Rear-Admiral Samuel R. Franklin, for his courteous, impartial, and able conduct in the chair.

The PRESIDENT. I thank you, gentlemen, for the kind words which have just fallen from the learned first delegate for Great Britain. Any language which I can command would inadequately express the feelings which I have upon this occasion. If I have administered the duties of my office to the satisfaction of the delegates present, it is owing in a great measure to the kind courtesy which they have always displayed towards me, and to the courtesy which they have at all times extended to each other, even in the midst of the most heated debates. You have done your duty, gentlemen, with great ability and with industry such as is rarely witnessed in a conference of this kind. You have worked untiringly and unceasingly day and night. Now the results of your labors will come before the world, and I trust they will be found most satisfactory, as I hope and believe they will. In wishing you good-bye and a happy New Year, I trust that you will find the Atlantic smooth for your passage across, and that you will be received at home by your governments with the credit which you all so well deserve. The motion of the delegate from Great Britain tendering a vote of thanks to the President of the Conference was put to the Conference after having been seconded by Admiral Kaznakoff (Russia), and unanimously adopted.

Dr. SIEVEKING (Germany). Mr. President, I beg leave to propose a resolution which I am sure will meet with the most cordial approval of all the members of the Conference. I beg to propose a vote of thanks to the Secretaries of the Conference, and to the officers detailed by the United States Government to assist us. Their work, as we all know, has been a very extensive and important one. They have given us the whole of their time for nearly three months, since the very first day of their appointment to their duties, and the great number of resolutions passed by the Conference, the many printed pages, and the many committee reports which have been laid before us, all testify to the fact that great zeal has been displayed by the Secretaries and by the officers assisting them, in performing their most important duties.

I am sure that I am only expressing what is the general feeling of the Conference when I say that we never could have thought of arriving at the conclusion of our work in so satisfactory a manner, and in so short a time, without the valuable assistance they have rendered us. But I believe I would fail in fully expressing the feelings of the members of the Conference here present if I did not add that it is not only the zeal which they have bestowed upon the performance of their duty, but it is the very courteous manner in which they have met all the wishes of the delegates, and they were very numerous and trespassed upon their time to a very great degree, which deserves to be gratefully acknowledged. The great courtesy, affability, and kindness in which they have met all our wishes, and the ability with which they have fulfilled them, certainly entitle them to the lasting gratitude of the Conference. I beg to

propose that the thanks of the Conference be expressed to the Secretaries of the Conference and the officers detailed by the United States Government for their services and the valuable assistance given by them to the work of the Conference.

Captain RICHARD (France). Mr. President, I most heartily support the proposition which has been put before this Conference by the learned Dr. Sieveking. In so doing it is unnecessary for me to state the grounds which lead me to support it, and to repeat them. You are all familiar with them. It would evidently be difficult for me to say anything which the members of the Conference have not felt and thought for themselves. But among the secretaries who have co-operated with us, there is a certain number of distinguished officers of the United States Navy whose names have not appeared in any reports of our sessions. I therefore ask that their names be set forth in Dr. Sieveking's resolution as a testimonial of our gratitude both for the permanent and the temporary secretaries who, either in the Conference or in the committees, have assisted us with that courtesy and affability which Dr. Sieveking has so justly described.

I therefore ask that the names be mentioned of Lieutenant Cottman, Mr. Spring-Rice, Mr. Walter Blaess, Mr. Charles Ribière, Lieutenant Beatty, Lieutenant Bostick, Lieutenant Ridgely Hunt, Lieutenant Newton, and Ensign Howard.

If you are of the same opinion, of which I have no doubt you are, we will render to those gentlemen due justice, and the only testimony in our power of showing how we appreciate their enlightened and intelligent services.

If now, at the close of this year and on the eve of the morrow which will give light to a new one, I am allowed to express a wish, it is as follows: May they retain the same pleasant remembrances of us that we will retain of them.

The PRESIDENT. If the Secretaries had a voice upon this floor I have no doubt they would suitably thank the delegate from Germany and the delegate from France for the kind words which they have spoken in their behalf. I therefore, take occasion to thank the Conference for them for these kind words, and also to say that I have, myself, received a great deal of valuable assistance from them.

My first supposition was that the Conference would be adjourned sine die, but upon conversation with some of the delegates I have had reason to change my mind. I will read a letter which I received from the Department of State this morning:

"DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

"Washington, December 31, 1889.

"Rear Admiral S. R. FRANKLIN, U. S. Navy, etc.,

"International Maritime Conference:

"SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 31st inst., saying that the International Maritime Conference will probably

conclude its labors on this date, and to state that you are hereby authorized to adjourn the Conference sine die, whenever in your judgment its labors are concluded.

"You will cause the reports and conclusions of the Conference to be certified to this Department in the usual manner.

"In adjourning the Conference you may give suitable expression to the gratification of the Department at the harmony which has prevailed among the members thereof, and to the hope that the commercial world may be materially benefited by the results of its deliberations.

"I am, sir, your obedient servant,

"JAMES G. BLAINE."

I thought I could give no better expression to my views in regard to this matter than by reading this letter. There appears to be no further business before the Conference.

The Conference will now rise.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

INTERNATIONAL MARINE CONFERENCE,

Hon. JAMES G. BLAINE,

Washington, December 31, 1889.

Secretary of State, Department of State.

SIR: I have the honor to inform you that the Conference, at a ses. sion held on December 30, 1889, upon motion of the first delegate for France, passed the following resolution:

Resolved, That a final act be printed showing for each division of the programme, and in the order of the divisions, the resolutions adopted by the Conference.

This act to be signed in the name of the Conference by the President and the Secretary.

In compliance with this resolution I have the honor to transmit said Final Act.

FINAL ACT.

The President of the United States of America, in pursuance of a special provision of Congress, having extended to the Governments of all maritime nations in diplomatic relations with his own, an invitation to send delegates to a Maritime Conference to meet in the city of Washington on the 16th of October, 1889, to discuss, revise, and amend the rules, regulations, and practice concerning vessels at sea and navigation generally, this International Marine Conference assembled at the time and place designated, and, after careful and patient discussion and consideration of the entire programme, passed the following resolutious upon the subjects contained under the various General Divisions:

GENERAL DIVISION 1.

Marine signals or other means of plainly indicating the direction in which vessels are moving in fog, mist, falling snow, and thick weather, and at night.

RULES FOR THE PREVENTION OF COLLISIONS AND RULES OF THE ROAD.

1. Visibility, number, and position of lights to be carried by vessels.

(a) Steamers under way.

(b) Steamers towing.

(c) Vessels under way, but not under command, including steamers laying cable.

(d) Sailing vessels under way.

(e) Sailing vessels towing.

(f) Vessels at anchor.

(g) Pilot vessels.

(h) Fishing vessels.

2. Sound signals; their character, number, range, and position of in

struments.

(a) For use in fog, mist, falling snow, and thick weather, as position signals.

For steamers under way.

For steamers towing.

⚫ For sailing vessels under way.

For sailing vessels towing.

(These signals to show the approximate course steered if possible.)

For vessels at anchor.

For vessels under way, but not under command, including steamers laying cable.

(b) For use in all weather as helm signals only.

For steamers meeting or crossing.

For steamers overtaking.

For steamers backing.

(c) Whether helm signals shall be made compulsory or remain optional.

3. Steering and sailing rules.

(a) Sailing vessels meeting, crossing, overtaking, or being overtaken by each other.

(b) Steamers meeting, crossing, overtaking, or being overtaken by each other.

(c) Sailing-vessels meeting, crossing, overtaking, or being overtaken by steamers.

(d) Steamers meeting, crossing, overtaking, or being overtaken by sailing-vessels.

(e) Special rules for channels and tide-ways, where no local rules exist.

(f) Conflict of international and local rules.

(g) Uniform system of commands to the helm.

(h) Speed of vessels in thick weather.

Resolved, That in the opinion of the Conference it is inexpedient to adopt course-indicating sound signals in foggy or thick weather; inasmuch as among the other strong reasons presented by the SoundSignal Committee, if such signals were used in crowded waters, danger would result from the uncertainty and confusion produced by a multiplicity of signals, and from the false security that would be created in the minds of mariners, and if vessels were navigated in dependence