 In 1895 another Parliamentary select committee recommended the compulsory adoption of the metric system after a two-year permissive period.The 1897 Weights and Measures Act legalised the metric units for trade, but did not make them mandatory.A bill to make the metric system compulsory in order to enable the British industrial base to fight off the challenge of the nascent German base passed through the House of Lords in 1904, but did not pass in the House of Commons before the next general election was called.