New-York tribune., 1871-05-01

.rrveved and laid ont IN town,
sSps OF miles SQUARE escn The side township
square miles, or Would contain 91 me meIr ands from the
miles, and its area dpce ocean have been suryeyeu
Ohio RIVER ccorded the units OF Ihe s fusion of
the acre What WA. d w and record the language OF
trans1atre ira metre and the aref We shouu s'"h'e'
farms by tnS Of the metric system produced
only change in ne y Taa9s altered % the values only.
values values, @ their names tho difficulty would 20 eonp,h
lively ss % the foundations OF systems ana ING
by means OF which these systems are ~ tIo
@ a time are very serious, because there Is 40 hcuke
or word in one language having an eAact ynoy ~ tha 10
The other The consequences OF theso cnaneoo W ''
,netric svstem would he The following: ,.
they would strike out from the Ehgnhh lansu"So ,,
ekeiy nresent units OF weights and measures, and
would impose the necessity OF learning he" i""ss0
They would blot from the KNOWLEDGE Of rho ma
.o. aS IT, fhrough the present units and would render
aeqess9ry the requirement of similar knowledge by less
units having different relations 10 each 0her,
| and eXpressed in a and unknown language. IA
They would change the records OF our eh.Ie ianu.
nronery recurring them all " be translated INTO he"
ana @ ust not forget that prices and currency are de-
pendent upon and necessarily adlust themselves W,
weShts and measures that ali ideas OF cost ana
value xed with reference 10 our picsoht i rrv
adoption OF the metric system, theroore, Wou w ali ar
Wifi IL an entire change III the money Values ol an
tces Of and manufacture, ana Ud M az t m m
tra productions; for these values would nave To pe re H
adjusted 10 the units, aud to ne expresseu IN ,n M
| nav Language, Hence the oranges "ouu
fnowedge OF money values, now go familiar 70 lno W.,
fire popuation in their daily purchases ana saes, anu
barters for those values are all ADJUSTED WIN
| TO the units of weights and measures.
| g. Can afford TO make these changes Tor the very
small gain of changing present yard from 80 inches
To 80 inches and 37OO Of inch Can We accept any
system substitute for the ONE now IN use unless IL
| makes some provision maintaining the unit foot
All our knowledge Of distances. the yard, the rod, the
furong the mile the league, come from IT, me square
rod or perch the rood the acre are also derived from H.
| Can change the survey OF an entire continent WIN
the description of every piece Of land upon IT, rom the
unit one acre the unit, one are, forty times les
Can we change without great confusion, the unit OF
volume the cubic foot and the cubic yard so familiar To
| every schoo-boy and, above all, con we change our
unit weight the pound aVOlrdupo", which II equaI III
weight to sixteen OF the Thousand equal parts OF
| cubic foot OF ran-wateri
G. Can we abandon as a nero question Of language,
these short, sharp Saxon words ,or their equivalents
EXPRESSED i'm foreign language Besides, the foreign
Language which we Introduce has no exact equivalents
to these words which have almost become things aud
which now form part Of the mind and knowledge oil
every people who speak the English tongue, or are con
nected with American commerce Ihese are tne great
questions now discussed and considered by the Amer
lean people, They affect directly the interests OF an
classes They affect systems or puDnc INSTRUCTION"
our trade commerce, and the mechanic arts, III all
their development and in all their applications Let u
then approach questions with deep sense OF their
importance hurried action einDarrass US. let
us remember that time is necessary element IN the
accomplishment OF everything that Is truly great ana
that these only be rightly and permanent
y settled by the enlightened and aggregated Judgment
OF mankind. Let the discussion, therefore be iull ana
complete.