It is hoped that the above procedure will gradually result in the correct and uniform spelling of foreign Place-Names throughout the Empire.
It must also be noted that the Government of the United States of America, after an exhaustive enquiry, has adopted a system in close conformity with that of the R.G.S., and has directed that the spelling of all names in their vast territories should, in cases where the orthography is at present doubtful, be settled authoritatively by a Board appointed for the purpose. The two great English-speaking nations are thus working in harmony.
RULES FOR THE SPELLING OF GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES FOR BRITISH OFFICIAL USE.
(Termed the R.G.S. II system.)
1. The spelling of every place-name in an independent country or self-governing dominion using the Latin alphabet[20] shall be that adopted by the country or dominion, except in the case in which certain important localities have also, in addition to the official name, another customary name, notably different, in which case the name customary in British use (i.e., “conventional”) may be adopted (e.g., Geneva, Warsaw, etc., for Genève, Warszawa, etc.).
2. The spelling of such place-names in colonial possessions as belong to languages coming under Rule (1) will be spelt in accordance with that rule.
3. The accents and diacritical marks in official use by the above countries will be retained. Wherever it appears desirable, the pronunciation will be shown by giving the name as transliterated on the system below.
4. All other place-names throughout the world will (with the exception of “Conventional” names and some others) be spelled in general accordance with the following system, which is based upon, and differs only slightly from, the system long used by the Royal Geographical Society, from which are derived the War Office system, 1906,[21] and the system of the Intelligence Division, Naval Staff, 1917.[22]
The broad features of this system are—