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-------BARRY FUND FOR RESERVISTS'…

Congratulations to Councillor…

CONCERT AT DINAS POWIS.

[No title]

SATURDAY'S FIXTURES.

---SOUTH WALES & MONMOUTHSHIRE…

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DISTRICT NEWS.

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THE LATE CANON ALLEN.

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Family Notices

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I SNAP SHOTS.

I. I I GLOUCESTER TRAIN TRAGEDY.…

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NATIONAL UNION OF SHOP ASSISTANTS.

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NATIONAL UNION OF SHOP ASSISTANTS. VISIT OF THE ORGANISER TO THE LOCAL! BRANCH. On Monday evening last Mr J. Turner, the! organiser and paid lecturer to the National Union of Shop Assistants, addressed the membere of the local branch at the Glamorgan Restaurant, Thomp- son-street, Barry Dock. Mr W. J. Ceusins, the president cf the local branch, occupied the chair, and he was supported by the secretary and repre- sentative of the Union on the Trades Council. This being Mr Turner's first visit to the district, lie was accol ded a. luarty receptiou by the mem- b,rs. Mr Turner aid he wished very briefly to put before the members a few of the principles of the Union. For many years shop assistants had iived in what was practically a fool's paradise, and had fall d to make their p tition hehind th- counter cure. While they had been practically at a standstill, the labourer, the arti-an, and the rnecbai ic lind been steadily improving their 0 position. Many shop Lssistan is wish -1 to b-eoine masters, nnd for that rtasou scrrneo their posi, ion as an assistant, but he would remind then, that the chances of an assistant becoming master wer growing smaller and smaller every year. Their organisation was started with the avowed object of devoting all its strength to improving the status of the members. He would impress upon them the fact that the N.A.S.A. was not an early closing society. He wanted them to IOClk upon the Union as a life-long work, and if they did so, their Union would be in time the same to them, as far as effectiveness went, as the union was to the artisan and labourer. (Hear, hear.) The wages of the shop assistant would not bear comparison with those of the artisan and the tradesman. A good workman in London could earn lid per hour, for 48 hours per week. The shop assistants worked 66 hours per week, at the salary of 5! per hour, a wage which would not be accepted by the most un- skilled man in the country. Let them take a leaf out of the book of the artisan, and join their com- bination in order to protect their own interests. (Hear, hear.) Referring to the living-in system, Mr Turner said that j he drapery trade was mostly mf. ct d with that system. Many of the big firms of the country were extending the living-in system. These firms accepted no mariied men. They had to behave themselves with the regularity of the clock, and only so many men allowed to get married on the staff. He could aver that there were hun- dreds of men in London who were at the present moment living in secret marriage. As an organi- sation they were pledged that all men should have the right to live where they liked, have the proper wage, and not as they were at present, compelled to remain celibates, because he maintained that as 1' ng as men w ere compelled to lead such a life, it would mean nothing but utter moral demoralisa- tion, and the sacrifice of the master's as well as the community's interests. The lecturer also referred to Mr Broadhurst's bill at present before the. country, in which it made fines an illegal aet. He had no objection to men and women being fined for losing time. But all men would condemn the system which fined men and women for other little errors of behaviour behind the counter. The agreerrent system the lecturer also condemned, and refetred to an instance in which a journeyman blindly signed an agreement which prevented him from ever working within two miles of his last 9 place. Another point to which the lecturer re- ferred was the withholding of references. Refer- ences w. re i dispensable to t'e shop assistsn's lin »j.hed tu 1" t ano l.er .ij pi intme-.t, a. d u> sh p life it as the de t>' sen enc- any rn.in wit'.out a refer-nee Toe org-inis lio \\>lul.( dc. its utmost to prosecute t1 sy tern, and pro eet the asn?ta t. Another very striking p^u t w .s the fact they viev r ;a>« a shop a si nt in a high publ c p. sitio". TI:t'Y l,ev r reached italtho gh > ürkiDg men J. P. a, rs &c c 111:11 n« ug (Lau .tei- R- • • rr.ng to th- Nati n 1 U ion i t Te c ers\ Mr Tu n r said t^ at "29 y ar* ag they numb r d 400. andto dayti.ee ere 4o 000 <"i U' s o' t Clli JI. Tne snop a^si-tai ta, c"u d tit) be r", 1 is cl- might number 400,000. Ttllir own Union hau ¡ grown wonderfully of late. Three years ago they had but 63 branchss in the country, and now there were 150. (Hear, hear.) And there was no reason why their Association should not become one of the most powerful and influential in the country* (Applause.) Mr W. Lewis, in proposing a vote of thanks, coudemmned the living-in system. The vote was heartily accorded.

i CORRESPONDENCE.

------------BARRY DEBATING…

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