THE BUREAU OF STANDARDS 211 



one delegate each from the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt of 

 Germany, the National Physical Laboratory of England, and the 

 Laboratoire Central d'Eleetricite of France came to Washington in 

 April, 1910, and in cooperation with representatives of the Bureau of 

 Standards carried out an extended series of experiments on the three 

 fundamental standards of resistance, current and electromotive force. 

 As one result of this cooperative work an agreement has been reached 

 with respect to the value to be assigned to the Weston normal cell ; it has 

 been accepted by the International Committee on Electrical Units and 

 Standards, and is therefore universal. The difficulties in the way of the 

 complete unification of international electrical standards have now 

 practically all been resolved. 



In the other field of defining and maintaining standards of excel- 

 lence, this division has been no less successful. The incandescent lamp 

 industry is a shining example. Before the establishment of the 

 bureau, the nav}' department was under the necessity of seeking the serv- 

 ices of the German Beichsanstalt for the purpose of standardizing 

 lamps for use in the naval service. At that time the different depart- 

 ments of the government purchased lamps on independent contracts, 

 while purchasing agents had no scientific means of justifying awards. 

 Hence the intrusion of political influence with the object of securing 

 contracts for friends or constituents. Criticism of such action was not 

 justified so long as the government was without the means of defining 

 and defending standards of excellence to which the articles purchased 

 should conform. 



It has happened in the past that awards have been held up by con- 

 gressional influence, and the awards have been modified to include the 

 product of small manufacturers, who claimed to make lamps in every 

 way the equal of those made by the large manufacturers of wider 

 •experience and technical skill. Subsequent tests at the bureau showed 

 that some of these added awards were filled by lamps which did not meet 

 ihe requirements of the contract, and they were rejected. 



At the present time the general supply committee awards contracts 

 for all departments of the government and the Secretary of the Treas- 

 ury signs them. This year the contracts for the list of articles for 

 which the committee has made awards aggregate about nine million 

 dollars. All departments are furnished with lamps purchased under 

 uniform specifications, and tested the year round by the bureau. More- 

 over, the government now has the advantage of million rates instead of 

 ihe higher prices attaching to contracts for smaller numbers. 



The lamp contract of the government calls for about one per cent, 

 of the incandescent lamps made in this country. The other 99 per cent, 

 are sold to the general public. If the government took the best million 

 made, while lamps of lower efficiency and shorter life were sold to the 

 public, the government would be the gainer at the expense of other 



