SMALL SHOPKEEPERS

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 136, 5 March 1929, Page 8

SMALL SHOPKEEPERS

QUESTION OF HOURS OF CLOSING The Secretary of the Labour Department (Mr. F. J. Rowley) had something further to say to a “Dominion” reporter yesterday concerning the complaints which had been made that the department’s officers had placed obstacles in the wav of small shopkeepers exercistheir privileges with regard to the hours of closing; and gave the complaints an emphatic denial. “In all probability,” said Mr. Rowley, “the complaint arises in cases such as the following: Under the 1927 Amendment a shopkeeper who is ordinarily required to close at a certain hour may apply to a Magistrate for exemption from closing at the hour fixed for his trade and certain exemptions may be granted. We have found a number of instances where, after the granting of such exemption, a shopkeeper will commence to stock the goods of another trade and as the exemption is not granted for that other trade he is. of course, required to close at the hours fixed by the Act and the exemption does not apply. It might also be mentioned that no exemption can be obtained from a Magistrate to enable a shopkeeper who is ordinarily required to close on the weekly halfholiday to keep open on that afternoon. Any aggrieved shopkeeper is at liberty to give particulars to the department so that the matter can be looked into."