New-York tribune., 1902-12-23
THE METRIC SYSTEM.

| of Mechanical Engineers in regard TO the metric
| system at the recent meeting of that organiza
ton in this city. AS TO the propriety of sub
| shutting the new standards of weights and
| measures for the old. opinions differ widely
| Much can be said on both sides of the question.
The matter can be, is and ought to be looked
at from many points of view. The most formid-
| able opposition of the last two or three years.
| however: has been directed not to the metric
system itself. but to the proposition to make its
| use obligatory in this country. To many of the
| audience which Mr.. Southard had at the Sturte-
want House. no doubt, it was surprise to dis
| cover that the bill which his committee has re-
| ported favorably is compulsory only upon va
| rious departments of the government. Some Of
! the technical periodicals. so long ago as last
/ spring. printed the decision Of Attorney Gen
| eral Knox that the phrase shall be the legal
| standards . in the United States" leaves the
| private citizen entirely free to other stand
| ards But that reassuring utterance has not
! been so widely known as was desirable. Taken
| with the explanations now made by the chair
| man of the House Committee on Coinage
Weights and Measures, 1t ought effectuay to
disarn the critics of the bill in question by Civ
ing them more accurate understanding of its
provisions. Perhaps the societys refusal to
adopt resolution pronouncIng the measure
absurd" was due TO those very influences.
The two weghtiest objections TO the metric
system itself that its adoption would in
volve a good deal of bother and some expense.
In those European countries where it is nom
inalIy in vogue the older standards are still
used to some extent. Possibly the old fogyism
thus exhibited may explain the failure of Eu-
rope TO keep pace with America industrially.
The French and Germans may be too cOnserv-
ative for their welfare. Still. even If the trait
is revealed the other side OF the Atlantic
in an extreme degree, ii is human enough TO be
universal Something Of the same dislike TO
new ways undoubtedly exists in the United
States, and ii is factor not TO be overlooked
AS for the extent to which new tools and ma
chinery would be required In factories ana
mills TO conform 10 metric standards, equally
competent judges do not agree. Mr.. Halsey.
who led the attack upon the system In the
discussion referred to- labors under the i'm
preston that the old standards are extensively
employed in silk manufacturing In France,
even If the goods are sold over the counter by
the metre. This is a suggestion which has more
than one important bearing. 1t would seem to
encourage the belief, expressed by Mr. South
ard that any maker OF machinery could supply
the government with what it may demand
without changing his machinery q bit. Per
haps the bidder will need only to make a more
difficult computation than would be requisite
otherwise, merely transating the advertised di-
mensons into feet inches and decimals
unquestionably the strongest recommenda-
ton of the proposed system is the growing de-
mand all over the civilized world for universal
standards. The facility of computation where
fractions are concerned is admirably ilustrat-
ed by comparison of the American and British
coinage systems. The advantage will be equal
ly great when decimals are also used in caict-
lations involving weights and measures An
other benefit will probably be derived by man
ufacturers for the export trade, though as yet
the indications are not clear enough to be de-
cisive. The reader of popular magazines to
say nothing of technical periodicals, will be
helped to an understanding of many statements
which he encounters when he is more familiar
than at present with the standards Of weights
ana measures in use abroad. But the great
need, after all, is for uniformity in practice in
mixing prescriptions. calculating the length OF
piece Of goods and the weight OF a barrel of
sugar and In a thousand of the other Industries
Iii which the mass of mankind are engaged Al |
ready the world has time standard II is |
steadily approaching uniformity in law Ian |
guage, art and conventiopailty. America is in |
comparably nearer to Europe than 1t was n |
century ago. Conformity to one common svs- |
TEN OF weights and measures is not ONLY ey- !
tremely desirable, but certain to come. The |
only doubtful question is how long 1t will take
There is yet some disagreement upon auotber |
point very few sensible people think that |
something besides the metric system should be |
the OASIS or general custom. The most careful |
study OF the situation shows, though. that no |
rival no matter low venerable excellent is |
gaining in popularity, whereas there is a steodv
concentration of favor upon the metric stand |
ards.