| | | | |
|quar.) | 1,367 | 2,261| 2,942 | 908| 2,186| 429 | 677 | 10,670|
| +-------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+--------+-------+
| |35,741 |39,679|23,867 |14,440| 52,930| 4,591 | 6,544 |177,795|
+-------+-------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+--------+-------+

But the chart resources of the British Admiralty, great as they are,
do not suffice to meet the requirements of the smaller class ships of
the mercantile marine of Great Britain. There are three commercial
firms in London who publish special charts, based, however, on
admiralty documents, to satisfy this demand. On inquiry I found that
these firms publish 640 charts, which, from their large size, require
about 930 copper plates. I am not able to furnish the number of charts
sold by these firms, but it is large.

Supplementary to the Admiralty Charts, there are 51 volumes of Sailing
Directions. Several of these volumes exceed 500 pages, and have passed
through several editions. Private commercial firms also, in addition
to their charts, publish directions for many parts of the globe. These
include regions with which the Admiralty have not yet, notwithstanding
great diligence, been able to deal.

The annual sales of nautical almanacs for the past seven years have
been:

1877................................18,439
1878................................16,408
1879................................16,290
1880................................14,561
1881................................15,870
1882................................15,071
1883................................15,535

I think, sir, that these are salient points, which will assist the
Conference in coming to a clearer view of the great interest which
navigation and commerce have in the charts of a particular country.

The question was then put on the adoption of the resolution offered by
the Delegate of the United States, Mr. RUTHERFURD, as follows:

"That the Conference proposes to the Governments here
represented the adoption of the meridian passing through the
transit instrument at the Observatory of Greenwich as the
initial meridian for longitude."

The roll was called, and the different States voted as follows:

In the affirmative--

Austria, Mexico,
Chili, Netherlands,
Costa Rica, Paraguay,
Columbia, Russia,
Germany,