THE HALF-HOLIDAY QUESTION.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XX, Issue 2101, 9 April 1925, Page 5

THE HALF-HOLIDAY QUESTION.

(To the Editor)

Sir, —In your issue of the Ist inst. there is a letter from a man who is not a friend of Te Kuiti. He says on the half-holiday question: "If sport is to be the deciding factor, etc." Now that man is unwittingly an enemy of sport as well as an enemy of the progress of the town. No sane elector will decide the halfholiday question on the purely secondary view of sport. Even if he does, his l-eason should tell him that sport of all kinds will be patronised fifty fold more by the crowds coming from the fifteen sawmills and the country places, with the double object of sport and shopping, which cannot be expected if the shop doors are closed against them! How is it that sport is more patronised and sporting bodies have a bigger membership at Taumarunui than Te Kuiti, though the shops at Taumarunui are open all day on Saturday? It is because they get large crowds from the sawmills and country, whsoe natural shopping day is Saturday. Another factor forgotten by your correspondent is the question of more employment. If the shopkeepers increase trade as they are sure to do when they keep open on Saturday, they can put on more assistants and pay better wages than they can do with Saturday closing.—Yours, etc., "PROGRESSIVE/'

(To the Editor.)

Sir, —"Business Man's" letter is to the point in many respects on the above subject of sport. We do not want sport to dominate business, we want to co-operate with sport. Get Thursday closing and the country people will come in on Saturday and do their shopping and go to the sports. lam given to understand that the gates of most sports meetings are smaller now than at the time when Thursday was half-holiday. Taumarunui has Thursday closing and much more flourishing sports clubs.— ANOTHER BUSINESS MAN.