Early Closing.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6829, 17 April 1890, Page 2

Early Closing.

j Gratifying aa the crowded attendance at, . and the unanimity of opinion of, Tuesday , night's meeting must have been to all who 1 are interested in the Early Closing move- • rnenfc, still it cau only be looked upon as a ; means to an end, or rather as an incentive - and encouragement towards further effort i in the good cause. The battle is by no i means won. As was pointed out by the Very Rev the Dean, there have been ' many previous efforts in the same direc--1 tion, and those efforts have promised • success quite as hopefully as does i the present movement. Undoubtedly Ilia , public mind is being educated, and such ; meetings as was that of Tuesday must do - much towards discouraging opponents and inciting cold-huarted aud indifferent I neutrals. A correspondent, in a letter I appearing in this issue, calb attention to ■ one danger to the success of the movement. He says, in effect, that the largo business l firms will favour it, because ib will benefit I them by lessening their expenses, while it ; will not deprive them of a single customer, r The very small tradesmen, on the other j hand, will scarcely be expected to join the early closing party, and so they will not be 1 affected. He eaya that the tradesmen who £ will suffer, and against whom he declares the j Association really directs itß efforts, ar e tho3e I occupying a middle position, those whose I customers have been in the habit of shop- . ping principally, if not exclusivoly, in the I evenings. There is, no doubt, something j of weight in what our correspondent says, : and efforts mußt be directed specially to meet the difficulty he suggests. The obvious solution is, of course, the induce- • ment of the customers of the middle class ! shopkeepers to arrange their shopping at more reasonable hours. This may iake ■ some tiino to accomplish, but should not ; be an impossible task. Where there is so general a consent that the shopping reform j should be carried out, an obstacle of so comparatively slight a character must" i be easily surmountable. All that is ! needed is tact and temper on the ■ one hand, and a spirit of give and take on the other. There is risk of failure if 1 the reforming party is too precipitate. : The success hitherto achieved has been with those shopkeepers whose acquiescence might most easily be hoped for ; the most hostile have yet to be won over. In the meantime, the proposal of the Rev T. Plavell for Saturday night popular entertainments is very well timed, and can hardly be looked upon as counting one's chickens before they are hatched. Saturday night concerts have been successful elsewhere, aud should, if well managed, become exceedingly popular in Christchurch, where already co many shop assistants, who are likely to be their principal patrons, have been released from work at a reasonable hour.