THE SHOP HOURS BILL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 9271, 5 August 1893, Page 4

THE SHOP HOURS BILL.

TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION. CuiusTCiirp.cn, Friday. At a meeting of shopkeepers to-night, at which between '/) and (it) were present, it was resolved to protest against the compulsory clause in the Shop Hours Rill, ft was further resolved that if a compulsory halfholiday was decided upon the day selected should be Thursday. It was resolved to send copies of the resolutions and report to all members of Parliament.

Wellington, Friday. A deputation of Wellington shop-keepers, in!i-o(lui:e«J by Mr. Duthie, interviewed the Minister fur Lib:>ur to-night regarding the Shops and Shops Assistants' Hill. Several members of the deputation urged that the liberties of tradesmen should not be curtailed, and maintained that the penal clau-es of the Bill would ruin many small shop-keepers, and give a monopoly to large traders. It was admitted that the principle of the Bill \va« a good one, but what the deputation objected tc were the compulsory clauses.

The Hon. Mr. Reeves -aid if he did what the deputation asked him, ho would simply drop the Hill, and he could not do that. The Bill would not, he was sure, do anything like the harm which was feared. All the shops would close together, and it would mean that they would have to do in live and a-halt days the work now done in six. lie could assure the deputation that the Bill had not been brought in at the demand of a few large traders. As for the argument that the Bill would interfere with the liberty of the subject, every Bill dealing with industry did that in a greater or less degree.