REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER. 25 



it. He is generally fined five or ten dollar.s and then he goes 

 out and does the same thing again. In New York City we 

 found people who would cheat every opportunity they would 

 get, and when tliey were caught they would go into court and 

 pay their fine, which was five or ten dollars, and then they 

 would go out and take the chance of being caught again. They 

 did not care much about their reputation ; it did not amount to 

 anything. But one thing that keeps business men, in good 

 respectable communities, from giving short weight or measure 

 when they have a leaning that way, is the fact that in most 

 cases, there is a good deal of publicity attached to it. If a man 

 gives short weight or measure he does not want to get caught 

 because the public will usually know of it and it will spoil his 

 reputation. V.'hen we find a man cheating and publish his name 

 it hurts him a good deal. 



Some of the condemned scales and measuring utensils that 

 Mr. Nugent has collected in the city of Portland are shown 

 here. There are many ways of fixing the scales so that they 

 will weigh more than they should. People as a general rule do 

 not look at the scales, and there is a great opportunity for giv- 

 ing short weight. 



In New York City, certain dealers have a habit of asking, 

 when a man comes in for a job, if he can make his salary on the 

 block. Making your salary on the block is done in this way: 

 When you weigh out anything, say a six pound roast of beef, 

 you put it on the scales and call it seven pounds ; put it down on 

 the slip of paper as seven pounds. That is passed along to 

 the desk, and billed at seven pounds. There is a clerk who 

 checks the weight and when that roast comes down they credit 

 that man with a pound of beef. Saturday night this will have 

 to amount up to Si 5. if that is his salary, or he is discharged. 

 You v.'ould be surprised to see how common that practice is. 

 Some dealers will not hire a man unless he can make his 

 salary on the block, as they call it. Many of them can do this, 

 as they are used to reading the scale and can read it fast. 

 Sometimes they bill up ^y cents worth of meat and do not put 

 on the number of pounds. But we are trying to get a law 

 passed which will compel them to put the number of pounds 

 and the price per pound on the bills, which will simplifv mat- 

 ters a good deal. 



