§ SIR SAMUEL MONTAGU (Tower Hamlets, Whitechapel)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been drawn to the sixth Report from Mr. T. Worthington on British trade in South America, containing a paragraph to the following effect:—That the metric system is the only one recognised; that an English foot rule cannot be legally imported, and that our trade suffers greatly by not adopting compulsorily the metric system used by almost all the civilised nations of the world; whether he has seen the Consular Report on the trade of Amsterdam issued last month, to the effect that, unless we adopt the metric system of weights and measures, we may look on the Continental and perhaps on other markets as lost to ns; and whether he will facilitate the adoption of the metrical system in this country by using metrical weights and measures in the Government Departments.
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Mr. RITCHIE,) CroydonYes, Sir, my attention has been directed to the matter referred to in my hon. friend's question. As the House is aware, there is now no reason why any manufacturer or trader in this country may not carry on his foreign trade in terms of metric weights and measures. I am in communication with some Government Departments on the concluding paragraph of the hon. Baronet's question.