Speech #540019432

At some points along the line both the Canadian surveyors and our own have made observations. At one pointat the crossing of Forty Mile Creekthe two surveys are only about 0 feet apart. in another placeat the Yukon River they are 618 feet apart. The meridian has been located with this approximate degree of accuracy upon the principal water courses which form the highways by means of which miners and other immigrants enter the country. It is very desirable. in the opinion of the Department of State. in the opinion of the Senate. who have passed this joint resolution. and in the opinion of the Committee on Appropriations. who have reported it to the House. that this survey should be promptly completed by duly authorized commissioners on the part of the Dominion of Canada and duly authorized commissioners on the part of the Government of the United States. that an agreement should be reached and monuments should be set up at all the principal points along the one hundred and fortyfirst meridian. in order that settlers and others shall be able to tell whether any particular spot is in the British possessions or is United States territory. So soon as the principal points may have been ascertained by astronomical survey and monuments erected upon the ground. those points may be connected by lines run by the ordinary methods of triangulation.