INTERNATIONAL SYSTEMS AND STANDARDS*

Abstract

THE Great Exhibition of 1851, in Hyde Park, London, was the pioneer of international exhibitions, and it demonstrated the industrial resources of the nations which took part in it as well as the extent of world markets in them. The International Exhibition held in London eleven years later led to the formation of the International Working Men's Association, now known as “The International”, at a great public meeting in 1864 of artisans from many countries, and thus brought conditions of labour into the economic field. In the following year an International Telegraph Convention was held to regularize systems of transmitting telegraphic signals, and in 1874 the General Postal Union was formed. These were the beginnings of international trade associations, unions and relationships. The Postal Union is the best example of organization of systems and standards on an international basis. For its service the world is the unit and there are no separate territories or boundaries.