The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1929. ADJUSTING TIME.

Hokitika Guardian, 14 February 1929, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1929. ADJUSTING TIME.

At a recent interview Hon. T. K. Sidey was asked whether he would express an opinion on the suggestion that during the winter months our clocks sh./uld be put back on standard time. .Mr Sidey saiil that such a suggestion was made by the Survecor-Ueneral when giving evidence" before a committee ol the House when considering tin ‘Slimmer Time Bill in 1924. The Sur-veyor-.tenoral’s proposal was that for six summer months our clocks should l>e [nit forward half an hour and lor the six- win Lor months our clocks should lie pot back half an hour on standard Lime That would mean that the clocks during the winter would be put bad: one hour oil the. present “summer tiune” and that there would thus lie'll difference of one hour between .summer time and winter time. The SurveyorGeneral advocated this on astronomii .. grounds. Mr Sidey said there was a go .d deal Lb he said for the proposal, which, for a great many people, would o-iviate the necessity of having to rise in the dark on the cold winter mornings. .Many ]>cop.e would appreciate tliis. change in Dunedin, where daylight in mid-winter in the mornings comes in about half an boar later than in Wellington. Mr Sidey said, however, that lie had never advocated this change himself,' because the present division of our daylight hours in the winter, when we use all the daylight available, is' very generally suitable throughout New Zealand. The propos. eu change would moan early lighting up in shops, offices and factories in midwinter and any saving in the eonsumption of artificial light in the morning worn! probably be more than counter-balanced by the greater consumption of light in the evenings, in some cases also it would accentuate the electric jieak load. So far as ho (Mr Sidey) was concerned, lie was. of the opinion that the trial this eu'iintry had had of one hour in advance of standard time last year bad demonstrated that ior about live months summer time could, with comparatively little inconvenience, be advanced for one hour in this Dominion. Neither production nor school attendance was,adversely affected. Our production was a record for that year and school attendance! was exceptionally good. He hoped it might be found possible before long to give at least another trial of the full hour of .summer time. However, Mr Sidey is not sanguine about securing a return to the full hour, as prevailed in 1927-23. A message from Wellington last week was to that effect, so it may lie assumed Mr Sidey bus counted heads. Besides, Mr Sidey is now in the Ministry and is not a • roe lance on any and all questions. It woud not do for individual Ministers to take up abstract issues not sancticMicd by Cabinet-, and seek to cnforc their personal views on Parliament. Mr C 'cites’ experience with the licensing issue was a case in point, and will he a warning to other Ministers. As regards the present time adjustment, it may he said the half-hour has caused very little comment, and as the tliii edge of the wedge there were those who expected the hour would folio > next year as a natural sequence. How. ever, although some of the most rabid opponents to daylight saving in flu last Parliament were among the unreturned, there are still sufficient opponents in the new House to check Mi Sidcy’s predilections, and with an organised opposition it would barely he discreet for a Minister to court defeat or even serious opposition on a.ny o! his personal proposals. We may take it, therefore, that the half-hour ad vance on the clock for the summer time period will be as lnuc-li as Mr Sidey can hope for, and ho appears \ > lie reconciled himself to that conclusion.