THE Pukekohe and Waiuku Times PUBLISHED ON TUESDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOONS. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1916. THE WEEKLY HALFHOLIDAY.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 223, 3 November 1916, Page 2

THE Pukekohe and Waiuku Times

PUBLISHED ON TUESDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOONS.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1916. THE WEEKLY HALFHOLIDAY.

The Official Organ ot . The Franklin County Council, The Pukekohe Borough Council. The Tuakau Town Board. The Karaka Road Board. The Pokeno Eoad Board. The Wairoa Eoad Board. The Papakura Town Board. The Waikato River Board. The Mercer Town Board. The Manurewa Town Board

" We nothing extenuate, nor let down auaht in malice."

That hardy annual, the selection by the Pukekohe Borough Council of the day to be observed in the borough as the weekly half-holiday, is likely to be obviated once and for all by the taking of a referendum of the electors on the subject in conjunction with the municipal election next year. In recent years rival petitions in favour of Wednesday and Saturday respectively as the holiday have been consistently promoted on behalf of the shopkeepers, but apart from the fact that about an equal number of traders ranged themselves on either side the sjstem of petitions has formed no real guide of th 6 actual wishes of the business people since influence or eloquence on the part of the canvasser was frequently the means of .securing signatures and in several instances the same names were attached to petitions that were in direct opposition to one another. Further, the rival canvassers " hunted up " occupiers of offices, and people engaged in certain forms of business not affected by statutory closing, and their support to either petition consequently carried no actual weight. Although such petitions might be argued as furnishing " a lead " for the Council to act on, the local authority was in no way bound by them, the Council having the exclusive power of, iu the absence of a poll of electors, selecting the day for the observance of a holiday. A snatch majority of the Council might accordingly have selected Wednesday instead of Saturday, but when the question in the early part of this year was under consideration the Council very properly intimated that they were not on their own account prepared to alter existing arrangements, and that if a change was

desired from Saturday it should be accomplished by a vote of the people. A referendum of the electors is accordingly now being promoted iu order that the popular vote may determiue the day best suited to the convenience of the people of the borough. The arguments for the retention of Saturday as the ha If-holiday are many and powerful, and chief among them is the claim that both the shop-assistant and employer are given a welcome and prolonged rest from the cares of business over the week-end, with opportunity afforded them for visiting friends in Auckland.

The advocates for Wednesday a 4 the day of the half-holiday take as their main standpoint that Saturday is essentially the shopping-day for the great bulk of a country community and that trade is lost to any in'and town if business premises do not remain open on that day. In

the cas<) of Pukekohe experience has certainly shown that the trade transacted by the business establishments on Friday nights is small in volume and falls a good deal short of what would reasonably be expected as forthcoming on a Saturday evening. however, the town loses in actual trade in the long run by not securing Saturday business is a point on which no accurate data can be furnished but it can be taken for granted that the majority of shopkeepers will incline to tin belief that their interest will be best served by Saturday afternoon and evening being available for business On the other hand the employees will naturally voice their preference for a Saturday half-holiday as a welcome break from ordinary husiness routine and consequently the actual deciding factor on a vote will be the shopping public who will be enabled to signify whether their convenience is best met by business premises remaining open are being closed on a Saturday afternoon and evening. The suggestion is often put forward that as Saturday afternoon is a compulsory holiday for business coming under the categories of factories a general holiday on that day is all the more advisable. On the other hand it may be reasonably contended that factory employees would in their household requirements benefit by opportunity being given them to buy commodities on Saturday. Factories as distinct from trading concerns are, however, few and far between in Pukekohe as the majority form part and parcel of "shops" and although whilst the factories must by lay be idle on Saturday the shops or show-rooms could still remain open. In the case of offices the law is that in the event of Saturday not being the statutory holiday such premises can be closed on any other afternoon of the week preferred by the occupier so as to be open on Saturday.