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.

We have now to deal with a scientific question on which I cannot well
express an opinion, as I do not feel that I am competent in such
matters; besides, I am not authorized to do so. This may be due to my
ignorance in matters of this kind, but I fear that extraordinary
difficulties may arise in the adoption of this proposition, and if we
proceed with too great haste, we run the risk of placing ourselves in
contradiction to common sense. All the popular ideas of men for
thousands of years past will, perhaps, be overturned. It may happen
that when the day begins at Greenwich it will be 23 hours later at
Berlin. The east will be confounded with the west, and the west with
the east. If we made t