SUNDAY TRADING

Taranaki Daily News, 19 November 1934, Page 3

SUNDAY TRADING

PICKNICKERS’ PURCHASES. HOT WATER AND ICE-CREAM. Does the sale of hat water to picnic parties on Sundays constitute a breach of the Sunday trading provisions of the Police Offences Act? This question, which arose at a meeting of the council of the Canterbury Justices of the Peace Association the other evening, was asked by members, who were of the opinion that if it did, the anomaly should be rectified. It was stated that suburban storekeepers had been warned against allowing people to consume ice-cream outside their shops on Sundays, under threat of a fine up to £5. “It seems a ridiculous thing that people cannot take a gallon or so of water away for the use of their friends,” remarked Mr. H. F. Herbert. “It is hard to find an interpretation of the Act. Does the sale of hot water constitute a breach of the provisions? Again, at a cemetery, a store providing tea on Sundays, also sells flowers. People go there and take the flowers away. ’ Does that constitute a breach of the Act?” “It seems hard,” the chairman, Mr. A. H. Hobbs, said, “when one sees two boys buying ice-creams on a Sunday. One eats his in the shop and the other, stepping outside, commits an offence.” “In that case a justic would be justified in dismissing the case,” stated Mr. H. Holland, M.P. “What difference does it make whether a thing is eaten in the shop or in the street?” “It seems a remarkable thing that the Government should make laws which they do not intend to keep,” continued the chairman. “A Minister, according to the Act, can grant permission to people to sell books and cigarettes on .Sunday on a railway station.” After a suggestion had been made that the matter should be the subject of a remit to the New Zealand Justices’ Federation conference next March, the discussion ended.