i6 
LAND & WATER 
June 22, 1916 
New Steps in Economic Reform 
By Arthur Kitson 
0\E of llie many changes already accomplished 
bv the war. is that effected in the menta 
altitude of the British public regarding social 
and e.onomic reforms. Two years ago our 
c.n-crvatisni and dislike for innovations seemed to be 
int-radicable. We w.-re rei^ardi-d by our 'Iransatlantic 
luighbours as almost imin-rvious to new ideas and U> all 
radical reform measures. We were considered as a 
iKXiplc on the down-grade, living on the memories of the 
past, and in most of our methods and habits nearly 3" 
vears behind the times. To-day our conservatism is 
conspicuous by its absence. The British public mind 
hitherto regarded as fossilised, has been changed to a 
condition of remarkable plasticity. The symptoms of old 
age and decadence, which were apparent two years ago 
are no longer visible, and instead of this, we find a mental 
vigour and moral outlook indicative of a nation in the 
young and formative stage. 
A Period of Reform 
We are living at a period when almost any moral, social 
or economic reform could be introduced and welcomed 
with avidity. Witness the ease witli which paper money 
lias displaced gold coins for currency purposes, a svstem 
which Lord Goschen with all his skill and influence failed 
to introduce. Witness also the recent Daylight Saving 
\.t, which two years ago was regarded as altogether 
rtopian. In fact, we have arrived at a stage of our 
national history when almost any reform is possible. 
\nd the imagination becomes confused when one con- 
templates the innumerable plans and policies suggested 
and necessary in order to carry Britain to heights of 
progress hitherto considered unattainable. 
Without rnsliing too far ahead, let us consider one or 
two simple practical and urgent reforms which could 
quickly and readily be effected, for which the present 
times are propitious. Neariy a century and a quarter 
ago, the French Government offered to the world the 
simplest system of physical measurements— for weights 
and measures — ever proposed before or since. With the 
e.xception of the great English-speaknig races, practically 
the entire commercial and industrial worid have adopted 
the French Metric System. Only Great Britain, her 
Colonies, and the United States still cling to their archaic 
system. It is perfectly true that we have recently 
h-galiscd the French sjstcm, but the time is surely now 
rii)c for making its use compulsory. If this were done, 
to take effect say, six months after the passing of the Act. 
its introduction could be achieved without any serious 
trouble or dislocation of trade, and an economy in time 
and labour would be achieved that would be incalculable ! 
The saving which would be effected in clerical labour 
alone would furnish a small army of clerks for much 
needed service in other fields. 
There is another reason which should induce us to urge 
the immediate adoption of this system. We are hoping to 
form some kind of Commercial I'nion with our Dominions, 
and to enter into certain friendly trade-relations with 
our Allies after the war. We are preparing to capture 
German trade in many countries. To do this we must 
understand tlie nature and methods of trade in those 
countries, and by adopting the same standards and 
methods of measurement, we shall make tlie task of our 
manufacturers and merchants much easier. Many a 
foreign contract has been lost by reason of the inability 
or refusal of British manufacturers to estimate in terms 
of metric measurements. The Germans have no difhculty 
in this respect, since they use the same system. 
Accompanying this change, however, there should be 
introduced a decimal coinage and currency system. 
Although the United States still join us in retaining the 
old unscientific system of weights and measures, they, 
as well as Canada, long ago recognised the enormous 
advantages of the decimal monetary system, and adopted 
the dollar and cent as their monetary units. In fact, 
Great Britain is the only important nation that has not 
yet adopted the decimal coinage. 
An American writer recently asserted that the adootion 
by the U S A. of the English coinage systt^i would require 
nothing less than a conscription of all the American 
youths to undertake the clerical labour uhich this extra 
"work would entail ! But it is not merely in the matter of 
bookkeeping where vast economy would be effected by 
such a change. Let anyone interested stand at any ot 
the booking oflices of a London railway station or theatre 
during holiday times and witness the time taken by the 
cashiers in receiving coins and notes and counting and 
giving change. Then let him do the same at any of the 
New York, Boston or Chicago offices and note the differ- 
ence I have seen a Inindred passengers pass through a 
New York Elevated Railway turnstile, each one buying 
his ticket, and the majority receiving change, in less 
than six minutes ! I have been one of a line of 20 at a 
London booking office and -it has taken the clerk over 
ten minutes to perform the same service. In other 
words, it has taken the London official with our com- 
pUcated archaic coinage system ten times as long to 
attend to a given number of passengers as the American 
with his simple decimal coinage ! Nor is this all. The 
chances of errors and mistakes in giving change, are 
enormously greater with the former. No head work, 
no mental arithmetic is necessary with the decimal 
system, whilst ours usually entails some very nimble and 
careful calculations. 
This discussion is, of course, the revival of an old 
subject. But the conservatism which has hitherto 
made such simple and undeniably essential reform im- 
possible, is to-day almost non-existent. Moreover, 
economy is in the air, and the public is clamouring for it 
in every shape and form. 
Our Coinage Systenj 
Many suggestions have already been made for changing 
our coinage system. That whicli would necessitate the 
least inconvenience is to make the ten shilling piece the 
standard coin in place of the sovereign. This would 
only occasion a change in the division of the shiUing. By 
dividing the shilling into ten pennies, we should arrive 
at the decirhal system in practically one step. For 
convenience we might regard the penny as divided -into 
ten parts, although it would not be necessary to furnish 
a coin of less denomination than half-a-penny. The 
standard coin (ios>. might be called the "George" 
in honour of the King, just as the standard French coin is 1 
the Louis, formerly the Napoleon. We should then have: ( 
10 farthings = i penny. 
10 pence = i shilling. 
10 shillings = i George. 
The transformation of "George" into pounds ana 
vice-versa would thus be simplicity itself. No doubt 
the monetary pound — relic of a barbarous age — would 
gradually disappear from our vocabulary. Ever since 
gold supplanted silver as the money metal, the term 
pound, has lost its original significance. 
Scientitic opinion in tliis country and in our Dominions, 
as well as in the United States, is almost unanimously in 
favour of the general adoption of the decimal system ir 
all our methods of physical measurements, and the present 
time is undoubtedly the psychological moment foi 
beginning a new era in this particular field. 
Earth that has felt our tears like rain, 
- And shared our wounds of body and soul. 
Gives of her flowers to ease our pain, 
Gives of her heart to make us whole. 
This comes from the little poem which Sir Owen Seaman 
has written for the catalogue (the cover of which is designed 
by Mr. Byam Shaw) of the great sale of flowers and fruit 
organised by the Koval Horticultural Society on behalf of the 
British Red Cross, "it is to be held at their hallin Vincent 
Square,' Westminster, next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thurs- 
day, mornings and afternoons. It will be a remarkable sale. 
The City of London rose show at the Cannon Street Hotel 
which was to have been held next Tuesday, has been post- 
Doned until Friday, July 7th, owing to the cold weather. 
