Sometimes eral view of the relations in round minutes of the standard meridians to Greenwich and to the true local times of the places adopting them: minutes slower than Boston time. SECTION. Newfoundland. New Brunswick.. Maine to Florida Ohio to Alabama Lower Lakes Mississippi valley. The question of introducing a uniform system in the United States was discussed for several years before a practicable plan was found. It was agreed that the adoption of a single standard for the whole United States would be impracticable, because it would introduce too many and too great discrepancies between the time by the clock and the solar time, and would be repugnant to the habits and convenience of the people. Four standards were accordingly proposed, so adjusted as to be one hour apart, and to differ by exact hours from the time at Greenwich; the effect Rocky Mt. region. of which would be, that the only difference should be in the numbering of the hours, while the numbering of the minutes and seconds should be the same at all places using the standards as well as at all places using Greenwich time. The details of a plan embracing these principles were worked up by Mr. W. F. Allen, Secretary of the General and Southern Railway Time Conventions; and at the meetings of the time conventions, held in New York and Chicago in April, 1883, the following resolutions were adopted: 1. That all roads now using Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Toronto, Hamilton, or Washington time as standard, based upon meridians cast of those points, or adjacent thereto, shall be governed by the 75th meridian or Eastern time (four minutes slower than New York time). 2. That all roads now using Columbus, Savannah, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Louisville, Indianapolis, Chicago, Jefferson City, St. Paul, or Kansas City time, or standards based upon meridians adjacent thereto, shall be run by the 90th meridian time, to be called Central time, one hour slower than Eastern time and nine minutes slower than Chicago time. 8. That west of the above-named section the roads shall be run by the 105th and the 120th meridian times, respectively, two and three hours slower than Eastern time. This scheme was received favorably by most of the railroads whose time would be regulated by that of the Eastern and Central meridians, and was put in operation by the principal rail roads of the New England States on October 7th, and, with few exceptions, by those of the other States east of the Rocky mountain region on November 18th. The local time at most of the towns and cities was also made to conform to the new standards, the greatest alteration in clocks required to do so being about half an hour. The following table gives a gen Pacific States..... The belt of country situated 71° on either side of a standard meridian generally (with such exceptions as the peculiar relations of certain places may make it expedient to recognize) is expected to adopt the time of that meridian. Related to the subject of Standard time for the United States is that of Cosmopolitan time, or the selection of a uniform meridian and standard of time for the whole world. A scheme for an international system of time-reckoning, embodying this principle, was proposed independently by the Hon. Sandford Fleming, Chancellor of Queen's University, Toronto, and Prof. Cleveland Abbe, of the United States Signal Service, and was presented by President Barnard, of Columbia College, to the International Association for the Reform and Codification of the Law of Nations, at its meeting in Cologne, in August, 1881. It recommended that 24 standard meridians be fixed upon, distant from each other 15° or one hour each in longitude, to which only the arbitrary local times kept at all places on the earth's surface shall be referred; that the prime meridian, by reference to which all the other hour meridians shall be determined, be that of 180° or twelve hours from the meridian of Greenwich; a meridian which passes near Behring strait and lies almost wholly on the ocean; that the diurnal change of count in the monthly calendar begin when it is midnight on this prime meridian, and take place for the several meridians successively; that the hour of the day at each place be reckoned by the standard meridian nearest to it in longitude, it being reckoned as twelve o'clock, noon, at the moment the mean sun passes such standard meridian, while the minute and second shall be the same at all times and for all places; that the hours of the day be numbered from one to twenty-four; that for special purposes, as with a view to promote exactness in chronology and to facilitate synchronous observations in science, the day and the time of the day, as determined by the prime meridian, be employed as a kind of universal time-reckoning, under the name of "Cosmopolitan Time," its hours to be denoted by distinct symbols (as by the letters of the alphabet), to distinguish them from the hours of local time. The Government of the United States recommended the calling of an international conference, to perfect some scheme of uniformity. The subject was again considered at the seventh General Conference of the In ternational Geodetic Association, which met in Rome, Oct. 16, 1883, the United States being represented by Gen. Cutts, of the Coast Survey. A full report was made upon it by Prof. Hirsch, of the Observatory of Neufchâtel, Switzerland, and the Conference resolved that: The unification of longitudes and of hours is desirable as well in the interest of the sciences as in that of navigation, of commerce, and of international communication; the utility, scientifically and practically, of this reform far surpasses the sacrifices in labor and changes required of a minority of civilized countries. It ought, then, to be recommended to the governments of all countries interested, to be adopted and consecrated by an international convention. Notwithstanding the great advantages which the general introduction of the decimal division of the quadrant for geographic and geodetic co-ordination, and the corresponding expressions for time, is destined to realize, scientifically and practically, reasons eminently sound appear to justify the passing by the consideration thereof in the great measure of unification proposed in the first resolution. Meanwhile, to satisfy at the same time important scientific considerations, the Conference recommends on this occasion the extension, in multiplying and perfecting the necessary tables, of the application of the decimal division of the quadrant, at least for the great numerical calculations for which it presents incontestable advantages, even if it be desired to preserve the sexagesimal division for observations, maps, navigation, etc. This Conference proposes to the governments to choose as initial meridian that of Greenwich, defined by the middle of the pillars of the meridian instrument of the Observatory of Greenwich, because this meridian fulfills, as point of departure of longitudes, all the conditions required by science, and because, being already the most extensively used, it offers better prospects of being generally adopted. The longitude should be reckoned from the meridian of Greenwich, in the sole direction of from west to east. This Conference recognizes the utility for certain wants of science, and for the service of important lines of communication, adopting a universal hour, to be used together with the local or national time, which will necessarily continue to be used in ordinary life. This Conference recommends, as the point of departure of the universal hour and of cosmopolitan date, the mean noon of Greenwich, which coincides with the instant of midnight or with the beginning of the civil day, under the meridian situated at 12 hours or 180° from Greenwich, the universal hours to be counted from zero to 24. It is desirable that those countries which, in order to adhere to the unification of longitudes and of hours, have to change their meridian, should introduce the new system of longitudes as early as possi ble in their official ephemerides and almanacs, in their geodetic, topographic, and hydrographic works, and into their new maps. It would be advisable, in new editions of old maps, to inscribe alongside the numbers of the old meridian what it would be according to the new system. Then the new system should be introduced without delay into the schools. agreed upon the unification of longitudes and hours The Conference hopes that, if the whole world is in accepting the Greenwich meridian as the point of departure, Great Britain will find in this fact an additional motive to take on her side new steps in favor of the unification of weights and measures, by joining the Metrical Convention of May 20, 1875. These resolutions will be made known to the governments and recommended to their favorable consideration, with an expression of the wish of this Conference that an international convention, consecrating cluded as early as possible by means of a special the unification of longitudes and hours, may be conconference. nese. kingdom of Anam, with which it was incorTONQUIN, the most populous province of the porated in 1802. Anam is an absolute monarchy. The total area is about 440,500 square kilometres; the total population about 21,000,000, exclusive of the tributary states of the Laos and the independent Moi tribes. The residence of the King is Hué, which has 50,000 inhabitants. Tonquin has a population of 15,000,000. The capital is Hanoi, containing 150,000 inhabitants, of whom 3,000 are ChiThe mass of the people worship tutelary gods. The majority of the educated class follow the doctrines of Confucius. The Christian religion is professed by about 420,000 persons, under six Catholic bishops. The Anamese army musters about 150,000 men. The total commerce of the port of Haiphong in 1881 amounted to 2,171,428 taels. The principal exports are silk, lac, tin, medicinal drugs, cotton, mushrooms, and anise-seed oil. The trade is chiefly in the hands of the Chinese. The French possessions in Farther India consist of the six provinces of Lower Cochin-China, ceded to France in 1862 and 1867, and containing 1,597,013 inhabitants in 1880. Historical Review. The political and military power of France in Farther India dates from before the Revolution. A French force landed in 1789, by the aid of which, after a ten years' war, Nguyen Anh, or Giacong, established himself upon the throne. This Emperor did not acknowledge the suzerainty of China, of which four centuries before Anam, with Cochin-China and Tonquin, had formed an integral part. His son and successor paid homage to the Emperor of China in order to escape through his protection the tutelage of the missionary priests, who were the officious vehicles of French domination. In 1825 he refused to receive a French embassy. Tonquin, which was incorporated in the new empire of Anam, but chafed under the foreign rule, welcomed the missionaries because they were obnoxious to the Emperor. This was the occasion of a long the Anamite authorities. and cruel persecution of the missionaries by The horrors only ceased upon the death of the tyrant in 1841. His successor, Thieutri, was disposed to repeat the crimes of his father, but took warning from the successes of English arms in the opium war. In 1847 Commodore Lapierre arrived in Turon with two war-vessels, to demand the religious freedom from the Anamite monarch which the Emperor of China had recently granted by treaty. The French commander was warned during the negotiations of an intended massacre, and prepared for combat. Anamite armed craft collected in the harbor, and, when they did not depart upon Lapierre's warning, he opened fire and annihilated the whole fleet. A few months later Thieutri's son succeeded him, under the name of Tuduc. On the pretext that the Christian priests intrigued with one of the imperial princes, he ordered his officers to throw into the water every missionary who fell into their hands. In 1851 and 1852 many were executed. After the termination of the Crimean War, another French vessel of war brought a written message, which the Emperor refused to receive. The commander thereupon bombarded the port and landed troops. Yet after long procrastination the French force sailed away without obtaining any definite terms. This emboldened Tuduc to persist in his persecutions. One of the missionaries, Bishop Pellerin, at last moved Napoleon III to dispatch another expedition, which, under the command of Admiral Rigault de Genouilly, arrived at Turon in August, 1858. The French took the town by assault, and proceeded to fortify it, but by the unwholesome climate the force was soon so reduced that it could not hold the place. The troops therefore re-embarked, and in the beginning of 1859 took Saigon, in Cambodia, by storm. Admiral Rigault de Genouilly was replaced by Admiral Page. While the latter was planning operations against Turon and Hué, the former commander convinced Napoleon of the importance of Saigon and its district. The consequence was, that in the following years the French continued the conquest of Cambodia, fortified and garrisoned Saigon, and repelled the Anamites several times. On June 5, 1862, Tuduc was obliged to sign a treaty which reduced his sovereign rights, and accepted French protection. He would not have submitted to such terms if the Tonquinese had not broken out in rebellion at that time. The leader of the rebel army was Pedro Phuong, a descendant of an ancient dynastic family and a zealous Catholic. The French availed themselves of the difficulties between Anam and Tonquin to encroach upon the powers of Tuduc until, in 1874, after the campaign of 1873, in which François Garnier lost his life, they extorted from him a treaty which reduced him to vassalage. It admitted the French to three ports of Anam, with the right of maintaining a garrison, required the King of Anam to conform his foreign policy to the wishes of France, and promised him assistance in preserving order, suppressing piracy, and defending his land against foreign attacks. Tuduc, instead of carrying out his part of the compact, embraced the ancient feudatory relation to China, which the Peking Government now hastened to reassert, in order to escape the French protectorate. The French Government made no attempt to enforce the treaty, but postponed the matter year after year, until the events in Egypt and the new impulses to external activity spurred them to action. The absorption of Anam and Tonquin would open the gates of China under as favorable conditions as were enjoyed by English merchants in Hong-Kong and Canton. The Alpine province of Yunnan, inhabited by Chinese Mohammedans and aboriginal Mino-tses, is bound by very loose political ties to the Celestial Empire. They held out many years against the Peking Government before their rebellion was suppressed in 1872. It was this rebellion which suggested to the Indian Government, to which the rebels appealed for assistance, the possibility of reopening the great commercial route of antiquity through Burmah to the mouth of the Irrawaddy. The British home authorities, reluctant to give any encouragement to the rebel King, Suleiman, recalled the expedition of Maj. Sladen. The second expedition, in 1874, was driven back by the Chinese, after the interpreter Margary had first been murdered. The route has only recently been explored by Mr. Colquhoun. The rebellion of Suleiman first put, likewise, the Red river route into the minds of the French, and was the occasion of the last war in Tonquin. The French merchant Dupuis was commissioned by the Governor of Yunnan to explore the Red river with reference to transporting materials of war into the disturbed province. The Tonquin authorities forbade the transport of arms and ammunition, Dupuis appealed to his government to punish the Tonquinese, and gallant young French officers were eager for the adventure. With an incredibly small force they stormed citadels, routed armies of the worthless Anamese troops, and occupied the whole country, meeting with no formidable resistance until they encountered the Black Flags. The inaccessible regions in the interior of China were the objective point of the aggressive policy in Burmah of the late British Government. The Red river has every advantage over the overland commercial route from British Burmah. It is an uninterrupted water route; the distance from the ocean is much shorter; and it passes through a country capable of a high material development. Controversy with China.-The treaty was concluded at Saigon, March 15, 1874, between France and Tuduc. The text was communicated to the Chinese Government on March 25, 1875. A protest was immediately (June 10th) returned by China, which declared that it refused to recognize the treaty. In 1880 the Marquis Tseng interrogated M. de Freycinet with reference to a rumored French expedition to Tonquin, and was assured that no |