THE UNIVERSE OF INFORMATION.pdf - ideals

of the privileged. And the League of Nations, that in which «gooi
people had all their hopes», dispirited by its bad shepherd [the Council?],
the League of Nations resigns itself to self-effacement, to»
becoming secondary ... Deception! Disillusion!
In what concerns us, there is still hope you say. And in a very
friendly way you have indicated rays of the absent sun which, despite
the thickness of the clouds, has continued to shine. Certainly your considerations
appear to have foundation ... but you yourself risk giving
a time: three or four years you say... Each morning there is a little
less place for the mind. In a society in which capital and modern
labor dominate, conditioned by the politics of conquest and armaments,
poor intellectuals are pounded down.
Discard particular facts and persons. It will no less be so that the
League of Nations which should have pronounced formally on a vital
question... has replied by default... the League of Nations replies to
the call of the intellectual forces of today by a platonic expression of
sympathy... It declines the task of organisation itself, and does not
decide on a gesture of aid to those who propose to organise in its
stead.
Here are, then M. Nitobe, the first impressions from which it will
be necessary to disengage ideas — «Keep cool» — if the love for the
work has been deceived, the friendship for the people remains. 39
Otlet and La Fontaine received Drummond's official
notification of the Council's decision a week later. 40 They
expressed their feeling of deception in replying to it but
circumspectly, and stressed their pleasure at the evident
esteem in which the Council continued to hold their work.
They asked Drummond to push the member Governments of
the League to join the bibliographic union they had proposed
for the International Institute of Bibliography. They alsopointed
out their intention to hold a second session of the
International University late in 1921, and requested the same
sort of assistance that had been granted in 1920. 41 The Secretary-General's
reply was a model of tact. He noted the tone
of the letter with regret, but observed «I will be happy to
transmit to the Minister for Public Instruction of all the
governments who are members of the League, all information
concerning the next session of the International University
which you would send me .» 42 At the same time, while
pledging his support for the University and indicating that
the League would participate in its sessions in the same way
as in 1920, Drummond carefully avoided committing himself
and the League to the Union of Bibliography or to any
further financial assistance to the Union of International
Associations.
THE SECOND QUINZAINE INTERNATIONALE,
THE SECOND LEAGUE ASSEMBLY
The next session of the Quinzaine Internationale was
announced for the period from the 20th August to the 15th
September, 1921, during which, as at the first Quinzaine, a
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