the first instance alluded to, no very harmful step has been taken; and in the second, it is scarcely within the range of possibility that a system will be set up which would be in antagonism to that prevailing elsewhere in the Empire, and the power will doubtless remain dormant.
It would be purposeless to review the many futile attempts which have been made in the United Kingdom to obtain legislative sanction to the compulsory introduction of the metric system of weights and measures. In the mother land there were many things which required redress, such as the multiplicity of provincial and other customary weights and measures (existing really in defiance of the law), with which we in Australia have never been familiar. Those serious blots upon an otherwise admirable system were no doubt provocative of vexations, and had some effect in creating a desire for another system. Some thought they had a better one ready made to their hands in that adopted by France and other European countries. Still, in spite of agitations and recommendations, the Imperial Parliament has not yet been induced to legalise the introduction of a new order of things, the effects of which would be carried into every home.
It is no part of my purpose to argue that whatever is must be right—that because a system exists, and has long existed, it is too sacred to touch. But it would be equally stupid not to point out the dangers attendant upon a change which is asked for by no inconsiderable or no inconsequential body of people, well-meaning in many cases, but not always so well versed in the real question as they claim to be.
