The Connecticut labor press., 1919-10-18

Following close upon the heels of the
 action ot the Central Labor Union in
 adopting campaign toward closing all
 stores at 0 o'clock every evening of the
 week, including Saturdays, came a meet ing of the business men which favored similar acton, although some of the
 merchants appear to prefer keenino
 open one evening. Among these senti7
 ment IS divided, one class believing that
 Friday night should be the open night
 ana a few tavoring Saturday. Many are
 of the opinion that every night closing
 at IS practicable and along the lines
 be1ng followed by the larger cities of
 the state; A list IS now being circulated
 among the business men of the city for
 signatures to a closing agreement,
 Organized labor, as represented by
 the Meriden Central Labor Union and
 the Retail Clerks Association. favor
 closing every evening, with perhaps a
 few dissenting individual members who
 still think tf!at they can't do their trad
 ing during the day time The latter,
 however, are SO largely in the minority as to be practically negligible.
 The whole thing hinges on the
 hearty cooperation of the working people who are really the city's largest purchasers" said prominent member of the Retail Clerks Association in dis cussIng the matter with a representative of Inc Connecticut Labor Press. The Ch1et dlthculty IS going to come in con- trolling the smaller stores on the side streets. Practically all the larger mer- chants, the men with stores on the main streets, are in favor of closing but VOL can't blame them for objecting to the competition from the smaller stores if the latter stay open all hours and grab the trade which the big stores lose from being closed.
 First ot all the working people must be educated to keep away from the stores which refuse to play fair. If every member of organized labor in Merlden would steadfastly refuse to patronlze at any time the stores which refuse to join with the others in the early closing movement then there would be no difficulty. Right there is where we expect our paper, The Labor Press, IS going to be of great advantage to us for we understand that it is going to devote its columns to placing this matter intelligent1y before our members so that there may be just this sort of bene1clal cooperation between the working people of the city and the mer- OIlctlIlS "IlO al t W1Cn us.
 I believe the plan is going through all right for most of the merchants are heartily i'll favor of it themselves. They realize that 1t is the trend of the times and that its adoption by all the larger cities is bound to make it necessary and advisable in the smaller towns. They realize, too, that in order to keep their clerks contented and satisfied they must extend to them the same condi- tons which are enjoyed by their fellow clerks III other citles-and they want to do this. There IS, and always has been, a very friendly feeling among most of the employers of Meriden and their clerks and the great majority of the business men want to have their clerks have every advantage that it is possible to give them.
 So far as competition on closed nights from nearby cities is concerned, 1 don't believe that that is to be dis turbing factor. With New Haven and Hartford closed there won't be anything to fear from that direction. Middletown and New Brit ain yet remain to be strengthened out but there isn't much danger of any Mer- iden buyer spending carfare to do his trading amid the metropolitan Saturday night delights of Middletown or New Britain.
 If one night was to be retained as an open night 1, personally, should favor Friday night. This would make 1t easier to adopt a Saturday afternoon closng i'll summer if that project should come up later and would give the clerks and a chance at decent sort of week end in summertime. Anyway, with the stores closing Saturday night at any time of the year, both clerk and employer have an opportunity to go out of town for over Sunday much more advantageous1y, if they so desire, than they would have were the stores to keep open Saturday night"
 The general impression among the members of organized labor appears to be that the early closing movement should apply to every night in the week. If, if is argued, trading can be done within the hours preceding that time in Hartford, New Haven, Waterbury and other large cities 1t can be done i'll Mer- len. Practically all the help in Meriden $ paid by Friday night and the Satur- lay half holiday gives them ample op- oortunity to shop.
 As IS set forth in the preceding inter 7iew one thing which should receive attention from the workers is the edu- ;ation of their families and their fe1- ows to the advisability of trading early md the necessity of upholding the mer- hants who are trying to give their em- ,loNees decent hours and better working ,onditions It is a self-evident duty of very trade uniOniSt to extend this CO., operation to their fellow workers.