The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-04 00:00:00

nine in the .evening, must not only• be exhausting!
both to body and mind,. but must be very perilous to
health. . What materially aggravates the case of the '
assistant`drapers is the fact, that they take their meals
in their employers' houses, which are in every in-
stance above their shops. They have; consequently,'
no opportunity of inhaling a single draught of fresh
air for thirteen long hours. Nor is, this all. ,They
are only allowed half an hoar for. their meals—so
that out of the thjrteen hours, they have to be'
on . their feet twelve tedious rhours. -.Now
this, in the nature of things, must be too much
:for' the human constitution. Experience proves
that it is so. Many young men come up,
from the • 'provinces' to the metropolis, posiessed
of robust' constitutions, and enjoying excellent'
health; who, in a few years, catch, by meanS of
this close confinement and con,stant physical exliuus-
tion, "the seeds of diseases which speedily terminate in
death. The injurious effects.of close confinement and
continuous application to business, in drapers' shops,
are clearly seen • in the countenances of the, young
men, while engaged in their ordinary occupations: No
one, can have entered any of our large drapery estab-
lishments, without being struck -with the pale, sickly-
looking countenances, he tees around him. The ap-
pearance of the young perions in these establishments
is sufficient, without -a knowledge of the facts which
bear on their case, to convince the visitor that there
must be something wrong, in their condition. ,What
aggravates the hardships of their case is, the circum-
(stance that they are mostly young men of intelligence,'
und; consequently, of susceptible feelings. And they
have •a painful consciousness of the hardships of their.
position. They consider themselves to be, not merely-:
in a state of drudgery, but in a state of slavery. Their.
long hours are aggravated by the irksomeness of
their employment. The anxiety -which they, must
necessarily feel to acquit themselves in such a
way as to give satisfaction to their employers,
adds Very greatly to their other sources of unhappi- •
ness. • Their ingenuity is constantly on the rack to
adapt themselves to the whims and caprices of -their
customers—the permanency of their situations being
in many, if not the majority of cases, wholly depen»
dent on their success in doing business with those
who inspect their employers' goods. But there are
other respects in which the destiny of the assistant
draper is a one. He is possessed of sufficient
education aiThlligence to make him desirous of
acquiring more. With the present system of long
hours, his advancement in mental cultivation cannot
be expected. He is so exhausted, so jaded, physi-
cally and mentally, by the duties if the day, as to
have little relish, and still less strefigth, for mental
application of any kind. The inirval between the
hour of shutting shop and retiring to rest is se short,
that he requires it all for pedestrian exercise in the
streets ; for it May 'be, that he spends it in places
in which he may drown,`' for an hour or two, all
recollection of the 'hardships of his conditfon. If;
instead of the present hour of shutting up
haberdashers shops, they were, closed at seven in
the winter and eight in the summer, the young men
would be happy to avail themselves- of the various
means of mental improvement with which the metro-
polis abounds. They could read at home, in literary
institutions, or in the more respectable class of coffee-
rooms ; or if they preferred it, they could attend
courses of lectures on literary, philosophical, and
scientific subjects. Messrs. Hitchcock and Co., of St.
Paul's Church-yard—the largest retail drapery house
in London, or, perhaps, in the world—have not only
an extensive and well-selected library for the use of
the young men .in their establishment, but they have
lately established a course of lectures in their own
premises for their benefit—the lecturers employed
being the most distinguished men they can procure in
the various departments of literature and science.
Were the proposed abridgment of the hours of busi-
ness carried into effect, other houses would doubtless
follow the example. The objection on the part of the
master drapers to an abridgment of the hours ofbusi-
ness, is that they would thereby lessen the amount of
their business. There could not be a greater
mistake. The same number of dresses would
continue to be bought. If it were once under-
stood that the drapers' shops were all to
shut at seven -in the winter, and eight in the
summer, those intending to make purchases would
make a point of paying their visits by six in winter
and seven in summer. And not only would the same
amount of business continue to be done, but there
would be a considerable saving to the master in the
expenses of the establishment; for he would save the
price of from one to two hours'- gas-light, varying
according to the season of the year. This is, not mere
theory. Messrs. Hitchcock have tried the experiment,.
During the last six months they closed at seven, and_
they found that they did as much business .as in the
corresponding months of the previous year, when they
continued open from An hour to an hour and a half
longer. In the item of gas alone, they calculated
their savings to be 30s. per night, through this abridg-
ment of the hours of business. The views which we
are pressing on the adoption of the trade were ably
and eloquently advocated by the various speakers
at the meeting last night. The more the question is
examined, the more convinced the master • drapers
must -become, that while their 'assistants would be
incalculably benefited, mentally, morally, and physi-
cally, by an abridgment of the hours of business,
they would not suffer in any way by the change, but
would, on the contrary, in addition to the gratifying
consciousness that they were contributing in a very
great measure to the happiness of those in their em-
ploY, be considerable gainers by the saving which
would be effected in gas. light and in other items of
expense.—Advertiser of Tuesday.