DAYLIGHT SAVING.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11730, 21 June 1916, Page 2

DAYLIGHT SAVING.

A WAR ECONOMY,. AN HOUR WORTH £2,500,000. [From Our Correspondent.] LONDON, May 9. By a vote of 170 against 2 in a very "thin" House, the Commons yesterday passed tho following resolution: " That in view, especially of the economy in fuel and its transport that would he effected by shortening the hours of artificial lighting, this House would I welcome a measure for the advancement of clock time by one hour during the summer months of this year." Wpr is ft rapid educator, though not so rapid ill England as in most. ether [ countries. Eight years ago Air William Willott opened a Daylight, Saving ( campaign and, framed a Bill to compel | us to make moro use of tho earlier hours of tho day «,nd thus save money on our I hills for artificial light. His "proposal met Kvitli little or no favour, arid, inv'deed. many people did not hesitate to credit Mr Willetfc with having a largesized '"'bee in his bonnet." Now, 170 members of Parliament havo voted in favour of such a Bill as Sir Willett proposed, and only two against it. The result, is that i/i less than a fortnight this countryA'ill start- io save the daylight Jlv WWett loved so much. The Homo Secretary explained to the House tho procedure which the Government intend to follow: A short Bill will be brought in at onco and, if passed, the clocks will fill be put on an hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday morning, May 21. That hour has- been chosen because it will cause the railways the least inconvenience. The railways, tho post- office, the municipal and ecclesiastical authorities will all put on their clocks. Tho new time will be applied by a simple- change in the law to all factories, licensed houses, etc.' The change will bo for the war only. Then the- subject can be reconsidered in tho light of actual experience. On October 1 the clocks will all be put back aa hour, an<l " the evenings will be shortened with a * ■ jerk." MILLIONS TO BE SAVED. Though tho public generally do not seem to bo able to appreciate the fact that a really big national saving can bo effected by tho proposed raid on our clocks, it is beyoud question that tho voto in the Commons accurately reflects tho considered opinion of tho General Conference of Railway Managers, 748 City Corporations and District Councils, 88 Chambers, of Commerce, 59 trade unions, 47 branches of tho Shop Assistants' Union, and some hundreds more of public bodies and associations. Moreover, the scheme is already in operation in Holland as well as in the German and A.ustro-Hungarian empires,! which enemy Powers look to save thereby between them twelve millions sterling for the purposes of the war; and France, Italy, Denmark. Norway and Sweden are proposing to take a leaf out of tho enemy's book in this matter. It*'is interesting to us to note that the daylight saving plan, which originated with an Englishman, has actually been put into practice bv our chief enemies a week beroro its discussion by our own Parliament. It is possible, -as the Home Secretary remarked, that we may be "tho last nation of Western and Northern Europe to adopt Sir Wil-lett-'s proposal. It is all the more possible since the Government have decided to make the change by means of a Bill instead of by an, order under tho powers they possess for . the duration of the war. Kven-jf the Bill is passed this week it means that the country will havo spent upon artificial lighting many thousands of pounds moro than it. would have spent if we ( had acted as soon as the Germans, and will have devoted to that purpose a correspondingly large quantity of coal for lack of which our own and our Allies' factories are gravely impeded in their working. The output of coal in Great Britain is still on tho decline. the demand fox* it is more and moro urgent; so when, it is estimated that the saving of coal under the scheme would probably run into millions of tons, it is impossible for the Government to hesitate/or for the House of Commons to disregard their recommendation of the plan as "advantageous for the better prosecution of the war." It is stated that the national saving effected between Slay 21 and October I—four month. l ? and a few days—wiLl ho at least £2.509.000. and that if we "had started' " dayl'ght, saving" a month earlier we might havo saved fully four million pounds.