t is proper to take
another step towards the solution of the problem presented to us, and
to decide what that meridian shall be. It is this choice, gentlemen,
which at this moment forms the subject of our discussion, and upon
which we have to decide.

My honorable colleague, Mr. RUTHERFURD, the Delegate of the United
States, has presented a motion proposing the adoption of the meridian
of Greenwich, a motion which is again made, having been withdrawn
temporarily from our discussion with the consent of its proposer. The
motion which was presented at the last session, and which has formed
the subject of numerous interesting discussions is that made by my
honorable colleague, Mr. JANSSEN, Delegate of France, who proposes
that the meridian adopted should have a neutral character, and should
not cross either of the great continents of Europe or America. This
proposition, gentlemen, has been strongly resisted by the Delegates of
Great Britain and the United States, and firmly maintained by the
Delegates of France, and the debates which followed gave us an
opportunity of being present at a scientific tournament of the highest
interest. The speakers whom we have had the honor of hearing seem to
me to have exhausted all the arguments for and against, and at the
present stage of the discussion I presume that these debates have
permitted each one of us to form, with a full knowledge of the case,
an opinion upon the question on which we are called to vote.

For my part, gentlemen, I desire to state clearly the attitude that
Brazil, in my opinion, must take in this Conference. That attitude is
one of absolute neutrality, inasmuch as the question is whether or not
to choose a national meridian which may provoke among certain nations
very legitimate rivalries. From the point of view only of the
interests of Brazil, the choice of one meridian rather than any other
is recommended to me by no consideration. Our local charts are
referred to the nearest meridian, that of the observatory of Rio
Janeiro, which is the point of departure in the geodetic or
hydrographic operations in course of execution in Brazil, and which
all are connected with that same meridian. The marine charts of the
coast most in use are the result of the hydrographic works executed by
the Commandant MOUCHEZ, now admiral and director of the observatory of
Paris. As to the telegraphic determination of the longitude of the
observatory of Rio, we owe it to the American C