The Sun.
London, England, 1868-07-02 00:00:00

-NEWSPAPER
- 7
,
were first lega y adopted
..as the ''Standaid'of
length and weight, and adopted the Hotel des
Archives in 1799.
And now it becomes necessar conziderAhle
question of coinage—distinct froth thaf weightli
and measures—on its own merits, and also in its
bearings on the interests both of Great Britain and
British America, as well as the United States, for
each of these countries have recently been consider-
.ing-this question in all its bearings.
A select committee, appointed by the House of
Commons on the Bth of April, 1862, after due de-
liberation, reported :-
1. " That the use of the metric system of cur-
rency be rendered legal."
2. " That a departav•nt of weights and measures
be ettablished iu conneedon with the Board
of Trade."
3. " That the system form one of the subjects of
competitive examination in Coe candida-
tures for die Civil Strviee."
4. " That the gramme :houla be used in the Post-
-I,t!crs and books." -
-5. " That it should be t iuglit in all schools re-
ceiving grants from G)vei onient."
6. " That all pu'Aie statistics 'shout 1 have both
syst.ar:s expressed in juxtapcsition, and
that the u.se of the grc mme be alowei in
Li!'s before Parliamen:,."
In conckkion they say :—" The committee feel
bound to add that the evidence they have received
tends to convince them that a decimal system of
money should, as nearly rs posiible, accompany a
decimal system of weights and measures." And,
moreover, when we consider that the metric system
has already been adopted (wholly or partially) by
France, Holland, Belgium, Italy, the German
Zollverein, Ilause Towns, Switzerland, Spain, Por-
tugal, Greece, Mexico, Guatemala, and other
States of South America, it is not too much, we
think, to infer that this is now the invariable ten-
dency of national minds.
Professor De Morgan, in a recent paper on this
subject, says—" I believe that the decimal divisions
of units might be introduced very easily, and I be-
lieve that it would co-exist perfectly well with the,
binary division, which I am satisfied must always
exist with the common people—so far as halves and
quarters are concerned. The halves and quarters
are easily counted into decimal fractions; the de-
cimal system, therefore, if fully established through-
out the country, might go on and thrive, consis-
tently with t%e habit of dividing all units into
halves and quarters in common life." Professor
Millers whO is also good authority on this
head—in answer to the question, " What ad-
vantage does the metrical system present over
our present (English) system ?" says—" The great
advantage of having convenient units, and the enor-
mous advantage also of having a decimal subdivi-
sion." The French legal system at present is, 1, I,
1-5, 1-10 ; while the purely binary is, 1, * ;
and therefore may i.e easily assimilated so as exactly
to correspond. Aud while we ask a slight change,
on the part of the French nation, we cheerfully
admit that the old English syste n of pounds,
shillings, and pence must ultimately be super-
seded by the decimal and binary divisions, which
possess the merit of simplicity, and are accord-
ingly easily understood by the common people
throughout the world. Even the American Sta.
tistical Association, at the late meeting at Boston,
adopted a petition to Congress urging the adoption
of the metrical system of weights, measures, and
coins ; adding that, " the changes required for con-
verting the existing coinage into a metrical one, are
so slight that recoinage would be unnecessary."
And here we may introduce, by way of illustra.
tion, a table prepared for us by an expert in these
matters, comparing the systems existing, and the
one now proposed :
Existing U. S. Sys-1 Metrical System.

System proposed in
the Sherman Bill.

tern.

Closely approxi-
mate to the Metri-
cal System.

Should be adopted.

!Should not b 3
adopted.

940 of pure metal to
1-10 of alloy.

19-19 of pure metal to,
1-10 of alloy.

9 -1 0 of pure metal to
1-10 of alloy.

ST AN-)
DARD
GOLD, --
legal
tvnier
in pay-
ment of
all am-
ounts

(53) 30-31 of 5
grammes,
or 4.8378
grammes.
(The Gold Le.
pa Tender
15 frs. pieco
of Franco).

gram:neg.

Ratio of
of 0011
to Si:-
vor

15 to 1.

ill (nearly) to
1.

S T A N-.
DAR!)
SILVER, -
f r a e-
twnil-
legal
tender
only in
pa y-
ment of
small
amounts

23 2-10

(t) 25
grammes.

(1) (nearly)
grammes.

(The legal tender
silver sfr. piece
of France.)

The same authority says :—" The fineness of both
the gold and the silver coins in each of the above
mentioned systems is the same—namely, 9-10 of
pure metal to 1-10 of alloy. The ratio of gold to
silver assumed in each of the above cases is a safe
one, being below the market, and consequently ren-
dering the silver coins of greater nominal value (ex-
pressed in gold values) than their actual market
values. The relative market values of gold to silver
for the past 14 years has averaged 15 3-8 to 1. The 2nd
case—thnt of the Metrical System —is obviously the
most simple, as regards the relation of the weight
of the coins to the metrical unit of weight—the
gramme—as also in relation to the relative market
values of gold an -1 silver. The 3rd case is the least
simple of all.
All things considered, we are of opinion that the
Paris Conference's recommendations purely will
neither be adopted by Great Britain or the United
States, ani we further believe that something more
metrical ,in form will take the place of the present
proposition, not only at Washington, but alio at
London and Paris.

The will of the late ex-President Buchanan, dated
January 27, 1866, bequeaths $2,000 to the poor of Lancas-
ter, Pa., in addition to $4,000 previously donated; $l,OOO
to the Presbyterian Church at the same place, to which he
belonged ; $5,000 to Esther Parker, his housekeeper, be-
sides $2,000 heretofore given her; and $2,000 to Martha
J., widow of James B. Lane. After making some small
bequests, Mr. Buchanan directs that one-fourth of the re-
mainder (including the Wheatland property) shat be given
to his niece, Mrs. Harriet L. Johnson ; one-fourth to his
brother, Rev. E. Y. Buchanan, who, with 11. B. Swan, is
made his executor : and the rest to nine more distant re-
latives. A codicil gives $6,000 to W. B. Reed and
his wife to pay for the preparation and publication of
Mr. Buchanan's biography. , His estate is estimated at
$300,000.

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