A Cultural League of Nations
When the San Francisco Conference was drawing to its close it came to be realised how important a part in the new world organisa- tion was allotted to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, and one in which the smaller nations would make their full contribution. In connection with this a conference which will probably be held in London early in November will be asked to consider the creation of a United Nations educational and cultural organisation. Draft proposals issued by the Stationery Office last Wednesday define the purposes of the organisation and describe the machinery which should be set up to work it. The underlying idea in the plan is to reinforce peace in the spiritual and intellectual sphere, and the means proposed is international co-operation in education and the " furtherance of cultural interchange in the arts, the humanities and the sciences." General Smuts has been at pains to insist that, important as economics are, economic conditions have not been the sole or even the main causes of differences between nations. Mutual understanding is an essential condition of peace, and understanding depends on the sharing of knowledge and a constant two-way traffic in ideas. Everyone knows how great a part propaganda can play in war. Everywhere today it is looked askance at. But its power is not doubted. It rests on a force which may be used for the purposes of distorting facts, but which is capable of being used for enlightenment. The real antidote to mischievous propaganda is to be found in sincere efforts to diffuse knowledge and cultivate friendly intellectual relations. This is what the new organisation, which will operate through the usual machinery of a conference, an executive council and a permanent secretariat, should promote.
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