SIMPLIFYING THE CALENDAR.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 195, 12 May 1908, Page 8

SIMPLIFYING THE CALENDAR.

'PLAN TO IGNORE A DAY EVERY ' year. '• , v ' . ~ MANY ADVANTAGES. An l ingenious, simple, and useful scheme' for reforming the.anomalies of the calendar has been prepared- by Mr. Alexander Philip; LL.B.,anahas received the favourable opinions :of such eminent scientists as Lord "Avebury, Sir Oliver Lodge, and Sir William llamsay. ■■ ;■ ■ ■ m.'.'.- v ' 'The defects; of the at present in use . (says, the London "Daily" Express") are obvious at; all times. _ The year of 365 days can' not: be divided into, twelvo months ' of equal length, or into, an even number of weeks of seven days, and the inconveniences arising from this are increased by the fact that every fourth year consists of 366 days. Mr. Pliilip points' out-in the booklet ho has just published explaining his scheme that, "uriiler our present calendar, it is impossible to .determine', beforehand any day of the month as available. for any civil, or conversely, for any ecclesiastical purpose. Accordingly all markets or other annual public engagements or festivals are.usually '.fixed. for the first Thursday, second Monday, a'jid so forth of a givenimonth, it being impossible in such cases, to determine' thoi occasion by a fixed date/ without involving 'a constant alteration of 'wook-day and tho occasional occurrence of a Sunday on the day selected." The. samo inconveniences arise with regard ito* annual dates fixed by statute, such as tho opening of the Law 'Courts and the meetings of local authorities. The. ascertainment of the due date of bills becomes a matter of calculation, arid the calendar's anomalies' also interfere with the use of, comparative statistics, and disturb, the calculation of interest, jents, salaries, and all other periodical payments. ■. ■ i'

Same Date, Samo' Day. Mr. Philip, therefore, proposes to give tho day a fixed "relation to the'week/the month, and tho year. Under his schemo tho eleventh day of February} for instance,. might always be a Tuesday/and any one day would always be available for one particular purposo. Ho suggests a fow simple alterations which •would bring about this highly convenient and businesslike state of things. The first day of the year should, he says, "be regarded as a day apart, being regarded as I. 1906,1. 1907, eto." It should not be regarded as a day of the week, nor counted as belonging to any of the twelve months. 1 . For business purposes and public affairs Now Year's Day would not exist, and Mr. Philip expresses tho [opinion that as the day is already almost universally, except in England, treated,as a holiday, this first step in his plan of reform would "cause no inconvenience;- ' . : Leap "Day, on its occurrence, wijuld go into the same category as a day not counted. It would be known as "L. 1908," and so on, and would be interpolated between the ond of June and the beginning of July,' and observed as a quadrennial midsummer holiday. There would. then be left 364 days, divisible into two halves of 182 days', and four quarters of 91 .days each. Tho day following Now Year's Day would, of course, be January. 1. The symmetry of the schcme is completed by tho taking of one day from July and ono from October, and adding them,to -February, thus giving that month thirty days. Every quarter would then consist of two months of thirty days, and one month of thirty-one days. 'A perfect correspondence throughout tho year is obtained by the further taking of a day each from May and August, and adding them to Juno and September. The Hs-ii Year. The year, would then bo equally divided as follows, each quarter having ninety-one days, or thirteen week's, First Quarter. .' Tjhird Quarter. January... 30 days July ... 30 days Febniary 30 ■' August ... 30 „ March ... >31 „ September... 31 „ Second Quarter. . Fourth Quarter. - April ... 30 days October ... 30 days May „ ... 30 „ November .. 30 ~ June ... 31 ~ December... 31 „ The advantages of a perpetual calendar, with the. day of the week and tho day of tho month always tho samo, would thus bo assured. , "tfhero soems no reason why an international agreement for tho adoption of a rectified calendar on tho lines indicated should not be vory easily effected," Mr. Philip says in conclusion. .'His booklet, "A proposal for a Simplified Calendar," has been published by Messrs. Kegan Paul, Trench, Tnibjicr, and Co., Limited.