DAIRY MEETING. K9 



The Sealers of Weights and Measures in all cities, and of all 

 towns of 10,000 inhabitants, or over, are now under Civil Ser- 

 vice and in case of new appointments, such appointments are 

 made from the Civil Service List, made up of those who have 

 passed the examination prepared by the Civil Service Commis- 

 sion. 



This examination covers all details a Sealer should have 

 knowledge of, so that no man in Massachusetts is now appoint- 

 ed to the important position of Sealer until he has demon- 

 strated his fitness, both mentally and physically. 



In the United States we have taken great care to regulate the 

 money but we have not even attempted to regulate a uniform 

 or even an honest standard of w^eights and measures, and in 

 this latter subject conditions are as chaotic as could well be 

 imagined. 



The regulation of the weights and measures and the weigh- 

 ing and measuring of commodities, and a control of the manner 

 of sale of commodities is a crying need to-day. The grower, 

 without assurance of the honesty of standards, cannot obtain 

 equitable value for his product, nor the manufacturer, 

 who must needs meet one or more competitors who can under 

 sell him by making the apparent cost of his commodity less by 

 cutting off, here and there, on the quantity delivered. The 

 distributor welcomes an honest standard and efficient regula- 

 tion thereof, because the honest dealer cannot possibly compete 

 with the one that gives short weight or measure. 



As an illustration, I will cite an actual occurrence : — When 

 the retail price of apples was 70 cents per peck, a peddler 

 approached a housekeeper, offering apples at 35 cents a peck. 

 This housekeeper had a set of certified standards, and after 

 examining the apples and seeing that they were of good quality 

 offered to buy a peck. Said peddler, his measure heaping full, 

 poured the apples into the standard. Lo! It filled not quite 

 half full. It took two and a fraction of his measure to make a 

 peck. His remark, after receiving the 35 cents and looking at 

 the housekeeper and then at the standard, was characteristic, — 

 "Madam, I will never come here again. Thank God, they are 

 not all as wise as you are." 



