Heraclites of Ephesus said that war is the mother of the law of nations. Nothing could be more true for, alas, war is first and foremost in the relations among peoples. In 3,400 years of recorded history, there have been only 250 years of world peace!

When one studies the rôle of the International Red Cross in favour of so-called international refugees, who do not benefit from the national regime in the country of their residence, it is interesting to attempt to define, from a legal point of view, the character of the interventions which are made by this institution.

The broadcasting activity of the International Committee of the Red Cross started sixteen years ago in a Europe which had been half destroyed by the war. It was in fact on May 2, 1945, that the first lists of names of French deported, to be liberated in Germany and who were returning home via Switzerland, were read out at Radio-Genève on the national Sottens programme.

At the time of Max Huber's death, the Revue internationale paid a succession of moving tributes to someone who had given so much of himself to the Red Cross cause. His work as a thinker, jurist and man of action, first as a member, then as President and Honorary President of the ICRC, has been evoked. Reference will also shortly be made to this when we publish other contributions concerning personalities belonging to our movement.

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.

Mention of blood transfusion is to be found from the very beginning of medicine. In fact, tradition has it that Aesculapius used venous blood for therapeutic ends. Pythagoras, and later Ovid, tell of the miraculous results obtained from the practice of transfusion. There is the widely known primitive custom, still practised in Europe less than five centuries ago, which consisted of drinking the blood of one's adversary in order to acquire his virtues.

Board of Governors. — It is for the Secretariat of the League of Red Cross Societies, in its own publications, to report on the 26th session of its Board of Governors, which was held in Prague from September 30 to October 7, 1961, under the chairmanship of Mr. John MacAulay, and to comment on the numerous decisions which were made on this occasion.

Before dealing with the Battle of Soissons itself and its effects on penitential discipline, the author discusses its historical background and setting. The end of the Ninth and the beginning of the Tenth Century saw the disintegration of the Carolingian Empire. The French Royal house in particular was submitted to two destructive forces. The first of these were the predatory raids of the Norsemen on the lands held for the King. In order to put an end to these activities, Charles the Simple ceded in 911 a whole province of his kingdom, later to be known as Normandy, thus recognizing an occupation which had already taken place, in return for which the Normans undertook to embrace Christianity. This point is of importance in view of the behaviour of these recent converts at the Battle of Soissons some twelve years later.

The 12th of August 1949 is without doubt one of the most important dates in humanitarian law and in the development of the idea of the protection of man. It was then that four new Conventions were adopted in Geneva relative to the protection of victims of armed conflicts. In so far as they express general condemnation of war crimes committed during the Second World War, as well as the determination to prevent their recurrence in any possible sort of future conflict, the Geneva Conventions must be regarded as a bastion for the protection of all victims of armed conflict as well as a serious warning to all those who might be disposed to make a misuse of force or violate humanitarian principles. This great victory of the humanitarian spirit and of the principles which it inspires, by virtue of which one should not only avoid inflicting suffering on those who are deprived of protection or on non-combatants, but one should also accord them assistance and care for them if necessary, is due to a large extent to the Red Cross. The forces of progress have given their support to this idea and have made possible its realization within the framework of the International Conventions of the Red Cross. The new Geneva Conventions, which in the evolution of humanitarian law at present represent a decisive phase in a given sector, constitute an extremely solid and complete legal code which has been meticulously drawn up and which is both logical and coherent.

The search for missing persons in the Orientale and Kivu provinces. — A member of the delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the Congo, Mr. Georges Olivet, has just carried out a mission lasting more than a month in the Orientale and Kivu Provinces with the object of continuing searches for persons missing as a result of the events which took place last year. This consisted of clearing up more than a hundred cases for which enquiries had been made and to which the ICRC delegation in Leopoldville had not yet been able to reply.

An exposé of the nature of the penitentials would take us far into the long history of penance in the Eastern and Western Churches of Christendom and, in particular, to the supersession of public by private penance. In spite of the efforts of many scholars the steps in this process are still far from clear. All that can be said here is that the system of private penance depicted in the penitentials appears in the North West corner of Christendom at a time when public penance was virtually obsolete throughout the rest of Christendom.

In its Circular No. 430 of August 23, 1960, the International Committee of the Red Cross had the honour to invite the Central Committees of National Societies to send in the names of nurses and voluntary aids whom they judged qualified to receive the Florence Nightingale Medal. This invitation, which quoted Article I of the Regulations, was accompanied by questionnaires bearing various headings for the candidatures.

It was with consternation that the International Committee learnt on June 16 of the death of Dr. Marcel Junod, who had been nominated member in 1952 and had been its Vice-President in 1959 and 1960. It remains profoundly grateful to him for the important part which he had taken for so many years in its work, accomplishing its tasks, first as a delegate then as a member, with so much intelligence and devotion.

We have the honour to inform you of the official recognition, on May 4, 1961, of the Nigerian Red Cross Society by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The Central Laboratory of the Netherlands Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service, the origin of which dates from 1939, is guided by a foundation in which participate the Dutch Government, the Netherlands Red Cross and the Municipality of Amsterdam.

A staff of physicians, chemists, pharmacists and biologists is charged with the leading of the different departments and laboratories. The Central Laboratory which is operating on a non-profit basis, is the medico-technical centre of the blood transfusion organization in the Netherlands.

The Red Cross movement has been singularly fortunate in having been supported from the start by leading personalities of the day, who gave such effective service. Outstanding amongst these who devoted themselves to this great cause was the Empress and Queen of Germany, Augusta.

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.

The work of the Red Cross in the Congo — The International Committeee of the Red Cross has continued to assist persons under detention in the Congo, by visiting on March 1 the eight Belgian soldiers who were taken prisoner in January after crossing the Congo frontier, coming from Ruanda-Urundi. The delegate of the ICRC was allowed to speak with them, to hand over correspondence and to give them a few comforts.

Visits to places of detention in France.—The official report of the ICRC on visits which were made in April and May to 19 places of detention and internment in France has been handed to the appropriate French authorities.