WEIGHTS AND MEASURE

Press, Volume XII, Issue 1543, 17 October 1867, Page 3

WEIGHTS AND MEASURE

" thb' editor op|the 'jbess. j£ it strikesyou, that some explanation to guide the public to a right i» -Warding their duties, and those of deC,! Tnsoector of Weights and Measures! to the duties of his office, possibly you nelsßTo educed to publish the following l„ of mine on *^ c extra ordmary made by Mr Brunsden ; that of the Imperial test-weights at &lKon, by which his set of weights here We Justed, having been proved to be * eTe Vendors of goods have been selling at a t loss in g"i n g a ae&vier weight than they *fct through the gross carelessness of the S£rnment,° who wrongly stamped weights, /nave been paid for doing so, and now •n attempts, through their Inspector, to &*Ja second charge of 3d a weight to set Sr?ro mistake right. the 10th of this month, thirty•ht stamped weights to the Inspector's flee in accordance with a public advertiseli informing traders and others having • its that they must be sent to his office for in consequence of the Government error before alluded to, and have received w&from the Inspector twenty-five, he now fLe in his possession thirteen of my weights, Such be refuses to give up until I have paid Via 13s for re-stamping, &c. I requested him bfforniah mc with an account —he declined Aaißi so. I offered to pay him 3d a weight sl weights that he had actually re-stamped, Shongh at the same time feeling that I ought otto W again fo r what I paid for before. Out l( my thirty-eight weights (seven, a set of brass ones, he had never re-stamped or in any Jj7 altered) thirty-one in number he . -Lob to have adjusted, and at 3d each JS amount to 7s 9d. . ' What I wish to ascertain is this, has >■ the Inspector a legal right to demand 3d a weight Zt stamping weights already stamped in L-3, by himself? If he has, can he sk, make a charge; and if so, how much for lasting these particular weights, or any other JLhts that have not previously been adjusted and stamped? Also, if it is permissible for him at any time, right or wrong in weight, to issue his edict calling upon raiiiflgin possession of weights to take them to Ms °ffi ce > and a threepenny piece with each —fo look at the one object and pocket the ether. I ba Te been used for upwards of twenty-five years to have my weights and measures stamped by sending them to the ofo of the Inspector, and my stores visited ether annually or at any period when the Inspector chose, but once only in the year would a Bmau inspection fee be demanded for testing the correctness of the scales and freights —if my memory serves mc right Jjfor each pair of scales, counter orplatform— towhieh was affixed a gum inspection ticket Kid a trifle per set for weights. I take it that the office of Inspeotor of Tj?aj>htß and Measures exists only for the purpose Of justice being done between buyer lad seller, and to detect the fraudulent trader, and is by no means intended as an office of honour and emolument for the Inspector to Bake money unduly for himself or the florsmment, whose servant he is. If Mr Brunsden could have shown mc the Act under which he demanded these extraoridinsiy double stamp fees I would not have troubled you, or if you can show mc the justice of thiß injustice on the trading community by the fault of the Government, I mast submit; but I rather think that I and persons similarly situated have an action against Mr Inspector or his employers for all the goods sent out in excess of what we charged for through the weights he has wrongly stamped. ■•>• Hoping my remarks will elicit from you and from Mr Brunßden the attention the subject merits, I am, sir, your obediont servant, Thos. D. Jones. Ohristohtirch, October 16,1867.