Evening star., 1901-03-02

been looking over list of cases which
Illustrate this. One man who cut short
the dinner hour of his girls paid $40 and
costs, and another, restaurant keeper,
who kept his waitress at work for
ll12 hours one day had to pay fine of $780,
although one of the girls had had three
afternoons off that week. Another res
taurant man was fined $3.50 and costs for
employing his mattresses ffty-two hours
per week, and another was fined for not
allowing one of his females hour for
her meals.
In the town of Napier man who en-
ployed females for more than fifty-two
hours in each Of two succeeding weeks was
| fined $40. This man kept a store. His
average time at fiftytwo hours per week
| was less than nine hours a day. l won
der how many of our merchants would like
to be fined for keeping their girls at work
for more than nine hours a day.
| SaIesIadies and Barmaids
And this brings me to the question of
| salesladies. The laws Of New Zealand pro-
| vide that every saleslady shall have a
weekly half holiday. They provide that the
| girls must have seats in the stores and
| must be allowed to use them. l have be-
| fore me cases of merchants who were fined
| Tor not providing such seats, and this is
| so both in the stores and the saloons.
| Ihe saloons here called public houses or
! notes, and In ninety-nine cases out of a
| hundred the liquors served out by
| women The prettier the face the bigger
| maid the greater the custom. In many of
| the hotels the barmaids do not work more
| than eight or nine hours The government
| gives them their half holiday and the
| hotel keepers are fined If they do not see
! that they take it. This matter of the
half holiday is rigidly kept and 1 have in
stances of fines for the delivering of goods
or bread on half holiday.
curious fine was that of a baker who
kept his own daughters working all night
at one time. The government inspectors
heard of 1T. They arrested him and they
charged him S. for each girl and warned
him that on the next offense the fine would
be raised to $50.
The government regulates ALL sorts of
Things as to W6man'S work. 1t OBJ
Jects to females being worked in gangs
at such hours as VIII necessitate their
going home late at night. The head of the
labor bureau recently reported that he
found factory in which one set of girls
was put on from to II am, and then
taken off until 1. They were worked from
l until and again from to ., making al
together nine full hours. Another gang of |
girls was worked from 10 until l. from 3 |
until I and from until IL. This arrange |
ment," said Mr.. Tregear, does not require |
more than the legal time, but we believe |
that it is bad for the girls to go home so |
late at night and that they do not have
their regular time for rest, and 1t should |
be remedied.'
Woman Suffrage in New Zealand.
Women have the right to vote in New
Zealand, although they cannot be members
of parliament They can be mayors mem
bers of the town councils, school board dt-
rectors, and can hold a number of other
offices. l find hat the women go to the
polls, especially those Of the lower classes
Indeed, the capitalists say that it was wo-
man suffrage that made the working man |
the balance of power in New Zealand. When |
the law was first put in force many of the
richer women Staid away from the polls |
While the wives of the laboring men voted
hai richt /
those of their husbands. Today father and |
mother go to the polls together and vote
and when labor questions are before the
country the women of the working classes
are out in force. The womans rights ad-
vocate goes about, with her tracts and
speeches, and the type is the same as in
the United States.
Women and Whisky.
What has woman suffrage done for New
Zealand?" 1 asked a New Zealand lady.
'It has closed twenty-five per cent of all
the saloons for good and it has closed all |
Of them after 10 o'clock pm. We have
parts of New Zealand where there is alb |
solute prohibition. There no public
houses or saloons as you call them I have |
one town especially in mind. This was not
ed for it's drunkenness and disorder. 1t is
now one of the quieteSt and most respect !
able of communities. 1t has diminished its |
police force and it's Jail for want of use has
been made the headquarters of the Saliva |
ton Army"
Are the saloons open here on Sunday?" {
asked. g.. 1 e
'They are open for one hour in the morn ! {
ing and one hour in the afternoon"
But what else has woman suffrage done?"
"It has fixed the hours of Woman's labor | c
n all the factories. 1t has stopped sweat q
ng and it has given the laboring women | /
ome OF the rights that are accorded labor e
ng men,"
'"Then you think it is a good thing for L
lew Zealand?" n
Il as5uredly do, and think it will be v
'etter thing as time goes on t
The Pretty Girls of New Zealand. =
In closing I want to say word about the !
retty girls of New Zealand. The islands o
re full Of them. The climate gives them C
he rosiest of cheeks. and they look more ,
Ike the women of England, Scotland and r
reland than the tall, gangly "cornstalk Il
aaidens' of Australia. The average of in a
diligence is very high, and in manners and | Il
ress they will compare favorably with the v
iris of the United States or Europe. They q
re thoroughly up to date as to public mat "
ers They discuss the political issues with le
ach other and with the men, and they are IL
ute as becubbed as the women of the h
United States. Every town has it's Shakes: ts
care club, its Beethoven club, its travel | Sc
lub and its Womans Temperance Society. | IL
here are golf clubs and croquet clubs and hi
fact all the organizations to which the m
wentfeth century woman is so glad to be- h,
ing. FRANK G. CARPENTER | CO
The Historic Dollar. til