STATE PAPERS. 



567 



Viish uniform weights and mea- 

 sures throughout the kingdom. 

 They found that this subject had 

 engaged the attention of Parlia- 

 ment at a very early period. The 

 Statute Book from the time of 

 Henry the Third abounds with 

 Acts of Parliament enacting and 

 declaring that there should be one 

 uniform weight and measure 

 throughout the realm ; and every 

 act complains that the preceding 

 statutes had been ineffectual, and 

 that the laws were disobeyed. 



The Select Committee of the 

 House of Commons, which was 

 appointed in the year 1758, to in- 

 quire into the original standards 

 of weights and measures in this 

 kingdom, and to consider the laws 

 relating thereto, made a very ela- 

 borate report on this subject, in 

 which is contained all the infor- 

 mation that is necessary with re- 

 gard to the inquiry into what 

 were the original standards of 

 weights and measures : such parts 

 of that report as have appeared 

 to your Committee to be most 

 important, are inserted in the ap- 

 pendix to this report. 



The Committee of 1758 first 

 give an abridged state of the se- 

 veral statutes which have been en- 

 acted relating to weights and mea- 

 sures, 1st, so far as they establish 

 any weights and measures, or stand- 

 ards for the same ; and 2nd, so far 

 as any means, checks, or sanctions 

 are provided to compel the use of 

 the established weights and mea- 

 sures or to punish disobedience. 

 The Committe then point out 

 what appeared to them to be the 

 principal causes which had pre- 

 vented the attainment of that 

 uniformity, so much and so wisely 

 tiesired by Parliament. These are 



stated to hd the want of skill in 

 the artificers, who from lime to 

 time made copies of the standards 

 kept in the exchequer ; and as 

 these imperfect measures were 

 again copied from, every error 

 was multiplied, till the variety of 

 standards rendered it difficult to 

 know what was the real standard, 

 or to apply any adequate remedy. 



In the second place, the multi- 

 plicity of statutes made on this 

 subject, many of which are at 

 variance with one another, and in 

 many of which there are partial 

 exceptions of particular counties, 

 and particular articles, from the 

 operation of the acts, appeared to 

 the Committee to be the principal 

 cause of the various errors which 

 w«re every where found to pre- 

 vail. 



Upon an accurate comparison of 

 the various measures preserved in 

 the Exchequer, and which are di- 

 rected to be used for sizing and 

 adjusting all other measures, they 

 were found to differ materially 

 from each other, and yet (the 

 Committee observe) as the law 

 now stands, ali these measures must 

 be understood to contain the like 

 quantities, are equally legal, and 

 may be indiscriminately used. 



Of these various measures the 

 Committee recommend the adop- 

 tion of the ale gallon of 282 

 cubical inches, and to abolish the 

 use of all the others. They also 

 recommend that the troy pound 

 should be the only standard of 

 weight. Though your Committee 

 agree entirely with the Report of 

 the Committee of 1758, that 

 there should be only one gallon for 

 measuring all articles whatsoever, 

 and only one denomination of 

 weight, yet they cannot concur, 



