SOME CURRENT, OPINIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 101, 29 April 1913, Page 8

SOME CURRENT, OPINIONS.

Mr. W. Johnstone writes: "The halfholiday was instituted to afford workers an opportunity to do business as well as for rest, relaxation, and amusement; and one of the points that many fail to recognise is that universal closing on Saturday would rob the workers who now have their half-holiday on that afternoon of a half day which can "be utilised for shopping; and would not only deprive the shop assistants of a similar privilege which they now enjoy on Wednesday or Saturday as the case may be, but would effectually debar them from any opportunity of shopping at any time, aud would thus injure the very claes for the benefit of whom the proposed change is sought. It would also be detrimental to workers in the country. It must be remembered at present any shopkeeper has the option of closing on Saturday, and, in the event of Wednesday being carried at the forthcoming poll, that privilege will still remain, but, should Saturday be chosen, there will be no option in the matter. The reason for this anomaly is one of those things that are past finding out, and should be one of the strongest reasons for voting for, Wednesday. A few weeks ago representatives from the various local bodies met to decide the question of which should be the half-holiday, and several of these, while admitting that they personally favoured Saturday, realised" that closing on that day would mean ruination to many small retailers, and they were not prepared to accept the responsibility of bringing about such a result, and consequently they voted for Wednesday. That responsibility now rests with the electors —are they prepared to shoulder it?" J. Vincent also lays stress on the fact that the vote in favour of Wednesday leaves it open for shopkeepers to close on Saturday if they please, whereas no such alternative is offered with, the vote for Saturday. "Wide-awake" declares his belief that the movement for compulsory closing on Saturday "is simply an attempt to crush out the small shopkeepers and others, who. of couree, are genuine in the fullest sense of the term, and the woTking-man that cannot see this must be short-sighted indeed." "Week End for AH" writes:—"l consider Saturday is the proper day, because there is a clear break of H days at the end of each week, enabling many to get out of town for tbe week-end, and come back fresh and invigorated for the next week's work. This the Wednesday half-hoJiday maker cannot do, as he must be back to work at 8 o'clock next morning. There is very little on in the way of sports or games" on Wednesday afternoons. The day is not popular with the assistants, and has never been looked upon as a proper holiday. Shopkeepers need have no fear of losing anything when the Saturday half-holiday becomes la-w, as assuredly it- must, because if all shops are shut on Saturday afternoons the business must be -will only require a little adjusting. It would probably take from three to 6ix months before the Friday night's business settled down to a regular thing, and for the first few weeks the present shops which keep open on Saturday would feel a difference, but this would "quickly right itself. I was talking to-day to a gentleman who has just arrived from Australia, and he tells mc the Saturday half-holiday has "been a universal holiday in Melbourne and Sydney for several years, and these are cities -with ten times our population. In Geelong, a city with similar conditions to our own," when the universal; •Saturday half-holiday was proposed the Wednesday-closing shopkeepers were most bitterly opposed to it. The small shopkeepers all eaid they would be ruined (as ours are now doing). At the poll they fought it in every way—had signs all over the city, bands playing, and letters to the papers—iiaing every effort to defeat the Saturday, tout Saturday was carried. With what result? This gentleman, who is a well-known shopkeeper in Geelong, states that at first the returns did drop, hut after three months matters righted themselves, and now. he tells mc, the erstwhile Wednesday half-holiday shopkeepers would not go back to Wednesday for -all the tea m China; in fact, they are so eatisfied that the very suggestion of going back to Saturday would be scouted with horror. And why? Because the shopkeepers now take more money on the •Friday than they did on the Saturday, and this has been brought about in the following way: When the Saturday halfholiday was carried, employers started paying wagC3 on Friday evening, and in 3ix months' time this became universal. The bulk of employees, viz., the factory hands, trades, and offices, leave work at 5 o'clock, go home to tea, and by halfpast 6 are ready to go out to do the family shopping, and in Geelong the closing hour is half-past 9, giving three clear hours in which to do the shopping. My friend assures mc the shopkeepers" »re as busy as possible on a Friday night, and take more money than they formerly did on the Saturday, none of them have been rained, none of them are shut up. Surely if a city like Geelong hae made such a success of tie Saturday half-holi-day, we can do the same."