Death and disease behind the counter / by Thomas Sutherst.

  • Sutherst, Thomas.
Date:
1884
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Death and disease behind the counter / by Thomas Sutherst. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Ilkley.—This neighbourhood is very backward in regard to early closing. A half-day closing is unknown, and only three whole days in the year are recognized holidays—December 25th and 26th and Good Friday. Kirby Stephen.—We are still working long hours, with no immediate prospect of shortening them. Result : heavy gas bills, and conviction that same trade might be done in much less time. Leamington.—The hours of business in the retail trade generally are much too long. The Thursday early closing has been tried here, and, after a few months, resulted in a failure. A few of the employers will not agree to a seven o’clock closing, consequently, with the exception of one or two of the houses who do a good-class trade, the assistants have little or no time for recreation. Why should this be ? A curtailment of the hours of labour would result in the advantage of employers and employed alike. Leeds.—We are as badly off here as they are anywhere. We work eighty hours a week, and some far more. Leicester.—We cannot induce everybody to close early, and so the old system is kept up, and it seems to me we shall always be slaves. We are in the shop over eighty hours a week. Liverpool.—An important meeting has been held during the season, under the most favourable auspices, in favour of earlier closing of all retail businesses, and a very decided and generally expressed opinion is that nothing short of an Act of Parliament will meet the difficulty. It is pleasing to note that many of our leading tradesmen lend their influence to such a course. Shop work is little short of slavery as things are. Luton.—Efforts should be made to induce the public to shop earlier on Saturday nights. The hours are very long. Manchester.—We consider the hours in the drapery trade sadly too long, and should be glad if early closing could be made compulsory. Nearly all the retail shops have terribly long hours. Middlesbro’.—The hours are from seventy-five to eighty a week—far longer than necessary. The Factory Act should be ex- tended to shops to give a regular weekly holiday. Newcastle-on-Tyne.—The business hours in retail shops have been influentially taken up, our worthy bishop placing himself in the van on this question. My opinion is, and has been, that the object to aim at is the education of the public, and principals are, for the most part, at one with the assistants in regard to the desira-