A Shop Hours Bill Though the Shop Acts Amendment Bill
introduced by Mr. Morgan Jones failed to get a second reading last week, its proposer made out a strong case. The House was manifestly surprised to learn that young shop assistants were often required to work 74 hours a week, including meal times—the maximum fixed by an Act of half a century ago. It is true. that shop- keeping is seldom so arduous as work in a factory, and that the majority of the adults employed have, on the average, a working week of 54 hours. It is true, also, that the hours in the larger shops are, as a rule, shorter than in the small shops, which would be hard hit if, as Mr. Jones proposed, the working. week was restricted to 48 hours. Nevertheless, Miss Piekford, while objecting to the Bill as far too rigid, was clearly right in urging that an -Act which permitted a boy or girl of 14 to work for 74 hours in a week ought to be drastically amended. Captain Hacking, for the Home Office, promised that the question should be dealt , with, and so it should be,
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