The Feilding Star Oroua and Kiwitea Counties’ Gazette THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1929. A YEAR OF 13 MONTHS

Feilding Star, Volume 7, Issue 2304, 5 September 1929, Page 4

The Feilding Star Oroua and Kiwitea Counties’ Gazette THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1929. A YEAR OF 13 MONTHS

Although im common with tho scientists wo may scoff n't the claim of the two Christchurch researchers tint |hoy have foundl the Philosopher's Stone and flic Elixir of Bile, —j ha t/ they ca n transmute ha so metal info pure gold, -it is necessary to count 10 nowadays before declaring a proposition to lie an impossibility. Some optimists go js<> lar as f,o affirm that nothing is impossible. Certainly the seemingly impossible is being accomplished and achieved wifli astonishing frequency. The opdnTug iu Geneva this week of lOj.h session of { lie Assembly of the League of Nations reminds us of the vast, ramifications of the activities of fife League: Jfs interests are as varied as th ( o nations within its organisation and file subjects dealt with by its numerous committees are as comprehensive as the infero-ds of our everyday life. The man. in the street will be surprised to learn, tor instance, that, tho League has an international committee working on the need for and {he .moans f o bring abouf, such a. sweeping and drastic, reform of the calendar as id make a permanent fixture of Eastertide on April 8, instead of allowing if; to continue to fluctuate between March 23 and April 25 If was business men who sjarfed the . agitation against the present haphazard Gregorian calendar, because fhp, years and their section? aro so “uneven and recurring dates so irregular that system in business was an impossibility. Thus, at .present there is no such .thing as four even quarters to {he year. One quarter lias 00 days, another 9) and tho nflier two 02 days each. Then, again, the first half 'of {he year is two nr three days shorter than the second half. And confusion, ensues in business affairs . because fctio mpnfhs differ so, varying from 28, 20, TO and .Tl days. TJ{e uneven months affect {he pay envelope and {he payment of accounts and rents, when folks' are paid wages by {.he week, lmt pay bills by tho month o>vieg, versa. Sometimes there are fiyo, sometimes four pay days in the month. All tbfese .differences conspire t c> create confusion and uncertainty in- economic relations. Ohrisj;mastide, 'like Easfertidie, does not fal] on (lie same day under the Gregorian system, and who if challenged suddenly could say what day a'given date will fall upon four weeks hence? We talk of 52 weeks to the year, but {here are actually several clays over —and Leap Year mhkes days and dates s{iU more uneven. The calendar has been broken and repaired, renewed and revised) at various times down through the centuries, sometime s through the whim or the, jealousy of a Caesar, sometimes under the kink of a King. But (here has been no revision since 1752. During {fie ,pa;<t 110 years, however, there have boon alternating agitation*, sometimes for a fixed Easter, other times for a new calendar of an efficient system. Jn 1022 Chambers of Commerce began to deal seriously and solidly with what may be called the Modern Calendar, and presently the League of Nations was .so impressed that it took (bo movement under its direction and set up *i, special international committee t<> <*>nsiflar proposals, ol which no- fewer than 185 were submitted for examination. This committee, which has an enthusiast, Mr More* Cofsworth of Vancouver, as its chairman, has already reported favourably on two general groups, ono for a year of 12 months and the other for a year of 13 months, in the latter case the extra month [o bo placed between Juno and July. All the months will have 28 days, the same date in each month will fall on the same day in each week, each month would begin on a Sunday and end on. a Saturday. 'Under thfc. calendar all holidays are to be Mondayised, and it is proposed that the now system should come into force on January 1, 1233. Bu{, before that can happen the man in {ho street .will ’Lave to be educated up to, tho change and a whole lot of propaganda will he needed to swing Public Opinion into % acceptance.