Evening star., 1940-11-22


obviously an economic reason. So,
too, do the advocates of calendar re-
form insist that it would be much
better if the United States had 13
months of % days each and if all
holidays hereafter were by statute
fixed to fall on Mondays.
The economic gain to be derived
from a stable calendar is obvious be-
cause every important holiday
would mean three-day vacation for
the workers of the country and at the
same time would permit factories to
calculate precisely the amount OF
work they could depend upon with
out subjecting their plants to the
loss incident to reopening in mid
week after a days shutdown.
The defenders of the present hit
or-miss holiday system have chung to
tradition, but they do not realize that
even such a holiday as Christmas is
not celebrated on the exact day of
the birth of Christ. December 25
has been Christmas day and Febru-
ary % has been Washington's birth
day only since that eventful occasion
in the 1760s, when all dates in the
calendar were changed by II days.
July Often Celebrated.
The important thing about holi-
day is the occasion giving rise to the
celebration. Independence day is
often celebrated on Monday, July 5,
by arbitrary ruling rather than on
the exact anniversary of the signing
of the Declaration of Independence.
II it becomes national custom to
celebrate all occasions Of memorial
or historical nature on the Monday
nearest the present day of celebra-
ton the country would soon &C
custom itself to the change.
The late George Eastman of kodak
fame spent the last years Of his
life agitating for calendar reform
and his ideas gained certain ac-
ceptance in many countries of the
world. 1t has been suggested that
the extra month be called SOL"
and that it be inserted about the
middle of the calendar. The fact
that there would be 13 months Of
exactly % days each would SIM
plify accounting in business and
make possible year to year COMPARE
sons without the present difficulty
of estimating five-week months
against four-week months.
But the chief value of calendar
change lies in the economic ad-
vantages from an avoidance of ir-
regularly emerging holidays. Thus
rotating Easter has long been a
source of embarrassment in the re-
tail trades. Likewise, the fact that
holidays have habit of coming on
q Tuesday or Thursday, making
the week far less efficient in pro-
duction sense, introduces an eco
nomic factor which in total losses
to the country's income produced
runs into billions of dollars.
Three-day holidays would, of
course, tend to bring about relaxa-
ton for millions of persons who do
not now get two full days at week
end. The consumer industries and
especially amusements and highway
travel would increase and all COL
lateral businesses would be bene-
fitted immeasurably.
Criticism Would Fade.
President Roosevelt's experiment
with the change of Thanksgiving
has unfortunately been given a po-
litical twist-States with Republican
Governors sticking to the old date
as Democratic Governors fall in line
with Mr.. Roosevelt's suggestion. 1t
Is the lack of uniformity which
causes most of the difficulties about
time or calendar changes. If CAL
endar reform were legislated upon
by act of Congress, the Nation
would soon accept the changes and
In a year or two criticism would
disappear.
Many business organizations and
civic bodies, including church
groups, have favored calendar re-
form but the principal impetus to
the movement is economic. The
tendency nowadays is to increase
the number of holidays without re-
gard to economic consequences. En-
ployers who see ahead flve-day
weeks and large penalties for over
time would doubtless find in calen-
dar reform with Mondays selected
for all holiday celebrations a tre-
mendous influence for stabilization
and efficiency.
Maybe President Roosevelt's bold
change of the date for Thanksgiv-
ing Day will tend to focus atten-
ton on what can be done in the
way of calendar reform. AS for
those who argue tradition, they