The British Imperial Standard Yard (1855) had proved to be insufficiently stable in length and was found to be shortening in measurable amounts. The uncertainty as to the accurate values of the units of length and mass in common use, the yard and the pound respectively, was caused by the inadequacies of the standards representing them.
For a time, efforts were made by the United States to maintain equivalence between the United States and British yards. Such efforts were abandoned in 1893. The new meters and kilograms, which had been constructed by international agreement after 1875, represented the most advanced technology and materials.
It therefore seemed that greater stability in American weights and measures as well as higher accuracy could be obtained by accepting the International Meter and Kilogram as fundamental standards.
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