ASbruary  ^gYs"1'}  Metric  System  and  International  Standardization,  j^i 
THE  METRIC  SYSTEM  AND  INTERNATIONAL 
STANDARDIZATION.1 
By  Herbert  T.  Wade. 
Those  who  have  observed  the  industrial  and  commercial  changes 
that  so  far  have  taken  place  in  the  countries  affected  by  the  war 
have  remarked  the  progress  that  has  been  made  towards  policies  of 
more  general  standardization,  not  only  as  regards  munitions  but  with 
a  large  number  of  articles,  materials,  and  machines  for  general  use. 
Such  a  policy  not  only  is  required  by  enforced  economies,  but  also 
is  in  line  with  ideas  of  modern  mechanical  efficiency.  The  conclu- 
sion of  the  war  will  find  firmly  intrenched  in  many  countries  a  certain 
number  of  standards  and  policies  of  standardization,  so  that  in  the 
replacement  and  manufacture  of  the  various  commodities  required, 
there  will  be  inevitably  an  increased  conformity  to  standards,  yet  at 
the  same  time  there  will  be  a  most  apparent  lack  of  single  and  uni- 
form standards.  While  the  question  of  international  standards  is 
now  figuring  to  a  greater  extent  than  ever  previously,  and  a  more 
general  conformity  to  such  as  are  or  will  be  established  is  inevitable, 
yet  it  must  be  considered  also  that  international  standards  should  be 
the  best  standards.  As  a  result  today  international  committees  are 
conferring,  and  in  all  branches  of  mechanical,  industrial,  and  com- 
mercial activity,  the  feeling  is  becoming  general  that  international 
standards  must  be  established  and  a  general  conformity  thereto 
observed. 
Any  policy  or  system  of  standardization  must  be  based  on  a 
fixed  and  determined  system  of  weights  and  measures  and  therefore 
it  finds  an  important  place  in  any  discussion  of  the  metric  system. 
However,  it  envolves  far  more  than  a  system  of  units  of  weights  and 
measures ;  it  implies  the  fixing  of  sizes,  of  physical  and  chemical 
characteristics,  of  methods  of  packing  and  transportation,  and  of 
absolute  and  relative  efficiency,  and  in  fact  any  and  all  attributes 
of  the  articles  and  materials  which  figure  in  trade  and  industry, 
and  in  regard  to  which  a  number  of  minds  can  unite  to  formulate  a 
definite  description  or  specification.  Let  us  consider  a  few  examples. 
There  are  the  standard  units  of  length ;  the  International  Meter  and 
the  British  Imperial  Yard,  and  the  subsidiary  units  and  standards 
1  A  paper  presented  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Metric  Asso- 
ciation, held  in  Pittsburgh,  December  28-29,  1917. 
