Country In The World"

Tonga Now The "Most Advanced Country In The World"

For the residents of Tonga, 1961 will be just 40 minutes shorter han last year.

Clocks were advanced by that amount at midnight on December tl and Tonga now takes precedence over New Zealand’s Chatham slands as the most advanced country in the world —in terms of itandard time.

The Chathams are 12 hours and 45 minutes ahead of Greenwich tfean Time. Tonga is now 13 hours ahead.

The change to an even hour is in conformity with world-wide rends, though many countries still adopt a half-hour standard.

It is not clear why Tonga has chosen to adopt the standard if 13 hours rather than 12 hours, as the latter conforms much more losely with her true longitude time.

The 180th meridian lies about 270 miles to the west of Nukualofa yhile the 165th meridian of West longitude lies about 580 miles to he east.

But having adopted standard time for 165 degrees West longitude, tonga should correctly be on Western date, the same as Samoa— hat is, a day behind neighbouring Fiji.

To make such a change would have meant having two December Ist’s and that would possibly involve certain legal problems.

The time change will mainly be of interest in the field of inter lational communications.

It will also reduce the possibility of the Fiji Times remaining the first newspaper to be published in the world each day”, if as eems probable, Tonga one day has a real daily newspaper in place f its present typed news-sheet.

The possibility of the Chathams having such a newspaper seems light indeed.—JPS.