This modification would offer for the whole of Europe and for the greatest part of America the advantage of avoiding the double date in local and universal time during the principal business hours of the day, and would afford great facilities in the transition from local time to universal.

In adopting the universal time for the astronomical almanacs and for astronomical ephemerides, and in counting the beginning of the day from the midnight of Greenwich, there would be, it is true, a modification of the astronomical chronology, as heretofore used; but we think it easier for the astronomers to change the starting point, and to make allowance for these 12 hours of difference in their calculations, than it would be for the public and for the business men, if the date for the universal time began at noon, and not at midnight.

The Conference at Rome proposes to count the longitudes from O deg. to 360 deg. in the direction from west to east.  It seems to us that this system can lead to misunderstanding in the local and universal chronology for the countries beyond the 180 deg. east of Greenwich.

We believe that a more practical result of the reform could be easily obtained by modifying the clause IV of the resolutions of the Roman Conference, and by maintaining the system already in use for a long time, which is to count the longitudes from 0 deg. to 180 deg. to east and west, adopting the sign + for eastern longitudes, and the sign — for western longitudes Thus the transition from universal to local time could be exactly expressed by the formula: 

Universal time = Local time — Longitude.

The adoption of this modification would necessitate that the change of the day of the week, historically established on or about the anti-meridian of Greenwich, should henceforth take place exactly on that meridian.

We are in favor of the adoption of the universal time (clause V of the resolutions of the Roman Conference) side by side with the local time, for international telegraphic correspondence, and for through international lines by railroads and steamers.

We fully accept the resolution of the Roman Conference concerning the introduction of the system of counting the hours of the universal day from 0 to 24; and we think it desirable that the same system should be introduced for counting the hours in ordinary life.  This would greatly contribute to the disappearance of the arbitrary division of the day into two parts, a. m. and p. m., and to an easier transition from local to universal time.

We think it advisable to mark on all general maps the meridians in time as well as in degrees of longitude, which would render the reform familiar to the public, and facilitate its introduction in the education of the young.

On maritime charts the longitudes ought to be given in degrees, as these are necessary for the determination of distances in maritime miles.