SATURDAY, JAN. 6, l900. THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER. SATURDAY, JAN. 6, l900.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume II, Issue 92, 6 January 1900, Page 2

SATURDAY, JAN. 6, 1900.

THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER.

Fur a. considerable tnne past there have been word}' diseusbionb •is to whether the year 18 ( J 1 J 01 the year 19.'0 completes the cenuny. Ditl'eient rragazines and new.^papeis have deJiveied their veidiuts for or against, the majonty seeming to favour 1900 as closing the likh century. "We oiu selves think there can be only one anbwer to the question, and i hut it gives the century one moLe } ear of life. In Older, howe\ei to allow leadeis every opportunity .it jiTi^nic roi' thom&el\eß w** ™*;ii quote iiom an article in the Auairdlubian of December 23rd : "'Lang ISjiie' wiites : 'Apart tiom the tact that the Prayer Book hdii Parliamentary sanction^ it may al&o be conbideied an authority by viitue of its own meiits, and on account o£ itb semi-official standing as an histoiicyl doctiment. The making of calendars and the settlement oi disputes in 1 elation toclnonology have usually been undertaken by the cleigy, so that the chuich it> not likely to err in this matter. Ocher wiiters al&o support tiie view set foifch in the book of common prayer. In O'.eiall'b Dictionary ol Chronology, aiticle c.dend.u , p<tge 122, it sayts — ' Pope ueogory Kill. ... to pievent lrrtgulaiity, detei mined that a year beginumg a centuiy should not be bitbextile, \\ith the exception ot that beginning each loimu century, and thus 1700 and 180J weie not bisbextile, nor will IJOD, but 20 )J will be a leap year.' Dr jMu'to Gibbon, in the l^iee Chinch Chionicle (Engior June last, shows by a seiies of diagrams that the century closes at the end of the piesent year. According to his leckoning the dating through thefiistjear after the birth of (vhiist is by fractions of a" year. At the end of lSdd we seem to need another >ear to complete the nineteenth century, but it is not so, as we had our first year in the shape of twelve months before we began to reckon years. The dating of the first year is by months only, the second year is dated as the year 1> and the 1900 th yeai as the $edr 1899. Put it in another way. A man may say Lhafr he is in his 1 00 th year as soon as the 99th is complete. Ho?iuer, in his Short History of German Literature, lefers to Heine (who was born on January 1, 1800) as being the 'first ' man of t«e century.' Of course, the bon mot would be point-

less unless the beginning of the century coincided with i the date of the poet's birth. The j Review of Reviews for August last (page 219) and ' Allgemeine , Tvoneervaiive Monatssebrift ' for last April, both deal with the subject in a very masteily and lucid manner. In each case the conclusion is reached that the 20l h century will begin on Ist January, 1000. The French also speak of their coming exhibition as ' marking the event of the new century.' Lastly, we ha^e the analogy (as regaids mode of reckoning) between the years oP an indhidual and those that "maik the flight of time ; in each case years are not counted until they are complete. The same rule is also operative in relation to the hours registered by onr clocks and watches. ' Lang Syne' brings forward nothing n"w. His points are of the conventional type. They are disposed of by the notes from the "•' Scientific American " given last week. 'Vhen 'Lang Syne 'says that the Review of Reviews deils the subject in ' a masteily manner,' and a< rives at the same conclusion as the Allgemeine Konseivative, he bears false witness, in a leprehensible manner. Ml that the He view of Reviews does is to cite opinions on both sides, and leave the decision to the leader. It quotes an extract from the Irish Monthly, of which ' I :uig Syne ' makes no mention, as follows: — 'The first century (if the Chiistian era, like every other since, did not consist of 99 years, but of 100, and was not completed till December 31&t, A.D. 100; and, therefore, January, A.D. 101, was the first month of the second century, for, as far as the present question is concerned, we may suppose the as it begins now.' We should I'lce chapter and veise for Overall's statement that Pope Gregory spoke of 17J0 as a year beginning a centmy; it is Overall's oavh phrase, and it is inconsistent with Gregory's rule that the years are to be numbered as ' years current t (vide Chambers). The veiy fcei mused for the Chrislian era, A.D. (Anno Domini, • in the year of our Lord,' not ' after ' the year of onr Lord), contradicts the proposition put forward by ' Lang Syne ' and the school of cranks to which he belongs. The \ears are counted as we count the day and the month, \iz., as we call the day Monday as soon as it begins, and the month January as soon as it begins, so we call the 3 ear 1899 as soon as it begins. This, as the Scientific American points out, is not a question of opinion, but one of fact, as established by usage. If the analogy 'Lang Syne ' contends for is to prevail, then by parity of reasoning we ought not to speak of the Ist century till it is completed and should use the Ist till the 2nd century is completed, when No. 2 goes up. That would make the present century the 18th» We would like to know what official authority there is for the statement that the French (Government have announced the exhibition of this (1900) year as being held in celebiation of the commencement of thts new century. It so happens that the Paris Exhibition is held every 11th year, viz., 1878, 1889, 1900, andso is due next year in any cat>e.