Various - International Conference Held at Washington for the Purpose of Fixing a Prime Meridian and a Universal Day. October, 1884.
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Various >> International Conference Held at Washington for the Purpose of Fixing a Prime Meridian and a Universal Day. October, 1884.
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The result of the system which was proposed at Rome would be to cause
the break of dates to take place at Greenwich at noon, so that the
morning hours of the civil day would have a different universal date
from the afternoon hours, and this would be the case all over Europe.
But if the universal day be made to correspond to the civil day of
Greenwich, and the longitude is counted east in one direction and west
in another direction to the 180th meridian, these difficulties would
be overcome, and a perfectly simple rule would suffice for converting
local into universal time. As regards what was said upon the subject
of longitude being plus or minus, according as you move to the east or
west, it appears to me that there is a positive, clear, and rational
reason for calling longitude eastward plus and longitude westward
minus. The time is later to the east, and therefore the hour is
indicated by a higher number. In converting universal into local time,
if the place is east of Greenwich, you add the longitude to the
universal time, and therefore increase the number of the hour; if the
place be west of Greenwich, you subtract the longitude, and therefore
diminish the number of the hour. It is natural, therefore, to call
east longitude positive and the other negative.
It appears to me also that the passage of the sun over the meridian
is, in reality, what may be called the index of the day, the day
consisting of 24 hours, distributed equally on either side of the
meridian. Noon of the universal day would thus coincide with the time
of the sun passing the initial meridian. There is perfect consistency,
therefore, in adopting the reckoning of longitude and time that is
proposed in the resolution before us. It is a rational and symmetrical
method.
Mr. JUAN PASTORIN, the Delegate of Spain. I listened with great
pleasure to the observations which our honorable colleague, the
Delegate of England, General STRACHEY, has just made.
I am not sufficiently acquainted with the English tongue to make a
speech, though I know it well enough to follow the debate. Moreover,
as I had beforehand studied the subject which is now before us, I have
quite well understood all that has been said on this point. I proposed
an amendment yesterday, in order to obtain what I consider the most
simple formula for converting local time into cosmical time. This
formula is not, perhaps, the most suitable for astronomers and
sailors, but they form the minority, and it is, I am sure, the easiest
for the mass of the people. This formula would be based on the
considerations which are now under discussion. I am not sufficiently
familiar with the language to give the reasons upon which I based my
amendment, but, as I demonstrated in the pamphlet which I had the
honor of addressing to my learned colleagues, the means, in my
opinion, of obtaining the simplest and the most suitable formula is to
make the beginning of civil time and of dates on the first meridian
coincide with the cosmical time and date, and to count longitude
continuously in the same direction from the initial meridian. This is
what I proposed to obtain by my amendment.
Count LEWENHAUPT, Delegate of Sweden. Mr. President, I now propose
that the Conference take a recess for a few moments before a vote is
taken upon the resolution.
No objection being made to the motion, the President announced that a
recess would be taken until the Chair called the Conference to order.
THE PRESIDENT, having called the Conference to order, said. The recess
has given an opportunity for an interchange of opinion upon the
subject pending, and if the Conference be ready the vote will now be
taken.
Commander SAMPSON, Delegate of the United States. Mr. President, I
think that the informal discussion which we have had upon this
question of the method of counting longitude must lead to the
conclusion that there is a great difference of opinion. So far as I
have been able to learn, many of the delegates have come here
instructed to favor the resolution adopted by the Roman Conference. It
is my own opinion that the recommendation to count longitude
continuously from the prime meridian from west to east, as recommended
by the conference at Rome, is not so good as the proposition now
before us. Personally, however, I would prefer to see it counted
continuously from east to west, as being more in conformity with
present usage among astronomers. But, as it appears that so many
delegates are instructed by their Governments to favor counting in the
opposite direction, and as, if this Congress adopts any other plan
than that proposed by the Conference at Rome, they will have to lay
before their Governments as the action of this Congress something that
will be opposed to the recommendation of the Roman Conference, and as
these two recommendations would naturally tend to neutralize each
other, I would favor the proposition which is now before us as being
the most expedient.
I would suggest, however, that, instead of making a positive
declaration upon the question, we leave it as it now stands; that is
to say, that longitude shall be counted east and west from the prime
meridian, without specifying which direction shall be considered
positive, and declare it to be the opinion of this Congress that it is
not expedient to change the present method of counting longitude both
ways from the prime meridian.
Count LEWENHAUPT, Delegate from Sweden. In my opinion the delegates
have not undertaken to recommend the resolutions adopted by a majority
of the Conference, but only the resolutions for which they have
themselves voted. As regards the fact that there may be great
differences of opinion concerning the questions which remain for our
consideration, I am unable to see in it any reason for our not
proceeding to vote upon them. On the contrary it will be of great
interest to our Governments to know the exact position taken by each
of the delegates, and even if any delegate should abstain from voting,
such abstention would be of interest in the event of future
negotiations on the subject. I am therefore of opinion that we should
proceed to vote on the remaining resolutions.
The vote was then taken upon the resolution of the Delegate of the
United States, Mr. RUTHERFURD, which is as follows:
"_Resolved_, That from this meridian (_id est_, Greenwich)
longitude shall be counted in two directions up to 180
degrees, east longitude being plus and west longitude
minus."
The following States voted in the affirmative:
Chili, Liberia,
Colombia, Mexico,
Costa Rica, Paraguay,
Great Britain, Russia,
Guatemala, Salvador,
Hawaii, United States,
Japan, Venezuela.
The following States voted in the negative:
Italy, Sweden,
Netherlands, Switzerland.
Spain,
The following States abstained from voting:
Austria-Hungary, Germany,
Brazil, San Domingo,
France, Turkey.
Ayes, 14; noes, 5; abstaining, 6.
The PRESIDENT then announced that the resolution was adopted.
Mr. RUTHERFURD, Delegate of the United States. Mr. President, I now
propose to read the third resolution from the printed circular which
has been furnished to the delegates. It is 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 time where desirable. 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 resolution is somewhat complex, and in order to facilitate
debate, I propose that we first occupy ourselves only with the first
clause, namely:
"_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 time where desirable."
After having disposed of that clause we can proceed to dispose of the
other parts of the resolution.
The PRESIDENT. You propose, then, to divide the resolution as printed
in the circular into two resolutions, and you now offer the first part
for consideration.
Mr. RUTHERFURD, Delegate of the United States. If that is the more
convenient form of putting it, it meets my views. It will be more easy
to discuss the subject, more easy to arrive at a decision, in that
form.
M. le Comte ALBERT DE FORESTA, Delegate of Italy. I propose as an
amendment the fifth resolution of the Roman Conference, which reads as
follows:
"The Conference recognizes, for certain scientific needs and
for the internal service of great administrations of ways of
communications, such as those of railroads, lines of
steamships, telegraphic and postal lines, the utility of
adopting a universal time, in connection with local or
national times, which will necessarily continue to be
employed in civil life."
The PRESIDENT. The question is now upon the amendment offered by the
Delegate of Italy.
Professor ABBE, Delegate of the United States. I would like to ask
whether this amendment adds anything substantially to the resolution.
I think it does not. It simply specifies the details of the resolution
pending before us. That resolution "proposes the adoption of a
universal day for all purposes for which it may be found convenient."
That is general. The amendment merely specifies certain of these
purposes. That is a matter of detail.
Mr. ALLEN, Delegate of the United States. Mr. President, I desire to
offer an amendment to the amendment, as follows:
"Civil or local time is to be understood as the mean time of
the approximately central meridian of a section of the
earth's surface, in which a single standard of time may be
conveniently used."
Mr. RUTHERFURD, Delegate of the United States. Mr. President, it does
not seem to me that it is within the competence of this Conference to
define what is local time. That is a thing beyond us.
Mr. W. F. ALLEN, Delegate of the United States, then said: Mr.
President and gentlemen, all efforts to arrive at uniformity in
scientific or every-day usage originate in a desire to attain greater
convenience in practice. The multiplicity of coins of which the
relative value can only be expressed by fractions, the various common
standards of weights and of measures, are inconvenient both to the
business man and the scientist. Alike inconvenient to both are the
diverse standards of time by which the cities of the world are
governed, differing, as they do, by all possible fractions of hours.
All coins have a relative and interchangeable value based upon their
weight and fineness. Weights and measures remain the same by whatever
unit they may be expressed; but, primarily, time can only be measured
by a standard actually or apparently in motion. Absolutely accurate
mean local time, varying, as it does, by infinitesimal differences at
every point in the circuit of the earth, may be shown on a stationary
object, but cannot in general be kept by an individual or object in
motion. The mean local time of some fixed point in each locality must
be taken as the standard for practical use. The important question to
be determined is, over what extent of territory, measuring east and
west from such fixed point, its mean time may be employed for all
ordinary purposes without inconvenience. This can be absolutely
determined only by practical experience.
Careful study of this phase of this subject led, perhaps, more
directly than any one single cause, to the proposal of the detailed
system of standard time which now satisfactorily controls the
operations of one hundred and twenty thousand miles of railway in the
United States and Canada, and governs the movements of fifty millions
of people.
Before the recent change there were a number of localities where
standards of time were exclusively employed which varied as much as
thirty minutes, both on the east and the west, from mean local time,
without appreciable inconvenience to those using them. From this fact
the conclusion was inevitable that within those limits a single
standard might be employed. The result has proved this conclusion to
have been well founded.
No public reform can be accomplished unless the evil to be remedied
can be made plainly apparent. That an improvement will be effected
must be clearly demonstrated, or the new status of affairs which will
exist after the change, must be shown to have been already
successfully tried. Here, as in law, custom and precedent are all
powerful. It would be a difficult task to secure the general adoption
of any system of time-reckoning which cannot be employed by all
classes of the community. Business men would refuse to regard as a
reform any proposition which introduced diversity where uniformity now
exists, nor would railway managers consent to adopt for their own use
a standard of time not coinciding with or bearing a ready relation to
the standard employed in other business circles. To adopt the time of
a universal day for all transportation purposes throughout the world,
and to use it collaterally with local time, would simply restore, and
possibly still more complicate, the very condition of things in this
country which the movement of last year was intended to and did to a
great extent obviate. Railway managers desire that the time used in
their service shall be either precisely the same as that used by the
public, or shall differ from it at as few points as possible, and then
by the most readily calculated differences. The public, on the other
hand, have little use for absolutely accurate time, except in
connection with matters of transportation, but will refuse to adopt a
standard which would materially alter their accustomed habits of
thought and of language in every-day life. That this position is
absurd may be argued, and, perhaps, admitted, but it is a fact, and
one which cannot be disregarded.
The adoption of the universal day or any system of time-reckoning
based upon infrequent--such as the great quadrant--meridians, to be
used by transportation lines collaterally with local time, is,
therefore, practically impossible.
Shall it, then, be concluded that there is no hope of securing
uniformity in time-reckoning for practical purposes? Or does the
proposition for the general division of the earth's surface into
specified sections, governed by standards based upon meridians fifteen
degrees or one hour apart, supply the remedy? Objections have been
urged against this proposition on account of difficulties encountered,
or supposed to be encountered, in the vicinity of the boundary lines
between the sections. It is argued that the contact of two sections
with standards of time differing by one hour will cause numerous and
insuperable difficulties. In railway business, in which time is more
largely referred to than in any other, the experience of the past year
has proved this fear to be groundless. It is true that the approximate
local time of a number of cities near the boundary lines between the
eastern and central sections in the United States is still retained. A
curious chapter of incidents could be related which led to this
retention, not affecting, however, the merits of the case; but the
fact serves to show that changes much greater than thirty minutes from
local time would not be acceptable.
Adjacent to and on either side of all national boundary lines the
inhabitants become accustomed to the standards of weights, measures,
and money of both countries, and constantly refer to and use them
without material inconvenience. In the readjustment of a boundary upon
new lines of demarcation it must be expected that some temporary
difficulties in business transactions will be encountered, but all
history shows that such difficulties soon adjust themselves. Legal
enactments will finally determine the precise boundaries of the
several sections. If different laws respecting many other affairs of
life may exist on either side of a State or national boundary line,
with positive advantage or without material inconvenience, why should
laws respecting time-reckoning be an exception? Coins and measures are
distinguished by their names. So, also, may standards of time be
distinguished.
The adoption of standard time for all purposes of daily life, based
upon meridians fifteen degrees apart, would practically abolish the
use of exact local time, except upon those meridians. Numerous
circumstances might be related demonstrating how very inaccurate and
undetermined was the local time used in many cities in this country
before the recent change.
Except for certain philosophical purposes, does the inherent advantage
claimed in the use of even approximately accurate local time really
exist? Would the proposed change affect any custom of undoubted value
to the community? These questions have been answered in the negative
by the experience of Great Britain since January 13, 1848, of Sweden
since January 1, 1879, and of the United States and Canada since
November 18, 1883.
Greenwich time is exclusively used in Great Britain, and differs from
mean local time about eight minutes on the east and about twenty-two
and a half minutes on the west. In Sweden the time of the fifteenth
degree of east longitude is the standard for all purposes. It differs
from mean local time about thirty-six and a half minutes on the east
and about sixteen minutes on the west. In the United States the
standards recently adopted are used exclusively in cities like
Portland, Me., (33,800 inhabitants,) and Atlanta, Ga., (37,400
inhabitants,) of which the local times are, respectively, nineteen
minutes and twenty two minutes faster than the standard, and at Omaha,
Neb., (30,500 inhabitants,) and Houston, Tex., (16,500 inhabitants,)
each twenty-four minutes slower. At Ellsworth, Me., a city of six
thousand inhabitants, a change of twenty-six minutes has been made.
Nearly eighty-five per cent. of the total number of cities in the
United States of over ten thousand inhabitants have adopted the new
standard time for all purposes, and it is used upon ninety-seven and a
half per cent. of all the miles of railway lines.
Let us now consider whether insuperable practical difficulties owing
to geographical peculiarities will prevent the adoption of this system
throughout the world.
A table has been prepared, and accompanies this paper, upon which are
designated the several governing meridians and names suggested for the
corresponding sectional times. For the use of this table I am
indebted to Mr. E. B. Elliott, of this city.
On the North American continent, in the United States and Canada, the
75th, 90th, 105th, and 120th west Greenwich meridians now govern time.
In Mexico the 105th west meridian is approximately central, except for
Yucatan, which is traversed by the 90th. For Guatemala, Salvador, and
Costa Rica, the 90th west meridian is approximately central. San
Domingo closely approaches and Cuba touches the 75th.
In South America--the United States of Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, the
western portion of Bolivia, and Chili would use the time of the 75th
west meridian, while Venezuela, Guiana, western Brazil, including the
Amazon River region, eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and the
Argentine Republic, would be governed by the time of the 60th
meridian. In eastern Brazil the 45th west meridian would govern.
Passing to Europe, we find Great Britain already governed by the zero
meridian time, which can also be used in the Netherlands, Belgium,
France, Spain, and Portugal. The 15th east meridian, which is about as
far east of Berlin as west of Vienna, and no more distant from Rome
than from Stockholm, now governs all time in Sweden. This time could
also be advantageously used in Denmark, Germany, Austria-Hungary,
Switzerland, Italy, and Servia. The time of the 30th east meridian,
which is nearly the mean between Constantinople and St. Petersburg
times, could be used in Western Russia, Turkey, Roumania, Bulgaria,
East Roumelia, and Greece. When the development of Eastern Russia in
Europe shall require it, the division of that great country between
the times of the 30th and 45th east meridians, upon lines of
convenience similar to those employed in the United States, can
doubtless be arranged. The governing meridians for Africa appear to
present some advantages, especially for Egypt, and no insuperable
difficulties; but for continents where the boundaries of countries are
so loosely defined, the limits of time-reckoning cannot well and need
not now be shown. They would ultimately adjust themselves.
In Asia the 60th east meridian passes through Khiva. Bombay would use
the 75th and Calcutta the 90th. The 105th east meridian touches Siam,
the 120th is near Shanghai, and the 135th passes through Japan and
near Corea. The 150th meridian of west longitude is sufficiently near
Hawaii. In Australia the 150th, 135th, and 120th meridians of east
longitude are admirably located for governing, respectively, the time
of the eastern, central, and western divisions of that continent.
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 |Japan |21st......| 9
150 |East Australian |22d.......|10
165 |New Caledonian |23d.......|11
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