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Labour Organization once again meets, in this city wliere it was in part created, I did not on behalf of you all, salute the memory of Arthur Fontaine, who was the first Chairman of your Governing Body, and also the name of the man who for e®ii was the embodiment of your institution in the eyes of the wor d Albe t But France is not only happy to welcome you for these reasons, ?y hl J b f P She is fully conscious of the value of your presence on her soil, devastated by d on this European Continent, so' cruelly devastated by the Hitlerite barbarians, and amo g these ancient populations of Europe which have for centuries been devastated by- war, which so profoundly feel the need of an organization based not only on collective security, but also .on the economic solidarity of nations and on social justice. At the present time, so) soon after the end of a cruel war, all peoples realize the enormous material difficulties of the return to peace conditions. They one after the other, on the period of psychological readjustment when the long strain of war is released. They will return to their former aspirations for well-being and social justice, accentuated by the immense lassitude which weighs over us all. The International Labour Organization is, because of its objectives, at the centre of all these problems, and you have for years been preparing to find a solution for them As early as 1941, when so many people were groaning under the yoke of the invader, ana last year in Philadelphia, when hope had revived and those same peoples were beginning to revive underneath their chains and were preparing to assist the enormous armies of the British Empire, America, and the Soviet Union, you began to study certain questions which are bound up with the reconstruction of the world. At the beginning of this Conference I should wish that we might all be convinced of the importance of the role which the International Labour Organization can play in the material, economic, and moral reconstruction of the world. Thanks to its long technical experience, and using to the best advantage the international industrial committees which the Organization has recently! created, and which can be, if we wish, efficient tools _to examine with clarity a difficult and new situation, the International Labour Organization can contribute in a large measure to showing the peoples the way of organized peace. The International Labour Organization will know how to modify its Constitution so as to make it an instrument of increasing value and efficacy. That is _ why the International Labour Organization and its Governing Body has already declared its desire, especially m January in London and in June in Quebec, to be closely linked with the work of the new United Nations Organization, whose creation was welcomed with joy. It will continue the negotiations which it has already undertaken in order to be able to preserve in the new international framework its existing Constitution and the tripartite structure which constitutes its originality and its vitality. It wishes also that its membership may be enlarged so as to include all the Powers, large and small, which took part in the Conference of Ban Francisco, and it is ready to introduce into its Constitution such modifications as will permit of the efficient collaboration of the Organization with the United Nations, and to take on every day a more universal character. Three Vice-Presidents as follow were elected: — Mr. Trujillo* Gurria (Mexico Government delegate) : Sir John Forbes Watson (United Kingdom employers' group) : Mr. Gunnar Andersson (Sweden workers' group). COMMITTEES Following the usual procedure, Committees were set up to examine and report on the subjects before the Conference. Nine such Committees were appointed as follows, the total of each, together with the number oi Governments, employers, and workers respectively being given Selection Committee . . ■ . . 32 (16, 8, 8) Credentials Committee . . . . . • 3 (1, 1, 1) Committee on Standing Orders . . 16 (8, 4, 4) Resolutions Committee .. . . .. 16 (8, 4, 4) Committee on Constitutional Questions .. 64 (34, 16, 16) Committee on Employment . . . . 60 (30, 15, 15) Committee on the Protection of Young Persons 56 (24, 16, 16) Committee on Dependent Territories .. .. 35 (15, 10, 10) Committee on Application of Conventions .. 40 (20, 10, 10)

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