The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1922-04-21
By Harry H. Dunn
In Dearborn Independent


| the conference of the Internationa
Astronomical Union in Rome, ii
| April of this year. 1t is estimated
that. if such a calendar can be ar.
ranged, and the world can be per.
suaded to adopt it, as. for example
| it adopted standard time. such g
calendar would save annually more
than $40,000,000 in the rewriting
printing and lithographing of new
| calendars for each succeeding year
The saving of time and money along
other lines, by this reform of the
Gregorian calendar, would be approx.
imately $200,000,000 a year, accord.
ing to estimates of those astrono-
mers and other scientists who are
endeavoring, in every country on the
globe, to bring about this uniform
perpetual division of the year into
its 1865 parts.
At the conference in Rome. the in
ternational committee of the astron.
omical union will present a report
on the form of calendar it has founc
most suitable for permanent adop.
ton by the world. What form this
will be, none but the members of the
committee know. but at this time
three forms of perpetual calendar
have been offered for the considera-
ton of the worlds astronomers, and
other authorities on the passage and
reckoning of time. One of these is
the American plan, now concretely
presented in the form of a bill pend
ing before congress-; another is the
Swiss plan, formulated by M. Arm
elm, and the third is the French
plan, originated by M. Bigourdan, all
astronomer in the Observatory of
Paris.
The American plan, or Liberay
calendar plan, has the great advan-
tage that it divides the year into
months of exactly even and equal
number of days, namely %, making
it very convenient for employers
and employees. bankers and account
ants. in short. all forms of industry
business and commerce, since the
first and fifteenth of every month
would come on Monday, and thus, all
weekly, or monthly. would fall at the
end of week and on week days. The
advantage to those paying interest
on borrowed money is at once ap-
parent. since they would pay inter
est on the exact number of days in
every instance. Rent payers SINH
larly would be benefited. while those
lending money or owning rental prop
erty would lose nothing. All notes
and contracts could be drawn so that
they never would mature on Sunday,
and the matter of fixing a future day
of the week for a certain date would
be comparatively simple, and no re-
course to printed calendar would
be necessary. All semi-annual pay
ments, notes, mortgages, taxes, and
SO on, would fall due on Monday.
January 1. and on Monday. June Is.
While the new number of months
proposed in this American plan is
not easily Invisible. being 10. the
number of work days in a month,
"a; the number of weeks in a month,
four; and the weeks in the year, SO,
are all easily Invisible. This is i'm
portant, since fully SO per cent Of
all settlements involving time are. by
the year. The year can be divided
into quarters under this plan very
easily, each quarter containing eX-
actly 13 weeks. and each quarter
commencing on Monday. Under the
present system, the quarters are Of
three different lengths. and COM
mence on different days of the week.
A glance at the Liberty calendar, pro-
posed under this plan. and shown
herewith, shows that every day of
the month always would fall on a
certain day of the week. In every
month until the end of time. the first,
eighth. fifteenth and twenty-second
always would fall on Monday; the
second. ninth. sixteenth and twenty
third. always would be Tuesday. and
so on. One would always know the
day of the week. and one printed
calendar would last forever.
1t is proposed to dispose of the
thirteenth month by introducing it
between February and March, and
naming it Liberty" or "Vern." the
latter in honor of the vernal equinox.
The 10 months of % days, would
thus form a total of 1854 days. To
provide space for the 365th day, a
New Years day-not named as q
day of the month or week-would be
placed between December %. which
always would be Sunday. and Janu-
airy 1, which always would be Mon
day. To provide for the extra 166th
day every four years. it would be in
serted between the twenty eighth day
of June and the first day of July,
once every four years, and called
Leap day." likewise having no stat
us as day of the week or day OF
the month. Both would be interna-
tional holidays.
AS direct and logical as this plan
siderable opposition to it. especially
in America. where it originated, and
one of the strangest features of this
opposition is that. in this educated
and enlightened nation, the strongest
objection to it is the addition of q
thirteenth month. This may be said
to be pure superstition.
The really fatal defeat in the
American plan. according to astron-
omers, is that it would create an ex-
ira months work every year for all
banks, commercial houses. industrial
firms and accountants all over the
world. and it is extremely improb-
able, according to certain American
authorities on the subject that the
financial interests of the world would
allow the injection of this extra
month into the year without the
strongest opposition.
DIR. w. w. Campbell. director OF
the Lick Observatory of the Uni
versity of California. at Mt. Hamil-
ton. from which DR.. r. G. Aitken
astronomer. will go as delegate to
the April conference in Rome. sup
ports the financial interests in their
opposition to the additional month
and brings forward psychological
factor which, although it seems ap'
narent also seems to have beer