, 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 rea