much to mature and transform our way of thinking. We are now more human and more comprehensive, and we have a feeling for all America that we never had before."

The round table discussion at the Pan American Union, held the day before the students boarded planes for home, gave them another opportunity to exchange opinions and to share their ideas with an audience of United States high school students. Dr. William Manger, Counselor of the Union, opened the discussion by telling them and the students in the audience that the strength or weakness of the Inter-American System depends to a large extent on the interest or the lack of interest that they show in the international relations of the Western Hemisphere. He asked the visitors for their ideas on how young people can help to promote a greater spirit of friendship among our countries.

Several of the students spoke of the need

for a more determined effort to overcome the language barrier. Susana Donoso pointed out the importance of language in the process of learning about cach other's culture and in the exchange of ideas. Beatrice López of Uruguay, Edwin Beitzell of Washington, and Richard de Lima of New York all expressed the opinion that the Spanish learned in United States schools is too theoretical and falls short of serving as a practical tool. "Students in the United States," said Edwin, "must learn Spanish not as just another subject but as an instrument to be used throughout their lives to get in on the ground floor of the views of our neighbors by talking with them and by reading their books and periodicals."

Another point on which the students felt strongly was the need for more personal contacts among the peoples of the Hemisphere. "We must get people to know people," said Rafael Moreno of

Colombia. Carlos Montoya of Chile stressed the increased understanding and trust that the students' stay in the United States had brought. "We want to tell you now that we trust you," he said, "because we have come to know you, and we want to believe with all our hearts that you trust us too." Helen Grogan of Washington suggested that one means of bringing about more contacts between students would be an international debating society on a secondary school level. Most debates would be carried on by mail, but there could be occasional "live" meetings. The Pan American Union would be used as a center to select topics of international interest and judges.

All the students seemed to feel that the best means of continuing the exchange of ideas and the growth of understanding and friendship among high school students begun by this visit to the United States was the formation of an inter-American federation of high school students. "There should be more such meetings of students," said Juan Neri. "We have the same ideals; we should work together."

Before they left Washington the students held a meeting and drew up plans for such a federation. They decided that its main body would be a congress attended by representatives of national high school student federations in each country and held once a year in some American republic. In addition, the federation will maintain a Central Office of Information and Communications, which will be located first in Santiago, Chile. This Office will receive monthly reports from

each member federation on cultural developments in its particular country, and will circulate the reports among all the other member federations. The delegates agreed to take the responsibility of organizing national federations in their own countries.

This inter-American federation of students, once formed, should be a valuable organization in itself and (if the student's hopes are realized) a stepping stone to a world federation of students. Closer acquaintance and more sharing of thoughts and experiences among idealistic young people everywhere is one of the greatest hopes of our confused world.

Kenneth Nichoson, a 15-year-old high school student from Long Island, who spoke at the Forum in New York, expressed very well what must have been in the back of the minds of all those who helped to bring the students together and of the students themselves when they organized the federation: "Everyone agrees that we stand on the threshold of something big-so new and so big that most people cannot picture it. It will be either the most wonderful era that mankind has ever known or it will be atomic destruction. Never before has it been so glorious and at the same time so awful to be young. If there is to be a united world, it will be organized either by a democratic brotherhood of mankind or by brute force. It is to achieve this first ideal, a world dedicated to the pursuit of beauty, happiness, and the betterment of man, that we, the youth of the Americas, must pledge ourselves."

Cuba

ACTIVITIES OF THE DELEGATE. -Señora Elena Mederos de González, Cuban delegate, has requested the President of Cuba to include a woman in the delegation to the Ninth International Conference of American States at Bogotá next January and in the Cuban representation to the United Nations Assembly.

The Minister of State has offered rooms in his department for the meetings of Señora de González' committee, which was organized last year. It is made up of 36 women representing many different professions. There are lawyers, university professors, newspaperwomen, labor leaders, and students.

The following organizations have also agreed to cooperate: the Lyceum, the Business and Professional Women's Club, the Federation of Women Lawyers, the Pan American Round Table, the National Feminist Alliance, the Women's Club of Cuba, and the Catholic Cultural House. Upon returning from Washington, Señora de González gave a talk at the Lyceum, an important women's club, to inform the members of the activities of the Fifth Assembly of the Inter-American Commission of Women.

victions throughout her career, she is one of Cuba's best known journalists.

Honduras

NEW COMMITTEE. The delegate from Honduras, Dr. Ofelia Mendoza de Barret, sends news of the local committee recently formed to cooperate with her. In a meeting which she convened to report on the activities and future plans of the InterAmerican Commission of Women, eleven members were selected, under the chairmanship of Señorita Trinidad del Cid. A woman in each Department throughout the country was assigned the task of organizing a subcommittee.

Dr. Barret also gave a talk on the purpose and activities of the Commission before a teachers' seminar held in Tegucigalpa.

Mexico

COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION. Señora Amalia de Castillo Ledón, Delegate from Mexico and Vice President of the Commission, invited her collaborating committee to a meeting held in the Mexican chancellery. Known as the Committee on International Cooperation, it is composed of the most representative members of Mexican women's organizations.

At the meeting Señora de Castillo Ledón reported on the Fifth Commission Assembly held in Washington and told of the agreement to intensify creation of committees in each country, following the pattern of those already set up in Brazil, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic.

The Mexican Delegate also voiced her appreciation for cooperation given by the Office of Foreign Affairs.

IN THE CITY HALL. Since granting municipal rights to Mexican women last December, the federal government has appointed two women mayors, the first in Mexican history. Señora María Guadalupe Ramírez, a social worker and president of the national Y. W. C. A., will be in charge of the town of Xochimilco, known to all tourists for its flower-bordered canals, and Señorita Aurora Fernández, an ardent defender of women's political rights, has been appointed mayor of Milpa Alta.

Dominican Republic

SOCIAL WORK CONVENTION.-The Dominican Republic's Department of Health and Public Welfare appointed Señorita Carmen Adolfina Henríquez Almanzar a delegate to the Fourth Convention of Social Work in Puerto Rico. Señorita Henríquez is in charge of the Health Department's Division of Social Welfare. She studied at the Social Service School of Catholic University in Washington on a fellowship from the United States Children's Bureau.

Venezuela

IN THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY.-Among the deputies to the Venezuelan Constituent Assembly is a great friend of the Commission, the writer Lucila Palacios who, besides her literary prestige, has won a solid reputation for her interest in social problems. Since 1944 she has been on the Executive Committee of Feminine Action, an institution which has fostered women's political rights. As a delegate from the Ateneo of Caracas to the Women's ProCongress Conference in Venezuela, she strongly emphasized the need for reform

ing the Civil Code. This marked the beginning of the woman's suffrage campaign.

IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS. The painter Elisa Elvira Zuloaga, who studied in Paris and New York, directs the cultural office of the Ministry of Education. Her work has been exhibited at the Independents' Salon in Paris, and in the National Salon at Caracas, among other places.

Chile

LARGER ROLE FOR WOMEN. -Since the election in November 1946 of Gabriel González as President of Chile, more attention has been focused on the status of women. In this connection, a significant development has been the assignment of women to posts of responsibility. The position of Minister Plenipotentiary in Holland, for example, has been given to Señora Carmen Vial de Señoret, former cultural attaché at the Chilean Embassy in Washington.

United States

The death of Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt ended half a century of feminist activities. Her name is inseparably linked with the history of American women through her struggle to improve their status.

We use the word "American" in its widest sense. As far back as 1890 Mrs. Catt organized a woman suffrage organization. She was a leader in the campaign for the constitutional amendment on woman suffrage and for its ratification. In 1919 she founded the National League of Women Voters, of which she was honorary president. She was also a pioneer in working for women's rights in Latin America, taking a lively interest in inter-American relations.

When the 1922 Pan American Congress