NBS Special Publication

this publication will present subject matter of great value, especially to State and local officials charged with the enforcement of weights and measures laws, and to manufacturers and shippers whose business is affected by these laws. The compilation should tend to create a better understanding of the scope and operation of the weights and measures laws, both Federal and State, to secure a more strict observance of these statutes, and to promote uniformity in weights and measures enactments.

Weights and measures, in general, is so broad a subject that in searching the statute books it is inevitable that many laws will be found which, while dealing in a general way with weights and measures, are but remotely concerned with regulatory activities. Obviously, it is both undesirable and impracticable to incorporate all such legislation in this compilation, and consequently all material has been rejected unless its inclusion seemed clearly warranted. Also in some instances there have been omitted from the compilation certain laws which, while they may be technically in effect, are actually obsolete. Again, when session laws repealed former statutes, either directly or by implication, care has been exercised to omit all repealed legislation and to make all necessary corrections and appropriate explanations.

This compilation is intended to bring the weights and measures laws as nearly up to date as practicable, and includes the session laws of 1925. The latest authorized codes and compiled statutes were consulted; or, in the absence of such authorized works, the latest generally accepted compiled statutes were taken. Legislation passed subsequent to these works was taken from the session laws on file in the library of the Supreme Court of the United States.

In some instances no side titles were given in the publication from which the law was taken, and in these cases side titles have been supplied for convenience of reference. In other cases it has been necessary to change the side titles in order to give a clearer idea of the subject matter selected. It is not within the scope of this work to give a complete history of the acts; but in consulting a compilation of this kind it is usually desirable and often important to know when a particular section was enacted or last amended, and an endeavor has been made to give this information. This has been done by putting after the section number, in parentheses, the date of enactment, thus (1878), or, in the case of an amended section, by putting the letter "a" before the date of the last amendment, thus (a1914). If a section was amended subsequently to the issuance of the code or statutes in which it is found, such amendment is noted after the section number, as, for example, "Sec. 2376, as amended by Laws, 1917, ch. 60, p. 125." Such notice of amendment applies only to the particular section indicated. The date appearing immediately after a section number applies to that section and to those which follow until another date is given. A degree mark appearing immediately following the section number, thus, Sec. 491°," is used to indicate that the date of enactment of the section has not been found, and this mark applies to sections following until another date appears. Where reference is made to the session laws, the year such laws were passed is always given in the reference, and it is therefore unnecessary to duplicate the year by putting it after the section number.

FEDERAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS CONCERNING WEIGHTS

AND MEASURES

UNITED STATES

Const. U. S., Art. I.

Sec. 8, par. 5 (1787). National standard of weights and measures.The Congress shall have Power To coin Money, regulate

the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

31 Stat., ch. 872, p. 1449.

Sec. 1 (1901). Establishment of the National Bureau of Standards.The Office of Standard Weights and Measures shall hereafter be known as the National Bureau of Standards.

Sec. 2. Custody of standards; comparisons; construction of standards; tests; investigations.-That the functions of the bureau shall consist in the custody of the standards; the comparison of the standards used in scientific investigations, engineering, manufacturing, commerce, and educational institutions with the standards adopted or recognized by the Government; the construction, when necessary, of standards, their multiples and subdivisions; the testing and calibration of standard measuring apparatus; the solution of problems which arise in connection with standards; the determination of physical constants and the properties of materials, when such data are of great importance to scientific or manufacturing interests and are not to be obtained of sufficient accuracy elsewhere.

Sec. 3. For whom its functions may be exercised.-That the bureau shall exercise its functions for the Government of the United States; for any State or municipal government within the United States; or for any scientific society, educational institution, firm, corporation, or individual within the United States engaged in manufacturing or other pursuits requiring the use of standards or standard measuring instruments. All requests for the services of the bureau shall be made in accordance with the rules and regulations herein established.

Sec. 5, as amended by act of March 4, 1911. Director; powers and duties; annual report; bulletins of information. That the director shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. He shall have the general supervision of the bureau, its equipment, and the exercise of its functions. He shall make an annual report to the Secretary of the Treasury, including an abstract of the work done during the year and a financial statement. He may issue, when necessary, bulletins for public distribution, containing such information as may be of value to the public or facilitate the bureau in the exercise of its functions. Hereafter in the case of the absence of the Director of the Bureau of Standards, the Secretary of Commerce and Labor may designate some officer of said bureau to perform the duties of the director during his absence.

By the act of Congress establishing the Department of Commerce and Labor, the National Bureau of Standards was transferred to the new department. Subsequently this department was divided into two departments, namely, the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor, the National Bureau of Standards being placed under the former. The word "Commerce' should therefore be substituted for "Treasury" and "Commerce and Labor" wherever occurring in the act.

Sec. 6. Appointments.-That the officers and employees provided for by this act, except the director, shall be appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury, at such time as their respective services may become

necessary.

Sec. 8. Fees for tests, etc.-That for all comparisons, calibrations, tests, or investigations, except those performed for the Government of the United States or State governments within the United States, a reasonable fee shall be charged, according to a schedule submitted by the director and approved by the Secretary of the Treasury.2

Sec. 9. Regulations. That the Secretary of the Treasury shall, from time to time, make regulations regarding the payment of fees, the limits of tolerance to be attained in standards submitted for verification, the sealing of standards, the disbursement and receipt of moneys, and such other matters as he may deem necessary for carrying this act into effect.

Sec. 10. Visiting committee.-That there shall be a visiting committee of five members, to be appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury,2 to consist of men prominent in the various interests involved, and not in the employ of the Government. This committee shall visit the bureau at least once a year, and report to the Secretary of the Treasury, upon the efficiency of its scientific work and the condition of its equipment. The members of this committee shall serve without compensation, but shall be paid the actual expenses incurred in attending its meetings. The period of service of the members of the original committee shall be so arranged that one member shall retire each year, and the appointments thereafter to be for a period of five years. Appointments made to fill vacancies occurring other than in the regular manner are to be made for the remainder of the period in which the vacancy exists.

5 Stat., p. 133; Joint Resolution of Congress, June 14, 1836.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he hereby is, directed to cause a complete set of all weights and measures adopted as standards and now either made or in progress of manufacture for the use of the several customhouses, and for other purposes, to be delivered to the governor of each State in the Union, or such person as he may appoint for the use of the States, respectively, to the end that a uniform standard of weights and measures may be established throughout the United States. 14 Stat., p. 369; Joint Resolution of Congress, July 27, 1866.

Standard weights and measures of the metric system to be furnished to the States. Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to furnish to each State, to be delivered to the governor thereof, one set of standard weights and measures of the metric system for the use of the States, respectively.

21 Stat., p. 521 Joint Res. No. 26, (1881).

Standard weights and measures; for agricultural colleges; for the Smithsonian Institution.-Resolved by the Senate and House of Rep

resentatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, directed to cause a complete set of all the weights and measures adopted as standards to be delivered to the governor of each State in the Union, for the use of agricultural colleges in the States, respectively, which have received a grant of lands from the United States, and also one set of the same for the use of the Smithsonian Institution: Provided, That the cost of each set shall not exceed two hundred dollars, and a sum sufficient to carry out the provisions of this resolution is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.

26 Stat., ch. 667, p. 242.

Sec. 1 (1890). Repairs to standard weights and measures.hereafter such necessary repairs and adjustments shall be made to the standards furnished to the several States and Territories as may be requested by the governors thereof, and also to standard weights and measures that have been, or may hereafter be, supplied to United States customhouses and other offices of the United States, under act of Congress, when requested by the Secretary of the Treasury.

28 Stat., ch. 301, p. 383.

Sec. 1 (1894). Replacing lost standard weights and measures.-The * * * is * * Secretary of the Treasury * authorized and directed to furnish precise copies of standard weights and measures bearing the seal of the office of construction of standard weights and measures of the United States, and accompanied by a suitable certificate, to any State, Territory, or institution heretofore furnished with the same, upon application in writing by the governor in the case of a State or Territory, or by the official head in the case of an institution, setting forth that the copies of standards applied for are to replace similar ones heretofore furnished, in accordance with law, by the office of construction of standard weights and measures of the United States which have been lost or destroyed: Provided, That the applicant shall, before the said standards are delivered, first deposit with the Secretary of the Treasury the amount of money necessary to defray all expenses incurred by the office of construction of standard weights and measures in furnishing the same, which amount shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States to the credit of miscellaneous receipts, as soon as the weights or measures are delivered for transportation into the hands of such persons as are designated by the officers ordering the same.

U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Bulletin 26, Apr. 5, 1893; yard and pound to be derived from meter and kilogram.the Office of Weights and Measures, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, will in the future regard the International Prototype Metre and Kilogramme as fundamental standards, and the customary units, the yard and the pound, will be derived therefrom in accordance with the act of July 28, 1866.

R. S. 3569 (1866).

The metric system authorized.-It shall be lawful throughout the United States of America to employ the weights and measures of

8 Now the National Bureau of Standards.

necessary.

Sec. 10. Visiting committee. That there shall be a visiting committee of five members, to be appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury, to consist of men prominent in the various interests involved, and not in the employ of the Government. This committee shall visit the bureau at least once a year, and report to the Secretary of the Treasury, upon the efficiency of its scientific work and the condition of its equipment. The members of this committee shall serve without compensation, but shall be paid the actual expenses incurred in attending its meetings. The period of service of the members of the original committee shall be so arranged that one member shall retire each year, and the appointments thereafter to be for a period of five years. Appointments made to fill vacancies occurring other than in the regular manner are to be made for the remainder of the period in which the vacancy exists.

5 Stat., p. 133; Joint Resolution of Congress, June 14, 1836.

21 Stat., p. 521 Joint Res. No. 26, (1881).

Standard weights and measures; for agricultural colleges; for the Smithsonian Institution.-Resolved by the Senate and House of Rep

See footnote 1, p. 5.

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