IN THE PACIFIC

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 46, 23 August 1927, Page 10

IN THE PACIFIC

UNION FOR AMITY

PERMANENT ORGANISATION

BRIDGING DISTANCES

[Written for "The Post" by Professor J. B. Condliffe.)

It ia inevitable that in an international conference so representative of different civilisations as the Institute of Pacific Relations Conference has been, there shall be occasional unforgettable incidents. No one is likely to forget the great speeches made by Dr. David Yui and Sir Frederick Whyte at the opening session. Dr. Yui presented a

I simple dispassionate outline of outstanding incidents and difficulties, clear, unemotional, and perfectly frank. The British, spokesman followed with a masterly review of the whole political situation in the Far East. The previous day Dr. Yui had quoted an old proverb inviting us to take long views from the mountain top. : Sir Frederick Whyte accepted the invitation, but asked also that China should come with him into the valley and .make a map of the road to the distant goal. > There were other picturesque incidents, notably the statement delivered

by a charming Korean lady in a ring-

ing voice and pure English. New Zea-

land, too, provided in Dr Buck one of the personalities of the confei 3nce.

His lecture on. the. first-evening < ling with the watch-cry from the hill pa

just before the dawn, wlich he aptly fittid to the Pacific situation, made a profound impression. The leader of the New Zealand group also, Mr. Walter Nash, by the tribute" ne -paid to Sir James Allen's generosity and by the presentation of New Zealand's general

position on such matters as the Singapore Base, added a very significant note. His own views as one of the leaders of the Labour movement were quite clear, but his recognition and presentation of other and, in some cases, more widely held viewpoints was $oth generous and fair. AIMING HIGH. But all these and many other, incidents of a picturesque nature, and, indeed, the whole conference, were less important than the difficult committee discussions which grappled with the question of. permanent organisation. The location of headquarters, budget, staffing, the development of new lines of activity, the building up of a cob-stitution-—all these and other problems an difficult. Either the Institute of Pacific Relations will become an increasingly important clearing-house of international understanding in the Pacific, or it will become a fiasco. It is aiming so high that failure will mean a great fall. There was much discussion as to the real purpose of the whole movement, and especially concerning the place of newspaper publicity in relation to that purpose. Generally speaking, the Americans and the British group had different points of view concerning publicity. It is -clear, however/ that since the Institute is not a diplomatic or a semidiplomatic, but an educational body,

it has much to gain from, sympathetic

co-operation with responsible newspapers in the interpretation of its work and the education of public opinion. If there is "a new diplomacy" its chief characteristic is that it is carried on against a more obvious background of public interest and opinion. It is the shaping of that opinion which is the institute's primary aim. AN INFORMATION SERVICE.

< Thia it proposes to do by bringing as far as may be possible responsible leaders of thought, especially academic leaders, business men,' men of affairs, and those who are' able to reach and influence large sections of public opinion in their own countries, into intimate'personal contact. In order to make this contact effective and valuable research is needed and information services as distinct from research. The difficulties of communication across the Pacific, both north and south and east and west; are very real obstacles to peace. There is, as a British spokesman put it, no other important area of world politics of which we are so fundamentally ignorant. Therefore the gathering and dissemination "of accurate information stands in the forefront of the institute's activities. It is possible that this function may need again to be subdivided by the provision of an information as distinct from a scientific research service. The necessity for a . translation service has also been amply demonstrated. These and other developments, however, lie in the future. Under the constitution which is being submitted for ratification to the various National Councils the general secretary derives direct, authority from the Pacific Council without any executive committee intervening. In consequence the secretariat emerges with heavier responsibilities and greater freedom of initiative. Upon the cautious but definite policies of development carried through within the new few years depends the future of the institute. No one is.likely to claim that the experimental stage is more than barely begun; but it is a unique experiment worth making an effort to build international co-opera-tion and; good-will upon the solid foundation of scientific study and mutual understanding.