ROYALTY AND HOLIDAYS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CV, Issue 12530, 18 June 1901, Page 6

ROYALTY AND HOLIDAYS.

TO. the editor. Sir, —It is dbubtful if the majority ol employers or© legally within,' thedr rights in compelling their employees to work two long nights in succession, especially in the case of their female hands. Jn order to give your readers 1 ian jdea of the actual position .so as to judge the merits of this discussion, I will try and give them the assistants’ version, as correctly as possible. The ordinary, hours of business are at present sufficiently arduous, especially during the dark winter, days. Th© feeling of depression caused by a long night of bustle amid the carbonic oxide-laden air of the larger gate-lit shops is only overcome, in many oases, by the day of rest 'following, i.e., Sunday. 'What will be the position under the -present arrangements? Assistants wiE work aE day Friday till 9 p.m., which means 9.30 p.m. On Saturday till 11 a.mi, when they wiE be allowed to crush themselves into the seething mas* of people to get a glimpse of the Royal visitors, get a hasty mead as ‘best they con, for the tram services will be suspended and the eating-houses crowded, and- start'work again at 3 p/m. and’ on to 9 fi.e., 9.30), with tne usual tea hour allowed, during which the difficulties of lunch hour will be increased. Now, do you consider this conducive to a fitting reception on the part of shop-assistants to our future King? The only loyalty the majority of employers have is to their own pockets, which ■ 'binds them, as it has their ‘kith and kin in.'all.ages, •to consider only thedr private interests, and to .grind from flesh and sinew more than their share for their money.—-I am, etc.. While we live let us live. TO. THE EDITOR. Sir,—We often Eaten to you. “Men ol the Pen.’’ Kindly give us a tom. Our Oivil servants, bank, mercantile and commercial clerks, wiE be absolved from duty on Saturday and Monday next. Most counter-clerks and shop attendants at retail store® will score something approaching another holiday. A large number of operative mechanics will find their wages at least a day and a half short of their usual earnings. WiE no one put in a kindly word for us towards closing the hotels for an hour or two on one of tb© show days, that your ever-ready attendants ait the bar and other employees may get a small glimpse ol what little the stands and barricades have left of the Royal procession to be seen by the general public.—l am, eto., ‘ NOT THE FAIRY.