Daily Kennebec journal., 1925-03-18

who desire the additional hour Tor
recreational or health purposes-com-
mendable. desirable, II correct, 40
| not forget, and cannot forget, tne
ones back of those workers, IN the
shana OF the housewife and the mo-
ther. who. when the daylight saving
does obtain, as it did at one time IN
our citv here, the employees had 10
| 60 to work in the factories at tIe
north end of this town at six O'CLOCK
as under standard time, ana tneh un
der the daylight saving going 70 WIZ
at five, ! picture that mother settins
IN in what to me would seem an ex-
cellent hour, If you were going 10
shorten time, for retiring, to get
breakfast for the workers. SO can
saw I am heartily in sympathy, Wlt5
the principle of opposition to DAY
light saving time, and vet. anomalous
but exact, I am exactly as opposed
to this particular bill, and for very
definite reasons which l can brleHy
| give this Senate and thus capltalize
the Senior Senator from kenneoecs 8
apt statement that time Is money.
In the first place it is absolutety
unnecessary because 1t Is the law TO-
day. Either the law means some.
thing or it does not. And fancy that
this body is not meeting merely 10
! mass something that will have the
nature of q stopgap and be meaning
less. The present statute OF this
| State. il it would not be amis TO cali
II to the attention of this body, pro-
yides as follows, and 1t has been
law for many years: "All courts
and all state, county and town
officers and their employees, IN the
transacting of their official business
t. ut ny
and all contracts unless II Is other-
wise provided therein, and all pro
ceedings in law and equity, shail pe
governed by the eastern division or
Standard time" Now that was h
well considered act and it has stood
through the years. and it is conpre-
hensiye as affecting any legal pur-
pose intended or Compassed by the
measure under consideration. II !
can understand the argument OF tne
Senator from Androscoggin.
Now why should Legislature
emasculate, weaken, change. modify
a comprehensive and controlling sta
tute with something which is mere
words, or else must contain some-
thing which We have not Vet hi1
suggested to us / do think shere IS
Isor,ething more In this measure tnan
the Senator from Androscoggin has
referred to, and the ether thing
which 1 find in this measure and
which has not been adverted to by
the Senators from Cumberland is
real objection of merit. Section Is
not as innocuous, II / read 1t right
and if my view of the law of 1t is
right-it is not as innocuous and
harmless as the Senator from An
ldroscoggin interprets 1t. This takes
the place of the penal element, the
indictment and fning of town IN
section 2. And What does 1t do? The
Supreme Court in Equity, by writ
Of Injunction or otherwise. may res
train or annul what? Restrain or
annul corporate action, municipal
action, action of the courts, town Of
ficers, official doings? No. May res
train or annul proceedings in any
town or city in violation Of the pre-
ceding section. The comprehensive
term, 1.-The Supreme Court in Equity
may restrain by injunction proceed
ings."-what sort of proceedings?-
that would confer jurisdiction upon
the Supreme Judicial court, upon, the
petition of ten tax payers, to restrain
the action of some country club that
saw fit to regulate, as the Senator
from Androscoggin has suggested.
their habits without the law. If they
see fit actually to conform. it says
.annul proceedings" And what does
the term proceedings" mean? Pro-
ceedings means in its ordinary. plain,
simple definition "doings, happen
ings, acts"
Now any proceedings of a town
It is. / say, loose and ambiguous,
fruitful of litigation, fruitful of dis
sension. It is not drawn with that
clarity. with that definiteness, and
with that precision, that should char
acterize a law that Is receiving the
solemn consideration of this body. l
frankly and freely say to you. gentle
men. that by comparison with what
has been the controlling law of this
state through the years it suffers. 1t
is not comparable with that law. 1t
Is not as good a law.
There is another element in that
second section-it Is either there
through inadvertence or design
which l think is a mischievous pro-
vision. The equitable proceeding to
annul restraint. enjoin proceedings in
any town or city. in violation of the
preceding section-how? Upon the
applica ton of ten or more taxable
citizens of said town or city? No.
Upon petition of ten or more tax
able citizens of the State. The city of
/ Lewiston or the city of Portland, or
some organization thereof. some par
ticular group there, may he attempt
ing to be without the law as the
Senator from Androscoggin intimat-
ed that they might, If understood
the meaning of his words. l UNDER
stood the Senator to say that this
simply enforced what was already
the law with reference to the towns
and cities themselves in a corporate
capacity. but that any groups. any
organizations. any business. any en-
terprises that wanted to fix their
watches on any other basis. that they
his argument.
That being so, say that any group
or organization proceeding in q Ger
tain city under what they view to be
their rights. and which the Senator
interprets to be their rights. that any
taxpayers of Readfield, or of Aroos-
took. or of the most remote section
oil the State. can so into equity and
petition for an injunttion-men who
are not any more interested in the
happenings in Androscoggin. or Lew
lston, or Portland or Augusta. except
In remote way as any citizen is
who are not any more interested or
affected by the proceedings or doings
of this group or organization than as
though they lived in. Buffalo, the
western extreme.
One Senator touched upon the
blight OF this matter. Time Is rela-
tive term and the arbitrary distinc-
lions of places where time varies are
simply man made regulations. The
state of New York in the western
part thereof, the city of Buffalo and
iol, ~