MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT 111 



holidays and some shortening of hours for the 

 most hardly- worked classes of the community. 



"Asa matter of fact, I succeeded beyond my 

 utmost expectations as regards the Bank Holiday 

 Bill, which met with practically no opposition. 

 Again, some years afterwards, I had the happiness 

 of seeing the Ancient Monuments Bill placed 

 upon the Statute Book. The shortening of the 

 hours of labour in shops, which seems to me to 

 be one of the Reforms now most urgently needed, 

 has hitherto made little progress. In 1866, 

 indeed, I was fortunate enough to carry a Bill 

 which provided that no young person under 18 

 should be worked more than 74 hours in the 

 week, and with the co-operation of the Early 

 Closing Associations, and the similar bodies 

 throughout the kingdom, I believe I am right 

 in saying that now, the tradesmen's associations 

 almost unanimously are in favour of the Early 

 Closing Bill. There is, I think, therefore every 

 hope that ere long it will become law, although 

 as yet the opposition of a few members has 

 prevented us from carrying it beyond the Com- 

 mittee stage, and with the present rules of the 

 House of Commons we are not very sanguine of 

 making further progress until we can induce the 

 Government to take the matter up." 



