The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1916-06-17

Congressman William P. Borland in Kansas
City Star.
The plan of saving daylight by set
/ ting the clocks forward one hour dur
/ ing the summer months went into OPP
Grafton in Germany, Austria-Hun-
gary and Holland May last and IN
England May 20.
The bill has passed the chamber
fof deputies of France. 1t has APP
pealed so strongly to the business
men Of this country that a wide
spread movement has been begun to
/ have the plan tried here.
! Briefly, the plan is simply TO set
forward the standard time one hour
on a certain designated date and set
| it back one hour on certain date
in September The hour chosen to
make the change is at 2 o'clock
| Sunday morning.
| The effect of the change is. to make
| the business day begin an hour
earlier in the morning and close one
hour earlier in the afternoon, during
the summer season; a return to nor
/ NAL conditions being made when the
| days begin to shorten after the
autumn equinox.
The advantages become apparent
on little reflection In the summer
the sun rises before 5 o'clock in the
morning. II business does not begin
until $50, 8 or 9:30, the sun has
been up four to FIVE hours before the
business day begins.
All classes of business men favor
ed the change in England, except the
public houses. It cuts an hour off
their closing time at midnight, which
is not compensated, in their line of
business, by the additional hour IN
the morning. The loss of an hour Of
darkness is dead loss to them, as
few persons hang around saloons in
daylight-they find other ways of
amusing themselves.
Some ask, if people want to arise
an hour earlier in the summer time
and begin work why can't they do
so without Il law? Uniformity is the
great thing in our complex life.
Nobody can regulate his own hours
of work except the farmer. Most of
us must consult the customs of busi-
ness and the habits Of other persons.
How could one man or a few men
begin their day earlier? The trains
would not be in, the mails would not
be distributed, the banks, shops and
Offices would not be open, the GUS
toners would not be abroad.
to think it is flying in the face
of Providence to tamper with the
hands of the clock 1t would sur
prise most Of these to learn there is
nothing sacred about our clocks. We
do not attempt to keep sun time. Our
time is arbitrary and based on an APP
Proclamation of sun time for the pur-
pose of convenience.
1t is said that in practical sense
the change could be made in this
country much more easily than in
European countries, because foreign
mails and international train service
do not complicate the situation here
to the same extent as they do in
Europe. We have only one near
.neighbor in the railroad line
Canada-and that country soon may
adopt the change.
It would be desirable il the change
could be made BY national law,
rather than BY state law, Or by city
ordinance. am now hi having the
legislative research bureau Of the
congressional library look up for me
all phases of this question. 1t oc-
ours to me that d regulation of in
terstate commerce might bring about
the result, or possibly eoineident
regulation of interstate carriers and
Of the postal service.
If the mails and the trains con-
formed to the new standard all over
the country the local business of each
community could readily adjust it
self to the change.
| trust a way can be found for
congress to pass q uniform law on
the subject and put the country
abreast of the great commercial
nations Of the globe.