be practicable the astronomical and nautical days will be
arranged everywhere to begin at mean midnight."
This resolution was carried without division.
VII.
"That the Conference expresses the hope that the technical
studies designed to regulate and extend the application of
the decimal system to the division of angular space and of
time shall be resumed, so as to permit the extension of this
application to all cases in which it presents real
advantages."
The motion was adopted by the following vote:
In the affirmative:
Austria-Hungary, Mexico
Brazil, Netherlands,
Chili, Paraguay,
Colombia, Russia,
Costa Rica, San Domingo,
France, Spain,
Great Britain, Turkey,
Hawaii, United States,
Italy, Venezuela.
Japan,
Abstaining from voting:
Germany, Sweden.
Guatemala,
Ayes, 21; abstaining, 3.
Done at Washington, the 22d of October, 1884.
C. R. P. RODGERS,
_President_.
R. STRACHEY, J. JANSSEN, L. CRULS,
_Secretaries._
The following resolution was then adopted unanimously:
"That a copy of the resolutions passed by this Conference
shall be communicated to the Government of the United States
of America, at whose instance and within whose territory the
Conference has been convened."
Mr. RUTHERFURD, Delegate of the United States, then presented the
following resolution:
"_Resolved_, That the Conference adjourn, to meet upon the
call of the President, for the purpose of verifying the
protocols."
This resolution was then unanimously carried, and the Conference
adjourned at half past three, to meet upon the call of the President.
VIII.
SESSION OF NOVEMBER 1, 1884.
The Conference met at the call of the President for the approval of
the protocols, as arranged at the last meeting, in the Diplomatic Hall
of the Department of State, at 1 o'clock p. m.
The PRESIDENT having called the Conference to order, said: The
protocols in French and English, having been examined by the
Secretaries of the Conference, have been submitted to all of the
delegates for perusal. If any delegate should desire to make any
observation on them the opportunity is now given for his doing so.
RUSTEM EFFENDI, Delegate of Turkey, stated that he desired to change
his vote on the fifth resolution of the Final Act, providing for the
commencement of the universal day, from the affirmative to the
negative.
No objection being made, the change was ordered to be made.
The PRESIDENT then said: No further observations having been made on
the protocols, they will now be signed by the Secretaries and the
President.
Mr. DE STRUVE, Delegate of Russia. Before the Conference terminates, I
beg to express, in the name of my colleagues, our sincere gratitude
for the hospitality extended to the Conference by the Government of
the United States, and I beg to express our heartiest thanks to you,
Mr. President, for the able and impartial manner in which you have
presided over our deliberations. When we elected you, we unanimously
elected the first Delegate of the United States. If we had to begin
again, the personal feelings of all the delegates would supply
powerful additional reasons for making the election equally
unanimous.
Mr. DE STRUVE'S observation met with the unanimous approval of the
Delegates.
The PRESIDENT. Gentlemen, I am greatly honored by the kind expression
of your good feeling towards me as the President of this Conference,
and I thank you very heartily for it. The duty assigned to us all has
not been free from difficulty, but our meetings and discussions have
been characterized by great courtesy and kindness, and by a
conciliatory spirit.
With patience and devotion the Delegates to this Congress have sought
to discharge the trust committed to them, and, as your Chairman, I beg
you to receive my most cordial thanks for the courteous consideration
I have received at your hands. The President of the United States and
the Secretary of State desire me to renew to you their thanks for your
presence here, and their best wishes for your safe and happy return
each to his own home.
I shall esteem myself very happy hereafter whenever I shall have the
good fortune to meet any of my colleagues of the International
Meridian Conference.
Mr. RUTHERFURD, the Delegate of the United States. Mr. President and
gentlemen, I am sure that you will all unite with me in passing the
resolution which I now propose to read:
"_Resolved_, That the thanks of the Conference be presented
to the Secretaries for the able manner in which they have
discharged their arduous duties."
The resolution was unanimously adopted.
General STRACHEY, Delegate of Great Britain. I wish, sir, as one of
the Secretaries, to express my thanks for the manner in which my
labors have been esteemed by the delegates present. All that I can say
on the subject is, that however troublesome the duties of the
Secretaries have been, I have not the least doubt that anybody else
named instead of myself would equally have bestowed his best attention
on the discharge of those duties.
Mr. JANSSEN, Delegate of France, then said: Before the dissolution of
the Conference, Mr. CRULS and I desire specially to thank our
colleagues for the honor they have done us by entrusting to us the
revision of the French version of the protocols. In order that we
might fully respond to that honor, we have examined with all possible
care the French translations of the remarks of our colleagues. Our
only regret is that, in consequence of the desire of several of them
to quit Washington, we have been obliged to leave portions of the
translations, particularly of the last protocols, much in the state in
which we received them from the official translators, not having had
the time to correct these translations as we would have desired.
Upon motion of Mr. JANSSEN, Delegate of France, the Conference passed
a vote of thanks to the delegate of Turkey for the aid he has rendered
the Secretaries in the revision of the protocols.
The PRESIDENT then said: Before our final adjournment I desire to
express a very high appreciation of the ability, fidelity, and zeal
with which Mr. W. F. PEDDRICK, the Secretary attached by the
Department of State to this Conference, has performed his difficult
duties, and to thank him for his services.
The Conference expressed its cordial assent to these observations.
The PRESIDENT then declared that the business of the Conference having
been concluded, it would adjourn _sine die_.
C. R. P. RODGERS,
_President._
R. STRACHEY, J. JANSSEN, L. CRULS,
_Secretaries._
ANNEX I.
AN ACT to authorize the President of the United States to
call an International Conference to fix on and recommend for
universal adoption a common prime meridian, to be used in
the reckoning of longitude and in the regulation of time
throughout the world.
_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled_, That the President of
the United States be authorized and requested to extend to the
governments of all nations in diplomatic relations with our own an
invitation to appoint delegates to meet delegates from the United
States in the city of Washington, at such time as he may see fit to
designate, for the purpose of fixing upon a meridian proper to be
employed as a common zero of longitude and standard of time-reckoning
throughout the globe, and that the President be authorized to appoint
delegates, not exceeding three in number, to represent the United
States in such International Conference.
Approved August 3, 1882.
* * * * *
ANNEX II.
AN ACT making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of
the Government for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth,
eighteen hundred and eighty-five, and for other purposes.
_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled_, That the following
sums be, and the same are hereby, appropriated for the objects
hereinafter expressed for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth,
eighteen hundred and eighty-five, namely:
Under the State Department:
For expenses of the International Conference for fixing a common zero
of longitude and standard of time-reckoning, including cost of
printing and translations, to be expended under the direction of the
Secretary of State, five thousand dollars; and the President is hereby
authorized to appoint two delegates to represent the United States at
said International Conference, in addition to the number authorized by
the act approved August third, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, and
who shall serve without compensation.
Approved July 7, 1884.
ANNEX III.
Circular.]
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
WASHINGTON, _October 23, 1882_.
SIR: On the 3d of August last the President approved an act of
Congress, in the following words:
"_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled_, That
the President of the United States be authorized and
requested to extend to the governments of all nations in
diplomatic relations with our own an invitation to appoint
delegates to meet delegates from the United States in the
city of Washington, at such time as he may see fit to
designate, for the purpose of fixing upon a meridian proper
to be employed as a common zero of longitude and standard of
time-reckoning throughout the globe, and that the President
be authorized to appoint delegates, not exceeding three in
number, to represent the United States in such international
conference."
It may be well to state that, in the absence of a common and accepted
standard for the computation of time for other than astronomical
purposes, embarrassments are experienced in the ordinary affairs of
modern commerce; that this embarrassment is especially felt since the
extension of telegraphic and railway communications has joined States
and continents possessing independent and widely separated meridional
standards of time; that the subject of a common meridian has been for
several years past discussed in this country and in Europe by
commercial and scientific bodies, and the need of a general agreement
upon a single standard recognized; and that, in recent European
conferences especially, favor was shown to the suggestion that, as the
United States possesses the greatest longitudinal extension of any
country traversed by railway and telegraph lines, the initiatory
measures for holding an international convention to consider so
important a subject should be taken by this Government.
The President, while convinced of the good to flow eventually from the
adoption of a common time unit, applicable throughout the globe,
thinks, however, that the effort now to be made should be to reach by
consultation a conclusion as to the advisability of assembling an
International Congress with the object of finally adopting a common
meridian. He, therefore, abstains from extending an invitation for a
meeting at an assigned day, until he has ascertained the views of the
leading Governments of the world as to whether such International
Conference is deemed desirable.
I am accordingly directed by the President to request you to bring the
matter to the attention of the Government of ----, through the
Minister of Foreign Affairs, with a view to learning whether its
appreciation of the benefits to accrue to the intimate intercourse of
civilized peoples from the consideration and adoption of the suggested
common standard of time so far coincides with that of this Government
as to lead it to accept an invitation to participate in an
International Conference at a date to be designated in the near
future.
You may leave a copy of this instruction with the Minister for Foreign
Affairs, and request the views of his Government thereon, at as early
a day as may be conveniently practicable.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
FRED'K T. FRELINGHUYSEN.
* * * * *
ANNEX IV.
Circular.]
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
WASHINGTON, _December 1, 1883_.
SIR: By a circular instruction of October 23, 1882, you were made
acquainted with (the language of) an act of Congress, approved August
3, 1882, authorizing and requesting the President to extend to other
Governments an invitation to appoint delegates to meet in the city of
Washington for the purpose of fixing upon a meridian proper to be
employed as a common zero of longitude and standard of time-reckoning
throughout the world; and you were instructed to bring the matter to
the attention of the Government to which you are accredited and to
inform it that the President deemed it advisable to abstain from the
issuance of the formal invitation contemplated, until through
preliminary consultation the views of the leading governments of the
world as to the desirability of holding such an International
Conference could be ascertained.
In the year that has since elapsed this Government has received from
most of those in diplomatic relations with the United States the
approval of the project, while many have in terms signified their
acceptance and even named their delegates.
Besides this generally favorable reception of the suggestion so put
forth, interest in the proposed reform has been shown by the
Geographical Conference held at Rome in October last, which very
decisively expressed its opinion in favor of the adoption of the
meridian of Greenwich as the common zero of time longitude, and
adjourned, leaving the discussion and final adoption of this or other
equivalent unit, and the framing of practical rules for such adoption,
to the International Conference to be held at Washington.
The President therefore thinks the time has come to call the
Convention referred to in my instruction of October 23, 1882. I am
accordingly directed by the President to instruct you to tender to the
Government of ----, through its Minister for Foreign Affairs, an
invitation to be represented by one or more delegates (not exceeding
three) to meet delegates from the United States and other nations in
an international Conference to be held in the city of Washington on
the first day of October next, 1884, for the purpose of discussing
and, if possible, fixing upon a meridian proper to be employed as a
common zero of longitude and standard of time-reckoning throughout the
globe.
You will seek the earliest convenient occasion to bring this invitation
to the attention of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of ---- by handing
him a copy hereof and requesting that the answer of his Government may
be made known to you.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
FRED'K T. FRELINGHUYSEN.