and the growth of industrialization of the country should not be impeded any more than is necessary. Reporting problems of the carriers, and the reading of reports submitted to Government agencies by their staffs will be eased by the establishment of these uniform dates. Accordingly, we respectfully urge that these bills be approved by the Congress at the earliest possible date. Very truly yours, HENRY A. S. VAN DAALEN, Jr., Executive Director. Hon. HARLEY O. STAGGERS, ASSOCIATION OF OIL PIPE LINES, Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, Washington, D.O. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Reference is made to the hearing before the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce which commenced on February 1, 1966, on H.R. 6785, which you introduced in the Congress, and on H.R. 6481 (Congressman Harris), H.R. 7867 (Congressman Macdonald), and S. 1404, related bills which would promote nationwide time uniformity. We The Association of Oil Pipe Lines has authorized me to advise that we support this legislation. We understand that these bills have the endorsement of the committee for time uniformity and the great number of organizations, including this association, which support the committee's efforts in this area. believe these bills are highly in the public interest and hope that this legislation will receive favorable consideration by the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. It is respectfully requested that this letter be made part of the record of the hearings on these bills, which we understand will remain open until February 11, 1966, for that purpose. Sincerely, J. D. DURAND, General Counsel. Hon. HARLEY O. STAGGERS, THE NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL TRAFFIC LEAGUE, Chairman, House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The notice of public hearings dated January 24 advised that your committee would begin hearings today (postponed to February 2) on H.R. 6785 and several other bills relating to time uniformity. The National Industrial Traffic League, on behalf of its membership, wishes to support time uniformity legislation. The National Industrial Traffic League, a voluntary organization of shippers and association of shippers, with over 1,600 members throughout the country, at its November 1962 annual meeting, considered the widespread variations in standard and daylight saving time across the country, frequent time zone boundary disputes, differing standard-daylight changeover dates, all of which have combined to create bewildering uncertainty and confusion in the minds of the traveling and shipping public. League members on the recommendation of its passenger traffic committee voted support of the efforts being made by the Transportation Association of America and others in an endeavor to resolve these problems. The league has previously supported similar legislation before the Subcommittee on Commerce and Finance during the 2d session of the 88th Congress. The league supports H.R. 6785 and identical bills (H.R. 7867 and H.R. 6481) which would (1) provide a limited modernization of the Standard Time Act of 1918; and (2) promote a more uniform observance of daylight saving time, and urges that H.R. 6785 be favorably reported and progressed to final enactment. Yours very truly, L. J. DORR, Executive Secretary. Mr. HARLEY O. STAGGERS, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES, Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, DEAR CHAIRMAN STAGGERS: On behalf of the National Association of Counties, I should like to take this opportunity to endorse H.R. 6785, H.R. 6987, and H.R. 7867, identical bills to provide time uniformity. I should also like to request this endorsement be made a part of the official committee's report on this legislation. On August 12, 1964, the National Association of Counties adopted the following amendment to the American county platform, the official policy statement of our organization. Time variation.-The observance of time throughout the United States has become increasingly confusing since World War II because of widespread variations in standard and daylight saving time. Complicated by frequent time zone boundary disputes, different daylight standard changeover dates, and the startment of local community options. Such factors have combined to create bewildering uncertainty and confusion for the American citizen as well as great expense and burdens for the transportation, communications, and other industries. The problem of time uniformity is presently under active consideration in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives as a matter of nationwide concern. The National Association of Counties favors the establishment of national time uniformity and urges Congress to enact appropriate legislation for this purpose. The association will cooperate with other organizations in achieving this objective. Very truly yours, W. W. DUMAS, President. Hon. HARLEY O. STAGGERS, NATIONAL COUNCIL OF FARMER COOPERATIVES, Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, DEAR MR. STAGGERS: The National Council of Farmer Cooperatives supports legislative action designed to bring about greater uniformity in standards for time observance. The council's members authorized such support in a policy statement adopted in January 1963. We support H.R. 6785, introduced by you in the 89th Congress, and H.R. 7867, an identical bill introduced by Congressman Torbert H. Macdonald, a member of your committee. The provisions of these bills appear to us to be an appropriate legislative vehicle for replacing the present confusion in standards for time observance with a reasonable degree of uniformity in a sound manner. We have noted the two principal differences between these House bills and S. 1404 passed by the Senate on June 3, 1965. While preferring the provisions of the House bills which more specifically require observance of uniform daylight saving time by all Federal innstrumentalities, we would favor your approval of S. 1404 if this would expedite final legislative action. We believe the need for prompt action is more important than the differences in the Senate and House bills. There are two basic areas in which legislative action is needed in the interest of greater economy and order in the conduct of transportation, communications, and business generally which affect agriculture and all segments of the public. We believe those areas are adequately covered in either the House bills or S. 1404. Those areas are: (1) The clarification of existing law to give more clearly defined authority to the administrative agency with respect to prescribing time standards and requiring their observance. (2) While leaving to individual States and communities the decision as to whether they shall observe daylight saving time, a provision that such jurisdictions that do observe daylight saving time shall begin and end that observance at the same time each year. We believe that the confusion as to time standards, particularly daylight saving time, should be effectively dealt with now to prevent continued adverse effect on the cost and convenience of the conduct of public and private business. These adverse effects are felt not only by those serving the agricultural segment of the economy but by the entire public. We commend you and the other members of your committee for recognizing the significance of the problem by giving it your attention early in this session of the Congress. We respectfully urge appropriate and prompt action by your committee to the end that legislation may be enacted at this session in time for the provisions as to daylight saving time to be put into effect for this year. We shall appreciate your inclusion of this statement of the council's position in the record of hearings recently held before your committee on H.R. 6785, H.R. 7867, S. 1404 and similar bills. We are sending each member of the committee a copy of this letter so that they may be individually advised of the council's position. Sincerely, L. JAMES HARMANSON, Jr., General Counsel. HAWAIIAN COMMITTEE FOR TIME UNIFORMITY, Hon. HARLEY O. STAGGERS, Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, DEAR CONGRESSMAN STAGGERS: May I express my wholehearted support for bills H.R. 6785, H.R. 7867, and H.R. 6481 concerned with uniform time throughout the United States. The patchwork manner in which daylight saving time is observed, particularly the widely varying dates on which States and areas move to and from daylight saving time, has created one of the greatest public inconveniences in America. The standardization of time differentials would eliminate confusion and would facilitate business communications. To the extent that this would stimulate business, it would result in more wages to employees, more taxes to the Government. At the present time the Hawaiian Committee for Time Uniformity is soliciting the support of a broad cross section of community organizations for a daylight saving bill for the State of Hawaii. Our committee is comprised of representatives of small and large business, labor, professional people, and members of both political parties. We are recommending that daylight saving time, if passed by the Legislature, should start on the last Sunday in April and terminate on the last Sunday in October-to conform with most major population areas in the United States. To date we have endorsements from the following organizations and political leaders: ILWU. State of Hawaii Chamber of Commerce. Retail Board of Honolulu Chamber of Commerce. Hawaii Chamber of Commerce. Kauai Chamber of Commerce. Maui Chamber of Commerce. Hawaii Fashion Guild. Hawaii Bankers Association. Chinese Chamber of Commerce. Hawaii County Board of Supervisors. United Chinese Society. Waikiki Jaycees. Japanese Chamber of Commerce. U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye. U.S. Congressman Spark M. Matsunaga. U.S. Congressman Patsy T. Mink. We have prepared a summary of the time situation, pointing out why it is important to the Hawaiian Islands to bring their time into conformity with the principal business and commercial areas in the United States. A copy of this memorandum is attached. Sincerely, RICHARD CRONIN, Chairman. TIME IN HAWAII WHY CONFORMITY IS ADVANTAGEOUS The question of time the time under which a country, State, or community. operates has been with us since the beginning of history. In the early days practically every group set its own standards. It made little difference whether one community followed the pattern of another. In Europe each country established its own time, sometimes without relationship to its neighbors. In many cases, 12 noon in a given community was that moment of the day when the sun was directly over the tome of the community's "city hall." Thus, two areas or cities which might be only a few miles apart would operate on time schedules several minutes different from each other. For example, there was a difference of 7 seconds between the time at the Capitol dome in Washington, D.C., and that at the Lincoln Memorial; a difference in time of 30 seconds from one end of the San Francisco-Oakland Bridge to the other. With the development of modern communications and the expansion of railroads, the necessity for adopting some uniform time patterns became evident. In the United States initially each railroad had its own time schedule. Some railroads would operate under various different schedules. This caused tremendous confusion. In 1878 Sandford Fleming, a Scottish-Canadian, brought forward a plan for the whole world. Under his suggestion, the world would be divided into 24 standard meridians, 15° apart in longitude. In 1833 the Canadian and American railroads adopted in principle Fleming's ideas and divided the North American Continent into four basic zones, 1 hour apart. This was quickly and gratefully accepted by the American people, and generally observed by the Federal Government, States, cities and towns throughout the Nation. Thus these standard times which are recognized in the various zones were "manmade time" and not "God's time" as it is sometimes referred to today. Prior to 1883 there were some 100 railroad "standard times"-eight different zones in Pittsburgh, Pa., alone, for example. In an effort to stabilize time standards and eliminate confusion, in 1918 the U.S. Congress passed legislation, as a war measure to increase national efficiency, making the railroad time zones official and charged the Interstate Commerce Commission with authority over boundary disputes. The Interstate Commerce Commission still holds this authority. The Standard Time Act of 1918 also gave official sanction to another time measuring device which had been developing on local levels; namely, daylight saving time. What happenes when daylight saving time is adopted? It simply saves an hour of daylight in the early morning, when the vast majority are asleep, and puts that hour of daylight at the end of the day in the evening, when the vast majority can enjoy it. The basic idea of daylight saving time was originally conceived by Benjamin Franklin in the 18th century when he served as U.S. Ambassador to France. It has been reported that he awakened early one morning in Paris and noticed the sun shining brightly outside. He asked himself: "Why are we not taking advantage of all this daylight?" The Parisians ignored Franklin, however, and nothing was done about it. The adoption of daylight saving time on a national basis in 1918 was unpopular with the American people. In fact, the following year Congress repealed the national legislation and the use of daylight saving time returned to the States as an optional matter. During the twenties and thirties, however, more and more communities began advancing their clocks during the summertime to take advantage of all the daylight they could obtain. During World War II, Congress, again on the national level, adopted daylight saving time. In fact, in 1942 Congress by law advanced the whole country 1 hour without disturbing the basic time zones. This was again repealed, after almost 4 years, following the cessation of hostilities. Since then, individual State and local governments have increasingly adopted the use of daylight saving time during the summer months. The economic, social, and personal benefits to be derived from it have been recognized by an ever-increasing proportion of the people. Today many organizations-representing business, agriculture, transportation, broadcasting, communications, travel, labor, and Federal, State, and local communities-recognizing the value of uniform time schedules, have joined together and formed the Committee for Time Uniformity. 58-797-6610 Following extensive studies by this Committee for Time Uniformity, Federal legislation designed to bring about uniform time observance throughout the United States, but which would leave to the individual States that right to determine whether they would or would not advance their clocks each year 1 hour between the end of April and the end of October, has been introduced in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. Full hearings were held by the Senate Interstate Commerce Committee which, in turn, at the end of May unanimously reported the bill out with a "do pass" recommendation. On June 3, this legislation was passed by the Senate and was sent to the House. Currently, daylight saving time is being observed in at least 31 of the 50 States in the Union. Colorado is observing it statewide for the first time this summer, as a result of legislation enacted this April by its State legislature and signed by Governor Love. Those States observing daylight saving time include the major business, financial, and agricultural areas on the Pacific coast, in the Midwest, and on the Atlantic seaboard, the areas where the largest consuming publics exist. Today, well over 100 million Americans enjoy daylight saving time during 6 months of the year (as a result of actions taken either by their State legislature or by their local government authorities or by a plebiscite of the people)—and, according to Felix Belair, Jr., in an article in the New York Times on March 7, 1965, "Hundreds of thousands more would like to in States that either prohibit the shift by law or do nothing about it." In recent years, more and more States-such as California, which some years ago had voted against the adoption of daylight saving time-have adopted it for a number of reasons, such as: (1) The people like it and enjoy its many business, social, and economic benefits. (2) It provides more time in the afternoon and early evening hours for recreational activities and outdoor living. (3) It has helped reduce fatigue, industrial accidents, and has increased efficiency. (4) Traffic accidents are reduced as more and more people are home and off the streets before dark. Statistics prove that one's chances of having a fatal highway accident at night are three times greater than during daylight hours. Motorists have frequently been warned that three out of five traffic fatalities occur at night, although only 30 percent of the driving is done during darkness. The National Safety Council's statistics show that the most dangerous traffic period is at the end of the day, when motorists are hurrying home through the dusk or darkness. The Los Angeles Traffic Department has reported that a 10-percent increase in the yearly fatality rate would occur if daylight saving time during the summer months were eliminated. It has estimated that the extra hour of daylight at a time when the highways are fullest, saved approximately 135 lives in Los Angeles during a 5-year period. (5) Juvenile delinquency is known to increase in the late afternoon and evening hours. More daylight hours in the evening tends to reduce such delinquency. In this connection, John Schapps, when western director of the National Probation and Parole Association (now known as the National Council on Crime and Delinquency), stated: "Daylight saving is child and youth sav. ing. The fact that delinquency increases with the hours of darkness is well established. Consequently, the saving of daylight for daily living represents a very great contribution, not only toward reducing delinquency but to the health and well-being of all youngsters. We have supported the daylight saving plan in the past and do now, in the public interest." (6) The standardization of time differentials facilitates business communications. This results in stimulating business and, in turn, maintaining or increasing employment. It also eliminates unnecessary increased cost of conducting business and thus holds to a minimum ultimate prices which are borne by the consumer. (7) It makes for better, more efficient, and more economical radio, television, and press communications. The National Association of Broadcasters has stated that more than $2 million is spent annually by the television industry for equipment and technicians to tape and save programs. for showing during prime times throughout the country. |