Japan owes all the credit of possessing a high rate of literacy to the school-teacher, to whom people look for any kind of guidance, sometimes too much. Parents go to teachers even for child guidance in the home and so do community leaders for help in community problems. It was been a tradition ever since the modern school system was introduced into this country 80 years ago to enlighten the people to such an extent as to be counted one of the best educated countries in the world within a short time.

I have the honour to draw your attention to the Memorandum attached hereto, which the International Committee of the Red Cross is addressing to the Governments of States party to the Geneva Conventions and members of the United Nations.

A solemn appeal to President Kasavubu. — The International Committee of the Red Cross was all the more dismayed on hearing of the acts of cruelty committed in the Congo, since it had, from the beginning of the events in that country in the summer of 1960, attempted unceasingly to spread the knowledge of the Geneva Conventions and to impose a spirit of humanity.

Since the beginning of the hunger strike started by the Algerian detainees in France, the ICRC's neutral humanitarian intervention was sought from various directions.

The International Commission of the ITS (International Tracing Service), which consists of representatives of the Governments of Belgium, France, German Federal Republic, Great Britain, Greece, Israel, Italy, Luxemburg, Netherlands and the United States, held its 25th meeting on October 30, under the presidency of the Italian delegate, Mr. Paolucci. This meeting took place at the Italian National Institute of Cologne, in the presence of the Directors of the ITS, Mr. Nicolas Burckhardt and of a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mr. Claude Pilloud, Assistant Director for General Affairs. It should be recalled that the International Tracing Service possesses immense archives and a great number of card-indexes concerning the fate of persons who had been deported, displaced or missing during the Second World War in Germany and in the countries then occupied by the German forces. Since 1955 the ICRC has been responsible for running this important information centre.

On November 11, the President of the Red Cross of the Rumanian People's Republic, Mr. A. Moisescu, arrived in Geneva from Budapest, accompanied by Mr. P. Radu, Vice-President and Mrs. Gorunescu.