Mr. VALERA, Delegate from Spain, announced that he had no power to pledge his country on this subject; that his authority merely extended to the power of recommending to his Government such resolutions as this Conference might adopt. Count LEWENHAUPT, Delegate of Sweden, then said: "I desire to state in the protocol that I have no power to engage my Government by my votes on the different questions which will be submitted to this Conference, and that, therefore, these votes must only be considered as an engagement on my part to recommend to my Government the decisions for which I vote." General STRACHEY, Delegate of Great Britain, said that in the name of the Delegates of Great Britain he wished to state that they were in the same position, but that would not prevent them or this Conference from forming an opinion and expressing it. The PRESIDENT stated that on behalf of the Delegates from the United States they had no power except that of discussion and recommendation. Mr. DE STRUVE made, on behalf of the Delegates of Russia, a declaration identical with that made by the Delegate of Sweden. Baron VON ALVENSLEBEN, Delegate from Germany, made the same announcement on behalf of his Government. Mr. FERNANDEZ, Delegate from Mexico, made the same announcement. Mr. VALERA, Delegate of Spain, remarked that this Conference was called together not merely to discuss the subject of a prime meridian, but to determine, so far as these Delegates were concerned, the propriety of adopting a particular prime meridian, and that his Government would decide afterwards whether it would accept what this Conference should recommend. Dr. CRULS, Delegate of Brazil, stated that his Government authorized him to take part in the discussion, but not to commit his Government to the adoption of any particular proposition. Mr. FLEMING, Delegate of Great Britain, said that he would like to call the attention of the Conference to the language of the act of Congress calling this Conference together, and that language runs as follows: "That the President of the United States be authorized and requested to extend to the Governments of all nations in diplomatic relations with our own an invitation to appoint delegates to meet delegates from the United States in the city of Washington, at such time as he may see fit to designate, for the purpose of fixing upon a meridian proper to be employed as a common zero of longitude and standard of time-reckoning throughout the globe." He added that he thought the object of the Conference clearly was to determine and to recommend; that although the word "recommend" was not used in the body of the resolution, it was certainly understood, and, as a matter of fact, the title of the joint resolution passed by Congress contains the word "recommend." It reads as follows: