A.—s

Economic Committee. This is one of the permanent organs of the League. Its work has recently been somewhat overshadowed by the International Economic Conference, and its second session this year was devoted to consideration of some of the recommendations of this Conference. An account of its ordinary work since the last Assembly will be found in Document C. 103 (2), M. 48 (1). The Economic Committee's inquiries in connection with the abolition of import and export prohibitions and restrictions have made such progress that the Council of the League has summoned a conference, which is to meet in Geneva in October. Other subjects on which conferences are now contemplated are the treatment of foreign nationals and enterprises, and the unification of economic statistics. The committee continues its work in such subjects as the unification of Customs nomenclature and the unification of bills of exchange, and in connection with questions such as false declarations in Customs matters and economic crises. It was the labours of this committee and of the section of the Secretariat dealing with economic matters which helped to make the International Economic Conference the great success it was. The Second Committee's report to the Assembly is Document A. 70, and the resolution with which it concludes was passed on the 20t.h September. Intellectual Co-operation. The documents before the Second Committee of the Assembly were A. 35, Report on the Ninth Plenary Session of the International Committee on Intellectual Co-operation ; A. 31, Report on the Work of the International Institute of Intellectual Co-operation ; A. 44, Report of the Council and its Resolution of the 2nd September, 1927 ; and A. 26, the Report of the Special Committee of Experts for the Instruction of Children and Youth in the Existence and Aims of the League of Nations. One can only marvel at the variety and extent of the subjects which the Committee on Intellectual Co-operation has thought it advisable to study; and I hope that it is not the lot of any one man or woman to have to assimilate the many reports and papers which the committee sends forth. The committee feels that the time is ripe for a general revision of its organization and the whole field of its activities, but it wants money —its income is insufficient for its present needs. It seems to me that if there is to be reorganization it should be in the direction of concentrating on a few subjects, and finishing the study of them before any of the proposals for new work, which are constantly being made, are seriously considered. It would be a mistake to underrate the usefulness of the committee on Intellectual Co-operation : as a means of bringing together men and women of learning who are united in their desire to achieve a common object it merits attention and support; but "to cut one's coat according to one's cloth " is a good maxim, and those enthusiastic souls who criticize in such strong terms the parsimony of Governments in the intellectual sphere must not lose sight of the demands which are made on the national purses form other directions. I deal, if only briefly, with one aspect of the committee's work —i.e., the final recommendations of the Special Committee of Experts for the instruction of children and youth in the existence and aims of the League of Nations, which are to be found in Document A. 26. The recommendations are ambitious in scope, but doubtless wisdom went to the making of them. Any one with a practical experience of education knows that the average child cannot possibly assimilate teaching given in a set lesson on the aims and functions of the League. As the Special Committee realizes, such teaching as is given will probably be in connection with a lesson on history or geography. In the past we have often paid insufficient attention to foreign ideas and susceptibilities ; we have been too self-satisfied ; but we must beware lest the new outlook engendered by the developments of the Great War lead us too far in the opposite direction. The League during its short life has done good work, but the results achieved can be easily exaggerated. Too much must not be expected of what is at 'present but an imperfect instrument. In the Special Committee's report there is a reference to the Casares proposal for endeavouring to correct any misstatement of fact appearing in school-books. The procedure involved is explained on page 6 ; but it is as well to add here that if the author refuses to see the error of his ways, no further action is proposed. It is not at all pleasant to be told on the highest authority that an item of history flattering to our national susceptibilities is not based on truth, and it is better to confess that it is wrong than to go on teaching it. But surely as much, if not more, harm is done by ephemeral publications which cannot be dealt with in the manner indicated in the Casares proposal. The Second Committee's report (Document A. 63) was considered by the Assembly on the 22nd September, when the resolutions with which it concludes were passed. Educational Cinematographic Institute. The full text of the Italian motion submitted to the Assembly is as follows : — " The Assembly, in consideration of the wishes formulated by several international congresses and meetings, encouraged by many experiments made in Italy in the use of moving pictures for the intellectual development of the nation and its employment as an auxilliary system of teaching in every kind of public school; conscious of satisfying a need which all civilized nations strongly feel, and considering that even the industrial world does not only look at the cinema with a view to speculation, but with a real sense of the lofty and practical objects which it is possible to attain with this new and important form of propaganda J convinced that the creation of an" International Institute of the Educational Cinema, to be established in Rome, might have the most beneficial effects, not only for the Government but also for public and private institutions and commercial enterprises, which will be able

7