Hawke's Bay Herald. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 1892. THE SHOPS AND SHOP ASSISTANTS BILL.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 9145, 31 August 1892, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Herald. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 1892. THE SHOPS AND SHOP ASSISTANTS BILL.

Ir Minis'ers had eet themselves the special task of justifying the rejection of some of their bills last year by the Legislative Council they could nofc have done much more than they have clone. The Land Bill, the Conciliation Bill, and other measures introduced this session contain the very amendments made by the Conncil, which cansed the withdrawal of those bills. Another bill, now before the House, is a further example of this. Last session a very objectionable measure called the Shop Hours Bill was introduced, but rejected by the Legislative Council. It) was professedly brought in in the interests of shop assistants, but in ( operation it would have crushed a large claes ol struggling shopkeepers, by forcing them to close ab an early hour. If it was in the interests of anybody it was in those of the large shopkeepers who aheady close early. This year the Shops and Shop Assistants' Bill, which has taken the place of the Shop Hours Bill, is a very different measure. Save that it provides a compulsory half holiday every week, there is no restriction imposed on tbe hours shops may be kept open, but there Ib a restriction npon the working hours of women and youths under eighteen years of age. In fact the bill is | precisely on the lines of the F-tctory Acts, and every argument ln favor ol the Factory Acts can be used in favor of this bill. If all shops are treated alike, we ccc no objection to a compulsory halfholiday every week. The majority of the shopkeepers in Napier are agreed on that, and a year or two ago they did their best to get a weekly holiday. The minority stood out, however, and so defeated the movement. The bill applies to aU shops in a city, borough, or town district, except coffee-houses, restaurants, and places where fish and fruit or other quickly perishable goods are sold. The local Council or Town Boaid is to fis the day for the half* holiday, bat a different day may be fixed for different trades if that is deemed desirable. "Closed" is Interpreted to mean closed against the admission of the publio for purposes of trade, so it would not prevent parcels of goods purchased in the morning being mado up and despatched, or other necessary work b-j-ing done. The penally far a breach of this provision is a fine not exceeding £5. Doubtless at first some little irritation might be caused by the compulsory half-holiday, especially on the part of country people visiting town on a shopping expedition on the closing day, but that inconvenience wou'd be only temporary, as very soon it would bo as well understood that the shops closed ear'y on a certaiu day as it now understood that wholesale establishments olose early ou Saturdays. Employers aud eiiploytSj would be all the better ior a rest in the middle of the week, and in the end the bulk of trade done would be just the same. The limitation of tho hours of females and youths is reasonable ; indeed, this part of tbe bill might be made more stringent. Tbe work nf shop girls, who must necessarily be ou their feet nearly the whole of the day, is ab least as heavy as that of milliners. Yet while the latter cannot be worked more than 48 hours per week, and must bave a half-holiday, the hours of shop girls are at present unregulated. The bill proposes to limit the hours to forty-eight, including meal times. In most large retail establishments the hours now worked ate from 9 to 8 o'clock five days of the week, and nntil 10 o'clock on Saturdays. This means fiity-six hours per week, but if the shops were closed at 1 o'clock once a week, and the same hours as now kept on the other five days, the hours wonld be only fifty one. Tbe limitation to fifty-eight hours, therefore, il it errs at all, is in the direction of too-long hours. The penalty for a breach of this parb of the Act is to be a liae not exceeding £2. If an employer is unaware that bhe Act is belog broken he is not to be held responsible, but the agent, servant, or workman ab whose instance excessive hours are worked is to be liable to the same penalty an if he were an employer. A third section requires every employer I provide seating accommodation for females employed in bis shop. Every medical man has had brought under his notice cases oi serious Illness of girls caused through standing excesslva hours. Men are not subject to sucb special ailments, and it is unnecessary to make special provision in their case. Some yoars ago attention was called to this matter very prominently in England, and as the result many ladies declined to purchase in shops where seating accommodation for the employes was not provided. This bill simply makes compulsory what should be dono oat of kindly consideration. It is possible that in some cases idleness might be encouraged, though we believe thab most girls would seek to render better service In return for kindness shown to them. But eyeD had such a risk to be mn, there are hygienic reasons wby selling accommodation should be provided. On tbe wholo the bill, which bears the name of Mr Reeves, is a moderate one, and the machinery is so simple t>s to cause the minimum of irritation to employers. It stands in a very different category to some of the other so-called Labor bills, and we hope to see it passed this session.