Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1938, Side 63

ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION
55
both State and private activities. Subjects may be referred to the
delegations by the respective governments, but the delegations
must also of their own accord promote the general objects en-
trusted to them. According to their instructions, extensive theoreti-
cal investigations should be avoided, and the delegations should
confine themselves to dealing with practical problems, large and
small.
The intention was, no doubt, that while the delegation of each
country was to work separately, all the delegations, by main-
taining contact and co-operation, should promote the objects for
which they had been appointed. In actual fact the activities of
the delegations have developed in such a manner that the essential
feature is the co-operation, either between all the delegations to-
gether, or between the delegations of two countries in pairs, when
dealing with questions concerning only the relations between their
two countries. The individual work of the delegations has con-
sisted mainly of preparations for the joint meetings and the im-
plementing of their decisions.
The first joint meeting of these delegations was held in Stock-
holm in the winter of 1935; subsequently three such meetings
were held in Copenhagen, Oslo, and Helsinki. The next meeting
is to be held in Stockholm next autumn. In the intervals between
meetings the delegations have kept in contact with each other
through their chairmen. In addition, special committees have been
appointed, such as a propaganda committee for propagating a
knowledge of the Northern Countries abroad, a committee for
investigating the position of inter-Northern trade and its possi-
bilities, and a committee dealing with the exchange of workmen
between the Northern Countries. All these committees have
started work and have held a number of meetings.
Obviously, the delegations, although their attention may be
devoted to special and topical problems in foreign trade policy,
such as relations with certain foreign countries, cannot replace
existing permanent institutions in the individual countries, such
as, e. g., committees for the preparation of commercial treaties.
Neither should the delegations interfere with the work of the
Ministries for Foreign Affairs or other special institutions. At the
same time, however, they have undoubtedly interpreted their task
correctly inasmuch as it is their duty to give attention to the
general principles of the commercial policy of the Northern