JULY — SEPT. 1857.] 



for India. 



211 



It should also be considered how far Government should endea- 

 vour to relieve the shopkeepers and others, of the expense of pro- 

 curing new Weights and Measures, by making them up in the 

 Arsenals, and selling them below cost price or taking old Weights 

 and Measures in exchange. In England the Parliamentary Com- 

 mittee of 1841, stated that it would cost the Government about 

 £200,000 to make new Weights alone, but they considered it would 

 be worth the expense. 



There will be other details to be considered and embodied in 

 the Act, which may be left for future discussion : such as the 

 stamping of Weights and Measures ; the using of Casks, Bottles, 

 Jugs, &c. representing some defined Measure; the material with 

 which Weights and Measures should be made ; what articles should 

 be sold by weight only ; rules as to the publication of Price Lists ; 

 duties and powers of Inspectors ; amount of fines and forfeitures, 

 and mode of recovery ; periodical re-verification of stamped Weights 

 and Measures, &c. 



In concluding this Paper, I would wish it to be understood that 

 I do not presume to set forth my individual opinion as at all de- 

 cisive. My object is, to obtain for so important and complicated a 

 subject that careful consideration which has not as yet been conced- 

 ed to it, and I would venture to express the hope that the Govern- 

 ment of India before finally deciding on a Metrical system, from 

 which if once promulgated they cannot retract, will obtain the 

 opinion of persons in all the Presidencies, interested in the subject, 

 and qualified to enter into it in detail. To those who are inclined 

 to take the subject into consideration, I would submit that the ques- 

 tion is not merely which is " per se" the most correct system of Me- 

 trology, but/vvhich is best for India ; and that the essentials to be 

 combined if possible, are I. The preservation of some standard of 

 Weight and Measure common to the whole of India. II. The 

 adaptation of the Weights and also the weight of water contained in 

 the Measures of Capacity, to the current coin of the country. III. 

 A definite but simple proportion (without fractions) between the 

 Weights and Measures to be now introduced, and those of Great Bri- 

 tain. It will also be necessary to bear in mind that the coinage of 

 India is not decimal, and there is no intention of changing it. 



