The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1922-04-21
WORLD MIGHT ADOPT CALENDAR
WHICH LASTS A BILLION YEARS

by the Societe Astronomique dc
France. and lately revived by the
Paris Academic des Sciences. This
calendar is the original conception
Of M. Armelin, and of it DR.. Camp
bell says:
"From the many and varied pro
} posals which retain the year of 1.
| months, but principally from NJ
Armelin's calendar, | have selected
the features which seem best to mt
| for perpetual calendar, as follows
l. The year of II months to be
! divided into four quarters of three
months each. ana the arrangements
| for the first quarter to repeat tEem
selves precisely in each of the Other
quarters. The first month Of eaci
quarter of 80 lays; the second month
80 Gays, and The third month. 81
days. This accounts for 81 days il
each quarters or 364 days IN all
2. The remaining day in ordinary
years is New Years day 1t is
given no other descriptive title. II
does not belong to any week or t.
any month. 1t begins the year, but
January l is the day following New
Years day.
u L IS OOOlH Udy VI leap year IL
| likewise an extra day, bearing ar
appropriate descriptive name, per.
haps Leap day. but no week day
name, nor is it part of any month
1t is the day following December 81
and the day preceding New Years
| day. 1t is assumed to be a holiday
and, as it comes only one year ii
four. it could follow June 81, if pre-.
| ferred.
A. January 1 always falls on Mon.
day. From this, it results that the
first month in each quarter-Janu.
airy. April, July, October-begins or
! Monday in each and every year; that
| the second month in each quarter
February, May, August and Novem.
ber-begins always on Wednesday
| and that the third month in each
Quarter-March, June, September
and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS always on
Friday. The first day of the month
never falls on Sunday; the fifteenth
day of the month never falls on
Sunday; the thirtieth day of the
month never falls on Sunday; the
last day of each quarter-the thirty
first of March, June. September and
observation-disclosures falls on Sunday
| The 30-day months always have four
Sundays each. and the 31-day months
always have five Sundays each. The
number of week days in the month
is 26 for each and all of the IL
months.
THE advantage of this simple sys-
TEN must be evident" continued Dr.
Campbell. "The months are as near
ly equal-as nearly equal as they
can be made in a 12-month year
and in working days they are abso-
lutely equal. Any given date of any
day of the week. Each stated holi-
day falls on its invariable day of
the week. Thanksgiving day, for
example, always will be on Novem-
Der &c. Christmas day always on
Monday. Independence day, always on
Thursday, and so on"
Though DR.. Campbell considers
this by far the best of the three prin-
cipal systems offered, the propo-
nents of the American plan. or the
Liberty calendar, as they call it,
have raised certain important obiec-
tions to it. They say it has two ia
tai defects: First, that the weeks
do not fit the months. and, second,
that the months are still of two diff
ferent lengths. These two defects
it is undoubtedly true, are overcome
by the Liberty calendar. In regard
to these objections, DR.. Campbell
says of the Aremlin calendar:
sit is recognized by everybody
that the proposed break in the sue
cession of the week days is most
serious matter. In view of this fact,
M. Bigourdan, astronomer of the OBJ
servatOry of Paris, proposed a cal
endar which does not break the con-
tinuity of the weeks. 1t is an im-
provement over the present Greg
orian) calendar, in that the year is
divided into four unequal quarters OF
three months each, with 81 days in
the first month of each quarter; 80
days in the second month of each
quarter; 80 days in the third month
of the first three quarters, but 81
days in December. with the extra
day of leap year added to November
making that a month of 81 days
every fourth year. In leap year
then, four months in succession will
have 81 days.
"Bigourdan's system has the adj
vantage of making the months a lit
more equal than they are at present
and of simplifying slightly the run
of the days through the year, but
the first day of the months, given
day of any month. and the holidays
fall on different days in successive
years, as in the Gregorian calendar
His calendar, therefore, is not per
petual, and would have to be recon
structed and reprinted for every
year."
Whichever calendar is chosen by
the Rome conference, it is apparent
that there will be opposition to it.
The prime motive back of the
movement to reform the calendar, OF
course, is to provide greater conven-
fence for all users of the calendar
The foundations of the present cal
endar system were laid by Julius
Caesar. His system was altered anC
improved by Pope Gregory XIII. IL
1882.
American Perpetual Calendar
The American. or Liberty Calen'
dar plan, which is now pending il
the form of bill before the present
session of the American congress
provides for 10 months of exactly q
days each. with "a working days il
each. Under this calendar, every
| month for the next million, or trll-
lion years, would be just like this
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