INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
HELD AT WASHINGTON
FOR THE PURPOSE OF FIXING
A PRIME MERIDIAN
AND
A UNIVERSAL DAY.
OCTOBER, 1884.
PROTOCOLS OF THE PROCEEDINGS.
WASHINGTON, D. C.
Gibson Bros., Printers and Bookbinders.
1884.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
- Protocol, October 1, 1884 1
- Protocol, October 2, 1884 13
- Protocol, October 6, 1884 35
- Protocol, October 13, 1884 73
- Protocol, October 14, 1884 113
- Protocol, October 20, 1884 151
- Protocol, October 22, 1884 195
- Protocol, November 1, 1884 205
- Final Act 199
Act of Congress authorizing the President of the United States to invite the Conference (Annex I) 209
Act of Congress making appropriation for expenses (Annex II) 209
Circular to United States representatives abroad bringing the subject to the attention of foreign governments (Annex III) 210
Circular to United States ministers extending invitation to foreign governments (Annex IV) 211
International Meridian Conference
HELD IN THE
CITY OF WASHINGTON.
I.
SESSION OF OCTOBER 1, 1884.
The Delegates to the International Meridian Conference, who assembled in Washington upon invitation addressed by the Government of the United States to all nations holding diplomatic relations with it, "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," held their first conference to-day, October 1, 1884, in the Diplomatic Hall of the Department of State.
The following delegates were present:
On behalf of Austria-Hungary—
Baron Ignatz von Schæffer,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
On behalf of Brazil—
Dr. Luiz Cruls,
Director of the Imperial Observatory of Rio Janeiro.
On behalf of Colombia—
Commodore S. R. Franklin, U. S. Navy,
Superintendent U. S. Naval Observatory.
On behalf of Costa Rica—
Mr. Juan Francisco Echeverria,
Civil Engineer.
On behalf of France—
Mr. A. Lefaivre,
Minister Plenipotentiary and Consul-General.
Mr. Janssen, of the Institute,
Director of the Physical Observatory of Paris.
On behalf of Germany—
Baron H. Von Alvensleben,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
On behalf of Great Britain—
Captain Sir F. J. O. Evans,
Royal Navy.
Prof. J. C. Adams,
Director of the Cambridge Observatory.
Lieut.-General Strachey,
Member of the Council of India.
Mr. Sandford Fleming,
Representing the Dominion of Canada.
On behalf of Guatemala—
M. Miles Rock,
President of the Boundary Commission.
On behalf of Hawaii—
Hon. W. D. Alexander,
Surveyor-General.
Hon. Luther Aholo,
Privy Counsellor.
On behalf of Italy—
Count Albert de Foresta,
First Secretary of Legation.
On behalf of Japan—
Professor Kikuchi,
Dean of the Scientific Dep't of the University of Tokio.
On behalf of Mexico—
Mr. Leandro Fernandez,
Civil Engineer.
Mr. Angel Anguiano,
Director of the National Observatory of Mexico.
On behalf of Paraguay—
Captain John Stewart,
Consul-General.
On behalf of Russia—
Mr. C. de Struve,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
Major-General Stebnitzki,
Imperial Russian Staff.
Mr. J. de Kologrivoff,
Conseiller d'État actuel.
On behalf of San Domingo—
Mr. M. de J. Galvan,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
On behalf of Salvador—
Mr. Antonio Batres,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
On behalf of Spain,
Mr. Juan Valera,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
Mr. Emilio Ruiz del Arbol,
Naval Attaché to the Spanish Legation.
Mr. Juan Pastorin,
Officer of the Navy.
On behalf of Sweden—
Count Carl Lewenhaupt,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
On behalf of Switzerland—
Colonel Emile Frey,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
On behalf of the United States—
Rear-Admiral C. R. P. Rodgers,
U. S. Navy.
Mr. Lewis M. Rutherfurd.
Mr. W. F. Allen,
Secretary Railway Time Conventions.
Commander W. T. Sampson,
U. S. Navy.
Professor Cleveland Abbe,
U. S. Signal Office.
On behalf of Venezuela—
Señor Dr. A. M. Soteldo,
Chargé d'Affaires.
The following delegates were not present:
On behalf of Chili—
Mr. Francisco Vidal Gormas,
Director of the Hydrographic Office.
Mr. Alvaro Bianchi Tupper,
Assistant Director.
On behalf of Denmark—
Mr. Carl Steen Andersen de Bille,
Minister Resident and Consul-General.
On behalf of Germany—
Mr. Hinckeldeyn,
Attaché of the German Legation.
On behalf of Liberia—
Mr. William Coppinger,
Consul-General.
On behalf of the Netherlands—
Mr. G. de Weckherlin,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
On behalf of Turkey—
Rustem Effendi,
Secretary of Legation.
The delegates were formally presented to the Secretary of State of the United States, the Honorable Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, in his office at 12 o'clock. Upon assembling in the Diplomatic Hall, he called the Conference to order, and spoke as follows:
Gentlemen: It gives me pleasure, in the name of the President of the United States, to welcome you to this Congress, where most of the nations of the earth are represented. You have met to discuss and consider the important question of a prime meridian for all nations. It will rest with you to give a definite result to the preparatory labors of other scientific associations and special congresses, and thus make those labors available.
Wishing you all success in your important deliberations, and not doubting that you will reach a conclusion satisfactory to the civilized world, I, before leaving you, take the liberty to nominate, for the purpose of a temporary organization, Count Lewenhaupt.
It will afford this Department pleasure to do all in its power to promote the convenience of the Congress and to facilitate its proceedings.
By the unanimous voice of the Conference the Delegate of Sweden, Count Lewenhaupt, took the chair, and said that, for the purpose of proceeding to a permanent organization, it was necessary to elect a President, and that he had the honor to propose for that office the chairman of the delegation of the United States of America, Admiral C. R. P. Rodgers.
The Conference agreed unanimously to the proposition thus made, whereupon Admiral Rodgers took the chair as President of the Conference, and made the following address:
Gentlemen: I beg you to receive my thanks for the high honor you have conferred upon me in calling me, as the chairman of the delegation from the United States, to preside at this Congress. To it have come from widely-separated portions of the globe, delegates renowned in diplomacy and science, seeking to create a new accord among the nations by agreeing upon a meridian proper to be employed as a common zero of longitude and standard of time reckoning throughout the world. Happy shall we be, if, throwing aside national preferences and inclinations, we seek only the common good of mankind, and gain for science and for commerce a prime meridian acceptable to all countries, and secured with the least possible inconvenience.
Having this object at heart, the Government of the United States has invited all nations with which it has diplomatic relations to send delegates to a Congress to assemble at Washington to-day, to discuss the question I have indicated. The invitation has been graciously received, and we are here this morning to enter upon the agreeable duty assigned to us by our respective governments.
Broad as is the area of the United States, covering a hundred degrees of longitude, extending from 66° 52' west from Greenwich to 166° 13' at our extreme limit in Alaska, not including the Aleutian Islands; traversed, as it is, by railway and telegraph lines, and dotted with observatories; long as is its sea coast, of more than twelve thousand miles; vast as must be its foreign and domestic commerce, its delegation to this Congress has no desire to urge that a prime meridian shall be found
In my own profession, that of a seaman, the embarrassment arising from the many prime meridians now in use is very conspicuous, and in the valuable interchange of longitudes by passing ships at sea, often difficult and hurried, sometimes only possible by figures written on a black-board, much confusion arises, and at times grave danger. In the use of charts, too, this trouble is also annoying, and to us who live upon the sea a common prime meridian will be a great advantage.
Within the last two years we have been given reason to hope that this great desideratum may be obtained, and within a year a learned Conference, in which many nations were represented, expressed opinions upon it with singular unanimity, and in a very broad and catholic spirit.
I need not trespass further upon your attention, except to lay before you the subject we are invited to discuss: the choice of "a meridian to be employed as a common zero of longitude and standard of time reckoning throughout the world;" and I shall beg you to complete our organization by the election of a Vice-President, and the proper Secretaries necessary to the verification of our proceedings.
Mr. Lefaivre, Delegate from France, stated that on behalf of his colleague he would suggest that all motions and addresses made in English should be translated into French.
The President inquired whether the proposition made by the Delegate for France met with the approval of the Conference, when it was unanimously agreed to.
The President thereupon said that he was ready to lay before the Conference the subject of the election of Vice-President.
Count Lewenhaupt, the Delegate of Sweden, stated that elections in such large bodies were always difficult, and inquired whether it was necessary to have a Vice-President. He further said that for his part he had every reason to hope and to expect that the services of a Vice-President would not be required.
It was thereupon agreed that a Vice-President should be dispensed with.
The President then stated that the next business was the election of Secretaries; but suggested, in view of the proceedings already had, and of the necessity of some consultation in regard to the matter, that the election might be postponed till to-morrow.
Mr. Valera, Delegate of Spain, stated that he saw no reason why the nomination of Secretaries could not be made just as well at present as at any future time.
Mr. Lefaivre, Delegate of France, inquired what would be the functions of the Secretaries.
The President in reply said that an acting Secretary had been appointed by the Secretary of State, who was at the same time a stenographer, and that the principal labor of keeping the records of the Conference would devolve upon him; that nevertheless regular Secretaries of the Conference had to be appointed, for the purpose of examining and verifying the protocols from day to day, which would be the more important in the event of the records of the Conference being made in two or three different languages, and that these Secretaries ought no doubt to be members of the Conference, in order to give the requisite authenticity to the acts thereof, and, in view of the character of the proceedings, should be specialists and informed as to the subjects under discussion.
Mr. Soteldo, Delegate of Venezuela, said that he thought the Conference should adjourn until to-morrow, as they had done already enough to-day in settling its organization; that by adjourning over it would give an opportunity to the delegates to consult as to the functions of the Secretaries, and who would be most likely to be qualified for those functions; that there were gentlemen from different countries who were not familiar with the English language, and by to-morrow the Conference could determine as to the languages in which the proceedings should be had, although, as it seemed to him, that the proceedings should be recorded in French and English. He then moved that the Conference adjourn until to-morrow.
Mr. Lefaivre, Delegate of France, stated that he agreed with what had been said by the President, that the Conference should have Secretaries who were specialists, and that the proceedings should be recorded in two languages. By adjourning till to-morrow he thought that the delegates would have an opportunity to reflect upon the subject, and to come back prepared to vote upon it.
The President then stated that if any delegates wished to make propositions in regard to the proceedings to-morrow it would be in the power of the Conference to proceed to the consideration of those subjects after the election of the Secretaries, and he suggested to the Delegate of Venezuela (Mr. Soteldo) that the motion to adjourn be withdrawn for the present.
The Delegate of Venezuela thereupon withdrew his motion.
Mr. Frey, Delegate of Switzerland, said that, in his opinion, the order of proceedings to-morrow should be first a general discussion.
Mr. Valera, Delegate of Spain, stated that he thought the proceedings should be recorded in two languages at least, and that Secretaries conversant with these languages and specially acquainted with the subject matter pending before the Conference should be selected; that, in order to have the record of the proceedings accurate, officers qualified in this way were requisite, and that it would be preferable to elect these officers after consultation among the members of the Conference, which could be had between now and the meeting to-morrow.
Count Lewenhaupt, Delegate of Sweden, said that he saw no difficulty in deciding now that the order of proceedings to-morrow would be first the election of the Secretaries and then a general discussion, and he moved that this proposition be adopted.
The Conference then unanimously agreed to the proposition.
Professor Abbe, Delegate of the United States, inquired whether it would not facilitate the action of the Conference to-morrow if the President appointed a committee now who could nominate the Secretaries.
The President replied by asking whether it would not be better to select this committee at a subsequent meeting, rather than at the first meeting, which was held to-day.
Commander Sampson, Delegate of the United States, then gave notice that at the session to-morrow he would bring before the Conference the question whether the meetings shall be open to the public or not, and that he would, at the proper time, also make a motion for the purpose of determining the sense of the Conference as to the propriety of inviting distinguished scientists, some of whom are now in Washington, and who may desire to be present at the meetings of this Conference, to take part in the discussion of the questions pending.
Mr. Lefaivre, Delegate of France, stated that in regard to the first proposition—that is, as to making the proceedings public, he would object, inasmuch as he thought that by opening the doors of this Conference to the public nothing could be gained, while the proceedings might be embarrassed or delayed by such a course.
Professor Adams, Delegate of England, stated that he did not favor the first proposition to make the proceedings of this Conference public, but he did agree with the second proposition, and
The President remarked that the propositions made by the Delegate of the United States of America were merely in the nature of a notice, and that they were not before the Conference at the present time, and, consequently, were not the subject of discussion; still he thought that much good could be elicited from this interchange of opinions in a preliminary way.
Captain Stewart, Delegate of Paraguay, said that he thought that it would be a very good thing, in view of the proposition to make the meetings public, to invite all the world to the Capitol for the discussion of these subjects.
Professor Abbe, Delegate of the United States, stated that it would be perfectly practicable to have the discussions of the Conference printed in full from day to day for our own official use, and that the public might thereby be made familiar with the proceedings if it were necessary.
The President announced that arrangements had been made by the State Department whereby the proceedings of each day would be printed and furnished in time for the examination of the members of the Conference before the next meeting, and that they would be printed in two languages, French and English; but that these records or protocols could not be regularly verified until the Conference shall have appointed duly authorized Secretaries.
Baron von Schæffer, Delegate of Austro-Hungary, asked that a list of the delegates be presented to each of the members of the Conference.
The President replied that he would instruct the acting Secretary (Mr. Peddrick) to have the list prepared.
Upon the motion of Mr. de Struve, Delegate of Russia, the Conference then adjourned until to-morrow, (Thursday,) the second instant, at one o'clock p. m.
II.
SESSION OF OCTOBER 2, 1884.
The Conference met pursuant to adjournment in the Diplomatic Hall of the Department of State, at one o'clock p. m.
Present:
Austria-Hungary: Baron Ignatz von Schæffer.
Brazil: Dr. Luiz Cruls.
Colombia: Commodore S. R. Franklin.
Costa Rica: Mr. Juan Francisco Echeverria.
France: Mr. A. Lefaivre, Mr. Janssen.
Germany: Baron H. von Alvensleben, Mr. Hinckeldeyn.
Great Britain: Sir F. J. O. Evans, Prof. J. C. Adams,
Lieut.-General Strachey, Mr. Sandford Fleming.
Guatemala: Mr. Miles Rock.
Hawaii: Hon. W. D. Alexander, Hon. Luther Aholo.
Italy: Count Albert de Foresta.
Japan: Professor Kikuchi.
Mexico: Mr. Leandro Fernandez, Mr. Ansel Anguiano.
Paraguay: Capt. John Stewart.
Russia: Mr. C. de Struve, Major-General Stebnitzki, Mr.
Kologrivoff.
San Domingo: Mr. de J. Galvan.
Salvador: Mr. Antonio Batres.
Spain: Mr. Juan Valera, Mr. Emilio Ruiz del Arbol,
and Mr. Juan Pastorin.
Sweden: Count Carl Lewenhaupt.
Switzerland: Col. Emile Frey, Professor Hirsch.
United States: Rear-Admiral C. R. P. Rodgers, Mr. Lewis
M. Rutherford, Mr. W. F. Allen, Commander W. T.
Sampson, Professor Cleveland Abbe.
Venezuela: Señor Dr. A. M. Soteldo.
Absent:
Chili: Mr. F. V. Gormas and Mr. A. B. Tupper.
Denmark: Mr. O. S. A. de Bille.
Liberia: Mr. Wm. Coppinger.
Netherlands: Mr. G. de Weckherlin.
Turkey: Rustem Effendi.
The President stated that the first business before the Conference was the election of Secretaries.
Mr. de Struve, Delegate of Russia, stated that it was his opinion that it would be very difficult to elect Secretaries by a direct vote, and he proposed that the selection of the Secretaries be left to a Committee to be appointed by the President; that the Committee present the names of the officers selected to the Conference, and that these Secretaries be four in number.
Count Lewenhaupt, Delegate of Sweden, stated that it was generally understood among the delegates that Mr. Hirsch, one of the delegates from Switzerland, should be elected a Secretary, as he was a Secretary of the Conference held at Rome, but as he has not yet arrived, he proposed that the Conference elect only three Secretaries to-day.
Mr. de Struve, Delegate of Russia, stated that he believed that Mr. Hirsch would soon arrive, and he accepted the amendment just offered.
The original motion, as modified by the amendment, was thereupon unanimously agreed to.
The Chair appointed the Delegate of Russia, Mr. de Struve, the Delegate from Spain, Mr. Valera, the Delegate from France, Mr. Lefaivre, and the Delegate from Sweden, Count Lewenhaupt, as the Committee to select the Secretaries.
The Conference thereupon took a recess, to enable the Committee to consult and report.
Upon the reassembling of the Conference, the Delegate of Sweden, Count Lewenhaupt, announced that the Committee had selected for Secretaries the Delegate from Great Britain, Lieut.-General Strachey, the Delegate of France, Mr. Janssen, and the Delegate from Brazil, Dr. Cruls.
The report of the Committee was then unanimously adopted by the Conference, and the Delegates named as Secretaries signified their acceptance of the office.
Mr. de Struve, Delegate of Russia, moved that the President direct the Acting Secretary to arrange the seats of the Delegates according to the alphabetical order of the countries represented. He added that it would be a great convenience to the members to have their seats permanently fixed.
The motion was unanimously agreed to.
Commander Sampson, Delegate of the United States, then presented the following resolution:
Resolved,
General Strachey, Delegate of England, stated that, as he understood this resolution, it would not necessarily authorize the parties invited to take any part in the discussions.
The President stated that the resolution seems merely to invite the gentlemen to be present.
General Strachey, Delegate of Great Britain, stated that he thought it necessary to clear up this matter a little; that if the gentlemen invited could not address the Conference, it seemed very little use to have them invited; that it was not for their own advantage but for that of the Conference that the invitations were extended to those scientific gentlemen, and therefore he thought it was the intention in inviting them to have the benefit of any information which they might desire from time to time to express on the subjects before the Congress. He thought that if any remarks on the part of these gentlemen were presented to the Conference, with the assent of the Congress, through the President, that would doubtless meet all the requirements of the case.
The President inquired whether the Delegate of Great Britain meant that the remarks should be presented in writing.
General Strachey, Delegate of Great Britain, replied that that would not necessarily be the case.
Prof. Abbe, Delegate of the United States, inquired whether the persons named in the resolution were the only ones to be invited.
The President replied that it was so, so far as the Chair was informed, but that it would be in order at any time to add new names in the same way.
Prof. Abbe, Delegate of the United States, stated that this was a matter which he had very much at heart, and he would like to observe that some of the nations which were invited to send Delegates to this Conference had failed to do so, and that it would be a courtesy to invite persons of those nations to be present.
Commander Sampson, Delegate of the United States, stated that after consulting with a number of the delegates he drew the resolution, and that it was suggested to him this very morning that possibly there might be a difference of opinion as to whether these gentlemen should take part in the discussion, and that that was the reason why the first resolution merely proposed to invite them to be present. He stated that he proposed subsequently to submit another resolution authorizing these gentlemen to take part in the discussion; that he thought that the original intention was to confer an honor on certain distinguished scientists, and that it would be well for the Conference to limit the invitation to gentlemen of that character.
Mr. Lefaivre, Delegate of France, stated that he was opposed to the proposition to admit to the deliberations of this Conference gentlemen, no matter how distinguished or eminent they might be, who were not specially delegated by their Governments as members of this body. He questioned the power of the Conference to admit to its discussions persons who were not regularly appointed to vote upon the subject at issue; that this was an international conference created for the purpose of obtaining an interchange of views from the representatives of the different Governments; that it would extend the scope of the work before this body to entertain the views and opinions of persons not authorized to speak for the Governments whose Delegates are here; that there would be a great divergence of opinion among such men, and the result would be rather to embarrass than to help this Conference to an accord. He insisted that the matter was exclusively governmental, and, while he would be happy to extend any courtesy to men distinguished in science, such as the gentlemen who are proposed to be invited, he felt constrained to oppose the proposition under the circumstances.
The President stated that he understood that the resolution did not propose to confer a vote upon the gentlemen invited, but simply to enable them to lay any information before the Conference which they might have upon the matter at issue.
Mr. Lefaivre, Delegate of France, contended that the resolution was intended to authorize these gentlemen to deliberate, and he thought that the inconvenience would be very great of extending this privilege to persons not authorized to represent their Governments. He did not think it was reasonable or fair that his opinions should be questioned or opposed by the opinions of men not authorized to speak for their Governments.
Gen. Strachey, Delegate of Great Britain, said that as he had taken upon himself to make some remarks both as to the manner in which the gentlemen should be invited and the extent of their rights when invited, he wished to say that while he agreed with much that had been said by the Delegate of France, he held that these gentlemen should have an opportunity of expressing their views; that they were not to come here merely to listen to the proceedings, but that they should themselves be heard.
The President directed that the resolution be read in French, and then put it to the vote, when it was unanimously adopted.
Commander Sampson. Delegate of the United States, then offered the following resolution:
"Resolved, That the gentlemen who have just been invited to attend the meetings of the Conference be permitted to take part in the discussion of all scientific questions."
Mr. Lefaivre, Delegate for France, then stated that it was not in accordance with the object of this Conference that private individuals, not authorized by their respective Governments, should be permitted to influence the decision of this body, and that, while it was very proper to extend courtesy to such learned gentlemen as were invited, it surely was never intended that they should participate in our proceedings.
Gen. Strachey, Delegate of Great Britain, said that it would, perhaps, save trouble if he stated his views on the point under discussion, which he apprehended were generally in accordance with those of the representative from France. He said that, if he were permitted, he would read a resolution, which he suggested might be accepted as a substitute for that pending before the Conference, and it was as follows:
"Resolved, That the President be authorized, with the concurrence of the Delegates, to request an expression of the opinions of the gentlemen invited to attend the Congress on any subject on which their opinion may be likely to be valuable."
The President inquired in what way they would express it.
Gen. Strachey, Delegate of Great Britain, stated that it would be orally.
The President replied that the resolution undoubtedly read that way.
Gen. Strachey, Delegate of Great Britain, stated that the language, "to take part in the discussion," employed in the resolution of Commander Sampson, would mean that the persons invited would
Mr. Lefaivre, Delegate of France, stated that he hoped that the proposition of the Delegate of Great Britain would not be pressed until a vote was had upon the original resolution.
The President then put the resolution to a vote; but, being unable to determine from the viva voce vote whether it was carried or not, he stated that the roll would be called.
Mr. Frey, Delegate of Switzerland, stated that he thought before the vote was taken a decision should be had upon the question, how the Delegates were to vote—whether as nations or as individuals.
The President announced that it had been the custom in all such conferences to vote as nations, each nation casting one vote, and that no other way seemed practicable; and that in conformity with this ruling the roll would be called and the vote taken by nations.
The roll was then called, when the following States voted in the affirmative: