International Conference Held at Washington Part 17

In none of the localities defined or mentioned, would the standards proposed vary more from mean local time than has already been demonstrated to be practicable without detriment to any material interest. Convenience of use, based largely upon the direction of greater commercial intercourse, would determine the action of communities other than those mentioned, and probably somewhat modify the schedule proposed.

That no practical difficulty of usage would prevent the universal adoption of the hour-section system of time-reckoning is apparent. Its convenience has been abundantly realized. In adopting it, practically no expense whatever is incurred. The alteration of the works or faces of watches or clocks is not required. Their hands are simply set to the new standard, and the desired result is accomplished.

By the adoption of this system, the exact hours of time-reckoning, although called by different names in the several sections for every-day life, but specifically designated, if desired, for scientific purposes, would be indicated at the same moment of time at all points. The minutes and seconds would everywhere agree. The absolute time of the occurrence of any event could, therefore, be readily determined. The counting of the hour meridians should begin where the day begins at the transition line.

It would then be one of the possibilities of the powers of electricity that the pendulum of a single centrally located clock, beating seconds, could regulate the local time-reckoning of every city on the face of the earth.

_Table of Standards governing the Hour-Section System of Time-reckoning._

====================================================================== Longitude HOUR MERIDIANS. Simultaneous from ---------------------------------------------- hours in Greenwich. the several Proposed names of sectional times. Numbers. sections.

----------+-----------------------------------+----------+------------ _Degrees._ ---------- 180 Transition time 0 or 24th 12 midnight 165 west Alaskan 1st...... 1 A. M.

150 Hawaii 2d ...... 2 135 Sitka 3d ...... 3 120 Pacific (Adopted in U.S. and Can.) 4th...... 4 105 Mountain " " 5th...... 5 90 Central (American) time " " 6th...... 6 75 Eastern (or Coastwise) " " 7th...... 7 60 La Plata 8th...... 8 45 Brazilian 9th...... 9 30 Central Atlantic 10th...... 10 15 West African 11th...... 11 0 Int'l or Unvs'l (Used in Gt. Brit.) 12th...... 12 noon.

15 east Continental (Used in Sweden.) 13th...... 1 P. M.

30 Bosporus 14th...... 2 45 Caucasus 15th...... 3 60 Ural 16th...... 4 75 Bombay 17th...... 5 90 Central Asian 18th...... 6 105 Siam 19th...... 7 120 East Asian 20th...... 8 135 j.a.pan 21st...... 9 150 East Australian 22d....... 10 165 New Caledonian 23d....... 11 -----------------------------------------------------------------------

I have no desire, however, to press on the Conference the consideration of the question of local time reckoning. But, as the system adopted in the United States and Canada has proved successful, and is now firmly established, I have deemed it proper that a statement of this fact and of the possibilities of the application of the system to other parts of the world should be made to the Congress.

I will now, therefore, withdraw my amendment.

Mr. RUTHERFURD, Delegate of the United States. The Delegate of Italy has moved, as an amendment to the first part of the resolution offered by me, the fifth resolution adopted in the Conference at Rome. Really, in spirit and in substance, there is little or no difference between them, except that the Conference at Rome has specified that the objects they had in view as suitable for regulation by universal time were these, namely: "For the internal service of the great administrations of means of communication, such as railways, steamships, telegraphs, and post-offices."

Now, I submit that in the words used in my resolution all this is embraced, and a good deal more, for this universal day is to be adopted "for all purposes for which it may be found convenient." If it were desirable that every purpose for which the universal day may be found convenient should be specified, it would make a very long resolution. On the other hand, however, we might find in the end that we had omitted some of the purposes for which it was eminently convenient. It appears, also, that in this same fifth Roman resolution all questions of chronology of universal date, etc., are omitted, although they are brought forward and appear in the sixth resolution.

It seems to me, Mr. President, that nothing would be gained by the adoption of this amendment, for everything that is embraced there is more comprehensively embraced in the original resolution.

General STRACHEY, Delegate of Great Britain. In explanation of the amendment offered by the Delegate of Italy, let me call attention to what really pa.s.sed at the Roman Conference. I find, first of all, in the report of the Roman Conference, in the abstract of the discussion before the Special Committee, these words, (p. 49 of the reprint:)

"The fourth resolution, in favor of a universal hour for certain scientific and practical purposes, is unanimously adopted."

There appears no discussion whatever upon it; not a word seems to have been said as to how it should be defined or acted upon. I then turn back to the report of the committee which prepared the resolutions, and there we see what, in reality, they had in their minds when they drew up that resolution. It is perfectly evident that they had no intention of tying the hands of anybody. This is what they say on page 26 of the report:

"The administrations of railroads, of the great steamship lines, telegraph lines, and postal routes, which would thus secure for their relations with each other a uniform time, excluding all complication and error, could nevertheless not entirely avoid the use of local time in their relations with the public. They would probably use the universal time only in their internal service, for the rules of the road, for the time-tables of their engineers and conductors, for the connection of trains at frontiers, etc.; but the time-tables for the use of the public could hardly be expressed otherwise than in local or national time. The depots or stations of the railroads, post-offices, and telegraph offices, and the waiting-rooms, could exhibit outwardly clocks showing local or national time, while within the offices there would be, besides, clocks indicating universal time. Telegraphic dispatches could show in future the time of despatch and of receipt, both in local and universal time."

Now, I think that the subject of universal time is dealt with in a better manner in the proposition offered by Mr. RUTHERFURD than in the proposition which emanated from the Congress at Rome. This Conference cannot designate positively the manner in which local time may be best reckoned. We are concerned now only with universal time. It may, however, be proper that the resolution offered by Mr. RUTHERFURD in regard to the employment of universal time should be supplemented by something more specific--something, for instance, of this sort:

The Conference will not designate the system on which local time may best be reckoned so as to conform, as far as possible, to universal time; this should be determined by each nation to suit its convenience.

The arrangements for adopting universal time for the use of international telegraphs will be left for regulation by the telegraph international congress.

This last idea was expressed, I forget now by whom, but by one of the Delegates since the Conference met, and it appears to me that inasmuch as there is an international congress specially appointed to regulate all matters of international telegraphy, this subject can be left to them with the firm belief that it will be regulated satisfactorily.

The question was then put to the vote; and upon the amendment offered by the Delegate of Italy the following States voted in the affirmative:

Colombia, Paraguay, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden.

The following in the negative:

Brazil, Liberia, Chili, Mexico, Costa Rica, Russia, France, Salvador, Germany, San Domingo, Great Britain, Switzerland, Guatemala, Turkey, Hawaii, United States, j.a.pan, Venezuela.

Austria-Hungary abstained from voting.

Ayes, 6; noes, 18; abstaining, 1.

So the amendment was lost.

The question then recurred upon the original resolution.

Mr. RUTHERFURD, Delegate of the United States. Mr. President, it has been represented to me that it may, perhaps, be found advantageous in different countries and different localities to use a time that would not be accurately described as local time. In one place the standard of time may be strictly local time; in another place it may be national time; in another place it may be railroad time.

In order to meet this condition of things, I propose to alter the phraseology of the original resolution in this way: by inserting the words "or other," so that it shall read "which shall not interfere with the use of local or _other_ time where desirable."

Professor ADAMS, Delegate of Great Britain. May it not be better to put it in this way: "Which shall not interfere with the use of local or other _standard_ time where desirable."

Mr. RUTHERFURD, Delegate of the United States. I accept the amendment offered by the Delegate of Great Britain.

Mr. JEAN VALERA, Delegate of Spain. As I consider that both the amendment which was just rejected and the present proposition really signify the same thing, I shall vote for the proposition, as I before did for the amendment.

The PRESIDENT. The question is now upon the resolution, as modified.

It will be read.

The resolution was then read, as follows:

"_Resolved_, That the Conference proposes the adoption of a universal day for all purposes for which it may be found convenient, and which shall not interfere with the use of local or other standard time where desirable."

The following States voted in the affirmative:

Austria-Hungary, Mexico, Brazil, Netherlands, Chili, Paraguay, Colombia, Russia, Costa Rica, Salvador, France, Spain, Great Britain, Sweden, Guatemala, Switzerland, Hawaii, Turkey, Italy, United States, j.a.pan, Venezuela.

Liberia,

There were no negative votes.

Germany and San Domingo abstained from voting.

Ayes, 23; noes, 0; abstaining, 2.

So the resolution was carried.

Mr. RUTHERFURD, Delegate of the United States. Mr. President, I now propose to offer the other portion of the resolution, or rather I propose to offer the other portion in the form of a distinct resolution. It will run as follows:

"_Resolved_, That this universal day is to be a mean solar day; is to begin for all the world at the moment of midnight of the initial meridian, coinciding with the beginning of the civil day and date of that meridian; and is to be counted from zero up to twenty-four hours."

This is, in substance, the resolution adopted by the Conference at Rome, with the exception that the Conference at Rome proposed that the universal day should coincide with the astronomical day instead of the civil day, and begin at Greenwich noon, instead of Greenwich midnight.

Professor ADAMS, Delegate of Great Britain. I desire to make one remark merely. Would it not be a little more correct if we said "at the moment of mean midnight?" I think I have mentioned this before, but, to be clear, I think it should be made.

Mr. RUTHERFURD accepted Professor ADAMS'S suggestion.

Mr. JUAN VALERA, Delegate of Spain. Mr. President, I wish to call special attention to the proposition now before us, on which we are called upon to vote, as it is of very great importance.

As for me, I acknowledge that my mission is already fulfilled. The Government of Spain had directed me to admit the necessity or the usefulness of a common prime meridian, and also to accept the meridian of Greenwich as the universal meridian. I have attended to these directions.