, 1881-08-14
THE HA1F-Hor1nsv RrovrMrNr

The movement lilauEuratcd by some Of tho
wholesale merchants in This city by closing
! their warehouses after l O'clock Saturdays
and giving their employees !. ha1f-holday is
in every way coml,entlablc. The American
tendency, outside the eig1lt-huur: leagues,
which are lnadc III, for tie nost ptrt trout
men uf foreign BIRTH, is to work TOO many
hours. There is no true economy i,l such 4
system. No more business is Transacted in
the bulk than would be done by condensn@
the hours, anu the wear and fear upon those
engaged III it is vastly increased. TllG busi-
1leSs-lIlcn of; Il b,tstling American city bolt
| an early breakfast and make Il rush to yet
down by 7:D OF 5 O'Clock. and remain
coopcd mp in a stutfy office or an
i}l-vehtllatctt store till after 4 o'clock
III the evening. The hours Ul the employees
are frequently longer still, and the sallow
complexion, l1aggaru looks, anil dragged
out appearance so common among the. book
Keepers, clerks, and sllopkeepers Of this
country are the marks Of too close and con-
stallt confinement. Tile bulk Of the whole
sale business i'll the great City Of London is
transacted between the hours OF 10 anu 1
O'Clock, and the Saturday half-holiday is tho
~ lOSC " SuE!l AAl
when 1T has the general assent and coUpera-
tion of the business community, for the APP
parent loss Of time is more ,than offset by the
prompt and active attention to business dur
ins the recognized hours.
We venture to say that the Wholesale inter-
ests would gain rather than lose by ieason Of |
Il half-lloliday once in {: week i'll which the |
commercial associations, the banks, the |
Wholesale houses, and all large business ell
terprises, where the practice is feasible, |
should unite. The Board of Trade, We be- |
lleTe, finishes up its Saturday business in the |
forenoon. II the system were once fairly I
established there would be no inconvenience
in exchanges; nobody would try to do !
business on thai afternoon, and everything
could be and would be settled up as clean by
1 O'Clock as it is now Al [; clock. This half
holiday for the Wholesale houses would be Il
family day, and women and children would
enjoy II as well rs the men. All would be
benefited by it. X minister Of the Gospel t
recently, commencing the proposed depart
tlre i'll Il sermon, pointed ont that among the
Americans Sunday is not u popular holiday
III the sante sense that the day is passed on
The Continent of Europe, nor even III Eli
.la1ld. 1t is devoted in large part to reIig-
"us exercises, and anything i'll the nat
1re Of amusement is pursued under
certain constraint by most people.
The freedom of Il Saturday after
loon would AFFORD all opportunity for
lcalthful recreation. 1t would literally be
pare-ti1ne AMI p!ay-ti1nc. The patcr falnl-1 I
as could then offer no reasonable excuse
or refusing to take his children to tie parks.
The people living in the suburbs would have
III opportunity for visiting the matintes at
he theatres and concert-llalls who are not
BILE to attend i'll the evening. The prices
or all kinds Of am,1scments on Saturday F:
fternoon woultl; soon be placed upon n
opular level i'll order to secure the attend- {
nee Of a crowd. The relaxation thus pro-
nred, no matter what form it might take, !
;ol1ld make everybody more buoyant during | II
he working hours Of the week, and life | Il
'ould be the longer and happier without u
'ss to anybody. Every wholesale employer S
ill be philanthropist who encourages tllis Il
tnranpnf