctJlintock, Miss E Kamsay, W Butler, S W Milis, J Patterson, Miss M Williams, P Heerdegen. W Wilson, D Cave, K H Aspden, T Kelly and G Walters. "We, the undersigned shopkeepers of Pukekohe, respectfully rudest that your Council will fix at its meeting on the 19th inst. Saturday afternoon as the weekly half-holid3y for shops within the borough fur the ensuing year as heretofore. "—(bigned); H Dell and Sod, 1' rank Perkins and Co, J K McKae, Adams and Sons, Koulston Bros, W T Jones, W L Jones, Gallagher and Howe, W Townson, W Butler, Cooper and Curd, M A McGoveru, Wm Koulston, K Miller and Co, Allan and McClintock, F E Simpson, W G Shotbolt and Co.-There were alsc similar petitions signed by nine proprietor of offices and by 54 Ehup and office employees. THE CASE FOK WEDNESDAY On behalf of the advocates for Wednesdny, Mr A 0 WoJlett claimed that the selection of that day would not inflict hardship on anyone, as whilst all tradesmen were bound to clcse their premises if the I half-holiday was fixed on for Saturday, the law was such that if Wednesday was declared as the halfholiday it was optional for those who wished to da to to close on Saturday instead, He maintained that shopping would be brisker on a Saturday eight than on any other evening in the week. He had been tolJ by farmers that shopping facilities on Saturday best suited their convenience. In the case of Waiuku it was suggested when the matter came before the Council last year that all the business at Waiuku was crowded into the one day, Saturday, but he questioned the accuracy of that statement. An important point to the smaller shopkeeper as regards being able to do business on Saturday was the saving of delivery of goods—a very big item of expenditure. People drove into towns on Saturdays and took their turchases away in their own conveyances instead of getting them delivered by tradesmen. Further, it Wednesday was the half holiaay he, like other tradesmen, would be ablj to go to Auckland on that afternoon to visit the warehouses without neglecting his business as he had to do under existing circumstances during the week since the Auckland warehouses were closed on Saturdays. Both Tuakau and Waiuku, who had their half-holidays in the middle of the week, now profited at Pukekohe's expense, as a good many Pukekohe residents went to do business la at those towns <>n Saturdays. Seven stock sales were held in Pukekohe on Saturdays during the year, and through the shops being closed they were depiivecl ot the facilities of cYiing business with the dairy farmers in attendance. Vacant shops in Karangahake road, said Mr Woollett in conclu-ion, testified to the injurious effect on the small trade of Saturday closing in Auckland. Mr Woollett also pointed out that one or two persons had signed both petitions having altered their minds after haviug signed for Saturday. • SATURDAY'S CLAIMS URGED Mr F Perkins was the first spokesman on behalf of Saturday He contended that it was perfectly correct thai practically all trie week's business was crammed into Saturday at Waiuku. He had been in business himself at Waiuku Hnd nut only knew that such was tbe case but he had been recently told by one of the Waiuku tradesmen that he had to keep two extra assistants to cops with the trade on Saturday. He considered that the big storekeepers deserved consideration as much as the small man. The employees should also be fciudicd. all itic more so from the fact thai many of them were rat - payers He further claimed that the majority ot the tradespeople wished to retain Saturday es the holiday. The export of produce was cne of I'ukekohe's biggest assete, and it was therefore important to remember that the Railway Depaiiment did not take consignments on Saturdays except in the case of full trucks. Many of the signatures on the petition asking for Wednesday as the holiday were those of shop-keepers outside the

Act, who could Keep open all the week, and consequently their signatures should carry no weight at all. The tendency of the times was towards universal Saturday closing. The employess appreciated their half-holiday on Saturday but had no liking for a Wednesday holiday. They were now enabled to go to Auckland on Saturday afternoon and to return on Sunday evenrg. Again, the keep'ng open of shop? Saturday Would, be bc.':°ved, go a loDg way towards killing Lctb bowls and football in Pukekohe, Mr Wm, Koulston desired in a few words to supplement .Mr Pel kin a' remarks. He appeal 2d to the Council to adhere to Ihe policy of their predecessors in fixing Saturday as the holiday. Farmers, ha said, would be handicapped if business premises were not open to deal with their produce on Wednesdays. The half-holiday had been decreed by Act of Parliament not in the interests of shop-keepe-s, but tor the benefit of the employee]. Mr Perkins and be were the largest employers of labour in Pukekohe and they both thought that they secured advantage by giving their hands a halfholiday on Saturday. It gave them a prolonged rest and they came back fresh for duty, thereby giving them ithe employers) the better service, it was certain that if Wednesday was declared the holiday some shop-keepers would exercise the option given them by the Act, and would still cloee on Saturday. That would practically mean a split into two half-days in Pukekohe, which, he maintained, would be diametrically opposed to the interests of the town. Speaking for tha employees, Mr J Pilkington stated that the 54 names that appeared on the employees' petition represented ninety per cent of those employed in the shops and offices in the town. In taking the petition round he bad only met with one refusal to tign, and that was because the assistant believed his employer favoured Wednesday as the holiday. He considered that the social interests of the employees should not be overlooked. They would not be able to get away to meet their friends if they had to be on duty on Saturday night. Having one and a half days' consecutive holiday, viz, Saturday afternoon and Sunday, was certainly more beneficial to health, as well as in other ways, than a half-day and one day's holiday at intervals, viz, Wednesday and Sunday. He considered that it should also not te overlooked that they cow secured trade from Tuakau on Wednesday afternoons, which would be lest if the Bhop3 were closed that afternoon. AN INTERLUDE Cr Roadley at this stage asked if be could speak as a shopkeeper before having hn say as a Councillor Ihe Mayor: Such a course would hardly be fair, as it wcull mean ore man having two shots Cr Koadley alluding, to three speakers having expressed views for Saturday closing,: But you have already given one side three shots. (Laughter) MR WOOLLETT'S REPLY Mr Woollett, in replying to the Satutday advocates, said that a point nad been made that produce could not be dealt with on Wednesday afternoons if the shops were closed, but that would find Jts own level, as the produce would be forthcoming instead either the previous or following day. They only asked that a trial should be given to Wednesday chsing for one year, and on its results would depend whether tbey should then return to the Saturday or whether the Saturday advocates wooll join them for the Wednesday closing. Pukekohe required waking up and he considered that if shops were open on Saturday it would push the town ahead Mi Koulston asked to be allowed to explain that the Kaiiway Department would nut take produce for < certain stations on Wednesday i COUNCILLORS' DISCUSSION The Mayor moved that Saturday ( be retained as the half-holiday. ; His own observations at Waiuku, , be said, showed him that practi- < cally all the business was done | there on a Saturday instead oi , beiog distributed over the week. , The case of Tuakau that had been i quoted was somewhat different to | that ol Pukekohe as mill-hands s formed a good proportion of the i population of the Tuakau district i and they naturally went into •, Tuakau on Saturdays. Pukekohe i had, however, more of a residential j population. The views of the ] farmers on the question at issue | could be best secured by a poll ( being taken. Dealing with the , rival petitions that had been pre- ( sented by tlie shopkeepers, the t Mayor stated that the one lor | Saturday closing contained 17 | names, two of which were not ( affected by tbe Aer, leaving a balance ol 15 names. The petition ( lor Wednesday closing bore l\) c names, including those of six con- ] lectioners, etc., who were outside the Act, leaving 13 genuine signatures. Consequently the actual majority was in tavour of Saturday j closing, j Cr Bilkey and urged that the halt-holiday was made lor the worker, to whose interest it j was to have Ins time off on Sa'urday. If, a* a farmer, he wanted a half-holiday he took it on a Satur- ' day. He, however, recognised tbat ' if the Government made a certain ' specitied day as the holiday every- ' where it would be better for ' everybody Cr Hubbard, supporting the i motion, stated that, having been in i business as well as engaging in : farming, his experience was that i

the Saturday half-hcliday was preferable. If farmers came into the town on Saturdays they would find eome places closed, whereas they now came in on Fridays when all places were open, factories were compelled to give holidays on Saturdays. Even if sbopkeepers derived some slight benefit from keeping open on Saturdays the ; interests of the majority of the community *>ould suffer Cr Roa.iey impressed his as- ' "inißhm" r it a: wh.•' !.. termed the extfdo:J'r"»'v ■• do cr icedure they haf. «;'.;>. "° i :, at They had seei the : lha«.M . he said, get up and make speech instead of waiting at..: holding '.ne scales of justice The Mayor intervene;; and n formed Cr Roadley that the rule of debate wzs that however inefficient a chairman miuht be a meeting had to put up with him Cr Roadley, resuming, Btated that bis experience in business was that Saturday was an incomparbale day for trade. Tbat was found the case even at Te Aroha, of which town Cr Hubbard had had some experience. The adoption ot Saturday as the holiday in the cities ought to carry no weight with them in Pukekohe. In a city hundreds of assistants and Trade Unions affected the voting, It was an undoubted fact that in Auckland the Saturday halt-holiday had brought about many bankruptcies among the Karangahape ro.id tradesmen. Previously it was almost impossible to secure a shop in tbat thoroughfare, but now there were several empty buildings. It was only a bogey to say that there was any difficulty in sending produce to some stations on a Wedcesday, and the mention of the stations had been carefully suppressed Cr Bilkey: Wellington, for one Cr Roadley; Any more'/ Cr Bilkey: Wairarapa Cr Roadl-y went on to say that the produce could be Bent away any day, and the argument was simply introduced to influence the farming vote on the Council. Waiuku had been trotted out as an instance of deriving no advantage from Saturday trading, but he Knew that people went there from Pukekohe to make their purchases and to do business. Ore of the reasons why tbe small shopkeepers of Pukekohe wanted opportunity to trade on a Saturday was that the majority of the people living in the district were dairy farmers. On a week day they went to bed early in view of the next morning's milking, and consequently they did not come into Pukekohe on a Friday evening as th-y would do on a Saturday. As a matter of fact in his own business be did more trade on a Monday tban on a Friday, which was a clear indication to him that Friday for shopping purposes did not suit the people. The result was tbat t*ie bulk ot tin trade was driven into the hands r.t the big shopkeepers, who had their canvassers out all the week and sold and delivered their goods at a higher price than the customers would pay if tbey came into the town on a Saturday and made their purchases at the shops. He did not consider that much weight should be given to the employees' petition as it an employer took round a petititon those in his service naturally signed it to protect themselves. Wednesday as a holiday would be no injustice to the worker as the large establishments with employees could still close on a Saturday. Closing on a Saturday was, however, an injustice to the smaller man and to the farmer, as the smaller men aad to rely on people comirg into the town to see their goods. He proposed, as an amendment, that the aalf-holiday should be fixed for Wednesday Cr Patterson seconded, and said lis main contention was that if the Jouncil selected Saturday they arbitrarily decided that all tusilesses should be closed on that day, whereas if Wednesday was chossn :hose who desired to do so could :lose on Saturdays. Accordingly 10 hardship was caused either to ;he big or small man. In the whole ot New Zealand there were >nly three or lour places that had Saturday as the holiday, and it wan itrange that Pukekohe was one of hem. He did net see wny the big leople should make any sung about ipportumty being given for keeping ipen on Saturday if, as they adnitted, it was not going to do them my harm. It was not correct to iay that factories were compelled o close on Saturday afternoons, as hey culd so arrange their hours is to close on any other day. It vaa the Btnall man that helped to )Uild up a town. The big man deivered his goods, but tbe small man lad to content himself with shop ales. He could say that in his own •ase the cash taken over the counter m a Fri'iay evening did not pay to* he gas consumd. He was convinced hat the business men ol the town ost hundreds ot pounds each year by losing on Saturday Cr Beatty favoured Wednesday losing as he believed Saturday ipenir.g would be advantageous all ound. On a vote being taken the intendment was negatived by four otes (th: Mayor, Crs Bilkey, lubbard and Barter) to three (Crs {oadl-jy. Paterson and Beatty) and he motion in tavour ot Saturday losing was then agreed to, Cr \oadley alone voting against The deputation e:;pres-:ed thanks or the hearing given them and hen withdrew, Mr Woollett inti nating that steps woulJ be taken lext year to enforce a poll on the luestion. It should be mentioned that l'n J.larke and Motion were absent from ;hc meeting, the former being ill ind the latter being away on holilajs.