CALENDAR REFORM.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 21 October 1930, Page 4

CALENDAR REFORM.

ADVANTAGEOUS TO BUSINESS. PROPOSALS POE REVIEW. Mr C. M. Bowden, wlio left Masterton yesterday to attend the annual conference of the Associated Chambers of Commerce at The Hermitage, Mt. Cook, and commencing to-morrow, intends to seek the opportunity' to place before delegates some proposals on the question of calendar reform. Mr Bowden has devoted some time and thought to the subject and in some introductory notes records his acknowledgements to jramplilets by Mr M. B. Cotsworth, of Canada, the author of the plan, and to Mr George Eastman, New York, and the International Fixed Calendar League of Washington and London.

In an outline of the proposals Mr Bowden says that both the League of Nations and the International Chamber of Commerce have devoted much research into the question of calendar reform.

‘‘Four facts," says Mr Bowden, “stand out, viz: (a) The length of the year cannot b© altered; (b) the day of 24 hours is fixed as the unit of time; (c) the week of 7 days is universally accepted. These three are constant, (d) The month is also commonly accepted, though months vary in length. The month is an inefficient and unpractical diversion of time for the following reasons: (a) Monthly records are not exact because months differ in length, and have different numbers of working days when compared with the preceding month and the corresponding month in previous years; (b) the number of pay days and days beyond four weeks vary; (e) the week-day names of the same date in the month are different in succeeding months, and therefore the same day of the week has a different economic value in every week; (d) Easter wanders over thirty-five, days in March and April. “Proposals to the number of ISS were received by the League of Nations' 'Committee of Enquiry. I do not understand what they all were, but two in particular received main consideration. One is to equalise the quarters of the year by locating 2 months of 30 days each followed by 1 month of 31 days. The old rhyme ‘3O days hath September etc ’ ’ would have to be rewritten —or forgotten. The other and it is this on -which I am to speak, is to divide the year into 13 months each alike and four weeks long. These would be genuine astronomical months. I can deal with this huge question only very briefly. “The advantages are many. The principal ones may be mentioned, though some will be obvious: a) All months would be equal; (b) the day of the week would easily indicate the pionthiy date —or conversely any date in the year would indicate its week day name. For example, if this reform be adopted as from 1933, the Ist of the month would-always fall on'Sunday. “It is proposed that a new month called “Sol" be introduced between June and July; 13 months each 28 days —364 days. The 365th day would be the 29th of December and known as ‘year day.’ Leap years could be adjusted by a further day in every fourth year as at present." Mr Bowden enumerates many advantages of the new system including:— The enabling of weekly wages and expenses to be harmonised with monthly statements and accounts; saving of adjustments for overhead costs, etc., now necessary because of unequal months; establishing of fixed days or dates for holidays, festivals and recurring features of home-, school, or business life; monthly money -values now circulating 12 times per year for labour, -salaries, rent, pensions and for payment of wholesale and retail accounts would circultae 13 times.

“Many large commercial houses and systems,” says Mr Bowden, “now use the 4-weekly period for their own internal accounting and statistics —and have found it practical and beneficial.”

Mr Bowden intends to urge the setting up of a special national committee to study calendar improvements.