THE SHOP HOURS ACT AGAIN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 9726, 23 January 1895, Page 4

THE SHOP HOURS ACT AGAIN.

• ♦ The Minister for Labour contends that His Worship the Mayor is constituted a member of the Conference to fix the day for the compulsory closing, and can act whether he is delegated by the Council or not. He has wilfully neglected to consider the wording of the Act, which makes this quite impossible. The conference is constituted by delegates from Auckland and the neighbouring boroughs, audit is stated: "Any borough being a city in such district shall appoint a number, being one more than the number of delegates i appointed by all the other local autnori- J

ties in the district." There are three local bodies entitled to appoint besides Auckland, and three delegates appeared from them. Auckland, therefore, was entitled to send four delegates But these four delegates included the Mayor, although the Minister for Labour tries to make it appear that the Mayor is not a delegate of the city at all, but can act quite independently of any delegation. If Mr. Reeves's contention is right, then the Council should have appointed four delegates besides the Mayor, because the Act says :— Any borough being a city in such district shall appoint a number being one more than the number of delegates appointed by all the other local authorities in such district." Another convincing argument remains, It is obviously the intention of Parliament that a city included in a conference should have a preponderating voice in determining the day. One clause states :—" The number of delegates which any such city is entitled to appoint shall constitute a quorum of the conference." If the Mayor were not a delegate of the city, but merely a nominee of the Minister for Labour, then the quorum of the conference would be three. But it is obvious that the meaning of the Act was, that the quorum should be four, so as to maintain the predominance of the city. By this also it is shown that the Mayor must be appointed as a delegate by the city. The madness and absurdity of any attempt to enforce the Act becomes more and more apparent each time it is closely looked at. At the meeting of the Devonport Borough Council on Monday evening, it was stated that in the borough there were 23 shops, and of these nine would be affected, while 14 would not, being exempted by being kept by their owners, who live on the premises, and do not employ assistants. What is the use of passing an Act for the compulsory closing of shops when it allows the majority to keep open ? And why should Parliament step in and ruin those nine men ? The position of Victoria-street may be taken as showing how the Act will work in streets outside of Queen-street. In Victoria-street, from Queen-street to the bottom of College Hill, there are about 250 shops, and it is estimated that there are only four of these which cannot e;et outside the Act. The majority of the others are exempt as being kept by their owners, while in the case of a large number of the remainder the employees will be discharged. It is said that any attempt to work the Act in this street will result in from 40 to 50 adults and boys being thrown out of work. And this is the Act which Mr. Reeves gloried in in Australia as entitling him to the gratitude of the unborn millions, and as the best Act which the human race had yet seen ! Another absurdity is found all round the city. On one side of a street or road the shops are in a borough, while the other side is a highway district, which is not affected. Is it right that Parliament should employ the whole powers of the State to ruin the shopkeepers on one side of a street ? Government is doing so much mischief to trade and commerce, that at all events it might carry out the scheme of ruination with an equal hand. We have heard of one man who is ready for any eventuality. Borne time since he took premises (in a highway district) opposite his shop, which is in a borough, and used these premises as a store for surplus stock. When the Act is enforced, if that ever takes place, he will simply step across the street, open his store, and make his sales there. Thus he will defy the inspector.