EXTENSION OPPOSED

Taranaki Daily News, 3 June 1935, Page 7

EXTENSION OPPOSED

DAYLIGHT SAVING PROVISIONS. NORTH.TARANAKI FARMERS’ VIEW. Farmers are content to concede the townspeople an extra half-hour daylight in the evenings during* the summer but they are opposed to any extension beyond the end of March and are opposed to. lit being-brought into , operation all the year round. That was made evident in discussions on remits brought before the North Taranaki provincial conference of the Farmers’ Union at Inglewood on Friday; thougji the conference was not unanimous. The executive submitted a remit opposing any extension beyond the last Sunday in March', and in support Mr. O. Wood said that it caused great hardship on farmers getting their cows in early enough in the late autumn, so as to have the cream out on the roadside In. time for the cream waggon at 8 o’clock. It was difficult to get the children up early enough in the morning to assist with the milking before they went to school. Mr. H. Rumball (Tariki) considered that farmers were making too much noise about daylight saving. This was the time of the year when the farmer obtained most benefit from the half-hour daylight saving. There was a lot of argument about the difficulty of getting children off to school, but he did not see that there was any more difficulty in getting his grandchildren off to school early under daylight saving, than there had been in getting his own children off to school in years gone by . Mr. J. A. Paulger said that it did not matter to him ohe way or another, as he worked from daylight to dark all the year, but one man in his district experienced great difficulty over daylight saving. Mr. W. Hall said one fanner at Huirangi was a keen opponent of daylight saving and the branch as a whole did not favour extension beyond March. A delegate considered that dairy factories could arrange their times to suit. At the request of Mr. Maloney, the conference decided to first deal with the Omata remits urging that the half-hbUr daylight saving be put into operation all the year. His branch felt that if extended over the whole year, the half-hour extension would become standard time, and factories and everything else would adjust themselves and there would be no hardship on anyone. He had opposed daylight saving for years, because he had realised that there were difficulties in the way of adjusting times twice a year. Farmers then would have an opportunity of taking part in sports. Mr. B. A. Richmond'pointed out that .there was-the danger that such a proposal might be the thin edge of the wedge towards advocates of daylight saving securing an extra half-hour in the summer.

Mr. Gibbs said that up to the end of March the half-hour extension was perhaps convenient to townspeople and farmers. After the end of March it was certainly not convenient to farmers, and those who desired the half-hour after that could keep it if they liked. Personally he kept his time half an hour ahead of the official time.

The remit favouring half an hour throughout the year was lost, while the one opposing the extension beyond the end of March was carried.