Mr. RUTHERFURD, Delegate of the United States, stated that it seemed
to him that to invite a general discussion upon the subject, which has
undoubtedly a great many heads, the best method would be the one just
suggested; that by having a well-defined course much time would be
saved, and there would be a precision in the proceedings, which
undoubtedly is always valuable; that in this way the discussion could
be kept within bounds, but unless there is some proposition pending
before the Conference it is impossible to say whether any discussion
is in order or out of order; that it seemed to him there should be
some well-defined propositions laid before the Conference, and those
propositions could easily be gathered, not only from what has gone
before, not only from the Conference which has been held in Rome, but
from the acts of Congress and the circulars of the Secretary of
State, under which this body has been organized.

The PRESIDENT stated that if these communications from outside parties
were brought before the Conference it would entail a great deal of
labor.

The resolution of the Delegate of the United States, Prof. ABBE, was
then put to the vote, and was negatived.

Mr. RUTHERFURD, Delegate of the United States, then presented the
following resolution:

"_Resolved_, That the Conference proposes to the Governments
represented the adoption as a standard meridian that of
Greenwich passing through the centre of the transit
instrument at the Observatory of Greenwich."