Administering a Crazy Law

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXVI, Issue 12332, 22 April 1938, Page 7 (Supplement)

Administering a Crazy Law

peepers and hundreds of thouof their customers all over fV. are being drsven crazy by 3: ; cf ; bel „°st astonishing laws ever is the Shops Sunday Trad- , r (Restrictions) Act, 1937. This ff2S originally designed with the ; dea° f giving a small shopkeeprest on Sunday.

: 'j a!s o many people have tinkered . it and inserted conditions and , , ep tioA that almost as many shops to keep open as did before Wfiile V proprietors and the people who are harassed by a mad set that make business a (IT# 4 picture of the astonishing sitrftiCll can best be given by imaginof small shops and their ■itioDS with their customers in the

weeks. dairyman may send his cus,,erSmilk, but not butter or eggs, 'i.jjdagh these things are always derfd by the same roundsman in i? aine barrow.

jlje greengrocer may sell fruit, )rK fj and vegetables. He may sell ipound of peas, but if anyone asks of peas he must refuse they count as grocerisliicb cannot be sold on Sunday, jlj clothes shop is not allowed ■jojeaat all. But he may find that j&lies stall outside his shop win-

■nEiay, in certain circumstances, the same thing with the nil permission of the authorities. He (ried fish shop is allowed to seilfish and chips to be eaten in the lisp, They count as “refreshments,” iiiehmay be sold on Sunday. Therei«leopens his shop. But if a cusIS erwants to eat his fish and chips .itcomfort of his own home, the jujriaor must not supply them, and :3 refuse to wrap them up. lie photographer may take photoajlson Sunday morning—but only ♦tie; are for passports. If he uses 1: opportunity to make a larger or iatei photograph he is liable to a

The owner of a tobacco and gendihop may open to sell cigarettes d confectionery, but he may not di anything else he stocks, lie confectioner may sell some itwlale biscuits,' but not others. : they are made by a biscuit manuittirer they count as groceries... If are made by a chocolate firm ;J racked in a box he may sell they rank as sweets. Seither the confectioner nor anywise can sell plain biscuits, but tier biscuits may be sold providing Hream is supplied with them. Hit toy shop may not sell a ball 1 child on a Sunday. But if his -efisa member,.of a tennis club MJ tjuy a ball there, as :all clubs t allowed to sell sports requisites ditday.

if the child, cheated of his ball, 8 m to the newspaper and book ■liewill find himself faced with fltr difficulties. He could not buy l£ £ Pilgrim’s Progress” because cannot be sold on Sunday unitlie new Act. But he could buy s 3ic paper because “dated periodibe sold.

P‘« newspaper shop may have two f %;books \iside t by side on a & One may be sold because it ailed, say, "The Knitting Weekmd is a dated periodical. The with similar contents, may not because it is called “How to tit and is a book within the mean- : the Act.

bicycle shop may sell a bulb ■ 1 bicycle lamp because that is a Accessory and may be sold on %--The proprietor may not ““electric bulb for a torch, shop with a stamp

stamp, but it may a postcard to stick it on. though a postcard may not be .1“ a shop it may be sold in a -•56 if the local authorities conit

BRITAIN’S SHOPK EEPIXG MUDDLE

No newsagent’s shop may sell a packet of papers and envelopes, even though it is already open for other things. But if the would-be letter writer makes a journey to the nearest big raTway station and can And a bookstall open he is allowed to buy a packet there. A delicatessen shop may sell ham because it is a freshly cooked meat which may be sold on Sunday. It may not sell sausages because they are not freshly cooked, although it might sell a saveloy. It may sell a pork pie, but not cheese, because cheese is a grocery. It may sell a cooked chicken, but not a tin of sardines. It may not sell bread or butter, but it may sell a bread and butter sandwich. And so it goes on.