HALF-HOLIDAY ISSUE.

Grey River Argus, 26 April 1929, Page 2

HALF-HOLIDAY ISSUE.

(Published by arrangement.) The attention of oup readers is drawn to the announcement that appears eLewhere in this issue, pertaining to th e Wednesday half-holiday retention movement, in which it is pointed out that the continued progress and prosperity of Greymouth il depends on the trading facilities given to the people of the surrounding districts.” This economic principle is age-old, and has ever shown that if any town is to progress, it must do so per medium of the spending powe r of the people residing in and around it, who naturally make it a trading centre, and in so doing assure its advancement. Now. Greymouth is the trading centre of the Grey district, and over fifty per cent, of its business is transacted on Saturday. Therefore if the stores have to close on that day, the greater portion of this business will be lost, simply because Saturday is the weekly halfholiday of the workers employed in the mills and mines, and the one free Jay they have to do their shopIt is useless for advocates of half-holiday to state that of business which would take place on Friday night would compensate for Saturday’s loss; for is it to be expected ’hat a worker (after a heavy day’s toil) will come to town to do his shopping, and then return and finish his week’s work the following morning? Not for a moment. That business will either be done by country stores or by the “shop by post” firms in other parts of the Dominion; in either case, it will be lost to Greymouth. This state of affairs will bring about decreased trading, and decreased trading will bring about decreased staffs, and thus the dread spectre of unemployment. Wednesday has been proved to be satisfactory. Westport, our neighbouring town, tried Saturday, with such disastrous results that the mid-week half-holiday was reverted to after a few weeks; and Westport’s case is on all fours with opr own. the northern town being the shopping ccn'ro of | a wage-earning community. Surely Westport’s costly experiment is sufficient to show one and. all that Wednesday (the ilay supported by shopkeepers and their assistants alike) is the best suited to Greymouth, the one day which will assist our town to continued progress and prosperity.