The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1877-07-05
More ON Weight. and Measures.

EDITOR CmEF:-I am tempted to ask permission to
say another word about weights and Measures
suggested by your paper of this week. That the law
is open to criticism, 1 have no doubt: never saw
law yet, of ten lines that not. That the County
Attorneys should divide in opinion upon it, is not
strange, they were not in the Legislature; and
never knew one lawyer set of lawyers to endorse
what anybody but themselves enacted; and never
heard of case that lawyers could be found to de
clare that both sides right and both were wrong
That BILL in its main provisions, is the same as the Ill
inos law upon the subject and passed three times
through the Senate, in lS75 1886 and 1877 and each
Senate had goodly number of lawyers, the last the
lawyers comprising nearly onehalf Of the body. 1t is
perhaps unfortunate that important matters should be
left to persons of little knowledge" when there
many who well qualified to attend to them.
But one has said that measure of Importance
in England, of beneficial character, originated
with a lawyer. And in this ease, Kansas had been
without standard since its BIRTH that could be made
practicable, and there abundance of learned
lawyers in the Legislature all the while.
1t to be objected that this law does adopt
another system of weights and measures; that it is
antediluyian not up to the times, &C. 1t is claimed
that the Metric system is the right one, and that this
law will be hindrance to its introduction. have
doubt that system is improvement upon the pres
ent, but what Kansas alone do with it! Not
State in the Union with which traffic it; not
quotation in commercial paper in the country is in
accordance with it; and if We buy and ship by it,
must sell by the old system. OF what would be
law providing standard of weights and measures for
the Metric system, with pains and penalties attached,
when bought sold by it in any State of the
Unon not even in Kansas, whose people so intel
ligent, Must we have no standard within reach,
til we have the new system. 1 think it Mnlthus
who said that population, unchecked, would increase
in geometrcal ratio, and in five hundred years would
be one million times greater than This would
give person for about every square feet of the
surface of the earth and would necesste other
means of travel and transportation. Wings, balloons
and ships would come in play. With the Dr. Halls
the Murphics, the Noodles and the Beeehers running
at large the checks to population woud be removed
and the modes of travel and transportation be in
dcmand yet at present thinks of abandoning
buek-boards or railway cars not even in Kansas We
told that the time is just approaching when some
Of us, at least may live ambrosa and walk on go
den pavements, yet no one thinks of disear'ling his
bcefsteak or MeAdam road at present. So when the
Metric system of weights and measures gets here it
will be time enough abandon the present; but till
then, let have law by which fraud he
prore and prevented if possible If the present law
is defective perfect it, or make better False
weights have been an abomination since man he
a trafeking animal, and if law is needed upon
any subject, it is this.
The people of Donphan County congratulated
that they have been spared investment of s2l5 for
a set of standards. Is it for congratulation!
Without such standards accessible, every dealer, mil
Ter and shipper dcfraud without limit and with
impunity Suppose they exceptionally honest in
your County, and content with ten per cent. BY
Mr.. Grays Report of 1875, the products of Doniphan
County given amounting to sl,ll0,6 80. Ten
per cent. would be lIl,O6S73 All this, home con-
sumption excepted your people liable to lose, and
probably will lose, each year, without the standards,
much of which might be saved with them, at a of
s2l5 Very truly. c. ROBINSON.
LAWRENCE, June 26, 1877