weights and measures organizations, either State or local, to carry on the program. Nevertheless, in these instances cooperation was provided by some existing State organization which realized the importance of the service that the Bureau was prepared to render and accordingly assigned members of its staff to accompany the Bureau unit.

I think it is only just to state, and I am very happy to state, that much of the credit for the successful and uninterrupted progress of the vehicle-scale testing unit from State to State should be given to Messrs. Horton and Crouch, who were selected for this service by Mr. Holbrook and who have operated the unit continuously since it was put into service. Weights and measures officials from many States have voluntarily written to us commending in the highest terms the work of these men. I might add, parenthetically, that Mr. Horton and Mr. Crouch will now be on duty in Washington, where they will help Mr. Smith.

The primary purpose of the vehicle-scale testing program was to stimulate the procurement by the various States of adequate equipment of their own for the uniform testing of wagon and motor-truck scales. The Bureau is gratified that the testing program has been productive of this desired result in many cases and that plans even now are under way in some other jurisdictions for the purchase of special equipment for this purpose.

For the coming year it is not planned to keep the vehicle-scale testing unit in operation except for the testing of scales in the vicinity of Washington that are owned by the Federal Government. The unit will be used, however, in connection with a special study of vehicle scale weighing in which the Bureau master vehicle scale will also be utilized.

Some of the States have been unsuccessful in obtaining equipment for testing vehicle scales despite the urgent need for such equipment, as shown by the vehicle-scale survey. If any of these agencies feel that a more extended survey of vehicle-scale conditions in a particular State would be helpful in securing the necessary equipment, the Bureau will be glad to entertain such a request. These requests should present somewhat detailed plans for the work that is desired, and should be filed during the present calendar year.

The Bureau cannot commit itself at this time to carry out new surveys, but will be glad to give the matter careful consideration. The primary purpose, as before, would be to assist State Governments in obtaining equipment for this work. The Federal Government cannot undertake to relieve a State of its responsibility for the routine testing of vehicle scales, and the Bureau testing program cannot be continued indefinitely. The resurvey would be made for the purpose of directing attention a second time to the actual condition of the vehicle scales in a particular jurisdiction. It is probable that the Bureau will find it necessary to limit the personnel assigned to the unit to one man, thus making it essential that at least one, and probably two, State inspectors should be assigned to duty with the Bureau unit throughout its stay in the State.

As announced in the May issue of the Weights and Measures News Letter, a new plan has been adopted with respect to the sealing of class A standards of mass. It has heretofore been the practice to

use a steel die to mark class A weights of the larger denominations to show that the weights have been found to conform to class A requirements. This procedure had one objectionable feature-there always existed the possibility that the gold plating might be cut through during the stamping operation. To avoid this, negotiations are now under way with manufacturers of class A weights regarding a system of identifying symbols and numbers which can be placed on these weights before plating just as the denomination is now stamped on the weight. These identifying characters will be included in the Bureau's certificates, thus definitely associating the certificate with the particular weight to which it refers.

A drastic curtailment of Bureau funds in 1933 made it impossible for the Bureau to continue its practice of sending a representative to State conferences dealing with weights and measures. An item to restore this service was included in the estimates of the Department of Commerce a year ago, and your special committee ably supported the proposal before the Bureau of the Budget. While your_committee was given a friendly and attentive reception by the Budget authorities, the item was not included in the Budget recommendation to Congress. Under present circumstances, it seems to me inadvisable for the Bureau to pursue the matter further. Despite this situation, I am happy to state that the Bureau believes it will be possible to renew these old relationships in part. The completion of the current phase of the vehicle-scale work will release travel funds that can be used for this purpose. The Bureau has recognized the handicap of not being in closer touch with the problems of weights and measures as encountered in the field, and is happy now to be able to look forward to a closer association with weights and measures officials.

The Weights and Measures News Letter, inaugurated with your approval at our Conference last year, has met with a very appreciative response. Eight numbers have been issued during the year. The success of this venture rests upon your cooperation. Our Secretary must have the news in order to write the Letter. Some of the States have been very cooperative and helpful in sending in items which have been of great interest to all the members of the Conference. From others we have had little or nothing. Please remember that the problems you encounter and the decisions that you make in your jurisdiction are likewise of interest to the other members of the Conference. I think the News Letter can be made very helpful, and I earnestly request that you send to the Secretary the information needed for that purpose.

Gentlemen, these are strenuous days. I regret very much that demands on my time of which I had no warning at the time this Conference was planned will compel my absence from the Conference during a considerable part of the meeting. For example, a hearing was called on very short notice for this morning, before the Committee on Interstate Commerce of the House of Representatives dealing with a matter of great importance to the Bureau, namely, the support of funds for basic research. Basic research provides a foundation for new industries. As soon as this emergency is over most of the men now engaged in the production of munitions are going to be out of jobs. Consequently, there will have to be a tre

mendous readjustment of employment, and it is important that we should, so far as possible, work out now some means of providing employment at that critical time. Furthermore, I believe that after this war our country will be confronted with the most intense industrial competition from overseas that we have ever known. Unless we can provide those things that are made abroad as cheaply as our competitors can, our markets and then our employment will suffer. So I am very anxious to see that every possible step is taken toward providing new industries which will manufacture new things that people will want in addition to what they already have. That is the foundation of prosperity, that is what will give our people employment, and this bill which is under consideration deals with that situation.

There will be another meeting of this committee tomorrow, and I also have a meeting of the Structures Committee of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, which also is entrusted with tremendous responsibilities at this critical time in connection with the advancement of our airplane program. So that if I am not with you in person, I am confident that you will accept my statement that I am with you in spirit.

THE CHAIRMAN. We thank you from the bottoms of our hearts, Dr. Briggs, for this splendid address, and you may be assured that we are always with you both in heart and in spirit. We realize the hard task that you have before you. We shall excuse you; but whenever you have even a few minutes to spare, we want you to be with

us.

Dr. BRIGGS. Thank you very much.

The CHAIRMAN. Dr. Briggs has spoken about the work done by the Bureau Vehicle-Scale Testing Unit. I think it has been a wonderful education for every State; we are getting more weight conscious and we are realizing the importance of using more test weights. In North Dakota this year we have sent out two new testing units each with six 1,000-pound weights and 1 ton of 50-pound weights and with two men to each truck. We have also commissioned a large unit for calibrating truck tanks and transports. This came about through the work of the National Bureau of Standards; if it had not been for the Bureau many of us in the different States would still be testing large scales with only a few test weights. I want to give credit to Dr. Briggs and to the Bureau for this advancement in the standards of our weights and measures profession.

I shall now yield the chair to Dr. Briggs.

(At this point Lyman J. Briggs, President of the Conference, assumed the chair.)

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON FEDERAL LEGISLATION TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE FOR THE STATES IN ADMINISTRATION OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES LAWS, PRESENTED BY JOHN P. MCBRIDE, CHAIRMAN, AND DISCUSSION THEREON

I wish to say at the outset that your Committee has no hesitancy in confessing its disappointment at the results accomplished, which you have already heard in part in Dr. Briggs statement in relation to this activity. We are aware that these are difficult days, and your Com

mittee was restrained by that fact from adopting some of the courses of action which it had in mind.

To the Thirtieth National Conference on Weights and Measures was presented your Committee report, which savored more of hope than accomplishment.

On June 3, 1940, the day before the convening of the last Conference, your Committee met with Major Jones, of the Bureau of the Budget, setting forth the purposes of and the necessity for this aid. The matter appeared to be well received, and it was our expectation that the Bureau of the Budget would favorably agree on an appropriation item in the 1942 budget covering our proposal.

The National Bureau of Standards included in its 1942 appropriation schedule an item of $11,000 to cover this matter, and this item was sanctioned by the Department of Commerce. The figure set by the Committee was $25,000, but this was not intended to be an arbitrary figure, and the matter of amount was left to the discretion of the Bureau. The amount of $11,000, or even $25,000, certainly is not an exorbitant amount, and the Committee confidently expected that it would be passed by the Bureau of the Budget.

The Committee members wrote to the Bureau of the Budget, presenting arguments in favor of the proposition. However, before final preparation of the budget certain other exigencies arose in relation to national defense, and the amount was deleted from the National Bureau of Standards budget by the Bureau of the Budget. This left as our only avenue of procedure the introduction of this item through the Appropriations Committee or from the floor of the Congress. The Committee weighed the wisdom of this procedure, and finally concluded that the deletion was not a reflection on the merit of the request but was due to a concentration of expenditures on the immediate purposes of national defense, and decided that it would be better to refrain from promoting legislative activity.

In its original concept, this matter of Federal aid was much greater than our proposal, but even this small amount appeared to be out of line with Federal economy. The desire for this extension of cooperative assistance is sincere, and in the opinion of the Committee is not wholly out of line with current needs and national defense, and it is with regret that we report no success.

It is the recommendation of this Committee that this matter be kept alive and advanced at some more opportune time.

This is the final report of your Committee. We wish to thank Dr. Briggs for his time and his assistance in arranging an appointment before the Bureau of the Budget so that we might personally present the proposition which we had in mind.

Committee on Federal Legislation to Provide Assistance for the
States in Administration of Weights and Measures Laws.

The CHAIRMAN. Is there any discussion of this report?

Mr. J. G. ROGERS. It seems that this is a matter which should not be dropped. Weights and measures has a very difficult and a very serious

part in the defense program as we see it in New Jersey, and I believe the same condition exists in other States. The whole defense program is based fundamentally on weights and measures; we are not going to build a battleship or a gun or anything else in which the elements of weights and measures do not enter. This makes it all the more surprising that the small amount of $11,000 was not sanctioned. I believe that if we contact our representatives in Congress we may be able to have this included in the next budget. I think the people should do this out of a sense of duty, because this extension work that the Bureau proposes to do is necessary. There is no reason why there should be 12 or 15 States active in weights and measures work, others in which the work is only about 50 percent done, and others where there is nothing done at all.

The CHAIRMAN. The emphasis, of course, is being placed very specifically on defense matters now. However, if it is your desire not to drop this matter, I shall be glad to include the item again in our estimates for next year; I am leaving that matter to you to decide.

I assume that Mr. McBride's report is accepted, and that at the proper time you will consider whether or not you wish to do anything further along this line.

ACTIVITIES OF THE NATIONAL SCALE MEN'S ASSOCIATION

By HARRY MAYER, President, National Scale Men's Association

The National Scale Men's Association, which has honored me with its presidency, and which you have honored by inviting its nominal head to address you at this time, has just celebrated its silver anniversary. Our Association includes about 400 men involved in what we are pleased to term "the sweating end of the scale business." We represent those who fill the gap between the distribution system and the public you serve, and we justify our usefulness by holding the brunt of responsibility for the practical operation of weighing machinery at the standards of quality you find acceptable.

In meetings of this kind, and on this kind of subject, speakers are inclined to cite items of prideful historical interest relating to the origin and existence of bodies, and announce in booming tones inspiring hopes for the future. A precept of the scale man's craft is to leave the past to the historians and the future to the prophets. And, if you please, what little I have to say will deal only with current events. That stubbornly narrow attitude may result in dull subjects of conversation or platform orations, but it produces sharp scales, and that, my friends, epitomizes the entire history, and the future of my Association.

A general subject on which speakers become inspirational where representatives of groups of allied interests gather is that of cooperation. Scale men shrug off easily the words of such. They have not come off well in allowing their single-purpose, practical minds to take for granted that vehement declaration of intent denotes sincerity of devotion to following a course. Not much of that has happened between your organization and mine certainly, and for very practical reasons. You have certain things to do and we have others; and except within narrow boundaries where the two fields of activity