We come now to consider a piece of legislation about which there will be no unanimity either in the country or in the Dáil; and there is, of course, a reason for that probable absence of unanimity. The Bill is not in the interests of all the people. It is not claimed, it never has been claimed, and it is not proposed to claim now that it is directly in the interests of all the people. The case for this Bill would be rather that it is so much in the interests of a section of the people which is not inconsiderable, that the other section, possibly larger, who may be slightly inconvenienced by the Bill, should be prepared to put up with that inconvenience for the sake of the greater good. The case for the Bill is based on National economy in the broadest sense, the saving of light and fuel, considerations of public health, reacting, as they must, on the generations in the future. The case against the Bill is that the agricultural community will have to do a sum in subtraction every time they look at their watches. Besides, much as some of us might wish it, we do not stand alone. We do not stand absolutely isolated in the world's scheme. We form part and parcel of an economic group, and there is interdependence rather than independence between the communities of that group. Considerations of commerce, considerations of public convenience in two countries closely grouped and associated are in favour of this Bill. The question of trains, traffic generally, post office considerations, banking considerations, and so on, are behind these proposals, and much as I have tried to investigate the matter I can find no really substantial considerations against the Bill that should be allowed to outweigh the good to the commerce of the country, and to all that large body of people within the country whose fate has thrown them into the position of being indoor workers. The extra hour in the evening for these people is of very definite value, and of very definite value not merely to them, but to the country as a whole. There is not a pulmonary disease or a nervous disease which cannot be traced one way or another back to the lack of exercise, and back to the lack of fresh air. The advantages of fresh air and the health-giving rays of the sun are invaluable. The presence or absence of that extra hour will react in the future for the people whose lot throws them into the group of those who work behind closed doors, and inside walls. That will react ultimately upon the health of those people as a whole.
If we want to make for a stunted, degenerate, neurotic population we will deny to those indoor workers that extra hour's sunshine and exercise in the evening. The case against the Bill is not as considerable as it seems. A good deal of this opposition sprang up in the first year when this legislation was introduced. It was introduced as a war measure, and we can say that the bulk of the people of this country were not with the British in that war. The British introduced this Bill as a measure of national economy—to save fuel and light in a time of war—and we, in our own way, said, "Well, if it suits them it cannot suit us, and if it is going to be a help to them we should be against it." We make no apology for that, and we never did make apology for it. It was the traditional policy of this country to be always for the Power that was against the country that was sitting on our chest. Then in that state of anti-British feeling in the country, this Summer Time Bill came on and we all raised our plaintive voices against "this rotten British time and this rotten British legislation." Now, with the responsibilities of our own housekeeping upon us, we have to realise that for this as for other measures operative in the past there is a good deal to be said, and there is a good deal of sound sense to recommend it. We have to get out of that mere irresponsible and unsound criticism of measures of this kind. There is just one particular section amongst the agricultural community which this Bill does not suit and that is the farmer on a very big scale who carries on both mixed and dairy farming. I have his case here and I will read it:—
Agricultural opinion, though by no means unanimous on the point, is unfavourable to Summer Time. Investigation shows that there is very little reasonable ground for this opposition. Indeed, except in the case of mixed farming—that is combined dairying with corn growing—scarcely any hardship arises. This class of farming is not extensively pursued in Ireland and no difficulty occurs except during the harvesting. Where dairy farming is engaged in, milkers are required to rise very early in order to have the milk ready for the delivery trains. Then a break occurs in their work as owing to heavy morning dews harvesting operations must be postponed until the day is well advanced. If this interval is spent in carrying out minor duties on the farm, the employers are forced to pay overtime rates for the extra work necessary in the evening, which appears to be the best time for bringing in the crops for storage in the haggards. It must be added, however, that these difficulties are not experienced by farmers engaged in fruit and market gardening because fruit and vegetables are benefited by being gathered with the dew on and transported during the cool of the day. Besides, farmers in the vicinity of large towns owing to Summer Time have additional sources of labour for evening work during the harvest season thrown open to them.
The difficulty in Ireland appears to be due to the agricultural labourer being disinclined to change his hours of labour. The probable reason is that by the operation of the Labourers' Act he has become possessed of a plot of ground to which he devotes his spare time and he is therefore unwilling to work for his employer after six o'clock in the evening. If this difficulty could be overcome by some arrangement, whereby his employer would grant him facilities for looking after his allotment—say by the loan of horses or implements or an occasional day off—the opposition of the farming class to Summer Time would dwindle away.
Taking a broad view of the question the country districts are dependent on the towns for the marketing of most of the produce of the farms, and the inhabitants of the towns are overwhelmingly in favour of the continuance of the Summer Time arrangements, having benefited morally, physically and materially thereby. It seems therefore in the best interests of the State that the farming community should be induced to make arrangements so that the artificial advance of the day by one hour during the Summer months should not adversely affect their interests. In practically all the European countries which have adopted the Summer Time principle, the farmers have met the same difficulties as in Ireland, but the national and international benefits have been so great that the farmers have withdrawn their opposition.
After this piece of legislation had been in operation in England for some time a committee was set up to hold a searching investigation into its effects, and to show whether in their opinion that legislation should be continued or not. I have the report of that committee before me, and it shows from a great many different sections of the community, an opinion overwhelmingly in favour of the altered time for the summer months. I propose to read one of two clauses of the report of the committee——