resolution presented by the delegate from the United States, and it was adopted. Mr. CARTER (Hawaii). Mr. President, I hope that this vote will not prevent its being printed. The PRESIDENT. No, sir; it will be printed and laid on the table to morrow. Mr. GOODRICH (United States). Mr. President, if no other gentleman has any other business to propose, my friend on my right suggests that chairmen of committees may want to announce the time for their meetings. We are about to adjourn until Thursday morning. Captain SAMPSON (United States). Mr. President, I would like to have the privilege of asking Committee No. 1 to meet immediately after the adjournment. I give notice to Committee No. 3 to meet to-morrow morning at 11 o'clock. Admiral KAZNAKOFF (Russia). Mr. President, the Committee on Lights will meet to-morrow morning at 11 o'clock. Captain SAMPSON (United States). The Committee No. 1 will meet immediately after the adjournment, and Committee No. 3 will meet tomorrow morning at 11 o'clock. Mr. CARTER (Hawaii). Mr. President, Committee No. 2 will be kind enough to meet immediately after the adjournment. The Conference thereupon adjourned until Thursday morning, December 12, 1889, at 11 o'clock, a. m. WASHINGTON, Thursday, December 12, 1889. 11 o'clock a. m. The Conference was called to order at 11 o'clock a. m., Rear-Admiral Franklin in the chair. The PRESIDENT. The first business in order this morning is the resolution offered by the delegate from the United States December 9, 1889. Mr. GOODRICH (United States). Mr. President, for the present I ask permission to lay that on the table. I do not know that there will be any necessity for its passage. The PRESIDENT. The Secretary will please read the resolution referred to for the information of the Conference. The resolution is as follows: "That the name of the Committee on Collocation of Rules be changed to Committee on Collocation of Rules and on the General Report of the Conference,' and that it be instructed to prepare such a general report in due season." The PRESIDENT. The delegate from the United States proposes to lay that resolution on the table. The question was put to the Conference upon the motion to lay the resolution on the table, and it was carried. The PRESIDENT. The next business in order will be the reading of the titles of the reports which have been handed in. The reports presented to the Conference are as follows: The report of the Committee on Life-Saving Systems and Devices, the report of Committee No. 2, the report of the Committee on Collocation of Rules. Mr. KIMBALL (United States). Mr. President, I wish to call attention to one or two errors in the report of the Committee on Life-Saving Systems and Devices. On page 3, next to the last paragraph, it reads: "The committee are of the opinion that all vessels should be supplied with the proper quantity of animal or vegetable oil." Insert the word "sea-going" before the word "vessel" in the first line. On page 6, in the third resolution, second line, insert the word "sea-going" before the word "vessels." On page 39, the last paragraph should read in this way: "Several ships steaming ten or eleven knots head to wind," etc. Then in the last line erase the word "ahead" and insert the words "over the bows." I would say, Mr. President, that it is a translation in which these errors occur. It is not a good translation, and if it could be reprinted in the original French perhaps it would be better. I do not know whether that would be allowed or not. The PRESIDENT. The delegate from the United States moves that this particular subject be reprinted in the original French instead of the copy which we have before us, because the translation is not a good one. Is the Conference ready for the question? The question was put to the Conference on the motion of the delegate from the United States, and the motion was carried. The PRESIDENT. The subject will be reprinted in the original French. The next question for consideration is the report on General Divisions, 2, 4, and 6, of which Captain Sampson is the chairman. Has he any suggestions to make in regard to the report? Captain SAMPSON (United States). No, sir. The PRESIDENT. The next report in order will be the report of Committee No. 2 on General Divisions 7 and 8. Mr. CARTER (Hawaii). Mr. President, I would like to call attention to one or two errors which will be corrected in the subsequent edition of the report on General Division 8. In the note signed by the five members of the committee, explaining their signature to the report, the word "special" should come in the last line as to the desirability of giving special signals to be used with fog-horns. On the last page, in the signal code J K should come first. The signals NP and JK should be transposed. The PRESIDENT. Will the delegate from Hawaii please state his corrections again? Mr. CARTER (Hawaii). Mr. President, on page 25 the word "special" should be inserted before the word "signals" in the third line of the note which is signed by the five members of the committee, so that it should read: "The undersigned desire to report that in signing the above report they do so without prejudice to the opinions they hold as to the desirability of giving special signals to use with fog-horns on board pilotvessels." It should be "with fog-horns" instead of "on fog-horns." On page 30, the signal "JK" should come before the signal "N P." Those two sentences should be transposed, bringing the signal "N P" in the second place instead of the first. The signal "J K," two short blasts and a long blast, should come before the signal "N P," three short blasts and a long blast. The PRESIDENT. The next report for consideration is that of the Committee on Collocation of Rules. Mr. GOODRICH (United States). Mr. President, on the first page of the report of the committee, in the last two paragraphs, reference is made to the note to be appended to the report, marked Appendix B. That appendix is not yet printed, but probably will be handed in toS. Ex, 53-65 day or to-morrow. On page 7, subdivision f, the last line but one, after the word "anchor," insert a comma. On page 12, the first heading, "Sound-signals for vessels in sight of one another," should come in after Article 28; in other words, at the head of Article 29. The Conference will understand that the note to be appended to the report, marked Appendix B, is to embrace the recommendations dealt with by the Committee on Lights, of which Admiral Kaznakoff is the chairman, and one or two notes which form no part of the regulations themselves, but are to be appended to the report; so that they are not necessary to be used in the consideration of the rules as presented by the committee. The PRESIDENT. These reports are now before the Conference, and the Chair will entertain any motion with regard to them. Mr. GOODRICH (United States). Mr. President, of course I understand that we shall want some little time to consider these reports. Some of them are very important, and unless there is some special report which the members are willing to take up to-day, they had better be suspended for the present. As they are important enough to form a division of the programme, I suggest that they be laid over. There is a subject with which we can occupy a part of the time this morning, and that is the report of the Collocation Committee upon the amendment proposed by the delegate from Norway. The PRESIDENT. The report of the Committee on Lights with regard to that matter has not yet been received, and will not be in until midday. Mr. GOODRICH (United States). Mr. President, let me call the attention of the Conference to this fact. In the interlocutory report of the Collocation Committee, reference is made to that amendment as Article 3 (g). That, of course, is correct according to the condition of the amendment as it was submitted to the Collocation Committee; but that paragraph will now form, if passed, sub-division f of Article 2, the articles having been renumbered. The committee have left it out from their report because it is not yet adopted, the article having been reconsidered. The PRESIDENT. Does the Conference desire to have any of the report read? Mr. HALL (Great Britain). Mr. President, I was about to make a motion to that effect with regard to one of these reports, because I apprehend that it is very possible that the report of Committee No. 2, dealing with General Division 7, the one with regard to lanes for steamers on frequented routes, might be dealt with, if it should be read by the Secretary. It might be possible that we would be able to have all the discussion which is required upon that report now. I do not suggest for a moment that it should be taken up without discussion, for I do not know whether the delegates have read it. I have read it myself this morning, and it appears to me that the matter is conclusively dealt with in the report. It is very short, and perhaps the delegates will be able to say whether they wish to have time to read it over again before dealing with it. I only want to take the sense of the Conferenee upon that. The report appears to me to be very clear and concise, and to deal with all the matters which have been referred to the committce. I would only suggest that we might consider this, as we have nothing to occupy the time until the receipt of the report of the Committee on Lights, which will not be received until nearly midday. We might, therefore, occupy our time in reading this report and seeing whether or not we could deal with it now, or whether, after it has been read, it is necessary to postpone it. The PRESIDENT. Does the delegate suggest that the report and the appendices be read? Mr. HALL (Great Britain). No, sir; only the report of Committee No. 2, and only that part of the report dealing with General Division 7. Mr. GOODRICH (United States). Mr. President, may I ask, in order to finish all the amendments at present before the Conference, the attention of the Conference to the fact that the new section, proposed by myself on November 26, in regard to the necessity of requiring vessels to stand by each other in case of a collision, was postponed until the coming in of the report of the Committee on Life-Saving Systems and Devices. That report is now in, and I should like to have the matter considered, so that the subject can go to the Collocation Committee, unless the learned delegate from Great Britain desires the other course to be pursued. Mr. HALL (Great Britain). Mr. President, I certainly prefer that the amendment of my learned friend, the delegate from the United States, should be taken up for consideration. The PRESIDENT. You can not consider that until you have read this report. Mr. GOODRICH (United States). Mr. President, I have had a moment's conference with the chairman of the Committee on Life Saving Systems and Devices, and he calls to my attention, as I call to the attention of the Conference, the first page of that report. I will read the first paragraph in order that we may understand the bearing of it upon the amendment which I have offered: "Saving of life and property from shipwreck at sea. ""(a) Duties of vessels after collision.' "What these duties are is obvious enough. Common humanity requires that the colliding vessels should remain by each other and render all needed assistance so long as they can do so consistent with their own safety. Experience shows, however, that masters of vessels frequently take advantage of the circumstances attending such disasters to escape from the scene without identification, in order to avoid responsibility. Several of the maritime nations have therefore imposed upon them the legal obligation of performing these natural duties. The extent to which they are evaded, where such legal requirements do not exist, is probably not generally appreciated. The committee have had |