Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1943, Síða 75

THE DANISH SOCIETY
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especially in older countries with a powerful body of national
traditions, that certain organizations of an official and represen-
tative character remain practically closed to the younger gener-
ation, though one would think that they might do well to utilize
its enthusiasm and energy. In the Danish Society, on the other
hand, the young men and women have been to the fore from
the very start. Add to this that the above-mentioned sub-com-
mittees, which carry on the work of providing publications and
equipment for the services to be maintained by the Society abroad,
are manned by young scientists, scholars, and experts in various
fields. Through the »Consultative Boards«, whose character
appears from the name, and which consist of representatives of
the older generation, an extremely fruitful co-operation has been
brought about between the two generations. Indeed, the har-
monious co-operation which takes place between the two
within the framework of the Danish Society provides a good
example of how a democratic community may dare to assign
a responsible task to its youth and to allow it free scope to
perform its share in the execution of important enterprises, in
the consciousness that it will not fail to live up to its responsibi-
lities.
Finally, it should be mentioned that the Society is anxious
that all classes of the population should take part in, and be
influenced by, the tasks which it has taken up. The democratic
spirit which pervades its work makes it natural that it should
desire that popular circles, which formerly stood apart from inter-
national co-operation, should take their share too. The project
of enlisting sponsor towns referred to above will necessarily pro-
mote an interest not only on the part of the provinces, but also
on the part of the broader public, in the work of establishing
contact between Denmark and foreign countries. The object must
be to make all parts of the country, and all classes of the Danish
people, enter into the work of international co-operation, so that
this co-operation can produce greater and more lasting results,
and carry new ideas and new values from country to country.
The closer our ties with other countries become, as the result of
these efforts, and the more widely ramified they are, both geo-
graphically and socially, the greater will be the chance of our
paying a really weighty contribution to the work of international
understanding.
It goes without saying that the Society also follows the trend