THIS HALF-HOLIDAY QUESTION.

Southland Times, Issue 21997, 22 April 1933, Page 7

THIS HALF-HOLIDAY QUESTION.

To the Editor. Sir,—A week or two ago we saw published in your paper a list of the retail establishments who wished to retain the Saturday half-holiday, and I think that a great many citizens would be interested to see a list published of the shopkeepers on the other. side of the house, for after all this bi-annual half-holiday poll simply devolves itself into a fight between the two factions of shopkeepers. To me it seems a great pity that this is put to the vote at all, for it must involve the city, in a fair amount of expense, and I think it is a matter that should be decided by the shopkeepers, who are the only people who have anything at stake. After all it is ridiculous to say that huge representative list of business houses, the names of which were published, are choosing a day which will be detrimental to business, for they are all in the game to make a success of their business. Let us look at the mercantile houses, wholesale warehousemen, land agents, banks, lawyers and countless other business houses, whatever the half-holiday they still continue to close on Saturday afternoon, and if there was such a tremendous influx of people and money into the town on Saturday afternoon,, can anyone tell me that these business houses would shut shop and turn the business down. We saw the lists of both Saturdayites and Wednesdayites at the poll two years ago, and one has only to look at the number of the Wednesday supporters who have switched over to Saturday to be convinced that they have discovered the error of their ways. lam fully convinced that the public of Southland has been very well catered for during the past two years with the straight-out five and a-half shopping days, and as I said the list proves conclusively that the retail houses in which nine-tenths of the capital is sunk are convinced that it is a very suitable arrangement for better business, so why this humbug by the other 10 per cent. Let them look around and see if they cannot set their houses in better order, or transfer their assets to some town like Otautau, which by all accounts has slipped until it has nearly slipped off the map altogether, and like the other country towns of Southland does not appear to have reaped any benefit through Invercargill having had the Saturday half-holi-day during the past two years.—l am, “BRASS TACKS.”