makeweight

Etymology
From.

Noun

 * 1) Something of inferior quality which is included in a shipment to make up the weight.
 * 2) * 1893,, in a publisher's report on stories by Ernest Dowson, quoted in Jad Adams, Madder Music, Stronger Wine, page 88.
 * I would advise you to accept these as an instalment of a volume, (they are not big enough to make one themselves) with the promise that the stories to come should be more striking, more original in theme &mdash; not less so, not mere makeweights &mdash; than those under consideration.
 * 1) Something included to add to the apparent weight or force of an argument.