I. -15.

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[W. ATKINSON.

affect somebody adversely. Ido not say that it will not affect anybody adversely. In fact, as I mentioned at our meeting last night, the burglaring element would naturally prefer the darkness to the light. You are sure you are taking an honest view of it?—] am quite .sure. Mr. Girliiif/.] You likened children to plant-life —that the more sunshine they could get the better \t would bo ?-- Yes, I believe that. . If yon place a child in the dark when it is young if will he quite a dwarf, and suffer from sickness. Do you not find that children to-day get up at daylight, winter and summer, and take full advantage, of the daylight ?—Oh, no. Not in general ? —No. People only get up in the morning in time for what they have got to do in the morning. The bed pulls harder in the morning. In regard to sport, is it not possible that we could enjoy two or three hours in the summer early in the morning perhaps better than in the evening ?— ] do not think so. A man is never properly awake when he just gets up out of bed. But is it not better to carry out sports in the morning than in the evening I —No. I may tell you that I never knew of a swimmer breaking a record in the morning. I can assure you that I have never heard of a single, case where a record has been broken in the morning. Possibly a man does not go to bed early enough to be quite fit in the morning ? Tdo not know. A. man generally tries to fit himself to circumstances. If he went to bed .earlier lie would be fresher'?—] feel satisfied that darkness is the proper time for sleep. Darkness is the time for r< , st. A man requires more sleep in winter than in summer. Mr. Field.] Like the birds ?— Yes. Mr. Sullivan.] You say there are no objections to this daylight-saving in the. Old Country I—l1 —I never heard of a single objection. Did you go through any of the farming districts in the Old Country ? —Not to any great extent. I went through some of the dairy-farming districts in Lancashire lying between the towns, and 1 have come in contact with dairy-farmers. Were there any objections made through the newspapers ?—I never saw any serious objection to the daylight-saving in the papers, except in sonic of the South of England papers. Some of the South of England farmers were opposed to it. Of course, opposition is a natural thing for the South of England farmers. The farming element there seem to oppose anything that is likely to be of benefit to the people. There has been no general protest ? 1 can tell you that if there was an attempt made to go back to the old method 1 think it would create a greater outcry in England than anything ever before. J believe that they would never go back to the old system. You know that there is some feeling on the part of the farming community in this country that it is going to be detrimental to their interests ? —1 think the farming community is very unwise to think that. The more daylight a man has in the city the, greater likelihood there is that he will consume more milk, and the greater demand there will be for that milk. It will mean better business for the farmer. Mr. Smith.] You cannot give us any definite opinion as to the views of the dairy-farmers at Home ? — No. I did not mix very much amongst the dairy-farmers. Mr. J. IVI. Ilott examined. (No. 8.) The Chairman.] Your full name, Mr. Ilott ?- John Moody Albert Ilott. And you are representing ?— Messrs. .1. Ilott (Limited). I am managing director of Messrs. J. Ilott (Limited). Will you make a, statement ?■ Yes, sir. I may say that T have seen daylight-saving in operation in other countries. 1 have travelled through the United States, Canada, England, and the Continent. When 1 went away from New Zealand I was not particularly impressed with daylight-saving, but when I came back 1 was quite convinced that it would be to the great advantage of New Zealand. The majority of the States 1 visited in America have daylight-saving, and it is working very well there. If there is any country in which it would seem to be difficult to put it into operation it is the United States, where there is a time change of an hour at every meridian. But despite the fact that several districts have daylight-saving, and certain districts have standard time, there is no difficulty at all so far as 1 could see, and employers throughout the United States told me that under no circumstances would they go back to the old plan. The people I met in the States were most enthusiastic, and the majority of the city workers in the districts in question were able to enjoy far more sunshine as a consequence of daylight-saving. One of my friends, who is a member of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, was in Philadelphia when the change-over took place, and he told me that there was not the slightest difficulty experienced—-people simply went to bed an Lour earlier each evening and got up an hour earlier in the morning. I received by the last mail this circular from the American Economic Association in connection with a meeting at Boston. It shows that some territories are working under daylight-saving time arid others are working by the standard time. If a great industrial and agricultural community like the United States can do this successfully there seems to be no reason why the scheme should not give satisfaction in New Zealand. In States I visited in Canada the daylight-saving system is in operation. In England one was very greatly impressed by the enthusiasm that was shown for gardening as a consequence of the extra, hour's daylight, and, furthermore, it was also noticed that there was an additional interest taken in sport of all kinds. In Scotland, where football is played all the year round, I found that football