Peace that Passeth Understanding
The Cultural and Scientific Conference for World Peace which met in New York last weekend was more a matter for tears than for laughter, though the element of comedy Was not lacking. There was, for example, something comic about the choice of the Waldorf- Astoria Hotel ass the scene for the denunciation of American capitalism, and it was also possible to be amused at the embarrass- ment with which the few criticisms of Russia were received by the audience of the faithful. But nobody who cares for intellectual freedom can fail to be saddened by the debauching of a noble idea cx the gulling of well-intentioned individuals. Nothing is more admirable than the co-operation of eminent men and women from all countries for the purpose of international understanding ; nothing more pathetic than the sight of minds dragooned into uniformity by a political system. All this has often been sadly remarked on, and each new Communist " peace " conference must be the occasion for a restatement of what intellectual freedom really does mean. Definition is made more difficult by the fog of misinterpretation with which loyal Marxists, such as those at the Waldorf-Astoria, surround themselves. They pass resolutions in favour of " strengthening the United Nations " and of " cultural freedom." They know, and we know, that this means strengthening Russia's diplomatic position and encouraging the dissemination of Communist dogma, but there is no doubt that the continued misuse of terms makes all intellectual argument more difficult. The Communists are the most tyrannical masters of language since Humpty-Dumpty, and a profitable occupation for men of culture and science would be, as Mr. Bernard Shaw has suggested, to reach an accepted defini- lion for some of the more familiar terms in modern controversy.
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