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Amendments to the Rules op Procedure regarding Election of Vice-Presidents of the Assembly. Unlike the proposal to increase the number of members of the Supervisory Commission, to which reference will be found in my remarks regarding Committee No. 4, this proposal was carried in the committee, by the small majority of ten to eight, a great majority of States refraining from voting. The matter was raised again in the Assembly by the delegate for Norway, and it was eventually decided not to adopt the report of the committee (Document A. 72), but to postpone the matter until next year, on the understanding that fresh proposals on the subject will be placed on the agenda of the Assembly in 1930. COMMITTEE No. 2. Intellectual Co-operation. The documents placed before the Second Committee in connection with intellectual co-operation are numbered A. 20 and A. 24. The committee also considered the report to the Council on the first session of the governing body of the International Educational Cinematograph Institute at Rome. In my report last year I dealt fully with the work of intellectual co-operation, and particularly with the education of the young regarding the League of Nations. My advocacy of the preparation of text-books suitable for teachers and students has borne fruit. The Secretariat has published an excellent little book, entitled " The Aims and Organization of the League of Nations." The Secretariat has also published an Educational Survey, which is in the nature of a supplement to the former book. It is proposed that in future there shall be two issues each year of the Survey. The book on the " Aims and Organizations of the League " has found considerable favour, and there is a demand for its translation into languages other than English and French, at the expense of the League. Many who consider intellectual co-operation as amongst the most valuable of the League's activities have contended that the section has been rather too ambitious in its hopes, and has undertaken more than it can adequately cope with. In short, the committee is suffering from a surfeit of tasks, and the advice of a physician is necessary to get it back to normal health. The International Committee of Intellectual Co-operation itself came to the conclusion that an inquiry was necessary. The appointment of a committee of investigation seemed preferable to allowing the section to work out its own salvation. It is to be hoped that, once there has been reorganization, the International Committee will resist all demands to take up new work which it feels it cannot satisfactorily undertake. A brief history of the whole movement and an account of the present position will be found on pages 1 and 2 of Document A. 20. The International Educational Cinematograph Institute at Rome was opened in November, 1928, by the King of Italy. The purpose generally is to study the use of moving pictures for the intellectual development of the nation, and their employment as an auxiliary system to teaching in every kind of public school. The governing body has drawn up two sets of regulations, one set dealing with administration and the other with finance. It is to be congratulated on having decided to begin operations with only the small staff necessary to carry out its policy of gradual development. The report to the Assembly is Document A. 64, and the Assembly passed on the 21st September the resolutions with which it concludes. Economic Committee. An account of the important work of the Economic Committee and of the Economic Consultative Committee will be found in the report on the work of the League, pages 62-85 (Document A. 6) and pages 29-33 (Document A. 6 (a) ). The work of the Economic Committee widens in scope as the years go on. It is remarkably well done, and the reports issued by the section of the Secretariat concerned are valuable. It may be doubted, however, whether the results achieved are commensurate with the labour and money expended. Of course, in most cases results can be secured only by the action of Governments, especially in the field of signature and ratification of conventions ; but action at the moment is not very vigorous and is limited in scope. Great hopes were entertained from the application of the recommendations of the World Economic Conference of 1927. These hopes, whilst they may still exist, have certainly not been realized, for nothing has been done to carry out the recommendations. Of the many subjects dealt with by the Economic Committee, I desire to draw your attention to two especially —(1) the campaign against diseases of animals and plants ; (2) the exploitation of the riches of the sea. In connection with the former .I am sending you a print of Document C. 525, M. 155, 1928, being the report of the Sub-committee of Experts on Veterinary Questions, and I would also refer you to my remarks on the subject contained in my report on last year's Assembly. When the information sought by the sub-committee is received from Governments, the members propose to study the problem of the inspection of meat intended for export. Three specialists have been invited to take part in the deliberations of the sub-committee. It may be remembered that last year, when this sub-committee was set up, I succeeded in getting Lieut.-Colonel H. A. Reid, who was for many years on the staff of the Agricultural Department in New Zealand, appointed to it as one of the specialists—a step amply justified by the importance to New Zealand of the frozen-meat industry. The other subject —the exploitation of the riches of the sea —also concerns New Zealand, since the Economic Committee is dealing with whales under a resolution of the Eighth Assembly. It is now proposed to convene a meeting of experts in January next in order to decide whether, and in what terms and what areas, international protection of whales could be established. I understand that

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