International Conference Held at Washington Part 11

The question was then put, and the amendment was lost.

The PRESIDENT. The Chair sees upon the floor to-day, as the guest of this Conference, one of the most distinguished scientists, who was invited to be present at our meetings, Sir WILLIAM THOMSON, whose name is known the world over in connection with subjects kindred to this we are now discussing. If it be the pleasure of the Conference to ask Sir WILLIAM THOMSON briefly to express his views, the Chair would be very happy to make the invitation.

The Chair, hearing no dissent, takes pleasure in introducing Sir WILLIAM THOMSON.

Sir WILLIAM THOMSON. Mr. President and Gentlemen, I thank you for permitting me to be present on this occasion, and I thank you also for giving me the opportunity of expressing myself in reference to the subject under discussion. I only wish that the permission which you have so kindly given me may conduce to the objects of this Conference more than I can hope any words of mine can do.

The question immediately under discussion is, I understand, the proposal that the meridian pa.s.sing through the centre of the instrument at the Observatory of Greenwich shall be adopted as the initial meridian of longitude, and it does seem to me that this is a practical question; that this resolution expresses a practical conclusion that it is expected by the world the present Conference may reach. It is expected that the resolutions adopted will be for the general convenience, and not for the decision of a scientific question. It is the settlement of a question which is a matter of business arrangement. The question is, what will be most convenient, on the whole, for the whole world.

It cannot be said that one meridian is more scientific than another, but it can be said that one meridian is more convenient for practical purposes than another, and I think that this may be said pre-eminently of the meridian of Greenwich.

I do most sincerely and fervently hope that the Delegates from France and from the other nations who voted for the preceding resolution will see their way to adopt the resolution that is now before the Conference. It does seem to me that it is a question of sacrifice, and I do trust that the honorable Delegate from France who spoke last, Mr.

LEFAIVRE, will see that France is not being asked to make any sacrifice that it was not prepared to make.

In the admirable and interesting addresses which Mr. JANSSEN has given to this Conference, (which I had not the pleasure or satisfaction of hearing, but which I have read with great interest,) the readiness of France to make a much greater sacrifice than that which is now proposed was announced. The amount of sacrifice involved in making any change from an existing usage must always be more or less great, because it cannot be said that it is a matter of no trouble to make such a change; but what I may be allowed to suggest is that the sacrifice which France was ready to make would be very much greater than that which would be made by adopting the resolution now pending.

If the resolution for a neutral meridian had been adopted, all nations would have to make the sacrifice necessary for a change to a meridian not actually determined, and the relations of which could not be so convenient with those meridians already adopted as are the relations between the meridians now in use with that of Greenwich. It does seem to me that if the Delegates of France could see their way to adopt this resolution, they would have no occasion whatever to regret it.

I sympathize deeply with what has been said in regard to a common metrical system. I have a very strong opinion upon this subject, which I will not express, however, if it meets any objection from the Chair; but it seems to me that England is making a sacrifice in not adopting the metrical system. The question, however, cannot be put in that way.

We are not here to consider whether England would gain or lose by adopting the metrical system. That is not the way to view this question at all, because whether England should adopt the metrical system is a matter for its own convenience and use, and whether it adopts it or not, other nations are not affected by its course. It would not at all be for the benefit or the reverse of other nations.

The PRESIDENT. The Chair would be very glad to hear Sir WM. THOMSON'S views on this subject if it were before the Conference for discussion, but it is not.

Sir WILLIAM THOMSON. I beg pardon for having mentioned it.

I would repeat that the adoption of the meridian of Greenwich is one of convenience. The difference of other meridians from it is readily ascertained, and therefore it seems to me that the minimum of trouble will be entailed on the world by the general adoption of the meridian of Greenwich. This would require the minimum of change, and, furthermore, the changes which would be necessary are already wholly ascertained.

I would inquire of the Chair whether it would be in order for me to allude to the resolutions number 2 and 3, which have been read?

The PRESIDENT. I think that we must confine ourselves to the subject immediately under discussion--the adoption of a prime meridian.

Sir WILLIAM THOMSON. Then I have only to thank you and the Delegates for allowing me to speak, and to express my very strong approbation of the resolution that has been proposed.

Sir F. J. O. EVANS, Delegate of Great Britain, then made the following remarks:

In view of the interesting information furnished to the Congress by M.

JANSSEN on the hydrographic labors of France, past and present, and of the results as represented by the number of Government charts; it has appeared to myself--as having held the office of hydrographer to the Admiralty of Great Britain for many years--in which opinion I am supported by my colleagues, that I should place at the disposal of the Congress certain statistical facts bearing on the great interests of navigation and commerce, as ill.u.s.trated by the number of marine charts, of sailing directions, and of nautical almanacs annually produced under the authority of the British Government, and of their distribution.

I would wish to disclaim any comparison in this respect with the labors of other countries. From personal knowledge I am aware that all nations--with only one or two exceptions--are, and especially so in the last few years, diligent in the development of hydrography, and that a cordial interchange of the results unfettered by any conditions is steadily being pursued.

With this preface I would lay before you the following statements, observing that the sh.o.r.es of the whole navigable parts of the globe are embraced in the series of Admiralty charts referred to:

The number of copper chart plates in constant use is between 2,850 and 2,900. This number keeps up steadily. About 60 new plates are added every year.

Average number of copper plates annually receiving correction amount to 2,700.

Total number of charts annually printed for the daily use of the ships of Her Majesty's fleet in commission, and for sale to the general public, has for some years ranged between 180,000 and 230,000.

The sale of Admiralty charts to the public through an authorized agent, both in London and at other commercial ports in the kingdom, has been for the last seven years as follows:

1877................................104,562 1878................................109,881 1879................................103,943 1880................................114,430 1881................................118,542 1882................................131,801 1883................................157,325

Of these numbers, about one-fifth have been purchased by the governments or agents of Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Turkey, and the United States. The appended list, which was furnished to me by the Admiralty Chart agent during the present year, gives the more precise particulars.

+-------+-------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+--------+-------+ Ger- United Years. France. many. States. Italy. Russia. Turkey. Austria. Total. +-------+-------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+--------+-------+ 1877 .. 2,039 5,184 2,067 1,518 11,763 22,561 1878 .. 5,741 3,381 2,641 2,645 5,651 600 20,529 1879 .. 3,340 6,425 5,185 802 9,354 641 25,747 1880 .. 5,793 5,280 1,879 797 10,145 519 376 24,788 1881 .. 4,418 3,640 1,273 2,694 3,406 1,160 996 17,587 1882 .. 7,454 5,656 1,716 2,569 4,245 115 1,197 22,952 1888 .. 5,592 7,882 6,174 2,607 6,280 2,368 2,158 32,961 1884 (1st quar.) 1,367 2,261 2,942 908 2,186 429 677 10,670 +-------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+--------+-------+ 35,741 39,679 23,867 14,440 52,930 4,591 6,544 177,795 +-------+-------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+--------+-------+

But the chart resources of the British Admiralty, great as they are, do not suffice to meet the requirements of the smaller cla.s.s ships of the mercantile marine of Great Britain. There are three commercial firms in London who publish special charts, based, however, on admiralty doc.u.ments, to satisfy this demand. On inquiry I found that these firms publish 640 charts, which, from their large size, require about 930 copper plates. I am not able to furnish the number of charts sold by these firms, but it is large.

Supplementary to the Admiralty Charts, there are 51 volumes of Sailing Directions. Several of these volumes exceed 500 pages, and have pa.s.sed through several editions. Private commercial firms also, in addition to their charts, publish directions for many parts of the globe. These include regions with which the Admiralty have not yet, notwithstanding great diligence, been able to deal.

The annual sales of nautical almanacs for the past seven years have been:

1877................................18,439 1878................................16,408 1879................................16,290 1880................................14,561 1881................................15,870 1882................................15,071 1883................................15,535

I think, sir, that these are salient points, which will a.s.sist the Conference in coming to a clearer view of the great interest which navigation and commerce have in the charts of a particular country.

The question was then put on the adoption of the resolution offered by the Delegate of the United States, Mr. RUTHERFURD, as follows:

"That the Conference proposes to the Governments here represented the adoption of the meridian pa.s.sing through the transit instrument at the Observatory of Greenwich as the initial meridian for longitude."

The roll was called, and the different States voted as follows:

In the affirmative--

Austria, Mexico, Chili, Netherlands, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Columbia, Russia, Germany, Spain, Great Britain, Sweden, Guatemala, Switzerland, Hawaii, Turkey, Italy, Venezuela, j.a.pan, United States.

Liberia,

In the negative--

San Domingo.

Abstaining from voting--

Brazil, France.

The result was then announced, as follows:

Ayes, 21; noes, 1; abstaining from voting, 2.

The PRESIDENT then announced that the resolution was pa.s.sed.

Mr. DE STRUVE, Delegate of Russia. In the name of the Delegates for Russia I have now, at this point of the discussion, to say a few words.

If we had to consider the scientific side alone of the questions, which have already been discussed and resolved by the prominent scientists of the different countries at the General Conference of the International Geodetical a.s.sociation at Rome, in 1883, we might as well simply adhere to the resolutions of the Roman Conference, and limit our work to the shaping of these resolutions into the form of a draft of an international convention, to be submitted for approbation to our respective Governments. But, as we have, besides, to consider the application of the intended reform to practical life, we beg to submit the following suggestions to the kind attention of the Conference.

It is important to find for the more densely populated countries the simplest mode possible of transition from local to universal time, and _vice versa_; and we believe, therefore, that it would be convenient for the practical purposes of the question to adopt for the beginning of the universal day the midnight of Greenwich, and not the noon, as was deemed advisable by the Conference of Rome.

This modification would offer for the whole of Europe and for the greatest part of America the advantage of avoiding the double date in local and universal time during the princ.i.p.al business hours of the day, and would afford great facilities in the transition from local time to universal.