Mar. 23.
Ur to last night the British Chamber of Commerce canvass of its members had resulted in ninety-seven votes for daylight saving and sixty-seven against. It is curious to note what divisions occur in the same occupation, one big store, for instance, being as emphatically for" as another is ' against."' Practical—ly all, however, have, we believe, taken the opinions of their staffs before replying, thus covering a very wide field. Meanwhile, as already noted, the American Chamber of Coriiinerce have voted strongly for the change, and the French Chamber have expressed themselves ready to fall in with either view. In our own correspondence columns the "against writers have been more numerous than the " for,"' but this is a common phase of all controversy: ' the attacking party must be strenuous; defence rests securely on its laurels, conscious, in this case, of the merits of its claims, as proved by last year's experience. In this connexion attention may be drawn to the pithy little letter to-day by "Very Much for Daylight Saving," who effectively disposes, as it seems to us, of severd objections, especially as regards the welfare of children. Even with the clock advanced, it is dark enough by 8.80 to' get the small ones to sleep. As a working woman, the writer unconsciously calls attention to the needs of a very large class, not yet thought of sufficiently.. To the many working girls of Shanghai we believe that daylight saving is an inestimable boon.
The attitude of the Chinese Post Office, which employs over 1,000 men in the Peking Road head office alone, is of interest. The Postal Commissioner, in reply to our queries, states that he will not adopt daylight saving unless the railways operating from Shanghai do so as well. Nearly twenty million articles were posted in the Shanghai street pillar-boxes last year, and clearances from these are timed to fit in with departures of trains. Further, the numerous and intricate time tables by which mails are carried between Peking Road and the twenty-two sub-post offices in Shanghai were also framed with railway connexions in view. The Chinese staff of the Post Office is believed not to favour daylight saving. The
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.