King. — On Neiv Zealand Mean Time. 431 



Once inore consulting the map, we shall find that neither 

 of the two alternative meridians possessing this special ad- 

 vantage for navigators and others is so convenient for the 

 general purposes of the colony. The 11 h. meridian (165° 

 east) falls in the ocean about a third of the distance between 

 Wellington and Melbourne : the 12 h. meridian (180° east) 

 lies at a corresponding distance from the East Coast, well out 

 towards the Chatham Islands. Dr. Hector therefore had no 

 hesitation in putting forward his proposal in favour of the 

 11^- h. meridian. The Government approved the suggestion, 

 and laid it before the House of Eepresentatives ; and on the 

 31st October, 1868, a Gazette notice was published announc- 

 ing that the House had passed a resolution to the effect 

 that the time 11^ hours in advance of Greenwich mean time 

 had been adopted as the mean time for the colony, and that 

 from the 2nd November, 1868, the public offices of the 

 General Government would be opened and closed in accord- 

 ance therewith.* 



The " Hector" time-reckoning for New Zealand has thus 

 been in force ever since 1868. It is very convenient for all 

 the civil purposes of the colony ; it is instantly intelligible 

 to navigators ; and its adoption has enabled New Zealand to 

 take her place in the official list of countries obeying the 

 standard time agreement, although that agreement had not 

 been heard of when our Legislature took this action. It 

 may be said that the idea is a very obvious one, and that 

 any country might have arranged to follow it in deciding 

 upon the basis of its time system. This is perfectly true: 

 it is obvious enough — after it has been adopted ; but the 

 fact remains that no other country did take it up for some- 

 thing like fifteen years after it had been adopted for New 

 Zealand. 



All things considered, the standard bids fair to be the one 

 permanently used by the colony. Admirably, however, as it 

 would appear to answer our needs, suggestions have not been 

 wanting that it should be modified. The contention is that a 

 system based on an exact hour east of Greenwich would be a 

 more complete realisation of the standard time ideal than one 

 having an odd half-hour in its count, and that therefore we 

 ought to make our time either 11 h. or 12 h. fast on Green- 

 wich. Now, it must at once be admitted that, other things 

 being equal, the integral number of hours is preferable to the 

 number which includes the half - hour. The question is 

 whether, for the sake of symmetrical compliance with the 

 letter of the standard time arrangement, it is desirable to 

 upset our system. It appears to me that, except upon very 



* New Zealand Gazette, 31st October, 1868, p. 505. 



