THE WEEKLY HALFHOLIDAY.

Evening Star, Issue 11694, 27 September 1902, Page 8

THE WEEKLY HALFHOLIDAY.

RUMPUS OVER. THE FACTORIES ACT. TOWN vTcOUNTRY. [From Cub Pabliamjsntart Reporter.] WELLINGTON, September 27. ! When the Factories Act Amendment Bill got into committee yesterday afternoon it was not expected that it would prove a bone of contention imd lead to some strong talk, but in politics it is the unexpected that happens. The subsection relating to the providing of meals for overtime workers was, on Mr J. Hutcheson's motion, amended to provid-.' that the allowance for meals shall be paid only to those woTkera v-tio reside more than a mile from the factory. The question of the inconvenience caused in country towns by fixing one statutory half-holiday for shops and another for factories was raised by Major Steward, who moved a new clause empowering local authorities in boroughs and town districts to declare another day than Saturday for the weekly half-holiday for factories. This was the law prior to last year. He thought that both factories and shops should have the one day for the half-holiday. The department had, during the past year, winked at breaches of the law because it had been found impossible to put it in operation.— Mr Hemes supported the amendment, and instanced tho caee of small country towns where the front port of the premises -were used as a shop and the rear as a factory. To have to observe two holidays under such circumstances was absurd.—Mr Millar said that last year, when the mam Act was amended and consolidated, the Factories Committee sat for weeks, and not a single protest was raised against the proposal to observe one day as the holidav for shops and anotiher for factories. —The ActingPremier -who, in the absence of the Acting Minister of Labor, was in charge of the Bill, thought this proposal -went too far, as it would mean the splitting up of the holiday among the various trades. Instead of it he moved a. new clause to provide that in any borough, or town district having a population of less than 10,000, if Saturday is found inconvenient for the "weekly half-holiday, the local authority may substitute another day for it.—Major Steward said he was willing to accept this amendment in lieu of what he had proposed.—> Mr J, Hutcheson expressed surprise that the Minister had accepted the compromise, which was the thin end of the wedge so far as destroying the Saturday half-holiday went. Mr Arnold strongly resisted the amendment suggested by Sir "Joseph Ward, and hoped that if it were carried the Bill would be abandoned.—Mr Pirani said that in the country districts it had been found impossible to observe two half-holidays in one week. The Minister of Labor (Mr Seddon) had told the factory-owners that there would be no prosecutions if the whole community observed the general half-holi-day along with the shopkeepers. The department had consequently winked at violations of the existing law in regard to nonobservance of the Saturday half-holiday.— Mr Tanner intimated his intention of later on moving in the direction of doing away with! the right of the local authority to any choice in the matter of the weekly halfholiday, and to prescribe that the half-holi-day shall be uniformly observed throughout the colony not only by factories, but also by shops. Mr Meredith said that the time, had nob yet arrived for a universal Saturday half-holiday, and he deprecated coercion in the matter. To meet Mr Sidey's objections, he would suggest the addition of a proviso to the Acting-Pre-mier's amendment excluding from itß operations the boroughs adjacent to the four main centres. —As tho discussion proceeded it resolved itself into a town v. country scramble. Leave having been given to Major Steward to withdraw his clause, that of the Acting-Premier was put to the vote, and it was added to the Bill by 32 to 26. A STQNfeWALL. Mr Millar thereupon moved that the chairman leave the chair, with the object of killing tbe Bill. A surprise, he declared, had been sprung on the House by the Government proposing to revert to a i state of things which last year, after seven years' experience, had been given up with the unanimous consent of the employers: and workers of the colony. He intended to keep the House long enough to get replies from the labor organisations in reply to telegrams sent by him to find out if the workers of the colony had voted for this or not. He inveighed strongly against a proposal emanating from the Government on such a subject without the workers consulted, and he deliberately accused the Government of havinj during the past eleven months wilfully broken the law of the country. Saturday was the half-holiday for factories under tt>e Act, and yet the Government had, in any number of boroughs, allowed some other day to be observed. —The Acting-Minister j of Labor (the Hon. W. Hall-Jones) said the ; proposed new clause only applied to establishments in which both the Factories Act and the Shops Act had to be observed, and where the factory employees in the establishment had their half-holiday on the Saturday and the assistants in" the same establishment on some other day. This i clause would enable them to have j their half - holiday ou the same day. j He would be willing to insert a provision that no alteration of the day for the half-., holiday should be made under the unless a majority of the factory employees were in favor of it. He read' a long* list of names of boroughs from which he had received requests for such an alteration of the law as he was now proposing.—Considerable heat was shown in the debate that ensued, Mr Collins, for instance, remarking that the proposal' of the' Government was almost enough to try the temper of a saint, as it laid the axe at one of the greatest privileges enjoyed by the workers of the colony.—Tbe Acting-Premier, endeavoring to pour oil on the troubled" waters, suggested a solution of the difficulty. His proposal was to amend the clause by providing that no such special order shall be made except after the proposal has been submitted to a ballot and carried by a majority of the vote 5 : recorded of the employees in the business to which this section refers, such a ballot to be carried out under regulations made by the Governor-in-Council.—Mr G. W. Russell urged "no compromise," and pointed out that there were only five places in tha colony Auckland, Wellington, Christchnrch, Sydenham, and Dunedin— which could not, under this clause, be exempted

from the provisions of the Factories Act, bo far as the Saturday half-holiday was concerned.—Submitting "to the inevitable, after the supper adjournment Mr Millar moved to withdraw his 'motion. This was an indication that the town members had carried their point, and no surprise was, expressed when the Acting-Minister of Labor followed it up by moving to .report progress.—Mi Hemes expressed the dissatisfaction of the country members at the Minister's action, which meant dropping ihe Bill, and knuckling down to a small band of city members who had been blocking the Hous'e for some homes. It was useless to try to force tht sist reporting progress, and to block other business for the evening, as a protest against the noisy clamor of a few city members to. upset the will of a majority.—Mr Lauren son congratulated the Minister on his attitude at this stage of the session, when ec many members were anxious to get to then homes. It was useless to try and force the Bill when parties were so cver.lv divided.— Mr R. Thompson said the effect of the atti tude of the city members that night would he to provoke a town v. country party. The city representatives might one'of these days find the rest of the "House arraved asrainst them.—-Mr Monk humorouslv suggested that the Bill should be kept on the floor of the House for members to worry over till the return of Mr Ssddon, who would readily fix matters up.—Mr Pirani said the Minister's attitude was the result of a caucus in the supper adjournment.— Mr Napier said tho clause whi hj had been carried would, if added to the Statute Book, be. a set hick to advanced labor legislation. Within the last five minutes he had received a communication from the Auckland Trades and Labor Council opposing the proposed amendment, which was asrainst the interests ju the .Saturday half-holiday.—Mr R Thompson charged the Labor "Bills Committee with endeavoring to domineer the House, and insinuated that the position had been misrepresented to the Auckland Trades and Labor Council, as factories in the cities were not included in the proposed amendment.—The House at v this stage settled down for the first time this session to a stonewall, the leaders being Messrs Pirani and Herries.—At 12 20 a.m. the stonewall collapsed, and a division was taken on the motion to report progress. This was carried by 35 to 21. The" probabilities are that the last has been heard of the Bill.