extent that will make the country see what the possibilities are. It is, of course, simply a question of expenditure of funds and proper guidance. These things cannot be carried out without full co-operation of all the factors concerned. You represent here to-day two of them, 'but don't think that you can get on without the organized laity behind you. You can not do without these volunteer organizations that have been brought into existence to play your game. The health officer often forgets that fact. There is very often a hesitancy on his part to utilize as he might the organized energy of his community.

"One of the great drawbacks in this whole public health campaign has been a certain pride or obstinacy, a hesitancy to recognize the right of some other group to act. That is false pride,

I

for it requires the action of every one of these possible factors to get results. I have been watching this voluntary 'field rather closely for 'more than fifteen years. I think one can say that nearly all of those societies see their function pretty justly. I think they are seeing pretty straight. I do not think there is any real tendency on their part to reach over and grasp a field that does not belong to them. I think there is a tendency for them to act in a random manner very often, a tendency not to co-operate as they might and to waste energy, but there is just as 'much of an obligation upon the official as upon the volunteer organization, and my chief word to you this morning is that you utilize your laity which is waiting to be used."

campaign of advertizing was conducted through the Siamese, Chinese and English newspapers. Posters were displayed in prominent places and () the tram cars and hand-bills were distributed by the thousand. Official notices were sent to every school, and special days were designated upon which the pupils of the various schools attended in groups under the direction of their teachers. Advertizing slides were exhibited in all cinema halls. This campaign was far more effective than the promoters dared to hope. People attended in such crowds that it was impossible adequately to explain the exhibits to them. and the total attendance was 220,704.

The exhibition was open from three o'clock in the afternoon to eleven at night every day for fifteen days. During the afternoons the admission. was free. After 7 p. m. all entering paid a small admission fee (25 satangs or about 10 cents gold), but this admission fee entitled the entrant to a ticket which participated in a prize distribution.

The exhibits were divided into four main sections: preventable diseases, health organization necessary in preventing disease; commercial sanitary exhibits, and popular entertainment (1).

The first room in the preventable disease section was devoted to diseases preventable by warfare against insects, and here the life histories of flies,

SECTION OF DISEASES F

that number could be cared for in existing asylums. What was to be done with the remainder? Popular health instruction concerning preventable diseases was carried on continuously by health films shown in a theatre, by open-air stereopticon shows, and by open-air health plays and talks by locally celebrated come

(1) A detailed list of the exhibits will be supplied on application to the Secretariat of the League of Red Cross Societies 7, rue Quentin-Bauchart, Paris, VIII.

new hospital aeroplane! No other exhibit attracted more attention than this.

International health organizations were illustrated by charts of the League of Red Cross Societies and of of the Rockefeller Foundation, and visiting organizations were also represented by exhibits. Special mention should be made of the China Council on Health Education material which was an exhibition in itself.

As its illustrations and explanatory signs were designed to appeal to Chinese

modes of thought, it was especially attractive to the Chinese population of Bangkok. Dr. Peter of the China Council gave a number of interesting talks and lectures in explanation of his methods.

Various firms in Bangkok displayed in wellarranged booths the numerous sanitary appliances which they have on sale in their shops.

The popular entertainment section was most successfully organized. The grounds and buildings were beautifully decorated and attractively illuminated and music was provided by orchestras, and by bands of Siamese instruments whose strange rhythms were particularly interesting to visitors

RED CROSS PROPAGANDA BUILDING

from other countries. Refreshments were sold but each restaurant was kept under careful sanitary supervision. All foods had to be protected from flies by proper screening; cups, glasses and dishes. had to be washed in boiling water after use and a plentiful supply of boiling water for this purpose was provided by the exhibition authorities. Suitable provision was made for the disposal of refuse. This practical demonstration of the application of hygiene principles is, we believe, a novel feature in health exhibits.

Every evening over one hundred prizes were distributed to ticket holders, each prize having a personal or hygienic use; for example, bath towels, soaps, combs and brushes, tooth brushes and tooth pastes. The entrance money was used to defray the cost of the prizes and although the entrance fee was very low, a considerable surplus was received, owing to the splendid attendance at the exhibition.

The League of Nations has not failed to take advantage of its unique position as an instrument of international co-operation in bettering social conditions throughout the world. Two problems Two problems directly affecting social welfare were definitely assigned to it by the Covenant, traffic in women and children and the opium evil. The League has not, however, limited its activities to carrying out the letter of the Covenant. Imbued by the spirit of brotherhood and fellowship expressed therein, it has set itself to relieve the misery left in the wake of war. It has repatriated prisoners of war left behind in Siberia; and has provided for Russian, Armenian, Greek and Turkish refugees who were driven from their homes by the fortunes of war or by political upheavals.

The League has been guided somewhat by circumstances in attacking these problems. In some cases it has set up permanent organizations, such as the Opium Commission and the Commission on Traffic in Women and Children. In others it has made use of temporary organizations, such as the High Commission for Prisoners of War, and the High Commission for Refugees. The general secretariat of the League includes a Division of Social Questions, under the directorship of a woman, which prepares reports for the various commissions and follows up the execution of decisions.

OPIUM

The war considerably increased the drug danger by delaying the application of the Hague Convention on Traffic in Opium and Other Dangerous Drugs (concluded in 1912 but only brought into force January 10, 1921); by giving opportunity for laxity in applying previous laws passed by different countries against such traffic; and, finally, by the requisitioning of large quantities of opium for the requirements of belligerent armies. The result is that while some governments are exercising strict control over the drug trade, others have not yet adopted the Hague Convention.

The cultivation of poppies in certain parts of

the world is greatly in excess of legitimate requirements. Morphia is manufactured in Europe and in America in enormous quantities, and is introduced into countries the inhabitants of which were not formerly drug addicts. Considerable illicit traffic goes on in Eastern European countries, in America and in the Far East, particularly in morphia and cocaine.

The Advisory Committee on Traffic in Opium, set up by the League of Nations in accordance with Article XXIII of the Covenant, is composed of representatives from those countries most interested in the abuse of the opium trade. They are China, Germany, France, Great Britain, Holland, India, Japan, Portugal and Siam. In consideration of the part which the United States has played in the campaign against traffic in opium (it was that country which, in 1909, called the first inter-national conference at Shanghai to take up the question), the Council of the League of Nations recently invited the United States government to appoint a representative to the Opium Commission. Two meetings have so far been held, at which the Commission drew up a plan of action. The first step is to obtain the adherence of the greatest possible number of countries to the Hague Convention and to persuade them actually to apply it, for any country not applying the terms of the convention is likely to become a centre for illicit trade.

The Committee fully realizes that the suppression of the opium traffic depends largely upon two conditions the effective control of imports and exports, and the limitation of production to legitimate requirements. The first of these two conditions can be fulfilled almost immediately provided that governments are prepared to adopt the necessary measures. One measure recommended by the Commission appears especially effective, namely, the adoption by governments of the system of importation certificates, according to which the importer, who must be a person regularly engaged in the drug trade and of honourable reputation, is obliged to obtain for all he imports a

governmental certificate authorizing the importation and declaring that the products imported are destined solely for scientific or other legitimate uses. The Commission, however, is already contemplating improving this system, which came into force on January 1st, 1923. It will shortly consider the possibility of urging governments to refuse to issue licenses for the importation of opium and other dangerous drugs coming from a country not having ratified or put into force the convention and not having adopted the system of export and import control recommended by the Commission.

Before attempting to limit the production of dangerous drugs, the approximate quantity of drugs required for legitimate purposes must be determined. To do this, the Health Committee of the League of Nations, in conjunction with the Opium Commission, is making a scientific enquiry into the quantities of morphia, heroin and cocaine normally employed for medical purposes in European countries. In addition, all governments have been invited to furnish an estimate of their annual requirements in narcotics, and an annual report has been requested by the Commission from all countries having ratified the Hague Convention. This report should contain, in addition to other information, the names of suspected traffickers, the extent of the manufacture of morphia and of cocaine and the amount produced annually by each factory.

Finally, the Opium Commission, convinced of the important part played by public opinion in the campaign against illicit traffic in opium and other dangerous drugs, has accepted the offer of the League of Red Cross Societies to undertake, through its member national societies, an educational campaign on the danger of the abuse of narcotics. The Commission also intends to invite governments to consider ways of co-operating in this educational campaign.

TRAFFIC IN WOMEN AND CHILDREN

The international campaign against traffic in women and children started fairly recently and has passed through three stages:

First, activity amongst voluntary organizations

which, at a congress held in. 1899, founded the International Office for the Repression of Traffic in Women and Children, with headquarters in London, which had as its object the co-ordination and support of voluntary organizations by interesting governments in their work.

Second, co-operation of voluntary organizations with governments, leading to the conclusion of two international agreements: a) the 1904 agreement, concluded between 15 governments, which provides for the appointment in each country of special officials to take up the campaign against such traffic; b) the international convention of 1910, by which each country adhering agreed, in cases where existing legislation was insufficient, to adopt new and stricter measures to suppress the traffic. Unfortunately all signatory countries have not carried out this supplementary legislation.

Third, activity of the League of Nations. Traffic in women and children, stopped temporarily by the war, had begun again in 1919, when the Covenant of the League of Nations was drafted, entrusting the League with the general control of such traffic. The efforts of voluntary organizations and the steps taken by governments were thus supplemented by the activity of the League, which aims at establishing closer international co-operation on more methodical lines, calculated to produce more effective results.

The League began by establishing, by means of a questionnaire, an exact basis of information and documentation. Following this, it summoned representatives of governments and of private organizations to a conference to discuss every

aspect of the situation. aspect of the situation. As a result of this conference the Second Assembly of the League drafted a new convention, which supplemented those of 1904 and 1910 by defining certain points and emphasizing others. For instance, in the new convention the governments agree to punish attempts at offence as well as offence itself; they also agree to take every step in their power to extradite persons wanted or condemned for offences against the 1910 convention, and to enact regulations for the protection of women and children travelling alone.

Thirty-five countries, including Germany, have up to the present signed this convention, whilst