358 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



the confiscation and destruction of incorrect apparatus. The provision 

 that counties and cities appoint sealers of weights and measures is not 

 mandatory, but they may do so " in their discretion." The penalty sec- 

 tion has been weakened by requiring that before conviction it must be 

 proven that short weight or measure has been "knowingly" sold or 

 offered for sale. The difficulty of proving the state of a man's mind, 

 even in flagrant cases of fraud is well known and need not be commented 

 upon here. 



Minnesota enacted an excellent law in 1911 providing for a state com- 

 missioner of weights and measures and a state inspection of the apparatus 

 in commercial use. The most unfortunate provision of this law is that 

 requiring the charging of fees for work done. The enforcement of this 

 law should be of particular interest, since this state is among the first 

 to abolish local sealers, putting the matter entirely in charge of state 

 officers. Should its enforcement meet with success it may point out 

 the proper method of inspection for some of the western states where 

 a small number of people are scattered over a very large territory. At 

 the last session of the legislature several valuable additions were made 

 to the law. One section relates to the standardization of boxes used in 

 the sale of berries, allowing containers of the capacities of one quart, 

 one pint, one half pint or multiples of a quart, standard dry measure 

 only; another provides for better equipment for testing railroad track 

 scales; another gives the Warehouse Commission jurisdiction over the 

 track scales used by common carriers and the power to require the in- 

 stallation of the same; it is still further provided that the Warehouse 

 Commission may compel railroads to furnish scales for free public use in 

 stockyards ; and finally, there are general amendments to the weights and 

 measures law of the state. 



Missouri passed three laws: one authorizes cities of from 30,000 to 

 75,000 inhabitants to establish standards of weights and measures not 

 inconsistent with the Federal and State standards, to provide for the 

 inspection of all weights and measures and to prescribe the weight and 

 quality of bread sold in the city ; another gives the Public Service Com- 

 mission authority to appoint inspectors of water, gas and electric meters ; 

 and a third law requires that the Commission shall appoint weighmas- 

 ters at such places in the state where grain inspection and weighing may 

 be established in conformity with the provisions of the law. 



In 1911 Montana passed a general law which was on the whole a 

 good one and contained a large number of the provisions of the model 

 law recommended by the National Conference on Weights and Measures, 

 but also included certain other features which were unsatisfactory, 

 among these being the collection of fees for the work done and the ap- 

 pointment of county clerks as sealers of weights and measures. At the 

 next session of the legislature this law was repealed and reenacted with 

 important changes; and it appears that the statute has been greatly 



