The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-11-17
Frederick Haskln's Letter
More National Holidays.
fSnerial Corrrenonderce of Ihe ~

: More and more, HOLIDAYS ~,
! coming to serve as recreation ds,-.
Most of US celebrate WashiDEto5'-
i birthday by an extra nap in tbs
morning and then some kind If
amusement for the rest of the dav
! Our remembrance of WashinE1o1
is perhaps limited to a kiTdlv
! thought or two of George" wa
obliged US by being famous enoueb
| to be worthy of a holiday.
! But our holidays are not arrany-
/ ed 20 give the best results as daSs
/ of recreation. 1t has been shny-r
by economists that DAYS close n
Sunday are the most efficient rir,o
/ for holidays. When worke-s
knock off to play in the middle of
the week there is found TO be q
good deal of the beforehand -aftnr
holiday spirit; while there is gen
orally less when the holiday fafIe
at the beginning or end of a week
A holiday that falls on SATURDAY.
economists show, is followed bv a
rest day, and workers are more ant
to return to work on Monday with
the holiday partly forgotten. The
atmosphere of office and shop is
more normal than on a working
day directly after a holiday.
Monday Best Holiday.
Monday. like Saturday. is desfr-
able as a holiday. Here, again th-
week is not broken up by two sen
parate resting spells. Monday is the
best day in the week for a holi-
day, from the workers point Of
view, because it gives him two DAYS
together.
Besides this. it has been found
that when a holiday falls in the
middle of the week, factories often
shut down for the half OF the week
following the celebration. Occa-
sionally. the whole week is given
to the workers-without pay.
So far as the people who work
are concerned it would be further
desira BILE to have our holidays scat
tered throughout the year, the
pleasant months being the most
satisfactory for celebrations.
AS the calendar stands. we have
March. April, May and June with
out nationwide holidays. except at
Easter and Decoration day. which
is in May in the north and April
in most southern states. AS Good
Friday is not a legal holiday in
many states, Easter from an eco
nomic standpoint really does not
give an extra day of rest. Then.
and October have no gen
eral holidays. In all of these
months, except March, perhaps,
weather is favorable for out-of-
door events-picnics, pageants, ex-
cursiOns and hikes.
Our prevailing holidays seem to
be Sustered m the four coolest
months, with Fourth of July and
Labor day to furnish recreation for
summer. This side of the matter
has never been stressed in est2b-
fishing new holidays. but consider
ing the financial cost when mil
lions of workers are idle for an
extra day. it might seem that an
falling in June. Aug
Ist or October might be given pref
arenca over another mid winter
holiday.
What holidays cost is shown in
general way by the governments
|9S-A4ItAsS tAie1t CeASA regal iiOi4tALF 4It
he District of Columbia costs the
country about 100000 This est
nate was based on the average sal
sry of 10000 government clerks in
Washington. It does not show the
cost in delays in work, or what the
gain or loss in efficiency due to a
lay of rest may be. 1t shows only
he dollars and cents outlay for
lays work. Last year - ..5f'5as7
ill for the District was n little
more than $2000O00.