HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Press, Volume L, Issue 8583, 9 September 1893, Page 9

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Friday, September 8. MORNING SITTING. SHOPS AND SHOP ASSISTANTS BILL. After the telegraph office closed this morning the discussion on '.he interpretation c|ause of the Snops and Shop Assistants Bill was carried on at great length. At 2.45 the Committee divided on Mr Fish's motion that the Chairman leave the chair, the motion being lost by 17 to 2. Mr BUCKLAND laised the pouit that the division list showed that there was not a quorum of twenty present, but the Chairman ruled that there was a quorum in the Chamber, the Standing Orders prodding that the Chairman must be counted. Mr MOORE moved to repors progress. Lost by 13 to 6. The discussion still went ou, and was continually interrupted by the ringing of the bell to secure a quorum in the Chamber. Messrs Buckland, Valentine, Fish .and others spoke repeatedly. Mr Joyce, who had relieved Mr Guinness early in the morning, occupied the chair. Until after daylight accusations of obstructing and stonewalling the Bill were made against several .members, but the Chairman ruled these terms to be unparliamentary and had to be withdrawn. At 6 a.m. a motion that the Chairman leave the chair was lost by 19 to 6. Mr EARNSHAW then said there had been a definite and distinct attempt to stonewall the Bill, and moved that the galleries be cleared. This was lost on the voices. . Mr McLEAN urged that some progress be made with the Bill, and suggested that clauses up to No. 7 be considered. Mr RKEV.ES asked members to stand by the Bill. The present state of things was purely the result of personal matter, being the outcome of a grudge that Mr Duthie bore him (Mr Reeves) vviA regard to this Bill. It was well-known that the Bill was to be treated in this manner, as Mr Duthie himself had told him last night they would be up till 8 o'clock in the morning on the Bill. He asked whether tbe Committee was prepared to see the business of the country blocked for purely personal reasons. Mr DUTHIE denied that he boce the Minister for Labor any grudge over the Bill, and said that the hon. gentleman had misconstrued his remarks regarding the hour to which the House would have to sit. No member had been quieter all through the sitting than he had, and he would gladly have been at home in bed had he not desired to effect some amendment in clause 3. He had done nothing to obstruct the Bill. On the contrary, he had asked members to sit down and let the Bill be proceeded with. Mr FISH said that Mr Reeves' attack on the member for Wellington precluued the possibility of the matter being treated in an amicable" manner as suggested by Mr McLean. He admitted that he waa endeavouring to the best of his ability to prevent the Bill being placed on the Statute Book, as he regarded it as a monstrous wroug. At 6.40 a motion by Mr Fish io report progress was lost by 19 to 6. The debate still went on. AC 7 a.m. the Committee divided on an amendment by Mr Fish in Clause 2 to strike out in the definition of " shop-keeper," the words " the person," which would have the effect of exempting any person carryiug on business for himself from the provisions of the Act and confine it to Companies and Associations. The amendment was lost by 19 to 6, and; the clause added to the Bid- ,- In Clause 3—"All shops to close on Satur-: day at one o'clock," fruiterers' aud fishmongers were added, to the exemptions under' the Act. The proposal to include oyster saloons in the exemptions was lost by 18 to 12. To include confectioners and bakers waslost by 15 to 12. Tobacconists was lost by 17 to 9. Hairdressers was lost by 13 to 11. Chemists was lost by 18 to 10. ' Newsvendors was lost by 19 to 8. Pastrycooks was lost by 15 to 11. AU these amendments were proposed by. Mr Duthie. Several other amendments were also, suggested and lost. Mr FISHER moved to alterthe day of the half-holiday from Saturday to Thursday. He said with regard to the whole Bill that he was now willing to accept the inevitable, and would be glad to place on record his views when the third reading came on. The amendment was lost by 23. to 7, and the clause as amended was added to the Bill. An amendment was inserted, providing for a half-holiday being given to persons employed in hotel bars, and also that shop keepers at ports could supply after hours with provisions'any ships leaving within twelve hours of arrival. ; The period of notice required for the alteration of the day. for the half*holiday was reduced to seven days. . The third reading of the Bill was fixed '• for to-day, when the House rose and adjourned at 9 a.m. till 2.30 this afternoon. Friday, September 8.