Daylight saving time chaos in Michigan

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Arizona, ballot, bowling, Central Daylight Time, Central Standard Time, Chamber of Commerce, Court of Appeals, daylight saving time, daylight time, Detroit, Eastern Daylight Time, election, Farm Bureau, governor, Hawaii, Indiana, legislature, Ludington Daily News, Market Opinion Research, Michigan, Ohio, petitions, polls, Raymond Dzendzel, referendum, Retailers Association, standard time, State Board of Canvassers, Supreme Court, surveys, theatre, Uniform Time Act, Upper Peninsula, US, Wisconsin

With the Uniform Time Act of 1966, the US states had to decide if they were going to have daylight saving or stick to standard time all year. Further to the extract from my book on daylight saving time, The Great Daylight Saving Time Controversy, at https://chrispearce52.wordpress.com/2018/02/04/daylight-saving-time-saga-indiana-1966-1972/, here’s an extract on daylight saving time chaos in Michigan during the same period. …

In Michigan, a bill to stay on standard time was passed by both houses and signed by the governor in March 1967. However, daylight saving supporters, including senator Raymond Dzendzel, the Chamber of Commerce and the Retailers Association, set out to obtain the 123,100 petition signatures needed (equal to 5 per cent of votes for governor at the last election) to force a referendum. If they were successful, the state would have daylight time for two summers before the scheme was put to the vote at the election in November 1968. Opponents of daylight saving, namely the state Farm Bureau, theatre owners and bowling alley proprietors, tried to block the petitions by taking the matter to the Court of Appeals. But the move was ruled to be premature. By late April, Dzendzel had collected nearly 200,000 signatures, suspending the state Act for standard time. But farming, bowling and theatre interests went back to court. The State Board of Canvassers delayed certifying the petitions due to suits pending in three courts. After a protracted battle, the Supreme Court handed the issue back to the canvassers.

Objectors to daylight saving checked a sample of signatures and found 41 per cent to be invalid, reducing the number of acceptable names to less than 120,000, and took the issue back to court again. The final number of valid signatures was determined to be about 125,000, enough for the switch to daylight time to be made on 14 June 1967. As a Michigan newspaper put it: “After months of debate in the Legislature, bills, amendments, court decisions, motions, appeals, referendum calls and other legal gobbledygook, Michigan today was an hour faster than the sun.” (Kit Kincaid, “Daylight saving time comes to state, some UP communities are holding out”, The Ludington Daily News, Ludington, Michigan, United States, 14 June 1967, p. 1). Hotel patrons weren’t impressed as the change meant an hour’s less drinking time. Nor were Upper Peninsula residents happy when they had to go from Central Standard Time to Eastern Daylight Time, a difference of two hours, pushing sunset back to as late as nearly 10 p.m. in western parts of the state. A dozen or more Upper Peninsula counties disregarded the law and used Central Daylight Time. Proponents of standard time pursued further but unsuccessful court action over the petitions.

The lead up to the referendum in November 1968 pitted businesses, city workers, participants in outdoor activities and easterners against farmers, parents, theatres, indoor sports, bars and westerners. Preliminary results indicated that out of about 2.8 million votes, daylight time won by some 25,000 and supporters were rejoicing. More than two weeks later, the final tally showed a win for standard time by just 413 votes and suddenly the other side in the confrontation was celebrating. Given the closeness, the Board of Canvassers decided on a recount, finding tabulation errors in several counties, uncompleted returns and uncounted absentee votes. The board’s revised figures had standard time winning by 1,501 votes.

Dzendzel and several business groups sought a citizen recount at a cost of $5 a precinct, refunded if the result was reversed. They checked about 2,700 of Michigan’s approximately 5,600 precincts in 80 of 83 counties and found many errors of various descriptions, prompting calls for a review of vote counting processes and staff training. Supporters and opponents of daylight saving anxiously followed media reports of the progress of the count. By 1 January 1969, the lead for standard time was down to 1,096 votes, reduced further to 550 by 29 January. The final difference was 488 votes, which meant that 50.01 per cent of people who voted chose standard time and 49.99 per cent daylight time although less than half the adult population cast a vote. Fast time supporters didn’t give up. Two law students took the matter to the Appeals Court. Also, a bill was introduced to rescind the standard time law.

When nearly the whole country began daylight saving on 27 April 1969, almost all of Michigan stayed on standard time. A few communities south-west of Detroit along the border with Ohio either changed to daylight time or had businesses, schools or churches that started an hour earlier. The Upper Peninsula was to shift from Central to Eastern time, and while three counties didn’t change, the others welcomed the move as they would be on the same time as Wisconsin.

A drive for petition signatures in late 1969 and into 1970 to force another ballot later that year was led by Dzendzel and there were more bills, hearings and court cases. Petitions now had to carry over 200,000 signatures as the threshold had been raised from 5 per cent to 8 per cent of votes for governor at the last election. But a problem over the legality of petition submission dates was tied up in court and time ran out for a public vote in 1970. Proponents struggled to get enough signatures and resorted to other means. A House vote on initiative petitions failed by 60 votes to 46, ensuring a referendum. In another move, the Supreme Court validated a request for the legislature to overturn its 1967 decision for the state to have standard time or else the daylight saving question would be on the November 1972 ballot. The legislature took no action.

Both sides kept pressing their views before the 1972 vote and the daylight saving advocates seemed to be winning the race according to polls. Market Opinion Research surveys found that the proportion of Michigan residents who wanted daylight time increased from 44 per cent in August to 49 per cent in September and 53 per cent in October. On election day, 55 per cent of people voted for daylight saving although the figure for the Upper Peninsula was only 27 per cent. After four years on standard time, the state joined most of the nation in putting clocks forward on 29 April 1973. That left Arizona, Hawaii and most of Indiana as the only states with year round standard time.

(end of extract)

The Great Daylight Saving Time Controversy is available at Amazon, Kobo and Apple.

Facts about North Korea

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agriculture, aid, army, Asia, atheism, ballistic missiles, Buddhism, climate, communication, communist, Confucianism, culture, Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, dictator, drought, economy, exchange rate, exports, external debt, famine, film, flag, flooding, geography, government, Hamhung, history, human rights, industry, Kim Jong-Il, Kim Jong-un, Korea, Korean, Korean Peninsula, Korean War, Korean Workers’ Party, language, literacy, literature, living conditions, malnutrition, Mass Games, military, military first, music, Nampho, natural resources, Non-Proliferation Treaty, North Korea, North Korean People’s Army, nuclear, nuclear weapons, old Prussian civil law, Paektu-san, population, Pyongyang, radio, rainfall, religion, South Korea, Supreme People’s Assembly, telephones, television, temperature, theatre, transport, Wanggomsong, won

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone; written about seven years ago but not much has changed)

North Korea is a country in eastern Asia which is frequently in the news for all the wrong reasons. The communist economy performs poorly and famine has been a problem since 1994. Despite this, the country has one of the largest armies and has a controversial nuclear program. There are reports of a brutal government allowing few human rights.

History 

Korea was split after World War II and the northern section came under Soviet influence after gaining independence from Japan on 15 August 1945. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or North Korea, was founded on 9 September 1948. North Korea failed to defeat South Korea in the Korean War of 1950-53 and adopted a policy of self-reliance. It was also the country’s aim to “unify” Korea, but under the leadership of the communist north.

Since its famine of the mid 1990s, North Korea has relied on international aid to feed its people, but maintains an army of over one million. In 2002, the country was found to be carrying out a nuclear weapons program, and withdrew from the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003. It tested ballistic missiles in 2006. Pressure from the international community led to North Korea agreeing to wind back its nuclear program.

Geography

North Korea is located in eastern Asia on the northern part of the Korean Peninsula between Korea Bay and the Sea of Japan. Its total coastline is 1,550 miles in length. It has a 150 mile border with South Korea, an 880 mile border with China to the north-west, and a 12 mile border with Russia in the north. To its east is Japan. It has a total area of 46,500 square miles, about the size of Mississippi.

The country has a temperate climate with most rainfall in the summer months. It often suffers drought in late spring, followed by flooding. Most of the country is mountainous, with narrow valleys. The highest mountain is Paektu-san with an altitude of 9,000 feet. It has a wide coastal plain in the west and in parts of the east. About 22 per cent of the land is arable and 1.7 per cent is under crop.

North Korea is fairly rich in natural resources, including substantial reserves of coal, lead, zinc, iron ore, copper, and gold. Environmental problems include water pollution and a lack of drinking water. Deforestation has led to erosion and degradation of soil.

Population

The country had a population of 23.3 million in July 2007, slightly larger than Australia. It has a reasonably young population with median age of 32.4 years, including about 31 years for males and 34 years for females. Its population is growing at about 0.8 per cent a year. All its growth comes from births and deaths as North Korea officially has no migration. Life expectancy at birth is 72 years, with males expected to live to 69 years and females to 75 years.

Apart from a small number of mainly Chinese and Japanese, the population is Korean. Main religions are Buddhism and Confucianism, although religion is fairly suppressed despite the government sponsoring religious groups. More than 7 in 10 people are recorded as atheists. The only language of any significance is Korean. Literacy is high with 99 per cent of the population able to read and write.

The capital city is Pyongyang, founded more than 4,000 years ago as Wanggomsong, in the country’s south. It has a population of probably more than three million, although the official figure isn’t given. Next largest cities are Hamhung with 870,000 people and Nampho with 455,000. Eleven other cities have populations of 100,000 or more.

Government

North Korea has a communist system of government headed by a dictator. The leader since 1994 has been Kim Jong-Il (now Kim Jong-un, since 2011) of the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland party, a coalition of three parties, the main one being the Korean Workers’ Party.

The country is divided into nine provinces and four municipalities. Its legal system is based on the old Prussian civil law system, with strong communist influence. There is no judicial review of legislation. North Korea holds “elections”, with the last one in September 2003. The unicameral parliament, the Supreme People’s Assembly, approves the only candidates who are then elected unopposed. Certain minor parties are tolerated and they hold a few seats.

Its flag has three bands of blue, red and blue. The red band has a white edge and white disk with red five-pointed star.

Economy

North Korea has a centrally run closed economy. Infrastructure is old and in disrepair. The country doesn’t have reliable national accounting data, although gross domestic product has been estimated at $23 billion, which is believed to be less than 1980s levels. This equates to about $1,000 per person, about four per cent of the level in South Korea and little more than two per cent of the United States figure.

An estimated 23 per cent of output comes from agriculture, 43 per cent from industry, and 34 per cent from services. Agriculture mainly consists of rice, corn, soybeans, potatoes, and cattle. Industries include military manufactures, machinery, electricity, chemicals, mining, textiles, and food processing. Exports are $1.5 billion a year, mainly to South Korea (32 per cent) and China (29 per cent). Its external debt is $12.5 billion. The official exchange rate in 2006 was 141 won per US dollar, although the market figure was 2,500-3,000 won per US dollar, making it worth only a fraction of its official value.

There have been food shortages every year since 1994. Malnutrition is widespread and living conditions are poor. Private farmers’ markets have been permitted to sell a range of goods since 2002, but the government partly wound back this policy in 2005.

It refused international humanitarian aid from 2005 and relies mainly on China and South Korea. However, the government capitulated in 2007 and asked for aid after the worst floods in 40 years hit the country.

Transport and communication

The country has about one million telephones, or one for every 23 people. The number of mobile phones rose from 3,000 in 2002 to 20,000 in 2004, but they were then banned. It has a number of AM radio stations, including 11 belonging to the Korean Central Broadcasting Station. It also has cable radio connected to most houses and businesses, feeding people news and commentary. It has had FM only since 2006. There are four television stations.

North Korea has 77 airports, with 36 having paved runways. Its railway system has 3,250 miles of track, with about 2,200 miles electrified. Its 15,800 miles of roadways include only 450 miles of paved roads. The country’s 1,400 miles of waterways are mainly only navigable to small vessels.

Military 

The country’s army is called the North Korean People’s Army and consists of ground forces as well as a navy, an air force, and civil security forces. All residents have to serve in the military for a period from age 17 years. North Korea has the world’s fourth largest military system with 1.2 million armed personnel. In 2005, the country had 9.6 million males and females aged 17-49 years available for military service.

A “military first” policy was adopted in 1995 after a major famine and the collapse of its major trading partner, the USSR. The country does not release details of military spending but it is estimated to be around $5 billion a year, or 20-25 per cent of gross domestic product.

Culture 

North Korea’s literature, music, film, and theatre tend to revolve around glorifying late president Kim Il-sung and his son and current leader Kim Jong-Il (now his son Kim Jong-un, since 2011). The major cultural event in the country is the Mass Games. They run for two months, six nights a week, and involve more than 100,000 performers participating in dancing, gymnastics, and other routines.