794 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. III. No. 74. 



of the New Decimal Association in England. 

 This circular has been sent to various 

 members of the American Society of Civil 

 Engineers. 



Mr. Dowson begins by quoting the now 

 well-known recommendations of the Select 

 Committee of the House of Commons, re- 

 ported last July, in which it was urged that 

 the metric system be at once legalized in 

 England ; that it be taught in all public ele- 

 mentary schools, and that it be rendered 

 compulsory by act of Parliament after a 

 lapse of two years. He discusses the reply 

 of Mr. Balfour to the deputation of the 

 Chamber of Commerce, who had urged upon 

 him the need of giving effect to the recom- 

 mendations of the Select Committee. Mr. 

 Balfour expressed his high opinion of the 

 merits of the metric system, but was unwill- 

 ing that this should be made compulsory in 

 the near future, because he feared the effect 

 on the small retail dealers and those who 

 buy their goods from such dealers, and 

 thought that so important a change could 

 not be well undertaken until public opinion 

 is better prepared for it than at present. 

 The metric system was legalized in Amer- 

 ica nearly twenty years ago, but in England 

 its use is forbidden, under penalty, for pur- 

 poses of trade. With us the pound and 

 yard are defined as certain decimal frac- 

 tions of the kilogi-am and meter, respec- 

 tively, but neither legalization nor defini- 

 tions are sufficient to secure general adop- 

 tion until the people feel the need of dis- 

 carding the inconsistencies and inconven- 

 iences to which they have become accus- 

 tomed in the use of English weights and 

 measures. Mr. Dowson's circular shows 

 that among the plain business people of 

 England there is an unexpectedly wide- 

 spread demand for the change, in relation to 

 which Mr. Balfour has shown himself so 

 conservative. Soon after Mr. Balfour's reply 

 had been given to the Deputation, the 

 Metropolitan Grocers' and Provision Deal- 



ers' Association, a body composed chiefly 

 of retailers, had a general meeting, dis- 

 cussed the metric system fully and critic- 

 ally, and passed a resolution, amidst ap- 

 plause, " That after due notice the system 

 be made compulsory after two years." The 

 Trades Councils throughout England seem, 

 to have taken a lively interest in the ques- 

 tion. "At several of their meetings it had 

 been discussed in a practical way ; and at a^ 

 Congress held in Glasgow, where there 

 were 495 delegates, representing about a 

 million and a quarter members and 418 

 different trades, a resolution in favor of the_ 

 proposed change was carried unanimously, 

 and the Parliamentary Committee was in- 

 structed to give it active support. These 

 Trade Councils represented bargemen and 

 watermen, dockers, street masons and 

 pavers, gas workers and laborers, boot and 

 shoe workers, lithographic printers, carmen, 

 shop assistants, railway servants and many 

 provincial trades." "The Incorporated 

 Society of Inspectors of Weights and Meas- 

 ures have passed a strong resolution in 

 favor of the proposed change. This Society 

 represents the inspectors from all parts of 

 the Kingdom and they have an intimate 

 knowledge of what is best for the retail 

 trades." " The County Council of Durham, 

 representing a population of 750,000, voted 

 unanimously in favor of the change ; and 

 one notable feature is that on this Council 

 there are twenty working miners.'" 



Mr. Dowson's circular is accompanied by 

 a list of public bodies, associations, etc., 

 which have approved the adoption of the 

 metric system in England. This list is sur- 

 prisingly large, and represents an amount 

 of strength in behalf of progress much be- 

 yond what most of us Americans have 

 credited to the conservative English. There 

 are 20 town councils ; 40 trade councils, 

 including the London Association for the 

 Protection of Trade, consisting of 4,000 

 members, the Edinburgh Merchants' Asso- 



