Letter from Craig, Lunde & Craig, Minneapolis:

Yours of the 3rd inst. at hand, and would say that an early-closing would be a great saving and benefit to merchants, and very pleasing to the clerks. As to the trade taken away by smaller stores which keep open evenings we find very small.

Letter from Schroeder & Dickinson, St. Paul:

Have always closed at 6 o'clock but used to work, our men in the shop ten hours, from 7 to 6, but since last spring changed to 9 hours, (10 hours' pay) from 8 to 6, which seems to satisfy the men all right.

Letter from the Plymouth Clothing House, Minneapolis:

At the time the Plymouth Clothing House was established, in 1882, the prevailing custom among clothing dealers was not only to work every evening, but Sunday forenoons as well. We at once took the ground that there should be no Sunday work, and that our closing hours should be not later than 7 P. M., Saturdays 12. We have since that time steadily shortened the hours until we now open at 8 instead of 7 o'clock and close at 6 o'clock, Saturdays closing at not later than 10 P. М.

Our expenses have not been directly lightened by early-closing, but the efficiency of our salesmen and other employes has increased by shortening the hours to a reasonable point, which we think has now been reached. The smaller establishments that keep their stores open during the evening, to which you refer, cannot take away much trade, because the purchasing public is well aware of the great advantages obtained by dealing with the large houses.

Letter from the Home Trade Shoe Store, Minneapolis:

We can not see that the change is a benefit financially. Our employes are certainly much better satisfied with the shorter workday. Our expenses have not been lightened materially by the movement. We can not notice any falling off in trade, and yet we feel that there is no doubt but what the smaller stores which keep open evenings take away some of our trade. However, on the whole, we much prefer it to the old way. We feel just as anxious to quit work at 6 P. M. as our clerks do.

Letter from Phillips & Co, Duluth:

We are in favor of early-closing, provided all stores live up to it. Our experience has been that the larger stores close, and let the smaller ones remain open late, also keep open Sundays and holidays. This is very much to the disadvantage of the stores that close, as the laboring men are forced to patronize the smaller stores. If it could be brought about that all stores close at the same time we think short hours an advantage to the employers and the employed alike.

Letter from Williamson & Wendenhall, Duluth.

Answering yours of the 5th inst. we will say that we have for the past several years kept our stores open from 7:30 A. M. till 9 P. M. Mondays. From 7:30 till 6:30 Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. From 7:30 till 11 P. M. Saturdays. In former years we kept open from 7 till 9 or later every night. We all like our present arrangement. Business has not fallen off, because our town has grown, but the smaller stores that keep open all hours have sprung up all around us and thrive on those they get after we close. Our idea in keeping open till 6:30 was to give the man with the dinner pail a chance to do his trading on his way home. Mondays and Saturdays are pay days, and our keeping open on these evenings gives them a chance to turn their checks into money and to do their trading.

Our expenses are no lighter, rent and wages are the same, and if we burn a little of our carbon we have to pay the same as though we burn it all. We believe when every business, saloons and all, have uniform hours of opening and closing, we will all be benefitted, but until that state of affairs can be arranged, shorter hours will work a hardship on somebody to the gain of somebody else. We hope the correct solution of this problem will come and we will be glad to help you if we can.

Letter from Yerxa Bros. & Co., Minneapolis:

In reply to your favor of the 7th just received will say that we were among the first merchants in Minneapolis to advocate closing at 6:30 P. M., and have never had cause to regret such action. We are very confident that our employes appreciate the change as well as the purchasing public.

While this change has not materially affected our general expenses, we feel it is a benefit to our employes.

We feel well satisfied with the change.

Letter from Schuneman & Evans, St. Paul:

In reply to your favor of the 3rd, inst., will say that we have always closed our place of business at 6 P. M., ever since we have been in business here, with the exception of Saturday nights.

We cannot say that it is a benefit financially, but do not believe there is

anything lost by closing early, and it certainly is a great benefit to the employes. It gives them longer time for rest and recreation and they do better work during the shorter business hours.

We keep open Saturday evenings, as it accommodates a great many people who are paid off Saturday, and if they were not given an opportunity Saturday evenings to supply their wants for Sunday it would be a very great inconvenience to them as they work during the day, and we believe that they should have one evening during the week in which to do their shopping, and as the employes have all day Sunday to rest. We don't think it a very great hardship to work Saturday evenings.

Letter from New England Furniture & Carpet Co., Minneapolis:

Replying to your circular letter of the 6th inst. in reference to early-closing, we have always closed our establishment at six o'clock except Saturday evening, and the evenings before holidays, when we close at 9:30, so that our experience, therefore, in comparing present hours and those you mention as having heretofore prevailed, is valueless. In a general way will say, however, that while we believe in reasonable hours, we also think it well to bear in mind that the conditions here are quite dissimilar to what they are in the more congested cities, where it is a long distance between the business establishments, and the homes of employes, and where the opportunities for accesssible out-of-door recreation are much less favorable than here. So far as the retail establishments of Minneapolis are concerned, our opinion is that the comfort of employes is well looked after, while the sanitation of their surroundings while at work places them on an entirely different footing from that existing in many of the establishments in larger cities where more congested and less favorable conditions prevail.

Our opinion is that from 8 A. M. to 6 P. M., with an hour for lunch for employes, is long enough and none to long for retail establishments to be open.

As to Saturday afternoon closing in the summer, we do not think there is any need of it in Minneapolis, either as related to the convenience of the purchasing public, or the welfare and comfort of the employes.

Letter from Powers Mercantile Co., Minneapolis:

Answering yours of March 7th we beg to say there are so many points to be considered in the early-closing movement that it would be impossible to cover them all, but we will make this general statement:

For the most part the results from shorter hours are beneficial. The clerk appreciates the shorter hours and when the majority of stores are on the short time basis the public soon learns to regulate its buying within these hours. Of course the smaller stores that open earlier and keep open evenings would have a greater or less amount of straggling business. We believe the general feeling among people is for shorter hours, and if all the branches of retail business could be brought to the shorter hour basis it would not affect the amount of sales in any way. This house started right after the holidays opening at 8:30 in the morning and closing at 5:30 at night, and the results have been so gratifying that we will not lengthen our hours until we are forced to do so by the demands of the trade.

The writer would very much enjoy having a talk with you on this subject of early closing, and thinks we would be able to get at better results than through a correspondence.

Letter from R. R. Forward & Co., Duluth:

We are more than pleased to state that the experience we have had in the early-closing movement is very satisfactory.

In the first place we have increased our sales over 40 per cent. We also find that our employes return to work the following morning with much more vigor for their duties, and take more interest in their work than if they had been compelled to stay until 9 or 10 o'clock the evening previous.

In reference to the smaller stores keeping open later, would state, that we could afford to let them have the sales they make, as our increased saving in the matter of heating and lighting our big store, which is 50x140 feet, with three floors, would amount to considerable more.

It appears to us that if more merchants would try the early closing for three or four months, we feel positive that there would not 10 per cent return to the old way.

Letter from Holtzermann's Chicago Store Co., Minneapolis:

In answer to your letter regarding the early closing, write to say, it has been our experience that the early closing of any and all business, meets with much satisfaction among all classes of people, and in all branches of business. We have endeavored to establish this system more than twelve years ago, and have several petitions signed by a large number of merchants at different times, expressing their desire and wish of establishing shorter hours for their respective business; but all previous efforts were of no avail, as the different merchants did not pull together; then some of the larger merchants took the stand independently, and very satisfactory results were accomplished.

It is not long since a large number of the smaller merchants conceived the folly of late hours, and many have since joined in an early closing system with great results, and with much satisfaction to both employer and employe. However, in districts where the mechanics and laboring class predominates, it is a great convenience for them to have the stores kept open Monday and Saturday evenings. This enables them to do their trading after the shops and other day work generally is over with. As far as our competitors are concerned, who insist upon keeping open every evening, we

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find that our loss by them so doing is not compared with the good results attained, and general approval of the fair minded purchaser who believes in short hours and early closing.

Letter from Johnson & Moe, Department Store, Duluth:

Replying to your favor of December 6th, with reference to the early-closing movement, beg to say that we are most emphatically in favor of the

same.

About six or seven years ago we inaugurated the movement singlehanded in our locality, and although our small competitors continued, some of them till this day, to keep open late, we have found our system beneficial both financially and otherwise to ourselves as well as our employes. Our expenses for light and heat has been greatly reduced, and as our business has continually increased, we feel certain that the early closing has not worked to our disadvantage in the attainment of our present success. most heartily commend you for taking this matter up and wish you every suc

cess.

We

Letter from Browning, King & Co., St. Paul:

We were pioneers in the early-closing movement here in St. Paul, and it has been a matter of considerable gratification to us to find that the initiative was well taken.

Of course the shorter working hours were heartily endorsed by all of our employes, who at once entered into the spirit of their work with greater interest and earnestness.

The fact that our business is continually on the increase, is proof enough that the longer working hours of the smaller houses do not in any way affect the volume of our business.

Any movement that you may see fit to inaugurate, that will make even shorter working hours than we now enjoy, or any other change that would lighten the labors of our employes, will have our approval.

Letter from The Andrew Schoch Grocery Co., St. Paul:

In reply to yours of the 3rd would say that we joined the early-closing movement about 10 or 12 years ago, and we like it much better than the allday and all-night work, which we used to have. We cannot say that our trade has dropped off, but has increased ever since. Still we find that a great many shopmen cannot come out during the day, and therefore do their shopping evenings, in these stores that happen to keep open. It would be well for all parties concerned if the movement could be made general, and everybody be made to close at the proper time.