necessarily been confined, however, to a sketch of some developments resulting from the war which have led to a new and promising unification of research activities, in harmony with the spirit of the times. III THE INTERNATIONAL UNION OF ACADEMIES AND THE AMERICAN COUNCIL OF LEARNED SOCIETIES By WALDO G. LELAND Department of Historical Research in the Carnegie Institution of I. THE INTERNATIONAL UNION OF ACADEMIES The stimulus which the war gave to the organization of research in the fields of pure and applied science has been described in the preceding pages. At first thought the humanistic studies (for the purposes of this article definable as philosophy, philology, archaeology, history, economics, and the political and social sciences), might appear to have been outside the influence, except as their progress was retarded, of the world conflict. Such, however, was far from being the case. In each country scholars in the humanities were called upon to shape and temper that form of public sentiment which we learned to call morale, to reorganize old agencies of government for the more efficient performance of their functions, and to develop new agencies to meet new demands. Such activities, however, affected particularly the individual scholar trained in the humanities rather than the organization of research in those fields of learning. There were, it is true; minor organizations for war purposes in the fields of history, economics, and political science but nothing in any way comparable to the National Research Council. When it came, however, to making preparations for the negotiation of peace the relative status of these studies was materially altered. The elaborate organizations, such as the "House Inquiry" in the United States and the Historical Section in the British Foreign Office, which were developed for the purpose of making an intensive study of the various problems that would come for settlement before the Peace Conference, were composed very largely if not exclusively of humanistic scholars. With the assembling in Paris of the various peace delegations there were brought together large groups of these scholars whose presence furnished the opportunity, as the creation in the preceding fall of the International Research Council offered the inspiration, for the organization of an International Union devoted to the humanities. The initiative in this movement was taken by the French Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres which in March, 1919, issued an invitation to the principal academies and learned societies of the allied countries to send representatives to a conference to be held in Paris during the month of May. The invitation so admirably sets forth the objects of the proposed conference that it is worth while to quote the first few paragraphs: The Royal Society of London and the Academy of Sciences of Paris, taking into consideration on the one hand the fact that international collaboration is indispensable to the progress of the sciences, and on the other hand the fact that, because of the war, the International Association of Academies which had its seat in 1914 in Berlin has been dissolved and it is not at present possible to reestablish relations with the scholars of the central powers, have deemed it of importance to proceed without delay to the organization of scientific associations among the learned bodies of the allied and associated states. Thus in two conferences held in London in October and in Paris in November, 1918, at which eleven states were represented, there have been organized several associations in the domain of pure and applied science, grouped around a central research council. To the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres it has 'seemed that the same scientific and moral considerations should inspire it to take a similar initiative in the domain of archaeology, history, and philology. The object to be sought for appears to be: (1) To establish, maintain, and strengthen among the scholars of the allied and associated states corporative and individual relations which shall be sustained, cordial, and efficacious, and which shall, by means of regular correspondence and exchange of communications and by the periodical holding of scientific congresses, make for the advancement of knowledge in the various fields of learning. (2) To inaugurate, encourage, or direct those works of research and publication which shall be deemed most useful to the advancement of science and most to require and deserve collective effort. It would appear to be a natural and beneficent result of the victory that has been gained by the common effort if the same principle of trustful, friendly, free, and equal collaboration which has united the allied and associated countries in conflict might now serve as the basis of a scientific entente. The conference, which was held in May pursuant to the invitation thus worded, was attended by delegates from seven countries: the United States, represented by Professor Charles H. Haskins of Harvard and Professor James T. Shotwell of Columbia, France, Belgium, Italy, Rumania, Greece, and Japan. It drew up a definite project for the establishment of an International Union of Academies, which was to be submitted to the learned societies of the allied and neutral countries, and called a second conference to meet again in Paris in October for the adoption of the project by duly qualified delegates and for the discussion of any other matters that might come before it. At the second conference, held on October 15-18, eleven countries were represented by delegates and three other countries had announced their intention of becoming members of the new Union. Thus the proposed organization had, at the start, the support of fourteen countries, the seven mentioned above as being represented at the first conference and in addition to them, Great Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Russia, and Poland. Action favorable to joining the Union was expected, but had not yet been taken by the academies of Finland, Czechoslovakia, and Portugal, while Switzerland had a representative sitting informally in the conference for the purpose of securing information respecting the Union, which should be laid before the Swiss societies preliminary to such action as these latter might take. Invitations had been addressed to other countries but evidently had not reached the appropriate bodies in time for a response. The only refusal to join in the conference came from the Swedish Academy of Belles Lettres, History, and Archaeology, which, however, announced its willingness to join the Union "when it shall be possible to invite all countries to participate in it," referring thus to the fact that, for the present, the central powers are not included. The first and principal task of the conference thus assembled was to perfect the plans drawn up at the first conference for creating an international scientific federation, corresponding in the domain of the humanities to the International Research Council in the |