JA 987 INTERNATIONAL CONCILIATION = Published monthly by the American Association for International Conciliation. AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR INTERNATIONAL CONCILIATION It is the aim of the Association for International Conciliation to awaken interest and to seek cooperation in the movement to promote international good will. This movement depends for its ultimate success upon increased international understanding, appreciation, and sympathy. To this end, documents are printed and widely circulated, giving information as to the progress of the movement and as to matters connected therewith, in order that individual citizens, the newspaper press, and organizations of various kinds may have accurate information on these subjects readily available. The Association endeavors to avoid, as far as possible, contentious questions, and in particular questions relating to the domestic policy of any given nation. Attention is to be fixed rather upon those underlying principles of international law, international conduct, and international organization, which must be agreed upon and enforced by all nations if peaceful civilization is to continue and to be advanced. A list of publications will be found on page 25. Subscription rate: Twenty-five cents for one year, or one dollar for five years. By FREDERICK P. KEPPEL Administrative Commissioner for the United States No single factor in the whole range of international conciliation is quite so important as that of the relations between business men of different countries. Here the most frequent and the most continuous contacts are made, and nowhere is the international mind more needed. Economic problems have, furthermore, taken the place of problems of religion and of dynasty as offering the greatest danger of future wars, and misunderstanding and bitterness of spirit among business men are therefore doubly dangerous. While there are, of course, exceptions in certain countries and in certain trades, in general, business men have not been organized for cooperation either nationally or internationally. As a result, they have never, as such, had a voice in world affairs in the sense that labor has had a voice, or science. This has proved particularly unfortunate now that economics has come to occupy the center of the field of attention. Too many diplomats and legislators are amateur economists, and the world sorely needs a check on their well-meaning but often ill-advised efforts. To meet this international need of giving business a voice, international congresses of Chambers of Commerce had been held, beginning in 1906 and con tinuing until 1914, when some two thousand delegates assembled in Paris. Between these congresses, little or nothing was accomplished, and such momentum as the congress had developed was soon lost. The meetings were, of course, interrupted by the war. After the Armistice the men interested in the movement, recognizing the ineffectiveness of intermittent effort, sought to correct this by providing a continuously operating nucleus, and continuous contact between that nucleus and a wide-spread membership. The idea of an International Chamber of Commerce, instead of a series of congresses of Chambers, took birth at the great International Trade Conference held at Atlantic City on the invitation of the National Chamber of Commerce of the United States, in November, 1919. Committees of American, British, French, Italian and Belgian business men, appointed at that time, came together at Paris in June, 1920, adopted a constitution, and organized an international headquarters in Paris. The first annual meeting of the International Chamber of Commerce was held in London, June, 1921. The function and organization of the Chamber, as expressed in its constitution, are as follows: "To facilitate the commercial intercourse of countries, to secure harmony of action on all international questions affecting finance, industry and commerce, to encourage progress and to promote peace and cordial relations among countries and their citizens by the cooperation of business men and organizations, devoted to the development of commerce and industry. "The International Chamber is a confederation of the main economic forces of the countries included in its membership, united in each country by a national organization. |