IT is a commonplace of contemporary life that international conferences are a potent factor in promoting the comity of nations, especially when these gatherings are devoted to the arts of peace. But there are two conditions for success: one is that the preparation shall be adequate, the other is that opportunities shall be given for social relaxation, for the making of new friendships and the renewal of old. At the Ninth Annual Conference of the International Folk Music Council, these conditions were so amply fulfilled that the Conference must be one of the most successful that the Council has ever held. The major credit is due to Miss Maud Karpeles, on whose capable shoulders fell, as always, the chief burden of organisation, and, in Germany, to Herr Egon Kraus of Cologne and those willing helpers whom he recruited in our service.