A SIX-HOUR DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 160, 8 July 1932, Page 6

A SIX-HOUR DAY.

Several of your correspondents have urged a reduction of' working- hours to six per day, no .Saturday work, and no reduction of wages, the last mentioned being based on the fact that the volume of production as compared with the volume of consumption docs not warrant reduced, but rather increased wages, so as to make consumption more nearly keep pace with production. Frankly, the idea appeals to me, as I am sure it will to all workers who wish to enjoy more of the leisure, fresh air and sunshine which are at present the prerogatives of the noble savage. As production enormously exceeds consumption and will be tremendously increased with the extended use of the friend of man, the machine, the result should naturally be a fuller and a larger life for humanity, with more wages, that is, more of the products of labour, and reduced' working hours. The man-made obstacles which block the path of progress must be removed. We cannot revert to hand labour in some industries now -using machines, as suggested by "Pro Bono Piil'.ico," for this would be to put back the clock. The logical and rational thing to do ia to radically change our economic system, which, unlike the laws of the Medes and the Persians, is , alterable, and can be altered as soon as a majority of the people says it shall be. OBSERVER.