POLITICAL NOTES.

Evening Post, Volume LXVIII, Issue 62, 10 September 1904, Page 5

POLITICAL NOTES.

A "SWEATING "GOVERNMENT. Rather a good point was made against tho Government yesterday evening. For two or three hours member after member had complained of the loag hours worked by asylum attendants, and fche inadequate rales of pay, and Air. Herrka said that> the Government had ousted the Government sweater and was now a sweater H* self. They had complaints of sweating in regard to clerks and co-operativo labourers, and every other class of employees, and yet the Government pointed to the Arbitration Act as the great banner of liberty in this country, while all £ho afternoon members had bean complaining that warders and nurses are paid ■worse* than «ny Jew in Whitechapel. If tho Government had been private individual* it would have been up before the Arbi. tration Court long ago, and fined very heavily. It was quit© time that the provisions of the Arbitration Act were applied to Government employees. LICENSING BILL. Tho collapse of the debate? on tho Licensing Bill came as a surprise to tha House, which had previously been astonished to see tho Bill on the top of tho Order Paper on a day which is usually set apart for consideration of the Estimates. Some of the no-Kcense members of tho House affect to bo in "no dcgroo disappointed, but tho fact remains, thai more than one of tnem had a Speech prepared on tho subject, and they are by no means pleased at having lost th« opportunity. The Premier does not conceal his exultation at the turn affaire have taken, and is firmly" of opinion that had he shown the slightest disposition to rise in his place for tho purpose of replying speakers woulc 1 have risen by tho half-dozen. "It was the most effectivo reply I ever made," ho jocularly remarked when speaking to the Post representative on the subject. However, the Bill has yet to pass through several othei stages before it becomes law, and a long nn.d stern contest is expected when it is in Committee. - SHOPS AND BABS. "' " A new point in regard to a unmrstf Saturday naif- holiday was raised by "'a deputation of Wellington and Ndwtowa shopkeepers which waited on the Pre. mier yesterday in regard to fcho. Shopc and Offices Bill. The point was cleaft. ly put by Mr. Finlay M'Leod. They found,, he .said, that Saturday,, would.. uot bo a convenient day— that, in"fact, -Saturday closing would mean a great- loss. However, they did not oppose' tho proposal that the people should be enabled., to select the day they preferred, but what they did contend waa that it was unfair to compel grocers and drapers and so\on to close while the hotel bars remained open. What they wanted was a universal Saturday half-holiday, on which 1 all shops "without- exception- -would bs closed, but they did not see why legiti.< mate traders should "be compelled to closo while hotolkeepcrs were allowed t<!» romain open and take the trade which ought to go to them. In the course ol his reply, tho Premier said he must admit that the deputation was going in tho right direction to keep their shops open on Saturday. However, Parian ment could not settle tho question. H« had given it up as a hopeless task to ask Parliament to come to a definite conclusion on "the subject, but Parliament was quite prepared to leave tho responsibility to the public. When .the Bill was before tho House he had no doubt that what was now suggested would b* proposed. He would give the House a tree hnnd, and he did not think they could ask him to do any more. As' to the question of the Wednesday or Saturday half-holiday, ho did think that it chiefly concerned the customers, and they could settle it at the ballot-box, finally he suggested that when the mat» • ter was referred to tho people those ia» forested would do their best to inflow enco tho public in their favour. RAILWAY SERVANTS' WAGES. Tho necessity of paying railway labourers a minimum wage ol Bs. a. day ■was advocated apnin by Mr, Wilford yesterday. He pointed out that a labourer 53 years of ago would bo required to' t jay 16s 7d por month into the Superannuation Fund and 4s 9d por month into another fund. Paid at the rate ol ?s per day, he would find it almost, impossible* to live. Pleading tho causa of the casual labourer employed by tho Railway Dopartmeut, the member for Hutt mentioned tho caso of a man who. during tho recent broken weather, had only been able to cum 25s per week. As tho railway men were "debarred from appealing to the Arbitration Court, they snould bo paid a minimum wage of 8u per day. Ho also advocated the payment of wages fortnightly. Mr. Laurensoq and Mr. Sidej expressed similar viows. In his reply the Minister said that id wns not possible to fix a minimum wagti for all railway employocs. Ho hoped that before long all drivers, guards, firemen, and shunters would have a 48* hours' week.