WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 345 



EECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 



IN THE UNITED STATES 



Bx LOUIS A. FISCHER 



BUREAU OF STANDARDS 



DOUBTLESS many of the readers have noticed in the newspapers 

 and magazines during the past few years articles on false 

 weights and measures and their effect upon the high cost of living; and 

 have wondered why false weights and measures should exist. A more 

 intimate knowledge of the subject will, it is believed, increase that 

 wonder rather than diminish it, for does not the government maintain 

 standards of weights and measures and do not the statute books of the 

 states contain laws purporting to enforce their use ? While almost any 

 one will admit the necessity and the importance of regulation if his 

 attention is called to the matter, it is a singular fact that it is only 

 recently that any general interest has been manifested in the subject, or 

 that there has been any organized movement to improve and enforce 

 the laws in regard to weights and measures. 



The founders of our government evidently realized the necessity of 

 uniform standards or they would hardly have provided for it in the 

 Constitution in the same clause that gives Congress the power to coin 

 money and to regulate the value thereof. Under that authority the 

 government coins all money, and enforces the severest penalties for 

 counterfeiting. On the other hand, it has enacted practically no 

 weights and measures legislation, but has left the question entirely to 

 the states. 



Even the pound, yard, gallon and bushel in common use have never 

 been adopted by Congress, but owe their use to the fact that the govern- 

 ment uses them in the collection of revenue and to the fact that they 

 have voluntarily been adopted by the states. 



Shortly after the establishment of the Bureau of Standards, com- 

 plaints began to be received from individuals who felt that they were 

 not receiving all that they were entitled to, and inquiring what they 

 could do about it. There being no federal laws, the bureau could only 

 advise them to look to their state or local authorities for assistance, 

 although it was well known that none of the states at that time had an 

 adequate system of inspection. It soon became evident that the states 

 would not act of their volition, and equally evident that Congress felt 

 no responsibility in the matter. The complaints were scattered, and 

 those suffering were unorganized and consequently without influence. 

 The railroads, corporations and organized industries, like the grain 

 industry, were able to establish and maintain their own weighing or 



vol. lxxxvi. — 24. 



