DAYLIGHT SAVING FOR TOWNS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 11 August 1928, Page 4

DAYLIGHT SAVING FOR TOWNS.

T'ho- mov'enrent for the aid option of daylight saving by cities amd towns in the Dominion.' is receiving strong support in .the principal centres, but, to our min'd ,it is extremely 'doubtful if it. cam be applied successfully. Those who advocate .the adoption of the principle seem to lose sight of the fact that, nlo town or city in the. Dominion, is entirely self-contained. It. has • been atgued in Wellington that .tho, city ‘workers could be .given the benefits which undoubtedly attach to an extra, hour of daylight toy putting the clock forward an hour, and much has .been made of the fact that such an alteration would not interfere with the convenience and prosperity of the rural idilstriicitis which have- been aetspo risible for the collapse of the national system of daylight salving; tout to us it seems, in spite of the claims of many .thoughtful and responsible person's, that insufficient. thought has been, given, to tho probable effect upon the traffic which flows to and from the metropolitan centres daily. It will be difficult, in .the first place, to dtrarw a lino between the daylight saving area and the outlying districts —and it is admitted that retailors cannot, in their own, interests, consider the suggestion for a moment unleisS they are all agreed to observe daylight saving hours. There is certain to be disagreement in the ideas of the small retailers in the suburbs and those just outside, and it is equally certain that cion fusion and inefficiency will result, for those working outside the city and living within its boundarieis, just as it. will be for the worker who goes outside to his employment. Further, it is doubtful if the full effect upon .the travelling public- has .been considered. It is not. contended by the advocates of this sectional system that train schedules should, or could, toe altered to meet the convenience of the terminal city, atnd it is difficult to understand lvow all the requirements of travellers, are to bo met by shops and hotels where the workers are' beginning and ending their day an hour earlier than tho visit ors. The best that can be reasonably hoped for its an Act empowering employers and employees to agree toi am alteration in working hours where such alteration is desired by both .parties to an award. In that event, factories, and some warehouses and offices perhaps, ■could save an .hour’s daylight for their employees, but 'anything more general than somethiing which, still fell short of national observance of the alteration, would lead to confusion and loss.