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Factories. The factories of New Zealand maintained the steady ratio of increase which has been the rule of late years. The value of buildings, plant, machinery, &c, was materially added to, and the numbers of those employed were also steadily augmented. The annual increment appears as follows: — Year. Factories. Increase. Factory Workers. Increase. 1895 ... ... ... 4,109 ... 29,879 1896 ... ... ... 4,647 538 32,387 2,508 1897 ... ... ... 5,177 530 36,918 4,531 1898 ... ... .. 5,601 424 39,672 2,754 1899 ... ... .... 6,286 685 45,305 5,633 1900 ... ... ... 6,438 152 48,938 3,633 1901 ... ... ... 6,744 306 53,460 4,522 1902 ... ... ... 7,203 459 55,395 1,935 1903 ... 7,675 472 59,047 3,652 1904 8,373 698 63,968 4,921 1905 ... 9,023 650 67,713 3,745 Total increase ... ... 4,914 ... 37,834 There were few breaches of the Factories Act, and these of a nature not calling for special remark, the burden of correcting breaches of the law in the industrial world falling upon the eister Act —that of Arbitration. There was difficulty experienced in some factories in the direction of obtaining young people to assist in the work. This is probably caused by the long period of prosperity that has been extended over the colony. People are not as anxious in good times as in bad to take their children from school and send them either into the factories or into domestic service. The overtime hours worked in the four chief centres are as follows: — Men. Hours. Women and Youths. Hours. Auckland ... ... 590 29,982 1,668 . 44,840 Wellington ... ... 1,139 70,739 1,324 32,444 Christchurch ... ... 627 27,323 2,074 46,162 Dunedin ... ... 945 112,447 1,413 40,144 Total ... ... 3,301 240,491 6,479 163,590 This shows a falling-off in comparison with the number of hours of overtime worked in former years, but does not prove that less work was executed, as in several trades the daily work was divided among a growing number of workers. Among the offences against the Factories Act there was only one which demands particular notice —viz., that of an occupier who was an employer of tailoresses in Southland. This employer had for a considerable time made false entries in his books, and obtained receipts from his seamstresses and tailoresses for higher wages than he actually paid them. The Stipendiary Magistrate considered that the factory-owner had for a considerable time carried on this dishonest practice for the purpose of obtaining an advantage over more scrupulous competitors. The defendant was fined £20, and costs £4 11s. Shops and Offices Act. The Act in force during half the year continued to be well obeyed, and its provisions were observed with little friction between occupiers of shops and the officers of the Government. A far different aspect of affairs became visible when the new Shops and Offices Act of 1904 came into existence. The trouble arose over one section of the Act in particular —viz., section 3 —which directed that in the four chief centres the shops should be closed at 6 p.m. By a legislative inadvertence no exemption for certain trades had been allowed for in the Act, and it was particularly on these trades that the hardship of early closing fell. Although hundreds of small shopkeepers are inimical to compulsory early closing, it is probable that the movement against the peccant section would have lost some of its virulence had fruiterers, confectioners, &c, been exempted from early closing, as they had been from the half-holiday closing. The agitation was so widespread that great circumspection was necessary in the administration of the Act, and almost at once a test case had to be brought before a Stipendiary Magistrate relating to the validity of a combined district. Appeal was made from the decision, and the judgment of the Supreme Court had not been given during the period to which this report refers. The subject of the compulsory closing of shops is a most delicate and difficult one. It is necessary to be very certain of the ground to be covered before any arbitrary regulations for

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