Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1884-11-07

To the Editor of the Free Press and Times.
No other congress or convention, scicn-
tihc, literary or secular that has met dur
ing the present year, has so much interest
cd us as the Prime Meridian Congress at
Washington, to which your editorial of
Tuesday last relates. For weeks before
its meeting we looked forward to ii with
real interest mingled with some hope and
not a little fear. And when it came to-
gcthcr we watched for its choice of presi-
dent and read eagerly the opening ad-
dress of the President, Admiral Rodgers
as well as the motions and debates OF the
Congress as they came to us.
The Congress though called by PreSi-
dent Arthur in response to resolution of
Congress, for Il specific purpose to con
slider and decide upon Prime Meridian
for the computation of longitude and
time, was virtually IA continuation of the
international Geographical Congress that
met in Rome oct, 1883, to consider the
same subject. The Congress at Rome did
not agree upon the Prime Meridian, but
adjourned to meet again virtually with
the Congress at Washington. The Con
gress at Rome, however, took up another
subject and came to an agreement upon it,
/ viz, that of weights and measures. 1t
adopted the French metric system, and
more it advised all Anglo Saxon people
| and especially the United States, to give
up their system of weights and measures,
adopting the French metric system, and
unite with the International Congress.
Taking these facts into the account
also that twenty of the governments repre-
| scented in the Congress had already adopt
| ed the metric system, it was confidently
expected that the subject of this system
would come up at Washington and the
adoption of it be urged upon our govern
ment under the weight of influence of the
| Roman Congress Accordingly to com
| plicate the question still more, Presiden.
| Arthur appointed as representatives of
the United States in the Congress at
! Washington, gentlemen strongly com
| mitted to the metric system President
| Barnard, of Columbia college, the chair
man of the delegation, was known to be
an earnest advocate of the system, and
! Commander Samson of the United States
navy next to him, had already introduced
| it in his administration. In view of all
these things the New York and New Jer-
sey Branch of the International Institute
| for preserving and perfecting Anglo sax
on weights and measures, addressed an
! open letter to President Arthur on the
! subject The letter opposed the change
| from the Anglo Saxon to the metric sys-
tenn 1t maintained that there was no
call for the change among the people
whose interests would be most affected
| by il that some of our best manufac-
| turing establishments, after twenty years
trial of the Metric System, have abandon
| ed it and returned, ut II great cost to them
selves, to their former method, because
| they found the metric inconvenient, cum
bersome and unreliable ; that the Ameri-
can Society of Mechanical Engineers have
| by an overwhelming vote pronounced
against the system that its adoption
would be arbitrary and attended with
great expense and Inconvenience to the
country. They also petitioned the Presi-
dent to appoint as delegate to the Con-