FINAL ACT OF SECOND PAN AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC CONGRESS. 133 



Americas but between North and South America. In view of this situ- 

 ation and of the determined and high-minded efforts made by the leading 

 Nations of the world to suppress this iniquitous traffic, it is highly desir- 

 able that the American Republics take up and seriously consider the 

 advisability of adhering to the conventions already concluded or of con- 

 cluding other conventions if for one reason or another the existing 

 conventions are not considered wholly satisfactory. The Congress con- 

 tented itself, however, with the simpler recommendation that the Ameri- 

 can Republics adhere to the existing conventions, because their subject 

 matter, although deeply concerning the Republics from standpoints of 

 morality and of public health, was nevertheless political in its nature, and 

 it was felt that it would be more in harmony with the nature and scope 

 of the Congress and its nonpolitical character for the Congress to content 

 itself with the simple recommendation that the Republics ratify the ex- 

 isting conventions concerning the white-slave trade. 



ARTICLE 42. The Second Pan American Scientific Congress recommends 

 that 



There be established throughout the American Republics uniform 

 methods in the presentation of statistics, in the classification 

 of merchandise and in the manufacture thereof, in the stand- 

 ard of weights, measurements and tests, in nomenclature and 

 specifications, in administrative customs regulations, and in 

 the schedules of port charges. 



Provision be made for the collection and study of the data thus 

 made available, through some organization which will assure 

 a thorough and scientific comparative study of the ques- 

 tions involved. 



The program of Section IX included the leading financial and industrial 

 problems confronting the Republics of the American Continent. It is 

 natural, therefore, that long before the assembling of the Congress the 

 program of this section should have aroused keen interest, not only 

 amongst those appointed as delegates but also in the leading scientific 

 organizations of Central and South America. The selection of certain 

 leading topics well in advance of the meeting of the Congress enabled 

 the delegates to undertake special inquiries on such topics prior to leav- 

 ing their respective countries, and thus added greatly to the interest and 

 value of the sessions. 



Few questions have aroused such lively interest in recent times as 

 that of better means of communication between the countries of this 



