TRADESMEN'S ASSOCIATION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 165, 16 July 1903, Page 2

TRADESMEN'S ASSOCIATION.

SHOP AND OFFIOE HOURS BILL. I 1 OPPOSITION TO PROVISIONS. A mretisg of tha above Affiliation'; was held at the Town Hall on Wednes- ■: iay evening whsn there was a large and representative attentates. The presiient, Mr Hal. Good.an, was in the 3b air. The Chairman, afler reading the advertisement conveoiDg the meeting, aaid tha main oVijesfa was to discuss tha Shop and Office Hours B 11, which was abcut to bo brought before the House. He referred to tne presence of Mr Hy. Brown, of log'ewood, whom he welcomed to the m«etirg. (Applause.) A movement was. on foot to secure an organisation at' loglewood and it ap psared as if it wou'.d be necesmry to enlarge tha Assoiia'ion or have federated branches. The Sicretary rtad the chuses of the Bill rela'ing to sTiop?. The Chvirm.n intimated that the commit'ee had carefully gone through theßH and had drafted certain resolutions as a ba*is of discu sim. Mr Whitaker moved : That clause 3, relating to the propoeed Siturday halfholiday, be opprsed and 'hit the law ss at present be supported. Also that the areas be en'arged-so as to embrace each of the provinces with a view of securing uniformity in the day for the weekly half-holiday, and for this purpose a Provincial Conference be arranged, o nsisting of delegates from the t-jwts in the province. He referred to the fact that in New Plymou'h Sa' u day had b; en always regarded by tha country and townspeople as muket day, and there was no valid reason for a change. Iu fact, everything pointed to ktrong objec ijns to the chang6, as country people looked, on Saturday as thdr diy off. Ho msntioned tbat at Rapier the experiment had been tried, and failed. Another aspect of the question was that the, holiday for artisans was on Saturday afternoon, aud thaS w-js. their sale chance cf doing their business. It seemed 88 if tho trainers of the Bill wero aware of its weaknes', as exceptions were made for numerous cts s. There was no ques ion that so far as New Plymouth was concerned Thu sday was the most convenient day for the hilf-holid y, With regard to an txtension of thi area, thi i was necessary, as shopkeepers ou-t-ido the borough were po'. compelled to obserya the same day, He u ged that throughout the province the holiday eh mid be fixed for the same day, and he pointed cu' that as at presaut worked the A<& was killing the small shopkeepsrs, Mr Oarter forma'ly seconded the motion, which wasc.rried unanimously. Mr Blyth moved: That clause 3, section 2, as to s'ock taking or o h?r special w> rk in shop', hours of labour, and extra payment for same should be opposed as coatrary to the b;st interests of employers and employees, He said it had been his experience as an employee tbat services given at stocktaking tio.es wero chuei fully rendered, and during the year the extra time occupiid over stock-takiog was fully compensated for by holidays or sick leave, He felt sura the employees woald obj ;ct to the change mora thin the employers, and considered the. c'ausi shoud ba opposed on the ground of its i* jus ice. Mr. lNeil seondid the motion, and endorsed the movoi 's remark". If an employee was paid for overtime they mutt expect to have wages deducted f .T absence from business, Mr. Parker pointed out the annoyacce and inconvenience to shopkeepers if stock taking was done during the 3ay instead of afte.r Lu-siness hours. The motion wasca.-r ed unanimously. Mr, D Teed drew at ention- to the clause relating to chemist?, arid p inted ous that they were under that clause unable to supply any remedies for the relief of p un and suffering unless under a certificate from a duly qualified medical practitioner. He refdrred to ihe large number of cases io which chemists without reward afforded reliif, and pointed out that the BiU prohibited duly qualified and cultivated men, win knew their business and their responsibility, f<om undertaking acts which in all parts of the world they were calhd upon to parform, and he cons d. j reJ that this prohibition was degradif g to a chemist's diploma tnd <?angeious to the public. (Applause), He moved that the clause referring to the ch sing cf chemists' shops be excised. Mr. Groan, in seconding the motion, considered the plausi affected not only chemists, but every man, womui, a.&d ohild in the colony. The motion was carried unanimously, Mr. W. Ambu y move! that in Clause 9, rtlatiag to pu'lio holidays, Labour Day bj excised and Boxing Day substi utei, and tbat any ffecial holiday declared by the Government or Mayors be riot compulsory. Mr. T. Avdry seconded th* m ition. The Ohairm n pointed cut that the clause practically gave the Government power to proclaim any day they thought Gt as a public holiday, and he suggested that the clause should be epnoseJ. Mr Oarter inquired what the penalties were for non-observance of a proclaimed holiday. Mr Neal poiated cut the disadvan-' tage of extra holidays, and contended that oiuctry p oplo would never know on what Saturdays ths Bhops in town would be open. j Mr Arnold proposed that New Year's day should be added to the lis 1 ;' of holidays. i The Chairman pointed out tha*. the employees musi bo paid if tho hJid y was given. Wr Ambury said if added to -the bill it would be compulsory, but if left to the Association it wou'd bs optional, Mr Arnold, in reply, said that if his proposal w.is ndop'ed h woul.l save the bickering and heartburning that would avi.se if kit to tha Association, , The nmendtnent was lost and tha motion carried.

Mr Carter moved that the AssociStion support clausi 14 as to closing Bhops at a specified hour on three-fifths of the .-r'o"keepers agreeing thereto Mr T. White considered exemptions were necessary, where night trade was done or fruit sold as well aB groceries. Mr Blytho also thought it might prejudicially affect some of tho shopkeepers. Mr Roberts said that closing at a certain hour suited those who did a large ordfr trade, but it did not suit small shopkeepers like himself. He feared it would lead to breaking the law. He m ve'l that the clause (14) be struck out. j Mr Neal seconded. Mr Carter pointed out that the twofifths would be largely included in the j exemptions', and the meeting should ■ hesita'e before throwing out the clause. ] Mr P f rker considered tha amendment was fighting a shadow, The indention d the olause was evidently to proteol; employees in tbe larger cities

who were only too frequently over- j worked, He did not think that it' would be applied in any places of the! size of New Plymouth. Mr Arnold thought the matter was j a serious one, tind that the clause as I proposed wouli bring the two-fifths into line and m ike cksing at a specified hour unanimous. The amendment was cirried by 14 to 12. On the motion of Mr Oarter, it was decided to forward the resolutions to the members of the district and the Premier. Mr Henry Brown (who was received with applause) said that his attendance that night was due to the need felt amongst employers for an Association to protect their interests in relation to Bills before Parliament. He referred co what had been done in this direction -it other centres. He found that the feeling of sawmillera in Tarantki was in favour of joining or affiliating with an Association for protecting employers interests. He dwelt at eoms length oo the question of the award of tha Arbitration Oourt as affecting sawmillers, and their intention to form an Association for protective purposes. Finding that there was an Association at New Plymouth, he considered it would be better to have one strong Association than to divide forces. There appeared to be no reason why all business people in the district should not combine, and 'hat branches should be formed in other towns of the district with quarterly meetings of delegates at different ontres. This would present a strong combined front of the business community of the province. (Cheers.) The Chairman drew attention to the recent decision of the S.M. on a judgment summons, whereby it appeared that it was only necessary for a debtor to leave his money at home when . summoned to the Court, and no order could be made against him. He strongly condemned eu;h a state of affiirs, and considered steps should be , taken to alter the law, Mr Whitaker moved: That this meeting notes with alarm the present law which makes it easy for debtors in a position to pay, to avoid payment of their debt?, and would strongly urge the Minister of Justice to make such !i amendment as will provide for the recovery of debts through the S.M. Court. Mr. Neal, in seconding the motion, I deceit on the hardships of the credit system, and considered private p ople i should be compelled to keep books and i fchow how they spent their money if 1 they failed to pay their debts, i | In supporting the mot iin Mr Ambury ; pointed cut that while the Government gave co credit it topk long credit, and i, he considered that, from the Govern- . meat down, the credit system shuuld be , | abolished. ■j Mr Blyth gave an instance of a , j•' femah " who came from Auckland to i, New Plymouth, and was shortly afCer j followed by a debt collector to whom, in 'response to his request for payment, ! she replied that the laws of New Zei- . land did cot require people to pay their i debts and she declined to pay', i The motion was carried. ' j The Chairman thanked Mr Brown :for attendiog, and he explained tLat i' the Association was so formed that it i embraced all trade interests and odb of i. its objects was.to vigilantly watch over 1 all trade legit-latioo. -He hoped that , the business transacted that evening 1 had fully justified- the Associ .tion's i' existence.