J. M. ILOTT.I

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matches were played almost every evening; these would commence at 6 o'clock. The enthusiasm for outdoor recreation has developed in a way that was not possible; before daylight-saving was put into operation. The only place where I am aware that objection lias been raised to daylight-saving , is Australia. Australians admit that the Commonwealth and the tropics generally are not suitable for daylight-saving by reason of the fact that it is necessary to have darkness for several hours before retiring to enable the houses to cool down after the extreme heat of the- day. I have lived there for months at a time, and any one who has been there knows how essential it is to have your house cooled down before the time for sleep comes round. Daylight-saving was tried in Australia during the hottest summer that they had experienced for many years. The entirely different climatic conditions make it impracticable to adopt daylight-saving there. New Zealand does not have these difficulties to contend with. Conditions are different here, and, while it would be to the advantage of every one to have daylight-saving brought into operation here, I admit that it could not successfully be brought into operation in Australia. Another advantage of daylight-saving is that parents would be able to spend more time out-of-doors with their children. The, average man in business or industry is unable to go home to lunch during the day, or, if he does, he has very little time to spend with his family. If daylight-saving were introduced the men would be able to spend more time with their families. Furthermore, there would be a great saving in eye-strain, and health generally would be improved because of the great period spent out-of-doors in the sun. I may say that I found that there was objection to daylight-saving on the part of picture-theatre proprietors and theatrical companies generally, because they found that people generally took advantage of the daylight and spent the extra hour out-of-doors instead of patronizing the theatres. During the summer I was in England one did not feel so inclined to go to a theatre because one had to go there in daylight. It will therefore be seen that the theatrical interests are not so likely to prosper under the daylight-saving system. Ido not know much about the farmers' side of the question. When in England 1 heard that great objections were raised by the farmers before the plan came into operation, but those objections had almost entirely died down after trying the scheme , . T met several farmers who informed me. that they were keenly in favour of it, and that they would not like to go back to the old plan. In America. I found that the trains ran right through to standard time. Many hotels had a notice underneath their clocks to the effect that the clock was one hour ahead of standard time. You could not miss a train, and the. very worst thing that could happen would be that you would have to wait an hour for another train. Early morning exercise is not so beneficial as late afternoon exercise, and I submit that if a man plays, say, tennis hard at the beginning of the day he is not so fit to perform his day's work, whereas if it were undertaken at the end of the day he would be in a better position to enjoy Ins relaxation. Moreover, in the cities people usually have to travel some distance in order to reach their place of recreation, and. this would not suit everybody early in the morning. Take, for instance, the case of Wellington : When the. new tennis-courts have been opened at Miramar daylight-saving will mean that a great many more people will be enabled to take the game of tennis up than is the case now. So far as my office is concerned, our hours of work are 8.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. I would like to make them 7.30 a.m. to 3.30 p.m., but it is impossible to do so, because we are dependent on other business establishments. Daylight-saving would effect the same result. Mr. Field.] Is daylight-saving in operation throughout the whole of Canada ? — I did not go to all the Canadian provinces, so I am not able to speak on that point. What proportion of the States in America have adopted daylight-saving ?- -I do not know, for 1 did not visit every State. Travelling on the main railway-lines T went from San Pranscisco to Los Angeles, and from there to Kansas City and Chicago, and from there to Detroit and Buffalo, and after visiting other cities arrived at New York.. 1 found that daylight-saving was in operation in most of these districts I visited. Do you think they will all adopt it in time ?■ Probably they will do so. You cannot give us the reason why so many States stand out ?-- I cannot give you that reason. Mr. Sidey.] What year were you in the Old Country ?—ln 1922. Mr. Girling.] You therefore substantiate the remarks made by Mr. Bromley that the people hardly notice the change-over ? —I did not know there was any difference at all, except that one had a longer period of daylight. You were there during the change-over ?-— No, I was not there at the change-over. Some objections were raised in Australia partly on account of the heat ? —Yes. You mentioned something about playing tennis in the morning : do you suggest that the exercise before work is not beneficial to the community ? —I do not say that it is not beneficial. As a, matter of fact, I have played tennis myself before, breakfast, but I should prefer to play it in the afternoon. Do you not think that early morning exercise is good for the individual 1— It makes him tired for the rest of the day, in my opinion. You are of the opinion, then, that it is better to have your bath, have breakfast, and rush down to work ? —That is so, provided, of course one is able to get the necessary exercise at the end of the day. Have you come in contact with the dairy-farmers, or any of the farming community, in connection with this matter ? No. There are probably more dairy-farmers in Canada and in the United States than in New Zealand, but they do not seem to be affected adversely by daylightsaving, and therefore it does not appear that there is any reason for the farmers here to raise any objection.

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