DAYLIGHT SAVING.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 July 1916, Page 10

DAYLIGHT SAVING.

A WAR ECONOMY. AX 1 lOUl! WdliTl! CI,(KM. London, May !). liy a vote of 170 against i. in it very "tliin" House, the Commons yesterday passed the following resolution: "That in view, especially of the economy in fuel and its transport that would be ell'eetcd bv shortening the hours of artificial lighting, this House would welcome a measure for the advancement of clock" time by one hour during the summer months oi* t ! liis year.'' War is a rapid (Mluciitor, though not so rapid in Inland as iii most other countries. Eight years ago Mr, William Willett opened a daylight saving campaign, and framed a bill to compel us to make more use of the earlier hours of the day, and t'hus save money 011 our hills for artificial light. His proposal met with little or 110 favor, and, indeed, many people did not hesitate to credit .Mr. Willett with having a large .sized "lite in his bonnet." Now 170 members of 'Parliament have voted .in favor of such a bill as .Mr. Willett proposed, nad only two against it. The result is tihat in less than a fortnight this country will start to -save the daylight .Mr. Willett loved so much. The Home Secretary explained to the House the procedure w'liieh the Government intend to follow: A short bill will be brought in at once, and if passed, the clocks will all be put on an hour at "2 a.m. on Sunday morning, .May 21. That hour has been ohosen because it will cause the railways the least inconvenience. T.lie railways, the post ollice, the municipal and ecclesiastical authorities will all put on their clocks. The new time will be applied by a simple change in the law to all factories, licensed houses, etc. The change will be for the war only. Then tllie subject can be reconsidered in tiie light of actual experience. On October 1 the docks will all be put back an hour, and "the evenings will be shortened with a jerk." MILLIONS TO ISE SAYED. Though the public generally do not seem to be able to appreciate, the fact that-a really big national saving can be. ell'ected by the proposed raid on our clocks, it is beyond question that the vote in the Commons accurately rellects the general conference of railway managers, 740 city corporations and district councils, eight-eight chambers of commerce, fifty-nine trade unions, fortyseven branches of the Shop Assistants' Ciiioti, 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 Austro-llungarian Empires, w'liieh enemy Powers look to save thereby between them twelve millions sterling for the purpose of the war; and France, Italy, Denmark, Norway and Sweden are proposing to take a leaf out of the enemy's book in this matter.

It is interesting to us to note that the daylight saving plan, wliidh originated with an Englishman, lias actually been put into practice by our chief enemies a week before its discussion by our own Parliament. It is possible, as the Home Secretary remarked, that we may be tilie last nation of Western anil Northern Europe to adopt, Mr. \\ illett's proposal. It is all the more possible -iuce the Hovernnient have decided to make the change by means of a bill instead of by an order under the powers they possess for the duration of the war. Even if the bill is passed tlhis week, it means that the country will have spent upon artificial lighting many thousands of pounds more than it would have spent, if we had acted as the Hermans, and will have devoted to tlliat 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 Hrcat Britain is still on the decline; the demand for it is more urgent, so when it is estimated that the saving of coal under tlie scheme would probably run into millions of tons, it is impossible for the Hoveniineiit 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 ell'ected between May 21 and October Ist—four months and a few days —will lie at least C'2 ."IUO.UiIO, and What if we had started "daylight saving a month e.irlier we might have saved fully lour million pounds.