THE ACTING-PREMIER.

Timaru Herald, Volume XC, Issue 13278, 6 May 1907, Page 6

THE ACTING-PREMIER.

DEPUTATIONS OX SATURDAY. Hie Hon., W. Hall-Jones had 'a busy hour on Saturday morning, in receiving deputations at his office in., the Government buildings. LEVELS COUNTY SfATTERS. Sikssra C. N. Orbell (chairman), Slahony and LeCren, members of the Levels County Council, waited on -the Minister to place " before him a number of matters of interest to the 'Council. Mr Orbell, as spokesman, brought up first tlw- question of the lapsed grant of iiIGG for the improvement of Brassel's • load, explaining that the work had not been undertaken because an endeavour had been made to get a contribution frc.m Waimate county larger than the one-fourth tried some time ago by Governor's Commission. The ground for this endeavour was, he stated, the fact that since the commi-ssion sat the amount of Waimate traffic passing over the road had been intf.fcd by the cutting up of upper Pa- , leoia into a settlement, and the increased settlement some on parts of the Klworihy estate. Two other roads between the county boundary and Beaconsfield were mentioned as subject to the same large proportion of traffic frpm Wahnate county, and the surveyor's estimate of the cos.s of putting "ihe three in order exceeded £I2OO. And ths was only as far as Beaconsfield, after which the traffic bad to traverse the continuation of the three roads in one to Timaru. Sir Hall-J ones said that the first votes to be considered would be those that had on the estimates and had not bten expended, unless some reasons were found for omitting them, and he could promise

favourable consideration of the vote re--1 ferred to. The balance of two other grants, partially expanded, would certainly be renewed. He suggested that if the circumstances *nd changed sufficiently to justify it, another commission should be aske-U for. Speaking generally of grants for roads, Mr Hall-Jones said that he hoped the local bodies in the old well roaded districts would try to help themselves, and leave the Public Works Fund expenditure on roads to be devoted as far as possible to meeting the necessities of new districts especially the more urgent casf-s in the North Island. The fund .would be three or four hundred thousand less this year than last year, and he looked to the connties doing their best with their own funds. ,

Mr Crb-*II said that the Levels county had a better claim to grants than its neighbours, it had to carry traffic from all of them, while none of them had to carry r.ny Levels trafficMr Orbell asked that, in ;:ny amendment of the Counties Act, provision should be made for allowing connty • offices situated outside a county, to be offices for the collection of dog tax. At present tliis was not lawful, and the Levels Council had to maintain an office at Glen-iti to do what could be done at the county office* if it were allowable. Mr Hall-Jones said he did not know whether thii was provided for in the new Counties Act, and he recommended v>>Council to prepare all suggestions they could make for the improvement of the Act and send them to him. Mr Orbell asked next for an amendment of the law relating to traction engine traffic. to provide that a local authority may make a claim for damage to a road before*, instead of after executing repairs; and a similar reply was given. A complaint from seme property ow.v-rf in the suburbs of Timaru regarding ,'ic charge for the; Pareora water supply was next mentioned. Mr Orbe-ll explained that the borough charged suburban eustorn-T so much per cent, on a valuation made by the borough valuer. They did not complain of the rate of charge, but some did complain cf th? valuations as excesMv and they desired to be given a right of antvnl against excessive assessments. llr Kail-Jones said he would look irio it, but it seemed to be a matter of bar-

gain between the owners of a water supply and people who wished to purchase .water, and there must be some system of fixing charges. { Sir Slahony asked that the Government valuation of imbnrban properties should-be made more frequently, as houses were going up rapidly, and it was vnfair that soma people, had to pay rates on their homss, while the owners cf new Ik.uses paid rates on their land only. A revaluation was being made now, after two or three years interval. / Sir Hall-Jones said the County Council could have, a valuation made at any time by asking for it. In reply to Sir Slahony, Mr Hall-Jones said he would look into 'the question of giving the Levels county' representation on the Timaru High School Board, which was overlooked when the Levels separated from Geraldine. This deputation thanked the Minister and gave place, to another. FACTORY HALF HOLIDAY. The Slayer, Sir Newman and Sir SI. White, president- and/vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce, wit-h Slf-turs J. Jackson and \Y. Penrose, waited on the Acting-Premier in reference to the circular recently issued by the Labour Department regarding the half- holiday in lactones. The Slayor introduced the deputation and Sir Newman stated the ease. He explained the inconvenience that would l>e caused to-many businesses in Timaru by compliance witii the circular, and ; that the clauses in question be allowed to remain in suspereion as heretofore till Parliament met. If this were not done, where shops had their-half holiday fixed" for Thursday, it would mean that-in mnny cates employees must have two half holidays a week, which would be an unfortunate stats of things. Sir Jackson said .that some time ago. he had a peculiar position in his 'place. 'J he carpenters had their factory half holiday on Saturday, and the yardmen theirs on Thintiday. The carpenters could not work without the yardmen and took their holiday on Thursday; they would hot knock off on Saturday, so he had to pay them overtime wages.

Mr-Penrose said that he had practically Ihree separate factories—as defined by the. Act—tailoring, dressmaking, and n;iliin■ory. Many inillinery orders came in on a, Saturday morning to made ap in Lima for the afternoon trains., and if the terms' of tin; circular were insisted on that could no longer be done on a Saturday. That afternoon, on which most country people were in town, would also be lost in til?, fitting room of the' drefsmaking department. Then if ths operatives worked m Thursday afternoons customers could not be expected to come in by the back way, and some one must, be in attendance :o unlock and lock the front door for them. Besides that the work people were constantly wanting material out of the shop, and somscne must be there to supply it. Th-jr Shop Assistants Act made no provision for assistants being allowed to iii-rely look after a shop, so that- he would ba compelled to do it himself. The rtaii objected 1 to the change too. They did not want a half holiday on Saturdays. when vh'j shops were open, at the expense of the holiday on Thursday, when all the sports and fetes were held, and their friend-; employed in shops were enjoying themselves. " The hands affected had to be paid for the half holiday, and as they practically could not. work on Thursdays, it would mean that they must be paid for two half holidays. Mr Hall-Jones: Do you think a general Saturday half holiday would, suit?

Mr Penrose said it would get rid of the difficulty of two half holidays, bat Timara people were not ready to give up Saturday as a business day. It was a country town, not a. manufacturing town, and the present arrangement suited country people best. Mr Cr.tigie thought each place should xr the holiday to suit itself.' Mr Newman and Mr White thought people could become accustomed to a .ia.urday half holiday in time. The latter suggested "in a "couple of years." Mr Hall-Jon:s said he had received similar representations from many places on tl« .'ubjeet. But there was the law, saying that factories shall be clos.-d on Saturday afternoons. For some reason tha law had been held in abeyance for some years, and it was perhaps unfortunate that within two months of the meeting of Parliament a sudden 'request was nvtde that the law should bs strictly observed. He did not think there was much to be gained by the course suggested. If he could gauge the feeling of the country, it was rather in favour of one holiday for shops and factories. He knew that in mil places a-> Timam, Oamsru. Wan garni i ind others where Saturday had bean market day ever since there had been n town, people had got into the way of doing their work on Saturdays. It lied been til? sains in Auckland, but the half holiday was now observed there on Saturdays and there were no complaints about it. The principal objection was having two half holidays in the week, and tha* xould b? got over by shifting the ha'f holiday for shops. Many of the shops even might be brought under the definition of factories, as materials were prepared for use there. The more he looked into it the more he saw the desirability of making day for both shops and fncHe wi c hed they could give the Saturday a trial before Parliament met, and sec how it would wovlc.

Mr Craigie: There would be a mutiny

at once. , , Mr Hall-Jones said. 1)3 had always been in favour of leaving' taeli district to fix its own holidays, and so long as a man got a half holiday on. some day, there should be no great cause for dissatisfaction. He thought the employees would be as well satisfied -with one day as another. Besides, it was only women, and youths under 18 who would bz affected. Mr Penrose f.aid most of business i> so interwoven that, to sur.d them iiffay meant t-10.-ing up. Mr Hall-Jonc-s -said he would put their request before his colleagues, but judging by his experience of the opinions of members of the House, and the difficulty of drawing a line between a shop and a factory, he was inclined to think thafc the final result could be a universal half holiday on Saturday. Mr Newman: Would you make it compulsory ? .Mr Hull-Jones : If you- did not you would have a lot of trouble. Ther-d might be some grumbling at a compulsory holiday at the outset but peopla would soon - fail into it as they have done in. Auckland, iimaiu had been loyal to the Thursday, and no wonder, as the shopkeepers initiated the weekly half holiday by voluntary agreement. Mr Penrose: May we take it that the law will not N be enforced until Parliament meets?

Mr Hall-Jones: I cannot say that. Xo Minister has a right to say that the law should not be enforced.

Mr Craigie:. Leave it till Parliament meets.

Mr Hall-Jones: There has been iio prosecutions yet. The notice has not yet expired however. Mr White: The law has been in abeyance for a number, of years'. • Mr Hall-Jones: That is >a different thing from authorising disobedience to a law, as tie latter would form a very bad precedent. I don't like that idea. Mr Craigie: Mr Hall-Jones knows, our position and ha will attend to it. THE TECHNICAL SCHOOL.

The same deputation (except Mr Penrose. -who retired) as representatives of the- managers of 'the Technical School, Timaru, asked Sir Hall-Jones as member for Timaru to suport their request for a grant to enlarge the Technical school building. Mr Craigie stated the case, describing the present building and the necessity fur using I'oonjs, in the Main School, limaru had received £I2OO for building and £l5O for equipment, whilst Wanganui, and New-Plymouth, he. believed, had received £4OOO each, and even Temuka had £2XO. They had a, sketch plan of the proposed .additions 'to plao& before ihe Minister of Education, and thdi deputation asked Mr Ball-Jones as their member to support their..request for a-grant when it came before th2 Cabin;'". Mr Hall-J on t. j taii bs understood the position and recognised the inconvenience of tlio present arrangements and the desirability for avoiding the shifting of furniture that must be entailed by the- use of the .Main School. - The request for a grant seemed a very reasonable one. The deputation • mtist,' however, bs under a misapprehension regarding the amount of grants made to other placet:-. In some casss' at. a!J evento, liberal contributions were made by local people.' Timaru was entitled to a fair share of the provision now being made for technical education, and the estimated cost seimed very reasonable. They could rest assured that the interests of Timaru in this matter would not be overlooked. RAILWAY OVERHEAD BRIDGE. The deputation then discussed with the Minister the question of a briclgo ever the railway yard to avoid the to traffic whicn were no wocciisioncd daily by trains,, especially by trains in the. dock, obstrccting the Strathallan street crossing. The Mayor said he had counted as many as twenty vehicles waiting for a train to move, in order to get across, and Sir Newman mentioned a count of sixteen. Bad as it was now, it must .become worse as the business of the town increased', said Sir Craigie, and the sooner a remedy was applied the more cheaply it could be done, {i. he district engineer came down to report, but 'he had not bean heard ; from since. ; Sir Hall-Jones said he had .seen the ireport, and it was enough to frighten one, the total cost- being £30,000. If the Borough Council and the Harbour Board paid one-third each, the Government might pay the other third. Sir Craigie did not approve of that pro-1 pccal. "It's your railway- that blocks/ our street."

Sir Ea!!-Jcnec: "For your convenience." A discussion took piacs on the best place for ah overhead bridge, and Sir oucksou's suggestion of North street, was considered -too far south for the north tide traffic. Sir Hall-Jones said Bcswick street was the b.et place, but the. erection of a bridge and the widening of the street would run into £30,000.

Sir .Craigie said the Borough'. Council vould undertake to widen the strest.

Mr Hall-Jones said that if thc-y gave carters the alternative of waiting or climbing a steip incline to a bridge, they would prtfer to wait, as the incline would limit their loads. That wa/i we!l seen at Duntdin. If the bridge were buiit they would have to use it, ; however, as ths nest tiling would be to close the ciossung. It was too big a thing to be- undertaken at present, but something would have to be done in future-.

Mr Craigie- said Iho earlier it was done i:h: ks-j. expensive it would be. A si:bway was also mentioned and dismissed ;:s impr.iciicable. THE PASSENGER PLATFORM.

Mr Craigii nest mentioned the demand for a wider platform at the T'imaru passenger station, and spoke of its crowded condition on busy days and of tha " awful barrows" that are run to and fro with luggage. Mr Newman ako made some remarks on tha subject. Air idau-jou-ij whether they had sss-en tli« Weiiicigcon piUtioiin, winta was uo Bitter, for tiij bigger city. ins wui-js.

■.iris year, do .MirtoLvi' oi jXailwavs, was co uiujkc pru\ Lion tor increasing uic roliiiig s„ock, to 1-iia.D iii-fc' lv.li'.raTi tuiiid ciuir duties as tariiara. 'i'licy woui<l admit that tliat wiii nioiy important liiau viiat liity wcr- askiiig lor. Xiie runways cia not earn luVcic&t on the ccio 01 construction now, ana tlie expeiiOiiiue on ucii-taimiig objects must bj Kepi ao.ra. lie iKid i'cqi«ss.c-s for t,uch impiwvtiuciits J rem Aal over the colony, ;uia he coiud not inivc it s.ad thai hy lavoui'cd limuru because: it was his constituency. He must try to be lair to tha whoij colony; The eiowding of th<s platform was largely ciu-j to peopie who were rot travelling, and liu-rd -iva.-; a simple lemecly lor that. A discussion took place on the best way of widening chc< p.aiiorni, ii ic. were to bo UittLi'Ui&fit, and it was agreed that this only way would be to shirt the- station bunding bodily back soma feet. Ihj di-pitfcaiioa thanked ilia MhvLier and withdrew.

Two or tlnv& piivaie u-epuUii.uis then waited on the Minisixv, including one Horn railway tmployeei, regarding a small local difference of opinion about wages.