King. — On Netu Zealand Mean Time. 433 



the selected meridian to make the time of the latter suitable 

 for local purposes without some alteration in the nominal 

 hours of business. Or, lastly, if all parts of the colony adhered 

 to one official reckoning — 11 h. or 12 h. fast on Greenwich — 

 we might have different clock-hours of business observed in 

 different districts ; which, in a relatively small country having 

 close intercommunication, is a nuisance to be avoided if 

 practicable. 



New Zealand is not alone in its modification of the in- 

 tegral-number ideal. Other countries have been confronted 

 with the same difficulty, and have overcome it in the same 

 way. Cape Colony, Orange Eiver Colony and the Transvaal 

 keep a time IJ-h. fast on Greenwich. The lh. meridian falls 

 too far to the west — out in the Atlantic ; the 2 h. meridian is 

 too far to the east : therefore these three countries have com- 

 promised in a practical manner by taking the 1| h. meridian 

 for their standard. (South Australia also keeps a time based 

 on the half-hour principle ; but for a reason which I will 

 presently explain I do not cite her as an example to be 

 followed.) 



Now, notwithstanding this departure from literal con- 

 formity with the hour-meridian principle, the countries which 

 I have mentioned, together with New Zealand, are recognised 

 in all the usual lists (e.g., in that given each year in the 

 " Nautical Almanac ") as coming under the standard time 

 agreement. There has been no very earnest attempt 

 amongst leading scientific authorities to induce the countries 

 making use of this modification to abandon it ; and it appears 

 to be generally admitted that we are acting reasonably in 

 adapting the system to this extent to the peculiarities of our 

 respective geographical positions. We may claim, then, that 

 the fifth of the conditions advanced above is, like the other 

 four, sufficiently respected by our reckoning. Of course in a 

 certain sense it may be said that it does not much matter 

 what clock-time a country may keep, since ultimately our 

 social arrangements are ruled by the sun. It is conceivable 

 that some day one uniform clock-time will be in force all 

 over the world, so that, while the sun may rise in one 

 place at 6 o'clock, in another it will not rise until, say, 

 12 o'clock. All I mean to contend for now is that, whilst 

 we keep a clock-time approximating to local mean solar time, 

 the closer the approximation is, consistent with other con- 

 siderations which must be studied, the better. 



But it is sometimes suggested that a reform of the clock 

 should be made for another reason. It is argued that 

 if New Zealand adopted a time 12 h. fast on Greenwich 

 a wholesome change would be effected in our habits. We 

 should all get up half an hour earlier than we do at present, 

 28 



