EARLY CLOSING MOVEMENT.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 479, 11 June 1890, Page 5

EARLY CLOSING MOVEMENT.

THE CANVASSERS’ REPORT... ■ Auckland, June 5. C The canvassers appointed by the Early Closing Association to ascertain wbafi. measure of support may be anticipated from ■ shopkeepers in the inauguration or early closing, have completed their task, and the result of their labours has been placed before the Committee of the Association. -. The following extracts will be of interest:— , . “ The butchers are stated to be somewhat ahead of the movement, many closing, at six, while only one keeps open ‘all hours.’ _ ‘ “Grocers, pure and simple, seem to be few, for whilst many complain of fruiterers pirating their trade by selling groceries, yet in most cases grocers sell onions, apples,, bananas, potatoes, and sometimes lemons and oranges. ... “Bootmakers who make a display .in their windows, with some exceptions, close early, excepting in Karangahape Road, but cobblers say they would have little to do if they shut shop in the evening, because in that case the man or woman who rejoices in the possession of only one pair of boots would never be ablo to get them mended, and, according to the cobblers, their name is legion. “ Fruiterers should not be exempted, || They are a source of much trouble to grocers, and their goods are more perishable | than butchers’, and really, in the interest of the public, it would be a good thing to prevent people stuffing themselves with fruit at night, when it is most unwholesome. •|| “Tailors are divided in opinion. Some suburban tailors think 7 o’clock closing y means a loss of orders, and ruin in the end, while the large number in the city proper are already closing at 5, 5.30, and 6 p.m., and intend to continue doing so. . “ Bakers are pretty evenly divided for ; | and against the movement. “ There is a great deal of apathy all round about early closing, and a general opinion, and in some cases, an intense desire that the movement should burst up; and many, while continuing to close, seem only too anxious for any excuse to open again. . . ‘ " Those who are really in favour of the movement say they have lost nothing, and think a little longer time is required teach the thoughtless public to manage without late shopping. “ There seems to be, with few exceptions, a general idea that nothing but an Act of a; Parliament will settle the late closing difficulty, and it would bo hailed with delight by most of the storekeepers in town suburbs.

“ Of those who are opposed to the movement, some lay the blame on the customers, others on the impossibility of the working man and his wife shopping till after 7, and others lay the blame on people who have an eight hours day themselves persist in late shopping. “ The real fact seems to be the thoughtlessness of a large portion of the purchasing public—certainly not the want of time—that is the cause of the late shopping. No matter when a shop closes, and no matter what the trade, late shoppers will continue to worry so long as people will open to supply them. “ There is another class of objectors who 4 mind their own business, and would thank everyone else to do the same,’ and speak of an Act of Parliament as an infringment of the rights of the subject. “On the other hand, there are some who have stuck to the early closing, and honestly say they are doing just as well as formerly, and that they would not go back to the old hours to please anyone. They are met with in every trade, and they deserve the patronage of all right-thinking people. “In Karangahape Road the grocers and fruiterers have become so mixed up that they seem to bo playing simply a game of 4 beggar my neighbour,’ and amongst the drapers of this locality there are a number each frightened to close before the others. The bootmakers in Karangahape Road have also eaten of the insane root, and are burning gas against each other, and the watchmakers are led by one man.” The following is a synopsis of the detailed result of the canvass for and against early closing : For. Against.

Totals: Number of shops, 856. For early closing, 457 ; against, 397. Deduct from the latter 70 fruiterers, 15 chemists, 23 second-hand dealers, 14 cobblers, 11 fish, 14 dressmakers, 4 news, 3 music-teachers, and 3 pork butchers, and the result is 154 against early closing and 459 in favour of the movement.

Ponsonby Road 42 19 Side streets towards Surrey 8 Hills 3 Jervois Road 13 &: YVellington-sbreet 9 8 Franklin Road 9 3 College Road 5 4 Sb. Mary’s Road ... .... 4 1 Napier, Nelson, and Union streets 6 9 Freeman's Bay 8 8 Upper Symonds-streeb 14 10 Eden Terrace... 16 6 Mounb Roskill 5 2 Mount Eden Road ... .... 9 8 Kyber Pats and SeafieldViewRoad 7 8 Symonds-street 4 12 J Manukau and Alpha Roads 27 25 Newmarket 25 9 Grafton Road 2 80 Karangahape Road 53 Non-closers profess to be willing to close if the others will, drapers and grocers excepted. Arch Hill 15 13 Newton Road and side streets 13 2 Pitt and Vincent-streets ... 7 15 Hobson and Cook-streets ... 26 59 Grey-street 13 30 Victoria-street West 51 54 Wellesley-streeb 23 18 Victoria-street East 4 Rutland-sbreet 1 V\ akefield and Alexandra Streets 9 9 Shorbland-streeb 23 4 Princes, Wyndham and Albert Streets 8 2