8 P.D. 123. 



Be it enacted, etc., as follows : 



For the purpose of ascertaining the will of the people of the common- 

 wealth concerning the continuanc-e or repeal of the daylight saving law, so- 

 called, the secretary' of the commonwealth shall cause to be placed on the 

 official ballot to be used at the next state election the following question: — 

 "Shall daylight saving be retained by law in Massachusetts?" The votes 

 upon said question shall be received, sorted, counted and declared, and 

 copies of records thereof transmitted to the secretary of the commonwealth, 

 laid before the governor and council, and by them opened and examined, in 

 accordance with the laws relating to votes for state officers and copies of 

 records thereof, so far as such laws are applicable. The governor shall make 

 knoM-n the result by declaring the number of votes in the affirmative and 

 the number in the negative, and shall transmit a statement of such result, 

 in writing, to the general court during the first week of the session in the 

 year nineteen hundred and twenty-five. If it shall appear that a majority 

 of said votes is in the affirmative, it shall be deemed and taken to be the 

 will of the people that the daylight saving law, so-called, shall be continued 

 in force, and if a majority of said votes is in the negative, it shall be deemed 

 and taken to be the will of the people that said law shall be repealed. 



The agricultural and other organizations in Massachusetts which believed in 

 the repeal of the Daylight Saving Act vigorously set forth their views to the 

 voters of the Commonwealth. The Commissioner of Agriculture felt that in his 

 official position he would not be justified in taking an active part in the cam- 

 paign for repeal of the law, but after urgent and repeated requests from farmers' 

 organizations he made a careful study of the effect of daylight saving upon the 

 farming business of the state and presented his conclusion to the public, be- 

 lieving that he was acting consistently with one of the most important of his 

 statutory duties, namely, the encoi;ragement of agriculture in the Commonwealth. 

 The vote on the question at the November election, as returned by counties, was 

 as follows: 



County 

 Barnstable 

 Berkshire 

 Bristol 

 Dukes 

 Essex 

 Franklin 

 Hampden 

 Hampshire 

 Middlesex 

 Nantucket 

 Norfolk 

 Plymouth 

 Suffolk 

 Worcester 

 Total 



The vote favoring repeal of the Daylight Saving Law was larger than the 

 most vigorous opponents of daylight saving could even have hoped to secure in 

 an industrial state. It showed conspicuously the number of peoj^le who believed 

 that the best welfare of the whole community is served by not injuring the busi- 

 ness of the producer of food. There were, of course, other reasons which 

 prompted the large vote against the law. 



The geographical distribution of the vote is illuminating. The industrial cities 

 generally favored the law but there were some conspicuous exceptions, and in 

 several of the larger cities, such as Worcester, the vote was very close. The 

 country districts almost invariably voted against the law, a few towns of moder- 

 ate size which are primarily industrial being the only exceptions. Practically all 

 the cities and towns in the Boston Metropolitan District favored the law, but 



