502  American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  {K^lS>S^\m.' 
Committee  on  National  Legislation,  that  its  personnel  be  increased  to  seven, 
and  that  this  be  appointed  by  the  President. 
The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Beneficiary  Features  was  then  presented. 
The  committee  had  collected  information  concerning  such  features  as  are  carried 
on  in  foreign  countries.  The  committee  recommended  that  a  committee  be 
appointed  to  present  a  working  plan  at  the  next  meeting,  and  that  an  appro- 
priation of  $50  be  made  to  permit  them  to  engage  an  expert  insurance  agent  to 
formulate  this  plan.  The  report  was  received  and  referred  to  the  Publication 
Committee.  There  was  objection  to  making  the  appropriation,  and  after  some 
discussion  as  to  whether  the  committee  could  not  devise  its  own  plan,  the 
motion  to  make  the  appropriation  was  tabled.  The  Committee  on  Meeting  in 
1900  reported  that  they  had  made  inquiry  in  regard  to  the  proposed  meeting  on 
board  of  a  steamer  en  route  to  Paris,  but  that  they  had  no  plan  to  submit,  for 
none  of  the  steamship  lines  are  ready  to  arrange  for  it  so  far  in  advance.  They 
had  learned  that  prices  will  not  be  higher  than  at  present,  that  a  steamship 
will  be  able  to  accommodate  300  persons,  that  the  expense  of  going  and  return- 
ing will  not  exceed  $100,  and  that  the  Hamburg- American  Steamship  Com- 
pany's line  would  probably  be  the  best  to  take. 
The  Special  Committee  on  Weights  and  Measures  then  reported  as  follows : 
The  report  presented  by  this  committee,  at  the  meeting  held  in  Montreal, 
expressed  a  hope  that  some  substantial  progress  might  be  made  in  the  adoption 
of  the  metric  system  of  weights  and  measures  in  this  country  during  the  year 
to  come. 
Those  who  have  followed  the  proceedings  of  Congress  for  the  past  year  will 
readily  understand  why  this  work  has  not  been  accomplished,  or  any  material 
advancement  made  in  it. 
At  the  first  session  of  the  Fifty-fourth  Congress,  the  Metric  Bill  was  passed 
by  a  very  small  majority,  but,  upon  reconsideration  of  the  vote,  the  Bill  was 
referred  back  to  the  Committee  on  Coinage,  Weights  and  Measures,  where  it 
still  remains. 
The'second  and  short  session  of  the  same  Congress  was  occupied  with  the 
consideration  of  subjects  of  greater  interest  to  the  members,  and  it  was  not 
thought  wise  to  bring  the  matter  forward. 
At  the  special  session  of  the  Fifty- fifth  Congress,  recently  closed,  the  consid- 
eration of  such  a  measure  would  have  been  impossible,  consequently  the  past 
year  has  been  one  altogether  unfavorable  to  securing  any  definite  action  upon 
the  bill  in  question. 
Hon.  C.  W.  Stone,  Chairman  of  the  House  Committee  on  Coinage,  Weights 
and  Measures,  of  the  Fifty-fourth  Congress,  has  been  continued  in  the  same 
position  in  the  present  Congress,  and  the  Chairman  of  the  reporting  commit- 
tee is  informed  that  this  gentleman  will  take  the  first  available  opportunity  to 
bring  the  matter  forward  for  consideration. 
During  the  past  year  a  number  of  interesting  reports  have  been  made  by 
consuls  representing  the  United  States  in  foreign  countries  now  using  the 
metric  system,  as  to  the  methods  employed  and  inconvenience  experienced 
in  the  change  from  their  customary  systems.  These  reports  will  be  used  as 
additional  arguments  for  the  adoption  of  the  metric  system  in  this  country. 
On  account  of  the  large  number  of  changes  in  the  membership  of  both  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  caused  by  the  elections  of  last  year,  it 
