Dear Editor:
On March 10, 2022, I read in your newspaper, Kay Ellington’s article entitled “On Sunshine Week and Daylight Saving Time.” Ever wonder the purpose and the origin of the Daylight Saving Time? Originally, a British entomologist, George Hudson, presented this time change concept in 1895. As far back as 1908, 1911 and 1912, Ontario, Canada, experimented with Hudson’s Daylight Saving Time system.
Controversy still stirs debate over the industrialized society concept. In recent years, authors wrote that D.S.T. showed minimum health improvement to people and recommended D.S.T. be terminated as demonstrating little value to our country. With some intense research, the D.S.T. rationale focuses on acquiring food, fuel and supplies urgently and quickly especially in wartime as its purpose.
First implemented successfully by European countries in 1916 in World War I, the D.S.T. assisted Germany in making strategic conquests with fuel conservation. U.S.A. suffered tremendous loss of life as there was zero gasoline for the jeeps and there was not any ammunition for the guns. Within two years, President Woodrow Wilson started the clock alteration on March 31, 1918 in the U.S.A., and after seven months, an Armistice Day of the entire World War I occurred on November 11, 1918.
Once World War I ended, the D.S.T. angered many Americans, leading to it to be discontinued. Again, D.S.T. proved to be vital to getting supplies such as gasoline and ammunition to soldiers. In World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt set up D.S.T. called, “War Time” from 1942 to 1945.
Although the Daylight Saving Time entered the industrialized world in the early 1900s, a lack of usage consistency plagued its reputation. On April 12, 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Uniform Time Act of 1966 securing stable, orderly time regulations. The 1966 law required all U.S. states to follow the D.S.T. procedure. Any state could opt out of the program by passing a state law of exemption.
Throughout history, the United States maintains a stronger economy with this conservation tool. Because the benefits assist in less wartime casualties and more efficient electrical power, the Daylight Saving Time also secures stocked supplies for our government, military, businesses and homes. This year, U.S. citizens turn their clocks one hour forward on March 13, 2022, and rotate their clocks back one hour on November 6, 2022.
Elizabeth Yeates
Bryan, Texas
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