THE HALF-HOLIDAY
THE NEW SYSTEM AT WORK.
La-.t -week the order to comply with the leti.tr oi thy lactone* -'vet, vvim.ii requires females and boys under 13 employed in -factories" to "ft? 'given, and to lake, a half holiday on Saturday auernoon:;, was duly acted "upon by the drapers of liniuru who, as the largest employers' of finale labour, are tho most ait'ecti'd by the law, as an alteration upon the past custom of thi town.
• Inquiry was made by a " Herald" reporter on Saturday c\-<.iiin a -, Low the change- had atiscted thsm. ihe tiiet diaper seen at once condemned the change in very emphatic Saxon, on a< count oJt the amount of income nbnea it, had caused him, first, in arranging for the worktrs io return on Thursday, when the shop was shut; second in lhi incu:iv.nit-nc« and,,annoyance, of working short-handed in certain workshop branches on Saturday afternoon, when a number ol country customers had to be attended to if possible.
"It's very bad; a, very great'nuisance," he said of it; "exceedingly bad; a great humbug." On Uhursday the workers had to rush the shop to get all they wanted for the afternoon, or they would have been stuck tip. On Saturday several dresses ought to have, been finished in the afternoon, after final fitting in the morning. They could not be done, and the customer's would have to come again to get them. The millinery department was the worst. In this department orders were received and completed the same day, but now in many cases that could not be done. As most of the millinery work was clone within the shop,, there were perforce •two hail" holidays there. The Act, he thought, should be amended, and workroom} run .wioh shop* should ba treated a-; part of the shops. "So long as the hands got a half holiday, what did it matter to other people when they got. it? Tht re is a temptation under the present arrangement to get orders done by deceit,, by putting people to work on them elsewhere than in the proper workrooms. Horn'.-thing must be done to get the law altered.".
The second draper seen had not been inconvenienced, as it happened, b -ythe absence of the workers on ■Saturday; but he anticipated that he would ba, as a. rule. It happened to be a quiet day for orders. One useful concession had been allowed, 'he h:ad-dressOTi:iker, not an operative, being permitted to remain on duty as a. saleswoman. On Thursday the workpeople were employed, they having a back entiance, and all they required for the afternoon was supplied before one o'clock. The milliners, however, who work in the show room, had to iiave all their requirements shifted into another re cm for that half dav.
The next- draper vhited had also, as it happened, suffered no inconvenience that day, but in the ordinary course of their trade they must do so, and their country customers still more, as instead of being able to complete fitting a dress on a Saturday—their usual day for visiting town, a second visit would be- necessary. The millinery branch was the most disorganised, as must be the case in a branch in which orders were given, work done, and deliveries made on the same day.
All three—Mr Smith of the Farmers, Mr Penrose, and Mr Pritchard, of Ballantyne and Co. concurred in the remark that" the greatest good of the greatest number should rule, and the greatest number were the customers. From .the earliest times Timaru had had Saturday r.s its market day, and in the drapery and miliinery trade marketing by the customers involved in some cases some work by expert hands on the articles bought. There seamed to be no good reaeon for u]wetting the old arrangement, which had answered veiv well
Mr Penrose suggested that a univeisal Saturday half-holiday would be better for those who could afford to get away from town altogether for a "week-end" holiday ; but even that, he said, would not ■ipply to Timaru so well as it does to the larger towns, where the railway facilities for going out and returning are more convenient. For the workers, he thought two breaks in the week would be better than ore.
Mr Pritchard ;Ballantyne and Co) considered that Thursday should be adhered to, it having been selected by the townspeople when they were perfectly fres to choose, as the most convenient clay for the holiday—they then considering the convenience of llieir country customers. To change the half holiday" to Saturday would make a very great difference in ihe habits of the people, as there would be uo *' Saturday night parade." no late Saturday night .'hopping, which was so useful to men employed on farms in the neighbourhood, >cores of whem bicycle into Timaru on Saturday evenings. Something must be done, concluded Mr Pritchard : having two half holidays is bound to cause great inconvenience.
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Bibliographic details
Timaru Herald, Volume XC, Issue 13290, 20 May 1907, Page 3
Word Count
820THE HALF-HOLIDAY Timaru Herald, Volume XC, Issue 13290, 20 May 1907, Page 3
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