Our System of Weights and Measures 



J 59 



that we need uniformity in our system of 

 weights and measures. 



Of course, it matters little what sys- 

 tem may be employed by an individual, 

 so far as he himself is concerned ; but the 

 moment he has dealings with other in- 

 dividuals the necessity for uniformity and 

 a common, understanding arises. The 

 right of the individual to choose his own 

 methods of measurement must give way 

 to the convenience of the community of 

 which he forms a part ; in a similar man- 

 ner the right of sections of the commu- 

 nity like apothecaries, silversmiths, etc., to 

 have their own peculiar system of meas- 

 urement should give way to the right of 

 the community as a whole to have uni- 

 formity and a system convenient to all. 



Every state in the Union might with 

 perfect propriety have a different system 

 of weights and measures if there were no 

 interstate transactions or mingling of 

 people from different parts of the 

 country, but the interests of the nation as 

 a whole demand uniformity throughout 

 the length and breadth of the land. 



In achieving such a result the United 

 States might very well establish a pecul- 

 iar system of its own, without reference 

 to the usages of other countries, if we 

 formed an isolated people, having no 

 dealings with the rest of the world; but 

 in making a change — and the necessity 

 for a change is very obvious — it would 

 be advisable to adopt a system that would 

 not only be convenient for our own peo- 

 ple, but would also be convenient for the 

 other peoples of the world with whom we 

 carry on trade and commerce. 



No one doubts that the metrical system 

 is superior to the crude methods of 

 measurement we employ. It is therefore 

 useless to expect that foreign countries 

 employing the metrical system will ever 

 change to our methods of measurement; 

 from which it follows that if international 

 uniformity is to be secured it is we who 

 must give way. We must either adopt 

 the metrical system or some other sys- 

 tem — not our own — which may have 

 some chance of international adoption. 



At the present time, however, the ' 

 metrical system is the only system known 

 that has the ghost of a chance of being 

 adopted universally by the world. As a 

 matter of fact, it is now international in 

 character, for practically all of the civil- 

 ized nations of the world have already 

 adopted it with the exception of the 

 English-speaking peoples, who employ an 

 admittedly inferior system. 



The metrical system was legalized in 

 the United States in 1866 and is already 

 in use by a portion of our people, thus 

 adding to the existing confusion. Our 

 scientific men especially employ it, almost 

 universally, and merchants having deal- 

 ings with foreign countries are obliged to 

 use it to a greater or less extent. Our 

 imports from non-English-speaking coun- 

 tries are largely expressed in metrical 

 measures, and in exporting to these coun- 

 tries our merchants must adopt the met- 

 rical system or be placed at a disadvan- 

 tage with competitors who already employ 

 it ; for people accustomed to the metrical 

 system will not take the trouble of trans- 

 lating our measures into their own sys- 

 tem in order to understand what they are 

 buying, if they can obtain the same goods 

 elsewhere expressed in the measures with 

 which they are already familiar. There 

 can be no question that in competing with 

 metrical countries for the trade of the 

 countries already employing the system, 

 our commerce is seriously handicapped 

 by the inconvenient and antiquated sys- 

 tems of weights and measures in use in 

 the United States. This means that we 

 are at a disadvantage everywhere in the 

 world excepting in dealing with Great 

 Britain and her colonies. 



A WASTE OF LABOR 



Few people have any adequate concep- 

 tion of the amount of unnecessary labor 

 involved in the use of our present weights 

 and measures. Scientific men and mer- 

 chants may have the necessary skill with 

 figures to enable them to use the metrical 

 system, but how about the common peo- 

 ple of the country? It is just here that 



