1872.] The Decimal System. 303 
The copper pieces being to all intents and purposes the 
same as those now in use call for no remark. 
Supposing that England were to introduce this system for 
herself and for her colonies and dependencies, it is almost certain 
that all those nations which at present use the franc, having 
silver as their standard, would make gold their standard, 
and come into the system so as to obtain uniformity, for the 
change would be slight and insignificant for them. More- 
over, let us think what is meant by the phrase Great Britain 
and her colonies and dependencies. ‘There is only need to 
mention the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 
India, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada to show the 
importance of the phrase. Then, consider the amount of 
commerce which is carried on by this assemblage of nations, 
both among themselves and with foreign nations, and it 
becomes a matter of extreme probability, almost amounting 
to certainty, that if Great Britain, her colonies, and depen- 
dencies were to adopt the metric system of weights and 
measures (already largely adopted by other nations), together 
with the decimal system of coinage here advocated, these 
systems would become universal over the whole civilised 
globe. 
Whether such were the case or not the gain to Great 
Britain and her dependencies would be enormous. Let us 
compare the account books of the present system with those 
which would be used under the system advocated here. In 
this latter, besides the columns for the number of standards, 
there would be one column each for dimes, cents, and mills. 
This contrasts favourably with the present system; for, 
besides the column for pounds, there are now in reality four 
columns, viz.,a double column for shillings, and a column each 
for pence and farthings. Further, under the decimal system 
it is merely a case of simple addition, whereas under the 
present system there are three different reductions to be 
made, viz., the division by 4 to reduce the farthings to pence, 
by 12 to reduce pence to shillings, and by 20 to reduce 
shillings to pounds. One result of the change would then 
be that bankers’, merchants’, tradesmen’s, and, in fact, all 
account books, would be more easily and more corre¢tly kept. 
The gain to any one individual in any one day might be small, 
but when we consider the gains of all the people concerned, the 
total gain becomes considerable even in one day ; if, further, 
we consider all the gains of all the people concerned for a year, 
or still more for all future time, the total becomes simply over- 
whelming. 
The advantage, too, to the commerce between England 
