2 HEARINGS BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON COINAGE, WEIGHTS, AND MEASURES SIXTY-NINTH CONGRESS. FIRST SESSION ON H. R. 10 A BILL EXTENDING THE USE OF METRIC WEIGHTS 96585 Printed for the use of the Committee on WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 108 2455- II Data for printed hearings arranged by Henry G. Weimar LIBRARY OF CONGRESS RECEIVED JUN 21 1926 DOCUMENTS DIVISION HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON COINAGE, WEIGHTS, AND MEASURES. Monday, February 1, 1926. The committee met at 10 o'clock a. m. pursuant to call, Hon. Randolph Perkins (chairman), presiding. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will please come to order. This is a hearing on H. R. 10, introduced by Mr. Britten, and referred to this committee, providing for extending the use of metric weights and measures in merchandising. (Said H. R. 10 is as follows): [H. R. 10, Sixty-ninth Congress, first session] A BILL Extending the use of metric weights and measures in merchandising, Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the 1st day of January, 1935, metric weights and measures, except as herein provided, shall be used for the following purposes: (1) For buying or selling goods, wares, or merchandise, unless permission to use other weights and measures has been granted by the United States Department of Commerce or by a State department of weights and measures or by an authorized State official. (2) For charging or collecting for the transportation of any goods, wares, or merchandise, unless permission has been granted to do otherwise by any of the authorities designated above. SEC. 2. Not later than the 1st day of January, 1935, all postage, excises, duties, and customs charged or collected by weight or measure by the Government of the United States of America shall be charged or collected in terms of or according to metric weights and measures. SEC. 3. Nothing in this act shall be understood or construed as applying to (1) The construction or use in the arts, manufacture, or industry of any specification, drawing, goods, wares, merchandise, tool, machine, or other appliance or implement designed, manufactured, constructed, or graduated in any system of measurement. (2) The ordering, buying, or selling of manufactured articles, such as tools, machines, or parts of machines, ordinarily known by or designated in terms of any other system of weights or measure. (3) Any contract made before the 1st day of January, 1935. (4) The survey or description of lands within the jurisdiction of the United States of America, or transactions in lands or real estate therein. (5) The sale of goods, wares, or merchandise originally intended for any foreign country. 66 SEC. 4. After the 1st day of January, 1935, the terms "world yard" for the meter," "world quart" for the "liter," and "world pound" for "five hundred grams " shall be recommended for international use and accepted as metric terms. SEC. 5.. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed, but only in so far as they are inconsistent herewith; otherwise they shall remain and continue in full force and effect. SEC. 6. Rules and regulations for the enforcement of this act shall be made and promulgated by the Secretary of Commerce, who shall also take such steps as he may deem necessary to make this act effective. 1 If it is the will of the committee, I think we should first hear from Mr. Britten, who will make a statement concerning the bill, and then, in as much as witnesses are present, we can pursue the order of witnesses that Mr. Britten may suggest. Mr. BRITTEN. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I am not going to take up much of your time, but will merely suggest that H. R. 10, which you now have before you, is quite a modification of former metric system bills. In the former bills it was aimed to cover all land transactions, real-estate transactions, sales of farms and farm lands, etc., which, of course, brought much opposition from all over the country. The present bill is a greatly modified bill, providing only for the use of the metric system in commercial transactions, and giving the manufacturer and the business man 10 years in which to make any changes which may be necessary in order to accommodate the desires of this bill. I doubt, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of committee, if there is another piece of legislation anywhere on "Capitol Hill" that could get back of it the galaxy of big men that this bill has behind it. It has behind it such men as General Pershing, Thomas A. Edison, and men of similar type and standing. I had a very nice letter from Mr. Edison Saturday saying he was sorry he could not appear before the committee in favor of this bill, but he has stomach trouble and is getting along in years. He says he hopes the committee will give the bill favorable consideration. Men like Samuel Vauclain, head of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, are behind this bill. Surely, that type of man would not be back of a bill of this kind unless it had some merit to it. I will read the names of a few of the type of men who are behind this bill and anxious to see it put in effect, and a brief statement of what they have to say about it. Henry Ford says: We heartily approve of any steps toward the adoption of the metric system in our industry. It appears there is no better time than now. Just at this point let me say that I go abroad every year, as no doubt many of you do. I am just as certain that the metric system is due to come into our system of business, sooner or later-may be not now, may be not next year, but sooner or later it must come, because it promotes efficiency and economy. I am satisfied from my travels abroad that it is the only system, and we will certainly adopt it. If England were to adopt it, we would follow; if we should adopt it, England would follow. There is a bill I believe much more drastic than this now pending in the British Parliament. It provides for the adoption of the general use of the metric system. When we took over the Philippines, when we took over the Hawaiin Islands, when we took over Cuba, when we took over Porto Rico, we insisted that they must use the metric system, because we realized that was the proper system of weights and measures for those countries. They have it now. They do not use our system. Our foot is different from the Canadian foot, and different from the British foot. BRITISH AND UNITED STATES WEIGHTS AND MEASURES DIFFER The British weights and measures differ from those of the United States, as follows: 2 Thirty-two British quarts or eight British gallons (defined above). One British fluid ounce 28.41227 United States fluid ounce. Our pound is different from theirs. Practically every country in the world has adopted the metric system of weights and measures, excepting Great Britain and the United States. Surely, it is time for us to do it. I happen to be president of the Overseas Trading Co., of Chicago. That suggestion might appear to indicate that I have some ulterior motive in promoting this bill, but the truth is that we can not sell automobile tires in certain parts of the world because we do not make what is commonly known as metric tires. Our inch tire is either too small or too large for the rim. We do not make our tires close enough. England does. She still operates under the old system. The metric system is in effect to some extent in manufacturing, but she would not change har antiquated system of weights and measures any more than she would change her antiquated system of money. Any of you who have ever been in England know that British money is a complicated mess. John Bassett Moore, member of the World Court, said: I have long advocated the adoption of the metric system for the purpose of securing unformity in the use of weights and measures throughout the world. Charles W. Eliot, president emeritus, Harvard University, said: The adoption of the metric system by the United States would greatly reduce labor in trades because of the thorough decimal quality of the system, and would facilitate teaching of mathematics and applied sciences in schools. Mr. HOWARD. You spoke of the World Court. I heard a statement by a gentleman-and I wish I might give you his name, but I do not recall it-that the World Court will no doubt discuss this very proposition with reference to adopting this system. Mr. BRITTEN. No. It is purely a domestic system, and it never will be discussed by the World Court. I am quite sure about that. They have no authority to suggest anything to us regarding the kind of money we might use, or the kind of weights and measures we might employ. However, I will say, gentlemen of the committee, that the probability is, there is not a man or woman living in the United States who can, offhand and without a book, tell you our various weights 1 Defined as the volume of 10 pounds of water at 62° F. 2 Although the British quart is larger than the United States quart the British fluid ounce is smaller because there are 40 fluid ounces to the British quart whereas there are 32 fluid ounces to the United States liquid quart. All units derived from the above basis relations differ proportionately. |