Dear Jim,
Thanks for reminding me of the reference to Senator Sumner's remarks.
I had included these in my Metrication timeline at http://www.metricationmatters.com/docs/MetricationTimeline.pdf
but in my original I had not included the two crucial issues
included in these sentences:
Meanwhile it must be taught in schools. Our arithmetics must explain it.
I have now emended my web page (see page 55) but could you please
confirm whether Senator Sumner actually used the plural 'arithmetics'.
Cheers and thanks for the reference,
Pat Naughtin
Geelong, Australia
P.S. The reason for your confusion over the dates (1866 vs 1865) might
be because the Metric Act (Kassen Act) was signed into law by
President Johnson on 1866 July 28 and that I think might readily be
confused with Sumner's remarks of 1865 July 27. Here is the reference
from the Metrication timeline:
1866 July 28
President Andrew Johnson signed The Kassen Act (codified as 15 USC 204
et seq.) into law. This Act defined the meter in terms of the inch, 1
meter = 39.37 inches. 'Sec. 204. Metric system' authorized:
It shall be lawful throughout the United States of America to employ
the weights and measures of the metric system; and no contract or
dealing, or pleading in any court, shall be deemed invalid or liable
to objection because the weights or measures expressed or referred to
therein are weights or measures of the metric system.
On 2008/05/06, at 4:41 AM, James Frysinger wrote:
Correction, Sumner's speech was made on 1865 July 27. I was off by a
year.
Jim
James Frysinger wrote:
Today I am submitting two columns (this week's and next) to The
Mountain View, the newspaper of record for Spencer, TN and for Van
Buren County for which it is the county seat. In the second one, I
am ending with the concluding remarks by Senator Charles Sumner in
his speech before the Senate on 1866 July 27 in support of passing
what became the Metric Act of 1866. I thought that his words were
eloquent and interesting and I present them here.
"By these enactments, the metric system will be presented to the
American people, and will become an approved instrument of
commerce. It will not be forced into use, but will be left for the
present to its own intrinsic merits. Meanwhile it must be taught in
schools. Our arithmetics must explain it. They who have already
passed a certain period of life may not adopt it; but the rising
generation will embrace it and ever afterward number it among the
choicest possessions of an advanced civilization.”
No, I will not publish my columns on this mail list.
Jim
--
James R. Frysinger
632 Stony Point Mountain Road
Doyle, TN 38559-3030
(H) 931.657.3107
(C) 931.212.0267
Pat Naughtin
PO Box 305 Belmont 3216,
Geelong, Australia
Phone: 61 3 5241 2008
Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has
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