Eighth General Assembly

I duly attended the eighth General Assembly of I.C.S.U., held in Washington D.C., on October 6–10 last. Two representatives from New Zealand had been provided for by I.C.S.U., but I found myself the sole representative for this country.

Members of the Council may recall that in the past I have always been critical of and about the value of the continued adherence of the Royal Society of New Zealand to I.C.S.U. After attending the General Assembly and learning something of the value to science generally of I.C.S.U., and its various activities I have now come to the conclusion that I.C.S.U. is an organisation of the utmost importance to science, and that it should be supported to the full by all national scientific organizations. I.C.S.U. operates at a very high level, and although non-political, one might describe it as “pseudo-political”. It provides next to U.N.E.S.C.O. what seems to me to be the most fruitful source and workable avenue of international co-operation between the different peoples of the world. Through I.C.S.U., with the advance of knowledge, lies one of the world's greatest hopes for better international understanding, and for these reasons I suggest that I.C.S.U. should receive our utmost support. Our own tardiness in the past in this respect I think, has been largely due to lack of background information about I.C.S.U., but the recent Assembly took very definite steps to remove this barrier to international co-operation, a point which was raised by almost every national adhering body present. This is reflected in several of the draft resolutions, and during 1959 a new journal, the “I.C.S.U. Review,” is to appear, under the editorship of Sir Harold Spencer-Jones. The purpose of this journal is to keep national members and scientists generally fully informed concerning the various activities in international science sponsored or otherwise guided by I.C.S.U. and to provide a forum for the discussion of all aspects of international science and co-operation in scientific research.

Among the draft resolutions from the Assembly the following should be noted as of special importance for immediate action: 6, 8, 9. Other important resolutions requiring the attention of National Members are—4, 10b, 13 (1), 13 (2), 13 (3), and the resolution on the policy of political non-discrimination. With regard to resolution 14, and to the Committee for Interspatial Contamination these may cause some surprise in New Zealand circles, but from information placed before the Assembly it was quite evident that something along these lines was essential, especially if the enormous sums of money being spent on this type of research were not to be wasted through some possibly minor lack of planning and co-operation at the highest levels. Concerning resolution 4, I would suggest that if our Society has any funds to spare a donation of 300 dollars might be made by the Royal Society to this fund. I.C.S.U. now supports its own administration entirely from its own income, as do most of the unions. The funds received as a subvention from U.N.E.S C.O. are now used solely for international projects. The purpose of the capital fund is to provide a source of financial stability to draw upon for emergency expenditure and to provide interim finance for projects financed by subvention until the subvention moneys become available. A further resolution proposed by the British delegation reads as follows:—

“To instruct the Executive Board to provide fuller information to all members of I.C.S.U. between General Assemblies and in this connection it is suggested that the Secretary General provide for distribution to Scientific and National Members reports on the meetings of the Executive Board, Special Committees and other agencies of I.C.S.U. together with such documents as the Executive Board may determine, at the same time that the reports are forwarded to the membership of those bodies.”

In connection with resolution 6 it appears that the U.N.E.S.C.O. subvention has been dwindling for several years, due to the ever widening field of U.N.E.S.C.O. activities and the continuing depreciation in the value of money. It was clear that U.N.E.S.C.O. subventions were wisely spent by I.C.S.U., and great value was obtained from every dollar used. However, it also was clear that a new look at the objectives of U.N.E.S.C.O was necessary and a new philosophy towards science is needed in the governing circles of U.N.E.S C.O.

The problem of the biological effects of radiation was on the agenda of the Assembly, but it was decided to take no further action on this matter at present as this has now been taken over in its entirety by the United Nations. If, however, scientists are not satisfied with the U.N. activity in this connection, this matter can again be brought before I.C.S.U. thorugh one of the unions.

Invitations to hold the next General Assembly, in 1961, either in Lisbon or London, were received from the National Academy of Portugal and from the Royal Society of London, and these were referred to the Executive Board for decision. Meetings of the Executive Board and of the General Assembly may be held in any country, and we should give some consideration in the next few years to the possibility of such a meeting being held in New Zealand.