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by the business Community through the fact of the working day starting earlier and closing correspondingly sooner than now, thereby giving 23 minutes more daylight after the usual closing hour of 5 o'clock as at present. The Committee are unable to find any likelihood of complaint from the navigators using the port and indeed they are of opinion that they would welcome the change for the reason that it would simplify their calculations. It is plainly much easier for them to deduct 8 hours from the observed time of the falling ball of the local Observatory than, as at present, the regulation figures representing hours, minutes, seconds, and decimals of seconds in order to ascertain the errors of their chronometers. This may not appear to be a great advantage, but it is the sum total of such small matters which secure the safety of navigation, and the elimination of a possible source of error should not be passed over lightly.
That Zone time has been successfully introduced by the Imperial Maritime Customs in the Ports of China North of Hongkong, and even up the Yangtse as far as Hankow, without exciting adverse criticism and practically without reference in the local papers, is a great achievement and augurs well for its easy adoption in Hongkong. It does not therefore seem desirable that this British Colony should withhold its support to a scheme which practically sets in motion Greenwich time throughout the Chinese Empire.
As His Excellency is aware, Zone time is not a new idea. It has been found necessary to adopt it in countries such as Canada, Australia, and United States of America which have great trans-continental lines of railway, as it was found impossible to properly regulate the branch line connections unless some easily calculated system of hour or half-hourly zones divided these countries. The Philippine Islands have also adopted a hour Zone time as proposed for Hongkong.