The Columbus dispatch. (Columbus, Miss.) 19??-1922, 1919-06-18
The Liberty Calendar.


four equal weeks Of seven days. The
mere suggestion that this plan of
measuring time should take the place
of our present calendar is enough TO
make any real nice, old fashioned,
conservative person gasp for breath.
To such a person il would seem pre-
posterous that anyone should have the
nerve and effrontery to propose such
radical change in our time honored
and much revered, though !atrocious-
ly constructed, old time calendar.
1t would be bad enough if someone
were to simply offer slight amend
ment to the calendar for in
stance as Caesar Augustus asked for
when he got peeved because his
month of August contained only thir-
ty days. while July, named for Julius
Caesar, contained thirty-one. This
august parsonage, in his petty jeal-
ousy, asked the Roman Senate to add
an extra day to his month, and
straightway it was done. They did it
by simply robbing poor little Febru-
airy Of one of its 29 days, so that
through, all the ages since, this little,
sawed-off month has had to get along
with only %, barring each fourth
year. However, it was a common
thing in those days to change the cal
endar enthusiastically.
But,-to get back to this Liberty
Calendar scheme: 1t is not simply a
slight change which is proposed by
the men who are advocating this new
plan, but they want to do away with
all of the APO little squares-35 to
the month-which are now used to
make up our yearly calendar, and
place in their stead an insignificant
little bunch Of only % suares. Not
content with this, these people pre-
tend TO say that this little Liberty
little bunch of only 20 squares. Not
have to be printed new every year, but
that person might simply cut out
the above very simple form, paste it
on card, and use it all the rest Of
his natural life. Indeed, these men
claim that after a few months ex-
perience under this Liberty Calendar,
everyone would have it memorized,
and thereafter all printed calendars
of every sort might be thrown into
the waste basket for good and all In
cidentally, this would mean a saving
Of $1,000, 10000 year now spent for
printed calendars.
The people referred to are the fifty
Minneapolis business and profession
al men who few months since or
ganized the American Equal Month
Calendar Association and are now
seeding down" the whole country
with their calendar idea. Strange to
say, the organizers Of this association
do not belong to the ancient and ac-
cepted order of cranks, but they are
hard-headed, practical business men.
In fact, among them are bankers,
lawyers, merchants and manufactur-
ers, while four of the six officers of
the association are officers of banks
or other leading corporations. The ten
directors are all business or profess
sional men Of high standing in the
community.
OF course, we may be sure that
such men would not have started out
on a propaganda like this without
looking before they leaped, and it is
stated that for two whole years be.
fore the matter was made public, the
president of the association was cor.
responding with scientists, educators
and other people of the doubling
Thomas" class, with a view to get
ting their expert opinions and learn
ing whether the proposed Liberty
Calendar would really stand the test
They also wished to learn whether
their plan could be improved. The of
ficers state that the result of this in
vestigation fully confirmed their
opinion, and that they are certain
they have adopted the very best plan
of improving the calendar that can
possibly be devised. 1t must be adj
mitted that the plan is so simple as
to be almost startling. Also that the
adoption of this form would save an
immense amount of time and effort in
making arrangements for future dates
and in thousand other ways.
In framing the calendar, only three
slight changes were made in the pres
ent form. First, New Years Day was
made an independent legal holiday.
II is placed between the last day of
December and the first day Of Janu-
airy, but it is not included in any week
or month. Then, the remaining 364
days are divided into IS months of
exactly four weeks each, every month
commencing with Monday. This is
certainly simplicity itself.