A CALENDAR FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY

 It is high time that the Western World's present calendar is replaced by a rational calendar which could be used world-wide. At present the months are of unequal lengths; 31, 30, 29 and 28 days in length. Interest earned on investments therefore varies from month to month.

At present the half-years are of differing lengths, e.g. from 2 January to 2 July comprises 181 days; 2 March to 2 September 184 days and 1 April to 1 October 183 days. So also do the quarter-years vary. These varying lengths of half-years and quarters cannot be justified.

Because the year consists of 365,2422 days, the present calendar comprises 365 days and 366 days every fourth year (leap year), excepting the last years of centuries not divisible by four.

A perfectly regular calendar could be devised in which all the months are of equal lengths by the simple device of designating one day as a non-counting day. We would then have a year of exactly 364 days. The non-counting day could be a universal holiday and be celebrated as New Year's Day on the day just before the first counting day of the year. In a leap year the extra non-counting day could be placed in the middle of the year, the day after the 182nd day.

In the calendar here proposed the 364 counting days could very conveniently be divided into 13 months of exactly 28 days each, with four weeks of 7 days each. What objections could possibly be raised against a year of 13 months? The 13 months could be named First Month, Second Month and so on up to Thirteenth Month, thus indicating each month's position in the year. At present, the 9th month is named September which means seventh; the tenth month October which means eighth; the 11th month November which means ninth and the 12th month December which means tenth! With a calendar of 13 months we could get rid of these anomalous "embers". All the months would have exactly the same calendar:

If Monday becomes the first day of the week, Friday will not fall on the 13th as it would if Sunday remained the first day of the week. Sunday would, more fittingly be the 7th day - the week end - the day of rest (Exodus 20:8).

All half-years would have exactly the same length, 182 days and it will not be necessary to calculate the length of a half-year.

A half-year would be exactly six and a half months. When should the new calendar be instituted? A good day to commence the year of 364 counting days would be the day when the Earth is in perihelion, when it is closest to the Sun in its orbit. At present this day falls on 3 January and on 3 January 2005 this day will be a Monday. It could be the first day of the first month of the 13 month year. The day before could be celebrated world-wide as New Year's day - a non-counting day.

A YEAR OF TWELVE MONTHS

If the world insists that the year must have twelve months, a rational calendar can nevertheless be devised in which the year will consist of exactly 360 counting days. There would then be five non-counting days and six every fourth year. This is no tragedy because most countries have considerably more than five holidays per year. But business and industry would recognise only five holidays per annum as non-counting days. Each country could allocate its five most important national or religious days to these five days.

The 360 counting days would be divided into twelve months of 30 days each, but the weeks cannot conveniently be divided into periods of seven days. Psychologists have found that shorter working periods interspersed with short resting periods lead to higher productivity. Let us therefore divide each week into 5 days of which 4 days would be working days and the fifth day a day of rest which we can call Pax; and call the other days Sol for the Sun; Luna for the Moon; Terra for the Earth and Stella for the stars. All the months will be identical and have six weeks each:           

In this calendar every fifth day will be a day of rest. There will be a total of 72 days of rest during the year, compared to the present 52 Sundays and 52 half-days on Saturdays, totalling 78 days of rest per annum.

The five non-counting universal holidays could be interspersed throughout the year between the months as follows:

1. New Year's day: the day before the first day of the year.

2. Children's day: between the second and third months.

3. Workers' day: between the fourth and fifth months, thus coinciding with the present 1st of May holiday, so the workers can't complain.

4 Mothers' day: between the eighth and ninth months - a good day to celebrate Christmas, because the Lord Jesus must have been born during high summer when "there were shepherds out in the field, keepiing watch over their flock by night" - Gospel of St Luke 2:8. During the northern winter (December) the flocks would have been in stables by night.

5. Fathers' day: between the tenth and eleventh months.

6. Half year's day: Every four years (except the last year of any century not divisible by four) - between the sixth and seventh months.,

Compiled by Jan Eben van Zyl,
Tel: South Africa (011) 678 3738.
P O Box 35571,
Northcliff,
2115,
South Africa.

So cast your vote and send your ballot paper to your Minister of Home Affairs.

I AM IN FAVOUR OF:

A calendar of 364 days having 13 months of 28 days each consisting of four weeks of 7 days each

A calendar of 360 days having 12 months of 30 days each consisting of six weeks of 5 days each.

No change

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