Mr. Bradshaw, Mr. Rolleston, and Mr. C. C. Bowen, the present Speaker of the Legislative Council, resisted the attempt; but they were not successful, and the amendment went through.
In other directions, however, the Act was extended, and boys, as well as girls, were brought under its provisions. No person under the age of ten was to be employed in a factory; children had to be employed on morning or afternoon shifts, or, if for a whole day, on alternate days; provision was made for meal times; and the Act did not apply to saleswomen, who, however, could not be detained for work after the closing of the shops.
This Act and its two amendments, with their crude provisions and their lack of details, were allowed to remain in force until 1881, when Mr. Thomas Dick, Colonial Secretary in Sir John Hall’s Ministry, consolidated the law in a measure entitled the Employment of Females and Others Act. This Bill was passed with very little discussion and no amendment. It is a slovenly piece of work. One clause forbade the employment of any person under the age of twelve in a factory, and another allowed child-labour between the ages of 10 and 14. These two clashing clauses remained in that condition until 1884. In 1885 an amendment extended the hours of labour for women in fruit-preserving and fish-curing establishments and in printing establishments. It also allowed the selection of some other day than Saturday for the weekly half-holiday for women and young people engaged in factories.
It was not until 1882 that legislation was passed dealing with the liability of employers. In that year an Employers’ Liability Act became law. It came from Mr. M. W. Green. He pointed out that there were many cases in which men were injured while at their work, and that they had no means of obtaining compensation for their injuries, even when they were the result of culpable negligence on the part of the employers. The measure was designed to protect the workmen. The Act was based on one in force in England, brought into operation two years previously, and it has been altered to meet the requirements of the colony. It was the first Act of the kind introduced into New Zealand. It was drafted very carefully,
