Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1906-12-26
Cafend 8 lin
In 81 : NJ mo


I. La q. Z n,,t one
Modern, politicians anipulate FOR
personal or partisans advantage many
things they might better leave alone,S
but they cont monk ": vii the cal
endar. In ancient Rome fixing the:
official time card was one OF the Ia
vorite forms of ''honest graft The.
Roman year, originally based on the
revolutions of the moon; had come, in:
the last century of#Ethe republic, to
consist of twelve months of Irregular
length, varying from .thlrty-on days
In March to twenty-eight In February.
nhesetwelve months covered 355 days,
about; ten days less than true solar
year. To overcome.this discrepancy an
intercalary: month was inserted every
other year between February and
March, as we now insert an inter
GALAXY day at that point in leap year.
The insertion Of intercalary- months
and all matters pertaining to the CAL
endar rested with the college OF pom
tiffs or priests But the pontiffs
with their chief, the, pontifex maxi
mus, were too often dominated nv po-
litical considerations. In early times.
they were chosen exclusively from the
patrician families. Their privilege of
inserting or emitting the intercalary
month gave them great political power
which they used to the advantage Of
their own party and the injury Of the
plebeians. They capriciously length
ened the year when their friends held
the chief magistracy and shortened it
when the opposition held Office.
This practice at length involved the
calendar in such confusion that in Cic-
eros day it was three months ahead
of true time. Thus the list Of May fell
In bleak wintry weather at what was
properly about the list Of February,
while the LIST of January came in the
fall season at what is now the begin
ming of October.
But in the year B. G. 46 Rome's fore
most soldier, Julius Caesar, was elect
ed pontifeX maximus. His soldiers
system took up the muddle in the cal
endar, which he Strengthened out with
his accustomed vigor. TO imagine
modern parallel we should have to sup
pose some one like Napoleon on his ele-
walton to the consulship or General
Grant fresh from the civil war and his
election to the presidency undertaking
to correct confusion in the calendar
due to the manipulations Of politicians:
Caesar called in the aid Of Sosigenes,
IN Alexandrian astronomer, to rectify
the error and prevent it for the future.
It was In the year of Rome 7OS-46
B. G. according to our reckoning-that
the revision took place. It is said that
Caesar intended to fix the list of Jan
uary in the following year, 700 (B. G.
49,, on the winter solstice the shortest
day in the year. This arrangement
would have been as nearly perfect as
possible, far superior to that which we
observe, in which New Years falls
some ten days after the solstice and
has no reference to anything Of natu-
raj character. If Caesar had taken the
shortest day for the LIST OF January he
would have had definitely fixed land
mark indicated by the. movement of
the earth itself as pre-emin emily the
correct point Of time for this event.
But the story goes that about ten days
later than the solstice there was q new
moon, which was the starting point OF
the ancient lunar months. It was still
looked upon as good augury for q
month to begin on the new moon, and
as 1t was desired that the year 700, the
opening year of Caesars new calendar,
should be inaugurated under circum-
stances that would commend the change
to the public it was determined that
the following Jan. should be on the
day of the new moon. But as the new
moon would come at different dates In
other years the good augury for that
one year was secured at the loss Of a
far more important consideration for
all future time. So our New Year Is
close to the shortest day, but not on it,
and derives its present arbitrary posi-
ton, according to this story, from the
new moon happening to fall on that
day in the year B. G. 45.-New York
Evening Post.