WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 351 



of the magazines and newspapers to the work of a few of the more pro- 

 gressive states also contributed to concentrate the attention of the state 

 legislators on the necessity for a more efficient supervision of commer- 

 cial weighing and measuring. Let the reasons be what they may, the 

 past two or three years have seen the most astonishing activity in the 

 legislatures of the states. 



The original idea of the Bureau of Standards was to have the states 

 adopt uniform laws and then to enforce them. It did not take it long, 

 however, to learn that it would be an impossibility to get the same law 

 passed by all the states. It was also evident that even with the same law, 

 the enforcement by the different states would be anything but uniform. 

 The idea now, therefore, is to secure uniformity as far as possible with 

 such changes as are necessary to meet local conditions, and enough 

 federal legislation to give the government the authority to regulate the 

 matter so far as interstate commerce is concerned. It is obvious that an 

 individual or corporation doing business in all the states should not be 

 compelled to conform to conflicting state laws. 



During the past two of three years the following legislation was 

 enacted in the states : 



Alabama passed legislation amending the law in relation to the 

 sale of certain specified feeding stuffs. It is now required that when 

 put up in original packages they may only be packed in certain speci- 

 fied sizes and the net weight must be plainly stamped on the outside of 

 the containers. This is a good law and a step in the right direction, 

 but it is very greatly restricted in its operation on account of the small 

 number of commodities specified. 



Arizona passed a general weights and measures law during the first 

 session of the legislature after being admitted to the Union, which 

 shows the importance of this subject in the minds of the legislators of 

 that state. The law is based directly on the model law recommended by 

 the National Conference on Weights and Measures, many of the sections 

 having been enacted without material change. On the whole the law is 

 a good one, and Arizona is to be commended upon its general effective- 

 ness and its early passage. The system adopted requires the appoint- 

 ment of city sealers in all cities of more than 5,000 population who are 

 placed under the supervision of the state inspector. In cities of less than 

 5,000 and more than 1,000 population the work of inspection is to be 

 done directly by the state inspector. Communities of less than 1,000 

 people do not seem to have been provided for in this law. In addition to 

 the sections relating to the inspection of apparatus there are provisions 

 requiring most package goods to be marked with the net weight or quan- 

 tity of the contents, and others regulating the sale of wood, ice, hay, 

 fresh meats, butter, etc. Later the scope of the law was broadened by 

 requiring that the testing of water, gas and electric meters should be in 

 charge of the city sealers and the state inspector of weights and meas- 



