Communicated to the Council and the Members of the League.] Official N o .: C. 231. M. 153. 1939.XII. Geneva, August 10th, 1939. LEAGUE OF NATIONS INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE ON INTELLECTUAL COOPERATION Report by Professor G. de Reynold (Rapporteur) on the Work of the Twenty=First Plenary Session of the Committee ( Geneva, July iyth-22nd, 1939.) CONTENTS Page Report ................................................................................................................................................................................ 2 Resolutions adopted by the Committee at its Meeting on July 22nd, 1939: 1. Resolution concerning “ Conversations ” ............................................................................ 2. International Studies C on feren ce.......................................................................................... 3. Study of Social Sciences............................................................................................................ 4. Programme of Work of the Intellectual Co-operation Organisation in the Sphere of the Cinematograph for the Year 1939/40............................................................... 5. Application of the Convention for facilitating the International Circulation of Films of an Educational C haracter................................................................................. 10 6. Unemployment among In tellectu als..................................................................................... 11 7. Committee on Higher E d u c a tio n .......................................................................................... 11 8. International Student O rg a n is a tio n s ................................................................................. 12 9. Sciences............................................................................................................................................ 12 10. Diffusion of Scientific I n f o r m a tio n ..................................................................................... 12 11. International Museums Office................................................................................................... 12 12. Ibero-American C o llectio n ....................................................................................................... 13 13- Libraries........................................................................................................................................... 13 14- Index Translationnm ................................................................................................................ 13 15- World Charter of Authors’ Rights: Meeting of Representatives of Institutions concerned with Intellectual R ights................................................................................. 1 3 16. Third General Conference of National Committees on Intellectual Co-operation. 14 A ppointments t o V a r io u s C o m m it t e e s 14 Appendices : 1. Extracts from the General Report of the Director of the International Institute of Intellectual Co-operation to the International Committee and to the Governing B o d y ....................................................................................................................................... 15 2. Report by the Acting Secretary-General of the Rome International Institute for the Unification of Private Law on the Work of the Institute in the Field of Intellectual Rights (1938/39).......................................................................................... 46 - S.d.N. -415 (F.) 960 (A.). 9/39. Imp. K un dig Series of League of Nations Publications XII. INTELLECTUAL CO-OPERATION 1939. XII.A. 2. Sub-Appendix : Page Draft International Convention for the Protection of National Collections of Art and H i s t o r y ..................................................................................... 47 The International Committee on Intellectual Co-operation held its twenty-first plenary session from July 17th to 22nd, 1939, preceded as usual by a short session of the Executive Committee on Saturday, July 15th. The session was attended by the following : (a) Members of the International Committee on Intellectual Co-operation : Professor Gilbert A. Murray (Chairman), M. C. B ia lo b r z e sk i, M. Julio D antas, M. F. G a rcia -C a ld er ô n , Mlle. E. G le d its c h , M. E. H e r r io t, M. B. Hrozny, M. J. H u izin ga, M. B. d e K e r é k j â r t o (replacing Count Paul Teleki), M. L i Yu Ying (replacing M. Wu-Shi-Fee), M. M. Ozorio de Almeida, M. C. A. P a rd o (replacing Mme. V. Ocampo), M. M. P rim an is, Sir A bdul Q ad ir, M. G. d e R e y n o ld , M. Taha H u ssein , M. N. T itu le s c o , Mr. G. F. Z ook (replacing Mr. J. T. Shotwell). (b) As members of the Executive Committee: M. Julien Cain and Mr. Malcolm D avis. (c) By special invitation : M. Paul V a lé r y , Chairman of the Permanent Committee on Arts and Letters. (d) As representative of the Directors’ Committee of the International Museums Office: M. S. de Madariaga. (e) For the International Labour Office: M. A. Tixier, M. R. B o is n ie r and M. J. A r tu s. (f) For the International Institute of Intellectual Co-operation : M. Henri B o n n e t, Director; M. D. S e c r é ta n , Secretary-General. (g) For the Secretariat of the League of Nations: M. R. I. B. S k y ls ta d , Director in Charge of Intellectual Co-operation Questions; M. F. Vejarano, Member of Section. The following officers were elected : Chairman: Professor Gilbert M u r r a y ; First Vice-Chairman: M. d e R e y n o ld ; Second Vice-Chairman: M. H u izin ga. M. de Reynold was again appointed Rapporteur. Seven new members have been appointed since the last session, which means a material modification in the composition of the Committee. This is now certainly better balanced as regards the representation of continents and branches of intellectual activity. There has even been a slight increase in the number of " scientists This is due to the fact that previously there had been a certain gain in favour of the humane sciences, whereas now, thanks to the recent agreement with the scientific unions, the Committee’s activities are making notable progress in the sphere of the exact and experimental sciences. The character of the twenty-first session was pre-eminently practical and most of the meetings were conducted in a workmanlike atmosphere. According to the established tradition, the Executive Committee had pruned the agenda as much as possible beforehand, so as to leave the plenary Committee to deal only with the most important questions on which decisions had to be taken. It had given the Institute the necessary authorisation to continue its current work. This is not to say that general discussions, or “ discussions of ideas ”, were absent, flie Committee would not be fulfilling its task if it made no attempt to rise above practical and administrative questions. During meetings devoted to the examination of concrete problems, general discussions bring the Committee back to the higher aims of intellectual co-operation. They give an opportunity for divergent opinions and conflicting doctrines to be expressed and contrasted with that unfailing courtesy, scientific impartiality and methodical approach which characterise all the Committee’s debates. They are in the nature of soundings or excursions into the contemporary world ; they provide useful guidance for our work as a whole and s o m e tim e s provide warnings worthy of more attention than they have received. a During the session, three debates of a general character referred first to “ Conversations . secondly, to students and university teaching ; and thirdly, to civic instruction. In this connection, it may be pointed out, experience has shown that frequently debates of this kind, even when — 3 — they have at first sight given the impression of being purely abstract, have later led to practical results. The present report makes no attempt to be exhaustive, but is confined to the essential questions, which are dealt with in the following chapters : (1) “ Correspondence ” and “ Conversations ” ; (2) Scientific study of international relations; (3) Social sciences ; (4) Modern means of spreading information ; (5) Unemployment among intellectuals; (6) Education ; (7) Exact and experimental sciences, spread of scientific knowledge; (8) Fine arts; (9) Literature ; (10) Music ; (11) Intellectual rights ; (12) National Committees. The resolutions adopted by the Committee show the decisions taken by it, some of which are not mentioned in this report. On a number of points, too, the Minutes should be consulted for details of the work assigned to the Institute during the coming year. I. “ C orrespondence " a n d " C onversations ” Last year, there was a long debate on this question. The time seemed to have come, after several years experience, to make a critical examination of the principle of the " Conversations ”, the methods employed and the results achieved. This examination was undertaken by the Committee on Arts and Letters at Nice in October 1938, under the chairmanship of M. Paul Valéry. Its conclusions were examined by the Committee on Intellectual Co-operation, which endorsed them. The Committee on Arts and Letters was of opinion that, in present circumstances, the principle of holding meetings devoted to the general interests of the mind should be maintained, as well as the essential features which have hitherto characterised the organisation of the “ Conversations ”, but that