El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-06-06
Seek Uniform Weight Laws
George Washington Urged Necessity
of Uniform W eiEhts and Mems
ures In United States.
- By Frederic J. HnsEzfn--


M Uniformity is the one thing
most desirable in the minds
I Of those who are considering the de-
fects Of the system or lack of system
regarding the weights and measures in
use in the different states. In the
/ reformation of weight and measures,
! the recognition Of a national standard
I must be enforced, although, since all
/ the states for the past century have
/ been practically allowed to fix their
/ own standards, there are many diff
! cuItfes connected with the establish
ment of absolute uniformity At the
time of the Revolutionary war, the
weight and measures in use in the
/ custom houses of the different colonies
were chiefly of English origin, but
! even at that period there was con-
/ siderable difference between them.
1 Power Invested In Congress.
. In recognition Of this fact, the ar
J ticles of confederation, preceding the
constitution, contained this clause
The United States in congress assem-
Z bled shall also have the sole and eU-
! elusive right and power of regulating
the alloy and value of coin struck by
their own authority or by that Of the
{ respective states and Of fixing the
standards of weights and measures
throughout the country This power
was conferred upon congress IN the
constitution of the United states in
Q j.
gress the power ito coin money. regu-
late the value thereof and of foreign
coin, and fix the standard of weights
and measures
the subject in his first annual mes
sage to congress in January, 1870, stat
ing that uniformity in currency,
weights and measures in the United
states is an object of great Importance
and will I am persuaded. be duly at
tended TO-" Thomas jefferson, then
secretary Of state, was requested by
congress to prepare and report TO the
house a proper plan for establishing
uniformity in weights and measures.
JeffersOn's Plan for Weights
jefferson proposed two plans. The
first was practically 70 define ana
render uniform and stable the existing
system. to reduce the dry and liquid
measure to corresponding capacities by
establishing a single gallon of 2l0
cubic inches and q Dushel Of eight
gallons or 216O cubic inches The
second plan was to reduce every
branch of measurement to the same
decimal ratio already established for
coin. and thus bring thu calculations
of the principal affairs Of life within
the arithmetic Of every man who can
multiply and divide plain numbers
The second plan. as VIII be noted, IS
equivalent to the metric system when
since then has been adopted so gen
orally throughout Europe.
Congress did not take any decisive
action upon the subject for some time
and Washington again referred TO the
matter in his third annual message
One committee had reported faYor2Dly
upon the decimal system proposed IN
JeffersOn's second plan but It was not
until the second session OF the 1l1Ln
congress that the first act was passed
in regard to weights and measures
This act provided that the surveyor
of each port in the United States
should from time to time and partlc-
ularly upon the first Monday IN jan
uary and July of each year, examine
and try the weights, measures ana
other instruments used in ascertain
ing the duties on imports with stan
dards to be provided by each collector
at public expense for that purpose; and
when disagreements and errors are
discovered he shall report the same
to the collector and obey and execute
such directions as ne may receive for I
the correction thereof, agreeably TO I
the standards Aforesaid
Operation of Law Delayed.
The first law regarding weights and T
measures could not be put into opera
ton for more than 30 years because
no standards had been adopted by
legislation by which the weights and l
measures in use could be gagged. After |
the war of 1914 the question of uni
fOrmity of weights again came up, !
but although a number Of bills were /
proposed no definite action was taken I
In the meantime considerable change I
in the system Of weights and measure &
ments were taking place both IN /
law. adopting the metric system as 4
compulsory, was repealed so that sys- l
TEN was in use side by side with many I
old weights and measures, and endless i
confusion resulted. In England, the I
wine gallon Of 231 cubic inches and 1
the ale gallon of 2S2 cubic inches were ]
both in use until 1924, when the new I
imperial gallon containing 10 pounds !
of water and a capacity Of 2II IA Z
cubic inches was adopted, together /
with a measurement eight gallons TO 1
Neither Of these measures was in ]
use in this country. The United States I
could not adopt the system Of either /
France or England without causing /
radical changes in the systems Of (
weights and measures already in use {
and there was no indication that either I
the metric system or the English meas I
ures would be permanent During all 4
the years in which congress was con- /
the matter, commerce mad /
been growing in the newly established /
nation and, with no national standard I
to govern them. most OF the states naQ !
independently of each other adopted /
standards Of their own While most 4
of these were based upon the old Eng
supposed denomination differed widely /
and there was continual confusion 1
which has not been overcome to the
present day
Congress took the stand that while
confusion in commercial weights and l
measures might be ignored Tor a time
no uncertainty of coinage could be.
permitted. so on May Is, 1928, a troy
pound was adopted as the standard
of coinage, in the act authorizing the
continuance of the mint in Philadel-
phia. The troy pound adopted was 4
procured from Great Britain by Albert
Gallatin. minister Of the United States I
at London, and delivered by special
messenger to the director Of the mint
in Philadelphia The weight was Of
brass. an exact copy of the imperial I
troy pound of England. 1t was en-
closed in a sealed casket and kept I
under seal until John Quincy Adams,
president of the United States, could
Visit Philadelphia and with some cere-
mOny verify the seal Of Mr.. Gallauin.
Two years later the senate passed !
a bill directing a comparison to be
maze of the weights and measures in
use at the principal custom houses
As was expected, discrepancies were
found although the average value
agreed reasonably well with the Eng
lish weights and measures used at
the time of the American Revolution.
The treasury department took steps to
correct this evil without waiting for
from congress by having
constructed the necessary weights and
10 ]