The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-02-19
FAVOR CHANGE TO
METRIC SYSTEM
Continued from Page I.

the powers participating. The labors
Of the convention closed in 1875 with a
formal approval of the metric table as
it now stands.
The system became at once the
standard of France, and many of the
other powers, who emphasized their &C
ceptance by declaring all other weights
and measures Illegal. Other nations
have one by one initiated this example
until the United States ana England
remain practically the only nations in
Europe and America that recognize the
old standards. This fact has been
quoted as evidence that the people Of
England and the United States do not
want the metric system.
AS early as 1855 the house Of COM
mons, which IS peculiarly the mouth
piece Of the English people, passed an
act making the metric system the ex-
elusive standard of Great Britain; the
house Of lords, with which the people
hold virtually nothing in common,
promptly vetoed the bill. Another
measure Immediately took its place,
and became law, which legalized the
metric table, but permitted q contin-
uanCe Of the old standards.
Metric System Lawful.
This pueriIe measure was initiated
by the United States congress in the
following act:
1t shall be lawful throughout the
United States Of America to employ
the weights and measure of the metric
system, and no contract OF dealing or
pleading in any case shall be deemed
invalid or liable TO objection because
the weights or measures expressly re-
ferred to therein are weights or meas
ures Of the metric system
THE various heads of departments
upon whose recommendations this
compromise law was passed, and con-
gress itself, believed It would have the
same effect as a bill to exclude the Old
systems from legal recognition. The
experience of nations from the first.
gees to show, however, that sweeping
changes of popular custom have not as
a rule been secured by compromise or
temporary legislation. That such leg
islatiOn has failed thus far to bring to
the people Of England and the United
States the inestimable benefits of the
metric system is not good evidence that
they were hostile to the reform. It is
a fact that the files of the committee
on coinage, weights and measures are
loaded with petitions for a law that
viii make quick work Of the change.
Colleges Use Metric System.
THE colleges took advantage of the
permissive law and all the old stand
ards were promptly expelled from such
institutions Today all chemical and
physical apparatus and scientific no
menclature generally are based upon
the metric system. But the merchants.
manufacturers and tradesmen who are
expected to supervise the
nomenclature Of commerce cannot
operate reform in that manner; thew
are In some sense the slaves of estab-
ltshed usages. They must follow the
dictates OF custom or assume risks that
many destroy them utterly. The mer-
chant, therefore, though a supervisor
Of fashion, cannot dictate a reform ex-
cept with authority that not only per
nits but requires all competitors in the
business to do likewise. For this rea-
son, though every tradesman and every
citizen Of state hold a sentiment in
common, il is not impossible for Il TO
g with them to eternity unrealized
unless some voice Of general authority
a harmonious action. So it
has been with the people Of the United
States and England i'm the matter Of
the metric system. There has been no
command given and so
every man is waiting for his neighbOT
to move first in order to be sure that
he is Of the same mind on the subject.
Thus it has happened that the two
most progressive nations on the globe
have been outclassed by countries
which are yet scarcely emerging from
barbarism.
What this delay is costing can be
estimated in part, but the entire ex-
pense Of il no man may ever know.
The leakage from an imperfect system
OF weights and measures may come
from incalculable places. It is only
where the losses are most prOdigious
that cost can be determined. For in
stance, in one report to congress, a
subcommittee declared officially-or
in way that amounted to a
a continuance Of the
weights and measures now in use was
costing the country a year Of student
life for every boy and girl IN the pub
lie schools. The students Of the Salt
Lake schools alone are reported at
about 10000. Here IS q waste in the
assets of Salt Lake alone, Of twenty
thousand years Of school expenses,
which anyone can calculate for him
self without much difficulty. and from
It he can make q fair estimate Of the
loss the state at large is sustaining in
the same direction"
Advantages to the Merchants.
ITO the merchant. this innovation, If
carried to a conclusion viii be of ines
Unable greatness" said Spencer Claw
son. TT viii simplify his work, and
will in the end tend to cut down his
expenses to g large extent. The cleri-
cal forces employed at present are
larger than necessary because of the