EARLY CLOSING.

Otago Witness, Issue 802, 13 April 1867, Page 1

EARLY CLOSING.

(From the Daily Times, April 4.)

What philosopher can certainly explain the chairs in draper's shops, and the form thereof, so that a man may know why they are so wonderfully made? Why should the sun be constrained, throughout the wide circuit of those dominions, on which we are proud to think he never sets, to gaze for ever upon an endless succession of British females perched at a dizzy height upon the rr.ost uncomfortable, the most ungraceful, the most insecure and fragile of sea^s ? It may possibly be accounted for on the Darwinian theory, why, unlike Durham oxen, and London f otmen, the legs have so developed, while the back has become as rudimentary as a moa's winsr; or it may be because, if a reasonably comfortable seat were provided, ala'dy would ait absorbed in the " dear" — not to say ruinous — " delight" of shopping for ever. Sedet ceterrrfimque sedehit. After much pondering, and noting often how hard it is to dislodge her even from that bad eminence, this is the only solution at which we can even gues3. Truly she is wonderful as she "sits up aloft" fingering, rejecting, scrutinising, purchasing, discriminating even in that dim religious light which drapers most affect, between sJufFa in which the ordinary male, uninitiated in these modern mysteries, can see no earthly difference, so that he is fain to hurry out in not unblasphemous de • spair into the wilderness, leaving behind bim a reckless carte-blanche. She is wonderful on her perch ; but one thing is yet more wonderful, the uncomplaining patience, the assiduity of the sorely -tried, unfortunate imprisoned behind the counter. Our readers will, we artsure, rejoice with us that the drapers' assistants have scented, at all events in

parVa^lease from their bondage, in the ! shrfffiaf of " early closing;" ■ '■ I 'An' effort is now being made to extend to the 1 shopmen engaged in other branches of business the same benefits, and to secure to the whole of this clasp, for their own purposes, for rest, for , arauperaenr, for improvement, a romewhat larger' share of the twenty- four hour? than has hitherto fallen to their lot. Mechanics aad laborers have, in/ this country at least, we rejoice to say,' established a fair balance between the hours of work, and— in its wide 'and truest sense — recreation. Government is content 'with five hours* workj 'and in lawyers' . and in merchants! ' offices, - some ■ six or seven hours is all that employers claim Why " should' alone be compelled to devote half of the twenty-, four hours^ and on Saturdaya a good many: more, taan occupation, which is in itself, and at its best, the most dreary of all to which mortal man e^er devoted himself ? There is not the least necessity for it. All that is required is" for 'their employers to enter into an agreement, and to- organise themsel?es in order to spare themselves and their servants, many of the! weariest hours of this weary, drudgery, atfd themselves never one penny the poorer. If all shops were shut j at a reasonable hour, not one farthing lees would be spent in calicoes or silks, in sugar or candles, or in any other wares. People must consume a certain quantity of i these things, and eight hours in the day are more than enough to provide a convenient season for every class of the community to procure them. Of course, it is impossible for a minority, or even a majority of the tradesmen in the several brancdes f o close earlier than tho j e who will ' have their pound of flesh — and a good many pounds of flesh their obstinacy does cost those unfortunate young men, and possibly young fadies, whom it debars from fresh air and wholesome exeTcise. Unanimity is in this case absolutely needful. We are informed that most of the employers of labor ia shops see the matter in its true light, and are fully aware that they would lose nothing in sales, but gain a good deal by being free themselves at an earlier hour, and by exchanging the jaded service of exhausted servants for the enerpy and willing activity of young people in full health and vigour, mental and bodily, but that an obstinate minority refuses to be convinced. As this is the case, we think it high time for the public to sfep in and chew their appreciation of this perversity. It is indeed a matter of public concern that so numerous a class, composed of material capable of rich development and improvement, should, from the early age at which they enter upon their employment, be debarred from the' conditions of physical, intellectual, and moral health, that they should be in these respect?,- if not necessarily stunted, at all events so placed that none but the most robust minds and bodies can escape irretrievable injury.

We all remember the charming satire of the Tory novelist. We remember the excellent taste with which he exposes the little vanities, the aaucheriea, and the ungraceful physique of Mr Tittlebat Titmouse. He showed us an unfortunate being sleeping beneath a counter in the mephitic atmosphere of a London shop, ill fed, and at his millhorse round fourteen or fifteen hours a day ,• but he forgot to tell us how he was to be blamed, and therefore why he should be laughed at, for being stunted in mind, and character and body. All his sympathy is reserved for the graceful gently- nurtured Aubrey; he moans with Aubrey when Aubrey is compelled to work for his bread, and when Aubrey weeps, as he sees his friends, the swells, roll by to banquets at which Aubrey may no longer sit, we can well imagine that his manuscript must have been well nigh illegible for "tears. The assistants in our shops do not fare so ill as poor Tittle* bat, but tbey fare quite ill enough. They are confined in mephitic shops, breathing dust and impurity and Dunedin gas, when all the rest of the world may be enjoying the fresh air, or the fire side, or society, or books. They have received ?o much education that they know the value of getting more, but with the means of getting what they desire within their grasp, they cannot stretch out their hands to take it. Competent ob=ervers havcheld it the worst feature in the prospects of colonial society that the period of education is 1 so much abri dged by the value of even juvenile labor, that in the next generation it will be rare to meet with a well educated man

Here ia a large class of men, intelligent enough to be conscious of deficiency and eager for improvement; the value of whose services would be even greater than,weariness and 'over-confinement will suffer it ,ta. be now, if they were but allowed the time necessary for healthy recreation and improvement. - They are debarred t< we are told, from these advantages by tb*e shortsighted, perverse selfishness of a few men. The drapers' assistants, even under the improVed system, do riot conclude the labours, commenced, perhaps, at eight o'clock on Saturday ' mofhfng, until ten o'c'ock on Saturday night. Tne other trade 9 appear to be, throughout the livelong week, confined until an hour when all exercise muefe be prevented' by. darkness, all' mental exertion by sh^er weariness ; and on Saturdays "so late/ that a Sunday of mere, physical ' rest and- inaction must be, all but a necessity in most cases, • /|V ' Surely it is a matter not only for "grocers* " assistants" and " drapers' assistants" to agitate about, but for all the community energetically and without delay to bring to a satisfactory issue. One suggestion we may permit ourselves to make. If those tradesmen who are in favor of early closing: were to exhibit in their windows placards to that effect, and to add to their billheadings or circulars the words "early " closing," they would soon learn whether the public takes sufficient interest in those, ■who serve it with so much courtesy and intelligence, to make it possible for employers to take a step ai conducive to their own interests as to those of the employed.