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CHAPTER  VI

WEIGHTS  AND  MEASURES
lation  applied  to  it  is  infinitesimal.  n  {unction  and  oí
weak  application  of  the  government^  a  ma tter
widely  democratic  organisation,  tlie  trader  u  -  -  *  in
of  course  the  differentiated  measures  whic  *  me asure
modernised  countries,  buying  with  a  long  01  icavy  ^
and  selling  with  a  short  or  light  measure  ,  an  ,  fid
interference  by  government  takes  the  form  o  ai  siona }
edict  at  an  interval  of  perhaps  a  century,  01  an  haS
proclamation  which  is  disregarded  as  soon  as  ^  pre _
washed  the  ink.  The  guilds  make  some  a  emp  ^emserve
  a  local  uniformity  in  the  measures  accep  e  y
selves,  but  they  have  no  official  function,  and  el
are  mainly  directed  to  secure  open  dealing  be  ween
own  members,  their  motto  being  that  of  the  ew
statesman,  “The  public  be  damned.’’  I n  •.  a ¿ e  is
however,  some  conventions  must  be  recognised  i  ^a  ^
to  go  on,  and  fixed  theoretic  standards  can  be  form  ,
it  may  be  said  at  once  that  in  any  place  every  tra  e  1
its  own  standard,  and  that  the  trade  standards  of  one  p  ac
are  not  the  same  as  those  of  other  places.  ,
The  English  peoples  are  in  a  position  to  understan  ^
better  than  any  others,  the  theoretic  system—the  tables  o
weights  and  measures—prevailing  in  China,  having  them