Pueblo chieftain., 1921-11-12
BY Frederic J. .Haskin.

| washington. d. c.. Nov. 9.-The
trials of saying "thirty days has Sep
| tember," and then counting laborious-
| ly on your fingers to find out on what
day of the week Christmas or pay
day comes, will be ended II bill by
Representative Thomas Schall of Min
nesota becomes a law.
Representative Schall says that in
J Minnesota business men are urging a
change in the calendar system.
/ Business men," he points out. are
every day giving their promissory
will come due on Sunday or on some
I. day of the week on which they have
engagements at distant points. The
amount due an employee who works
by the month is often in dispute II he
quits at the end OF any week previous
to the end of the month, because the
week is not an integral part of the
month.
I millions of our people work by the
month. and yet we have-no such
standardized everything except our
measure of time--the very thing we
use the most. We need simple.
we'll planned calendar. SO that We
would no longer have to consult an
almanac or engage in tiresome cal
culations every time we plan an en-
gagement or sign n paper"
The business men who feel most
strongly about the frritations of our
present time-reckoning system have
organized into the Liberty Calendar
Association of America One Of them,
Mr.. Joseph Barnes. of Minneapolis.
has evolved a liberty calendar, which
has been approved by experts on
higher mathematics. and by the
Chamber of Commerce.
This calendar is the one which Mr..
Schall has submitted to congress. 1t
would divide the year in IL months
of even weeks. Every week and
every month would begin on the same
day-Monday-as the bill stands.
i And every quarter of l3 weeks would
which would be a great convenience
| to business men.
A NEW MONTH.
Tho extra month was originally to
be called Liberty. but this does not
! exactly harmonic with the names
of the IL months as they stand. so
vern. meaning spring. has been sug-
gested. Vern would fall between
February and March.
The irregularities necessary to keep
a calendar accurate are provided for
by tho inventor of the Liberty cal
endar. Thirteen months of weeks
, each provide 364 days to a year. The
365th day. or rather the first. Is made
New Years Day. and holiday. 1t
would have no status as day of the
week, except that every seventh year
, 1t would be observed as sunday.
Our Leap Year system Is changed
somewhat by the Liberty calendar.
February still has only IS days. but
SO have the other months. SO that
there is no especial need to give 1t
the extra day. Instead. Leap Year Is
placed between the 2sth OF June and
the first of July. and made a legal
holiday. 1t occurs. as ut present,
centuries.
The calendar bill provides that No
vember IL. which would always fall
on Thursday. would be observed as
Peace and Thanksgiving Day. there
by killing two birds with one stone.
Other generally observed holidays
would remain about as at present.
The Liberty calendar would solve
one problem for the benefit of. the
church. Easter Sunday would always
viates the difficulty of fixing the date
each year by the ecclesiastical moon
and an intricate formula
The present method of determining
Easter has long been regarded as un-
necessarily troublesome. European
astronomers are now planning to con-
fer at Rome next spring to make
Easter Sunday fixed date. and per-
haps to discuss other improvements
in the calendar.
IL ono important country maze
radical changes in It's way of reckon
ing time. other progressive nations.
1t Is claimed. would undoubtedly fol-
low suit. 1t Is not thought that there
would be any difficulty in getting the
important countries of Europe to
agree on n change from the Gregorian
system to something better. The de-
tails. such as holidays. the names.
need not be the same In different
countries. but there should be some
agreement as to the arrangement of
days. weeks and months.
EFFORTS AT CALENDAR
REFORM.
! 1t Is recognized abroad. as we'll rs
In this country, that the Gregorian
calendar is not the most convenient
possible. Beginning in 1906. Europe
has had bills and conventions on tho
subject OF calendar reform. Recently
commission on the Reform OF the