WEEKLY HALF-HOLIDAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2884, 30 June 1909, Page 15

WEEKLY HALF-HOLIDAY.

IMPORTANT DECISION".. - NELSON, June 24. An important judgmeait was given in the Supreme Court to-day by hi* Honor ■ | Mr Justice Cooper in the case Inspector j of Factories v. ,Bethwa ; te, an appeal from j the decision of the magistrate in "a .half- •' holiday prosecution. The respondent is • an ironmonger, and the.' half-holiday fpr i that trade is 'fixed for Saturday^ by re r quisition of two firms claiming to be" the constituted .majority. ' Respondent kept bis shop open on Saturday, and when prosecuted set up the defence that the xequisition was not signed by the 'majority of the' trade, as there were other shopkeepers engaged in the sale of ironmongery as part of their businesses, and ,they were therefore ironmongers. . The magistrate upheld this contention, and' dismissed the information. In the course 1 ""of,' his judgment,' his Honor ?aid the appeal was made on 'two grounds — {1) That - the direction that the shops should close was conclusive, and (2) that the magis- j Irate was wrong in holding that the re- | quisition had- not Veen signed' by a. majority of the ironmongers and hardware dealer?. With resard- to the first objection, his Honoi* held that the direc- ." tion was not conclusive, 'and that its validity could bs inquired; into. 'On the . &scond and main point lie h«ld in con- ■ Ftruing section 25 of * " The Shops and Oflkes Act, 1908," which allows the • majority of the occupiers of all shops in j a diet-net, or these carrying on particn- ilar trades, to regulate at what hours their j shops* must be - closed, that interpreta- ■' tion must* be adopted which involved the j least absurdity. In Nelson there vwre ; . three shops \rhoce .main business was-j .hardware and irormongery. and several j storekeepers a substantial part of whose j business was ako in these lines. If the-1 traders who qarvy -"'on these particular ! businesses cannot regulate their hours of closing without-the consent of a majority of the general storekeepers they are prevented from exercising the power granted -by section 25 of the act. He thought at first that ihc certificate went beyond the 1 requisition of the storekeepers in. add- '; ing the Avords- " combined and separately," ! ' and that the direction to close was there- { : fore lad. but o:\ consideration he came j 'to the c.n-dusinii ., that these words ap- ■" plied to those cairying on ironmongery J or hardware combined or Separately, and |?iot to ihofe. carrying on those businesses i * in conjunction with snr others Om these. { - (grounds ihe appeal was allowecl, and tao-: j caee remitted to the magistrate, with a j direction that the defence- set up was | 'no answer to the information ; but, as - j the question was of some importance and a new point of law was involved, no costs j were allowed, t