NATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR RESEARCH—GRAF 423 
of the world. Thus our standard of living cannot be completely and 
permanently independent of that of other peoples. 
Asa prelimininary to improving the economic status of peoples it is 
urgent to speed the work of recovery in all countries. This heavy task 
calls for international cooperation in all fields of science. Obviously 
those nations that have suffered the least must assume the leadership 
in this program of restoration. The question as to where this coopera- 
tion should start or what it should undertake is one of some magnitude. 
The most urgent need is in those countries that were overrun by the 
Axis, in which science was destroyed in part and scattered. The 
first step is to help each nation to help itself by organizing exchanges 
of current literature, abstracts, and translations as rapidly as possible 
and to bring victims of a scientific black-out up to date on recent 
world research. Restoration of the scientific literature in war-area 
libraries is a large task, but an early beginning should be made. Con- 
tacts between workers on similar problems should be established and 
assistance given, if only advisory, on research materials, equipment, 
and other facilities. International contacts and meetings concerned 
with science should be expedited and the exchange of students and 
teachers promoted. The preliminary operations in these fields are 
largely multilateral in nature and they should fall within the scope 
of international organizations. Of these the one covering the broad- 
est field is the newly formed UNESCO; and there are others of lesser 
scope, some of which are ready for operation. It is too early to make 
promises as to the activities of UNESCO, for it is still in the pre- 
liminary stage of organization. Specific programs have been pro- 
posed covering such subjects as the social problems of housing, lan- 
guage teaching, and surveys for rehabilitation of the educational 
systems in devastated countries. It will undoubtedly serve on a world- 
wide basis to promote the free flow of information, both cultural and 
scientific, and to encourage the exchange of students, teachers, scien- 
tists, and artists. It will be a general source of information to facili- 
tate giving to nations the educational, scientific, and cultural aids lost 
in the war. In undertaking these activities, however, the projected 
aid is on an advisory rather than on an active participating level. 
The more active operating programs in international cooperation 
will include those on a bilateral basis. Such projects, arranged through 
the Committee for Scientific and Cultural Cooperation, are already in 
operation in many places in this hemisphere. Projects of this type, 
now active, include such diverse fields as agriculture, anthropology, 
geology, tidal studies, vital statistics, and meteorology. There is in- 
cluded also cultural cooperation in many fields of the humanities and 
the exchange of personnel, including scientists. These projects, which 
must be of value to both participants, are operated on the level of the 
people, and active participation by both countries is required. The 
