J. H. FAIRBTJRN. j

13

I.—9a.

6. Do you have to keep your seventeen hands all the time on Sundays ?—They have their time off. Some get off on Sunday afternoons : they arrange it amongst themselves, and so long as the work is done they can get off. 7. There is no hardship complained of ? —We have no trouble whatever with, our staff. 8. They arrange it amongst themselves, and you let one or more off ? —Yes. Patrick Joseph Griffin examined. (No. 7.) 1. The Chairman.] You are representing whom ?—The Pier Hotel. 2. Just state your views ?—My views are something similar to Mr. Oakes's. I employ sixteen of a staff, and my place is run on the same general lines as Mr. Oakes's. 3. You have nothing further to add ?—No. 4. Mr. Okey.] Have you any difficulty in getting employees ?—No great difficulty. Of course, you have to give a little notice and perhaps wait a day or two. 5. Have you had any complaints from your employees with regard to their hours of work ?—No. 6. They are satisfied with the wages they get and the hours they work ?—Yes. 7. They are generally satisfied ? —Yes. Richard Dwyer examined. (No. 8.) 1. The Chairman.] What are you ?—Proprietor of the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel, Wellington. I want to say that it is a small house. We have two housemaids and waitresses, a couple of cooks, and two porters. The first cook is a good man and the second does the rough work. On the halfholiday the cook prepares the evening meal when he leaves at 2 o'clock, and if he takes the whole day we shall have to put up with the other man, which will be a great hardship. With regard to the housemaids, if we take one off one floor w-e shall have, to get another to take Iter place, and it is the same with the porters. Theoretically, a reasonable man believes in a six-day- week, but this is a case where you might ask a man to fast for one day in the week :soit is unworkable in a hotel. That is all I have to say. 2. Mr. Hindmarsh.] It is a pretty profitable business, is it not ? How many hotels are you interested in—seven ?—lt is a question of what you call " interested in." As regards money, it all depends upon how much. There is not a great deal of money in it. There seems to be a fair amount of control and a great deal of work. 3. You have got on remarkably well in Wellington '( —lt is a question. 1 have a good deal of power and control, but if the business was wound up Ido not know how it would wash up. 1 have seven hotels to do with. 4. Mr. Okey.] Have you found any complaints among the hands you employ I —None whatever. 5. As to the hours they work ? —No. We could get them to work more if we wanted to. 6. Have you eyer increased the tariff to the public while the cost was going up ?—No. 7. You do not think your business would stand an increased cost without having to put the tariff ii)) for the travelling public ? —lt would not. 8. Mr. Atrnore.] What do you think the additional cost to you would be if the Bill were passed ? —It would cost another couple of pounds for the cook. I suppose it would run into £200 a year. I should have to put the extra employees up, and that would increase the cost. it. The Chairman.] How many do you employ altogether ?—Exclusive of the bar, seven. 1.0. You are not bound to give them the same day off in the week : would it not be possible to let them have one day in seven ?—lf you let a cook go off you have to employ another skilled man. 11. Have you not a second man ? —He could cook a chop, but could not make a good soup or entree. 12. Would it not be possible to engage a second cook ?—You would not get him to scrub a floor then. He would say he was a skilled man and was not going to do rough work. Tuesday-, sth November, 1912. James Sydney Palmer made a statement. (No. 9.) 1. The Chairman.] Whom do you represent ?—I am representing a number of the hotelkeepers in Auckland. Until quite recently I was a hotelkeeper there. At present lam interested in a freehold in the Marlborough District. 2. Have you any credentials authorizing you to appear here ?—Yes, as representing the Licensed Victuallers' Association of Auckland. 3. Will you please state your views to the Committee ? —I have given this matter some consideration, and if I were to say that I do not hold certain views on the question of a six-day week so far as labour is concerned I should be stating something that -would be contrary to what is true. I have had considerable experience in hotels, large and small, town and country, and the fact is that I have a considerable amount of sympathy in the direction of confining the hours of labour—labour of all kinds—within a limit of six days, provided that all the conditions are made to apply on terms which are equitable both as regards the employee and the employer. The licensed-hotel business in New Zealand is quite distinct and apart from any other business, particularly with regard to the employment of labour. In every other business—for example, the grocery business or the drapery business —people can absolutely close for one half-day in the week and the whole of Sunday. Those conditions do not apply to hotels. It is well known, I believe, that a hotelkeeper is constantly on duty, from the Ist January until the 31st December. During the whole of that titne and at all hours he has obligations to fulfil so far as the licensing laws are concerned and so far as the public are concerned. His duties are of a more or less strenuous nature, and his hours are very long. I hold that