SATURDAY HALF-HOLIDAY.

Taranaki Daily News, 25 April 1921, Page 6

SATURDAY HALF-HOLIDAY.

PUBLIC MEETING AT ELTHAM. ARGUMENTS AGAINST SATURDAY. There was an attendance of between five and six hundred people at the public meeting held under the auspices of the Eltham Thursday Half-holiday Association in the Eltham Town Hall on Friday evening. Mr.H. C. Cameron presided. Mr. C. A. Wilkinson, chairman of tjse Eltham Committee, ©aid he understood it was the first public meeting called for the purpose of considering the half-holi-day question. To his mind there was a common danger facing them, and that was the danger of the town of Eltham being closed on Saturday, its busiest day. He pointed out that it was not a provincial matter; each town had to decide the matter for itself. It was simply a red herring drawn across the scent, and the Provincial Association knew that it was not a provincial matter. Under the present law it was not possible to get a universal day with certainty. That could only happen by accident, and until the law was altered it was useless for any body of men calling themselves a provincial half-holiday association. Delegates were present that evening from Stratford and Hawera, and would make it clear that those towns were going to carry the mid-week half-holiday, and after hearing their testimony he thought they would agree with him in stating that it would simply be an act of lunacy for Eltham to carry Saturday. Mr. Wilkinson related how. while he was a member of Parliament, he hid endeavored to insert a clause in the Labor legislation providing for a poll to be taken in the half-holiday question among all the towns in Taranaki, but he had not been successful. Now, however, a new factor ■ had come into the matter, and he would ; not accept that amendment, but would accept an amendment providing for the country people throughout the province having a voice in the matter as well. The mid-week associations were quite willing to compromise with their Saturday friends to that extent, but were not willing to abandon their opposition to Saturday, and he asked his hearers to see that their town was not ruined by voting against Saturday. VIEWS OF MAYORAL ASPIRANTS. Mr. Wilkinson then dealt with the correspondence which had passed between the secretary of the x Taranaki Provincial Saturday Half-Holiday Association and himself regarding the proposal of the former that the mid-week people should drop their opposition and support Saturday. A universal half-holiday in the middle of the week would 1X a very desirable thing to bring about, but he was quite willing to abide by the decision of a provincial poll. He suggested that the Saturday Association should compromise by deciding to leave the matter alone until the amendment had been made to the iaw. He read letters sent to the two candidates for the Mayoralty, Messrs. Taylor and Bridger, asking them to publicly state their views on the half-holi-day question. Mr. Bridger replied, stating that he regretted the matter being brought into the municipal elections, as there were more important questions than the half-holiday, and pointing out that the matter was how in the hands of electors to decide for themselves. (Applause). Mr. Bridger also stated that he was still in favor of a provincial half-holiday, but. was not, and never would be, a supporter of the Saturday half-holiday for Eltham alone. However, he was convinced that the Saturday half-holiday would be carried throughout the province. (Applause). Mr. Taylor replied, stating that he was in favor of retaining the Thursday half-holiday. (Applause). Mr. Wilkinson added that the electors should support Mr. Taylor, who was not prepared to sacrifice the interests of Eltham on the throw of a dice. Continuing, Mr. Wilkinson said that if the Saturday halfholiday was successful the next thing would be an agitation for a five days’ week. (Applause, and cries of “No!”) If that came into operation they would have the farmers working seven days a week, and the people in towns five days a week, and the farmer would not be able to keep his sons on the farm. Also, the present was a time of economic crisis, and they had the spectre of unemployment looming up, and the risk of changing to Saturday was too great to take. He felt sure that Eltham could not afford to run any risk of losing any business. To a certain extent personalities had crept into the campaign, and in this connection he referred to the remarks of certain speakers at the meeting of the Provincial Saturday Association the previous night. Regarding the statem&nt that he (Mr. Wilkinson) had closed the hotels at 6 o’clock without consulting the hotel-keepers, he considered thd't the two matters were not on a parallel, and he said that if he had done nothing else during his seven years in Parliament, he thought he had justified his election, and that great social reform had come to stay. (Applause). HAWERA’S POSITION. Mr. Wilkinson then dealt trenchantly with personal attacks, which, he said, had been made on himself and Mr. Carncross by Mr. Tristram at the meeting of the Saturday Half-holiday Association, stating that he particularly resented the statement made by Mr. Tristram to the effect that the leaders of the mid-week not a spark of manhood in them. In conclusion, Mr. Wilkinson urged those present not to endanger the prosperity of Eltham by voting for Saturday, which was now the busiest day in Eltham. The Thursday people did not interfere with the men in factories, who at present had the Saturday half-holiday, and he did not think those people should interfere with the shopkeepers’ half-holiday. He believed 1 that on Wednesday next the people of Eltham would vote for the Thursday half-holiday. Mr. Bone (Hawera) congratulated Eltham on the splendid meeting and the splendid speech made by Mr. Wilkinson. Referring to Hawera, he said that it was in danger the same as Eltham was, but the Wednesday Association was leaving no stone unturned to secure the retention of the Wednesday half-holiday. Giving his reasons why Wednesday should be retained, Mr. Bone said that at present the shopkeepers knew what business they were doing, and it was not worth while running the risk of losing any of that business. The Saturday people were endeavoring to filch their business from them. (Uproar). At the present time he estimated that the amount of business done in Hawera each Saturday was £lO.OOO, and they would lose a good percentage of that turnover altogether if Saturday was carried. Continuing amidst further uproar, Mr. Bone said that there was no such thing as a provincial half-holiday, and he contended that to make use of such tactics was not playing the game. A voice: What about boys of

Mr. Bone: I will explain that. What I said at Eltham the other night was that as long as the municipal legislation provided that only ratepayers should have a vote on financial matters I contend that only ratepayers should have a vote on financial matters which affected the shopkeepers’ pockets. Referring to the financial crisis the shopkeepers were passing through, he said the Saturday people should be thoroughly well ashamed of themselves for trying to jeopardise the retailers’ businesses. The spectre of unemployment was looming on the horizon, and although he had never had occasion to dismiss a man from hi« business, if the Saturday was forced upon them it might be found necessary for the shopkeepers to readjust their staffs. He advised every working man to stick to his job, and to help the boss to keep his. He contended that the Rugby Union would get bigger gates if they kept the mid-week half-holiday. The audience at this stage proceeded to count Mr. Bone out, and he smilingly told them that he would soon sit down. Continuing, Mr. Bone said it seemed absolutely silly for them to close up their town on one of their busiest days for no reason at all. He dealt with several aspects of the campaign in Hawera, and in conclusion he expressed it as his conviction that after the poll on Wednesday next, the mid-week half-holiday would be retained throughout the province. (Applause). A STRATFORD VIEW. The next speaker was Mr. B. Sturm (Stratford), and he was subjected to continual interruption, necessitating the intervention of the chairman on his behalf in order to quieten the meeting. Mr. Sturm said the shopkeepers were in business to serve themselves and their customers. They were not in business to serve their employees, and it was wrong that they should consider their employees every time. Referring to the experience of Stratford, he said they had tasted the pie and didn’t like it, and he was present to tell them that next Wednesday Stratford was going to carry Thursday. (Uproar). He had tasted the Saturday half-holiday in Stratford, and it was an absolute failure. They were not getting the people there, and they were not going to stand it any longer. It was essential that they should get the people in Stratford in order to sell them their goods. One gentleman had told him that they must consider the employee. The employer must not be considered at all. If that was true, why should they put capital into their businesses at all? The action of the Mayor of Stratford in forcing Saturday upon them had been a good thing in a way, because it had enabled them to judge how bad it was to have Saturday. Mr. F. Cocker, a farmer in the'Eltham district, dealt with the subject from the farming point of view. He stated that he had met only one farmer who was in favor of Saturday.

A touch of comedy was lent to the proceedings by Mr. J. Orr (Stratford), who dealt in semi-humorous strain with the attitude of the Saturday people. Mr. Orr’s remarks ’did not meet with the approval of the audience at first, but he soon had his hearers in roars of laughter, and when he finished, the audience insistently demanded an encore. Mr. J. W. Stubbs (Eltham) and Mr. Hayton (Hawera) also addressed the meeting.

A number of questions were asked by the audience, after which a resolution was carried, protesting against the Saturday half-holiday.