THE U. S. BOARD ON GEOGRAPHIC NAMES AND 

 ITS FOREIGN CRITICS 



In the November number of The National Geogeaphic 

 Magazine, under the title "Geographic Aspects of the Monroe 

 Doctrine," is quoted a passage from Petermann's Mittheilungen, 

 44 vol., 1898, wherein exception is taken to the action of the 

 U. S. Board on Geographic Names in deciding certain cases of 

 disputed nomenclature in Canada. Concluding, the writer says : 



" Even admitting the correctness of these changes, exception must be 

 taken to such action in regions which do not belong to the United States. 

 The greater part of these names belong to Canadian territory, where 

 American officials, in spite of the Monroe doctrine, have nothing to say, 

 and where undoubtedly the Canadians have the exclusive right to give 

 the names." 



The United States Board on Geographic Names assumes to 

 control usage only so far as concerns the publications of the 

 United States government. Canada will doubtless continue to 

 spell these names as she chooses, and when she settles upon their 

 spelling the United States Board will probably accept her de- 

 cisions, in accordance with its general policy. But at the time 

 these decisions were made there was no uniform usage in regard 

 to these names, even in Canada, and it was necessary, to meet 

 our own needs, to clear up this confusion in nomenclature. 



While we are on the subject, it may be pertinent to ask why 

 Petermann's Mittheilungen persists in attaching to geographic 

 features in the United States names different from those by which 

 these features are universally known to the people of this coun- 

 try. For instance, it calls the country itself, not United States, 

 but Vereinigte Staaten ; the Rocky mountains, Felsen Gebirge, 

 etc. It is no defense to say that these are translations, for 

 proper names are not susceptible of translation. Mr Baker 

 would ver}^ properly object to being addressed by a Frenchman 

 as M. Boulanger. 



This practice is not confined to the Mittheilungen, or to Ger- 

 many ; every people does the same thing. Most of the princi- 

 pal countries, cities, rivers, etc., of Europe are known to the 

 people of other countries by names different from those by which 

 they are called by the inhabitants themselves. 



H. G. 



