CURRENT TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 255, 5 January 1911, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

AN ARBITRARY LAW. The introduction of a clause in the Shops and Offices Act at last session, by which the partners in a business, except the one uuder whose name it was registered, are deemed shop assistants, is causing dismay among quite a number of people locally as well as throughout the Dominion. To prohibit an employer from working any hours he chooses in connection with his own business is not only inovel, but absolutely ridiculoua in its arbitrary effect. Section 13 is the section in question, and it provides thai every shop shall be registered by the occupier thereof with the inspector of factories in the name of one person a» occupier, and except in the case of husband or wife (as the case may be) any other person engaged in the business 01 the shop shall be deemed to be a shop assistant, and in order to prevent, evasion of the section the name of the occupier shall not be changed except for some sufficient reason to the satisfaction of the inspector of factories. The effect of this new section in the Act is that where there are two or more partners in the business, the shop will require to be registered in the name 01 one of the partners, and for the purposes j of hours of employment, holidays, and overtime, the other partners are deemed Ito be shop assistants. Accordingly, it one of the members of the firm in whose name the shop is not registered goes i back to his premises after hours to perform any work he must first, in the manner as an ordinary shop assistant, obtain the written consent of the inspector. The same thing applies if he returns to his shop on holidays to carry out any work in connection with his business. The Act formerly provided that permission to work overtime could he Issued to assistants in respect of stock-taking and other special work for not more than 30 days in the year. The amended Act provides, in addition to . Jhis, tliat assistants cannot be allowed to work overtime assisting in the sale of goods, while no such permit can be issued in respect to any half-holiday. ■The hours are fixed throughout by the Act, and are not subject to ally alteration whatever by requisition as formerly. It is also provided that a wages and overtime book shall be kept by all occupiers of shops, showing the assistants' ages, nature of work, hours of employment, and wages paid. Formerly it was only required of shopkeepers -to keep an overtime book. The Act, the full effect of which was hardly understood at the time it was discussed, is now in force. The intention of its framers, wqs, if we mistake not, to "get at" the Chinese, and put them on the same footing as far as observing hours and conditions of working are concerned as Europeans, but evidently the effect will reach further than anticipated, and hinder instead of protecting a not innumerable section of shopkeepers and traders.

A WORD ABOUT SHARKS. Most sea-bathers in Australasian wateri have seen the dar'k danger signal thai the "tiger of the sea" shows when he is looking for mischief and have probably wondered why the voracious creatures attack man so seldom. There are no waters in the world so "rich" in sharks as Australasian waters, and no pest of any kind that is less fought than the wolfish wretches that sometimes get away with a stray leg or so, An Australian writer dealing with the shark, his habits and his appetites, lately remarked that no determined campaign would be begun against the animals with the saw jaws until man found a commercial use for them. It has, of course, been known for many years that the shark is a most valuable animal, and if hunted systematical!}'—as the schnapper, for instance—would represent a payable industry to Australia and New Zealand. Folks who love strenuous sport can find none that gives a better return than shark-fishing, but as a general thing the savage satisfaction in slaying a sea-tiger is a retributive delight in killing something that if allowed would kill the fisher. It may interest the thousands of people who find splendid sustenance during weakness by taking "cod-liver" oil to know that the larger proportion of the commodity is not gathered from the cod at all, but from the "dogfish," which is closely related, to the bather's enemy. Commercial shark-fishing has already i been begun at Honolulu, and a retired | master-mariner (Captain F. D. Walker) has erected works at which his company is now engaged in "trying-out'' sharks for oil. Captain Walker claims to have discovered a method for deodorising shark oil, which is villainously high-smelling, and in its crude state is most unpalatable to any person who is trying to heal his lungs with it. Probably the success of the Honolulu industry would induce Australian and New Zealand syndicates i to go in for extensive campaigns against . sharks, for the sea. teems with the raseal- ■ ly fish which is left practically undisturbed. Apart from the value of shark oil, ;the skin can be used for a leather that is tougher and more durable than any that can be commercially used. The danger And novelty of shark-fishing would naturally attract many men if someone could demonstrate that there was "money in the game."

A NEW BALLOT PAPER. There lias always been dissatisfaction expressed at the rather clumsy ballot papers used in connection with our general elections. It will, therefore, be interesting to many to Jiear that the Electoral Department has adopted a new system for the coming election, and it promises to oll'cr many safeguards against fraudulent voting, while at the same time doing its work in a much more expeditious manner. Till the perfect voting machine is placed on the market we must be content to use the ballot paper, and the improvements suggested seem to bring it as near perfection as possible. The paper itself is the simplest yet devised, containing only the names of the candidates and directions to vote. These will be honnd up in )>oolilets, and be attached to butts, with a perforation enabling them to be torn out. When the voter asks for a ballot paper the voter's number is marked on the butt, together with the consecutive number of the paper as issued that day. This number is repeated on the voting paper, but conveys no information to anyone, except the possessor of the butt, tis to the voter's name. The polling booth stamp is impressed on the complete sheet—butt and voting paper—before they are separated. This stamp is the most important feature. It js oblong, and about two inches in lenfeth. It. contains the name of the polling-booth and the number at each end, ) anjl these are connected by three fineainfja, As there is a certain

amount of variation in the position in which, the rubber stamp happens to make its impression on each paper, it follows that only the butt and its genuine counterfoil will have halves of an impression, the fine lines of which exactly meet when the sheets are placed together. To discover plural voting the butts and not the ballot papers,' as now, will have to be examined. If a particular voter's number appears on more than one returning officer's set of butts the consecutive number provides a quick index to the duplicate ballot paper, and if one is found with the stamp coinciding exactly it is evident that the particular voter has offended. But polling clerks may' make an error in filling in the consecutive number, in which case the stamp halves will not coincide, and the voting paper is valid. If the stamps do coincide, the voter, identified by his number, has obviously been over-generous in supporting his favorite, and all papers upon which he has operated are nullified. The old ballot paper had the corner turned down, and the voters' number written under the fold, but there will lie nothing in future to show the scrutineer, or other official not possessing the key of | the consecutive number, who marked that particular paper.