INTERNATIONAL, THE). At about the same time the growth of in ternational trade led to the earliest official international unions, such as that constituted by the International Telegraphic conven tion of 1865, and the General Postal union of 1874 (see POST AND POSTAL SERVICES). Quite exceptional was the International Sugar union of 1864 which consisted of four countries only and was dis solved in 1875; its successor of 1902 is dealt with below.
The International Metrical union of 1875 dealt with one of the fundamental elements of civilisation; the Latin Monetary union was formed in 1865 but has extended only to five States and failed to prevent the dissociation of the currencies after the war of 1914-18. No private international association for advocating an international currency exists. On the other hand, the advocates of an international language can choose among half-a-dozen asso ciations.
The International Seed-testing association founded in after a series of international conferences, is an important addi tion to the scheme of international co-operation for agriculture; its members are the official seed-testing associations in the chief agricultural countries.
Private interest in this field is represented by the International Agricultural commission which dates from 1889 and has held numerous international congresses, and by the World Agricultural society, of American origin.
Separate branches of agriculture have their own international institutions such as the International Association of Poultry In structors and Investigators (19I2), the International Dairy federa tion (1903), and the Permanent Committee of International Con gresses of Beekeeping (1897).
The preservation of food is even more important than its pro duction from the international point of view, and with the Inter national Institute of Agriculture may be associated the Interna tional Institute of Refrigeration. Founded in 1920 (to take the place of a similar association dating from 1900) by an interna tional convention, it is a union of upwards of 3o States and is devoted to the study of cold storage in its scientific and practical aspects. It is governed by two committees, one representing every member State and one containing only 17 persons in all. The United States of America is represented specially in the Insti tute by the American Association of Ice and Refrigeration.
Industry.—International exhibitions, apart from their direct function of celebrating and displaying the achievements of the world's work, are instrumental in the formation of more permanent associations for common effort. From international congresses held in connection with the universal exhibitions at Vienna in 1873 and Paris in 1878 resulted what may be called the first steps in international legislation for industry. They were concerned with the protection of "industrial property" or property in ideas applied in manufacture or embodied in manufactured products (see PATENTS and TRADE MARKS). The first Convention dated 1883 at Paris was followed by the Agreements of Madrid (1891) and the additional Act of Brussels (1900). These instruments were revised at Washington in 1911 and again at The Hague in 1925, though the instruments signed on the last occasion have come into force, only as regards a few countries, including, how ever, Great Britain, Canada, Germany and Italy. They con tained provisions designed to safeguard rights in patents, de signs, industrial models and trade marks, and to prevent false indications of origin on goods. The signatory States, 38 in num ber, of these international measures are known collectively as the International Union for the Protection of Industrial Property, and an International Bureau of the Union was set up at Berne, of which the most important function is the international regis tration of national trade marks to be protected in the territories of all the States which are parties to the Special Agreement for the International Registration of Trade Marks (one of the Madrid agreements of 1891). The International Union is at present little more than the relation created by a multilateral treaty or com mon undertaking between several States to enforce certain do mestic legislation.
The American counterpart of the above arrangement for the international registration of trade marks is the Pan American Convention of Buenos Aires, 191o, revised at Santiago in 1923, under which two registration offices were to be set up, one at Havana for North America, and one at Rio de Janeiro for South America, but the latter office has not in fact been opened, as several signatories failed to ratify or withdrew from the Con vention.
A scheme for the establishment of an International Patent Office at Brussels was considered at a Conference at Paris in 1919, and subsequently a Convention was signed at Paris in 192o, but has not yet become effective. The International Association for the Protection of Industrial Property is a non-official association devoted to the subject in a general way, making specific proposals for official adoption in connection with the international regime established by the above mentioned Agreements and Unions.
Special Industries.—Of international associations relating to a single industry or trade the International Federation of Master Cotton Spinners' and Manufacturers' Associations is the best example. Founded in 1904 to conserve the common interests of the cotton industry in all parts of the world, this Federation of 21 International Associations, through its Committee of Manage ment, exercises positive functions of considerable importance, especially in connection with the supply of raw cotton ; in par ticular, it tabulates statistics of the consumption of cotton by mills and of the stocks held by them, and other data which are now regarded as essential to the proper conduct of the industry.
A similar but smaller Federation of Linen Trade Associations was founded in 1909, but its activities have been suspended since the war of 1914-18. The International Wool Conference, repre senting six European countries (including Great Britain) meets periodically.
Among other International Trade Associations which are pri marily concerned with the direct interests of a single industry or trade, are the International Committee of the Wine and Spirit Trade founded in 190o by the International Vintners' Congress held on the occasion of the Universal Exhibition at Paris of that year; the International Federation of Master Tailors, 191o, and the International Federation of Seed Crushers (191o, recon structed 192o) and the Permanent International Bureau of Motor Manufacturers (1919).
All these are private associations of manufacturers or traders, or of their national representative bodies. The absence of such bodies in the case of some of the largest staple trades such as coal, oil, iron and steel, and rubber is worthy of note. On the other hand the number of international associations for the work ers in particular trades (see LABOUR) is very large. For the light ing industry the International Committee on Photometry was founded by the International Gas Congress (1900), and succeeded in 1913 by the International Commission on Illumination consti tuted by national committees from io countries.
Power.—The universal aspects of power production are thor oughly studied by the World Power Conference which held its first meeting in 1924 in connection with the British Empire Exhi bition at Wembley. The purpose of this Conference, which has a permanent Executive Council, is to consider how the various sources of power may be adjusted nationally and internationally; it is representative of practically the whole world, and works through a series of plenary conferences at long intervals with more frequent sectional meetings. Earlier provision for co-operation between the workers of all countries in this field was made by the International Electrotechnical Commission (1906) consisting of National Committees of 19 countries in which America, North and South, is well represented, and in 1925 was founded the Inter national Union of Producers and Distributors of Electricity, whose first Congress, held in 1926, was attended by representatives of 13 nations. Specialisation has led to the formation of the Inter national Conference of the Leading High Tension Electric Sys tems, at whose session in June 1927 the above-mentioned bodies and 28 countries were represented.
Commerce.—The first instance of co-operation between States on a multilateral basis in the sphere of international trade or com merce in the proper sense is the Convention of 1890 whereby the International Bureau for the Publication of Customs Tariffs was established. Its functions are simply to supply in five languages (English, French, German, Italian and Spanish) the current Cus toms Tariffs of all countries. Practically the whole world sub scribes to this work.
This modest organ remained the only one in the international body politic to function for the health of commerce until 1921, when the International Bureau of Commercial Statistics began its work. The aim of the States in founding this Bureau, going be yond mere collection of statistical information, was to facilitate the comparison of national statistics by unification on the basis of a common nomenclature which had been elaborated by the Con vention of 1913 which established the Bureau. It accordingly publishes an annual bulletin of co-ordinated statistics of imports and exports.
An older, private association for the advancement of statistics of all kinds is the International Statistical Institute, which was founded in 1885, and includes representatives from a large num ber of States; its permanent office dates from 1913.
International congresses of a non-official character dealing gen erally with commerce and industry began to be held in the eighties of last century, and were organised periodically by the Interna tional Congress of Chambers of Commerce and Commercial and Industrial Associations until the World War. In 1919 a Con ference held at Atlantic City (U.S.A.) of representatives of com merce from that country, Great Britain, France, Italy and Bel gium, decided to found the International Chamber of Commerce which held its first Congress at London in 1921, where 35 countries were represented, and thenceforward others biennially, the fourth Congress at Stockholm in 1927 being attended by Boo delegates from 35 countries. The International Chamber has also a per manent organisation consisting of National Committees electing representatives to a Council whose decisions are carried out by the Secretariat. The actual members of the International Chamber are either bodies such as local Chambers of Commerce, and National Trade Associations, or individual firms or companies.
The main aim of the Chamber is to foster international trade by promoting harmonious commercial relations between the vari ous national interests, the domestic side of their work, and to re move restrictions on trade, the more public side of their work, which brings them into contact with the framework of laws and regulations within which trade has to find its way.
At their 1921 Congress the International Chamber adopted 27 Resolutions dealing with subjects ranging from Double Taxation to the Reform of the Calendar, and from the Channel Tunnel to Reconstruction in Poland. While a good many of these Resolu tions dealt with matters of temporary importance connected with the War's upheavals, others dealt with matters of permanent inter est to Commerce such as double taxation, international arbitration, unification of tariff nomenclature, treatment of commercial travel lers, and in these cases the preliminary work of this International body has been followed either by bilateral government action or by definite provision of the reforms desired in international con ventions, such as the Protocol on Arbitration Clauses of 1923, and the Convention on Arbitration Awards of 1927, which give effect precisely to the resolution on this subject of 1921 referred to above. The International Chamber has itself established a Court of Arbitration for commercial disputes and appoints Arbitrators.
With a view to facilitating the passage into law of the measures, which international opinion indicates as appropriate for the bene fit of commerce, the International Parliamentary Conference on Commerce was founded in 1914, and its Assembly in 1927 was attended by representatives of 43 countries, appointed for the most part by the national Parliaments themselves. It brings to gether the experience of the several legislative bodies in dealing with commercial matters, and its activities are thus complementary with those of the International Chamber. At the meeting of this Conference in 1919 yet another Association was founded, the Inter national Institute of Commerce which, under the direction of the General Council of the Parliamentary Conference, is concerned with commercial statistics and legislation, including Commercial Treaties; its membership (17 States have officially adhered), is relatively restricted.
The Union of International Fairs, founded in connection with the International Fair of Milan (1925-6), describes itself suf ficiently. There is no corresponding body for international exhi bitions, though these have, as we have seen, been instrumental in promoting the formation of many international associations of various kinds. Their popularity has, however, increased to the point at which it has become necessary to suggest some under standing among the chief industrial countries as to their limita tion.
Mention of separate associations for special industries or trades has already been made. An Association of a different type is the International Sugar Union of 1902, being an isolated example, apart from the earlier Sugar Union of 1864, of a Union of States for the regulation, for economic and not humanitarian reasons, of the trade in a single commodity. It provided for the abolition of bounties and the limitation of protective duties and, to super vise the execution of the various provisions of the Convention, created an international committee with a permanent office at Brussels. The Union worked effectively until 1912 when Great Britain left it ; it ceased entirely in 1920.
in scope of course to specific trades and correspond rather to those limited industrial associations which are formed by the organised groups of a few countries for definite business purposes such as the regulation of competition (see under SHIPPING, TRUSTS and CARTELS). The Baltic and White Sea Conference (1905) has a much wider scope than its title indicates. Representing ship owners and shipbrokers in 19 countries it is the main authority for the standard form of charter party. It also seeks to fix mini mum freights. The International Maritime Committee for the unification of Maritime Law had been founded in 1897 and itself created the national committees through which it works in 16 countries. The Committee was responsible for the initial prepa ration of the International Conventions on collisions and salvage signed at the Brussels diplomatic Conference in 1910 which have since been widely adopted as national law. Conventions on the limitation of shipowners' liability, maritime mortgages and liens, and bills of lading, which the Committee similarly prepared, have also been adopted by diplomatic Conferences and their inclusion in the national legislative systems is proceeding.
The Permanent International Association of Navigation Con gresses (1902) consisting of representatives of 43 governments and other bodies and individuals deals mainly with technical matters.
The International Shipping Federation (1909), a federation of the shipowners' associations of 8 European countries, is concerned exclusively with their interests as employers. The International Shipping Conference which first met in 1921, consists of the national organisations of the shipping industries in 15 countries and is concerned with the general policy of the shipping industry in all questions other than labour. It seeks to establish uniformity in practice and action; it co-operates with the International Chamber of Commerce.
The group of international associations which deal with rail ways illustrates well the international regulation of the world. As long ago as 1882 the International Conference for promoting Technical Uniformity on Railways was founded at Berne (Switz erland being regarded as the "turn-table" of Europe) to develop international railway traffic and uniformity in certain railway equipment ; this is an association of States, or of State Railway Administrations, the members consisting of those European States in which the railways are of standard gauge, and thus form a system capable of unification.
In 1885 there was founded an International Association of the Railway Congress, replaced in 1919 by a body of the same name whose effective members are the Railway Administrations of all the important countries of the world (except Russia) ; its func tions are to promote general railway progress by congresses and publications.
The well known Berne Convention for the carriage of goods by rail of 1890, revised in 1924, and adopted by the same States as those represented in the Technical Conference described above, provided the common rules whereby goods could be sent over the railways of any number of these States by a single consignment, and this necessitated the establishment of the Central Office for International Railway Traffic at Berne in 1893, an institution created by the States themselves which has financial duties as a clearing house between the several railway administrations, and powers to settle disputes referred to them by the latter.
The post-war reconstruction of European transport included new institutions for facilitating the international working of rail ways. The International Railway Wagon Union was founded in 1921 by the Convention of Stresa, again by the standard gauge countries of Europe, to manage the common user of wagons. A little later as a consequence of resolutions of the Conference at Porto Rosa (November 1921) and Genoa (May 1922) the Inter national Railway Union, which includes the railway administra tions of all the larger European countries, not excluding Russia and Spain, and also those of China and Japan, came into being with the general function of unifying and improving railways and railway working. It is preparing a scheme of nomenclature for international tariffs and a basis for international statistics.
The European Time Table Conference which secures corre spondence in the timing of the principal European passenger serv ices on the standard gauge railways, was put on a permanent foot ing as from 1923 by the Lucerne Conference, while the Union for International Users of Passenger Rolling Stock established by the same Conference regulates the reciprocal use of passenger rolling stock by the several administrations, also for Europe only.
America has her own International Railway Association in the shape of the Permanent Pan American Railway Committee found ed in 1902 with the specific object of securing the construction of a through railway joining the United States and Mexico to Central and South America. This is an offshoot of the Pan American Union and its members are the American Republics concerned.
The common interests of the more restricted types of trans port are cared for by the International Union of Tramways, Local Railways, and Public Motor Transport which corresponds with, and originated in the same year (1885) as, the International As sociation of Railway Congresses; it was reconstructed in 1919. Its members include local transport undertakings and public bodies.
Road transport in general is represented by the International Association of Recognised Automobile Clubs (1904) on the more private and sporting side, and by the Permanent International Association of Road Congresses (1908), an association of 38 governments.
The organ for the international control of air traffic is the In ternational Commission for Air Navigation which, under the International Air Convention of 1919, makes rules dealing with the registration, marking and airworthiness of aircraft, and with the issue of certificates of competency for their operating crews, with the lights and signals to be used by aircraft, and the con duct of air traffic generally. The Commission does not administer these rules or otherwise directly control air transport, but the establishment by a central body of these governing rules, which are adopted of course by the parties to the Convention (now some 25 in number), shows how this latest form of transport is inter nationalised to a definitely greater degree than shipping, the form with which it has the strongest analogies.
Somewhat similar to the International Maritime Law Commit tee is the International Technical Committee of Legal Experts for Aviation (Comite International Technique d'Experts Juridiques Aeriens) established in pursuance of recommendations of the In ternational Conference on Private Aerial Law of 1925. It consists of experts appointed by over 3o States and prepares draft inter national conventions on legal questions such as, for example, the liability of the carrier by air for loss and damage.
Private interest in aviation is co-ordinated by the International Aeronautic Federation (1905) and commercial effort by the Air Traffic Association (1919), which consists of certain important air service companies. The former body is an association of Aero Clubs which is concerned with flying as a sport and the records it authenticates are internationally accepted.
What was described by Mr. Hoover in his closing address as the largest international conference in history, the third Inter national Radio Telegraph Conference of Washington, held in October and November, 1927, brought together representatives of over 7o different Governments and of all the important Wireless Companies as well as those of several international institutions among which were the International Commission for Air Naviga tion and the International Shipping Conference. This Conference after a thorough survey of the great developments which had taken place in radio telegraphic communication since the last Confer ence, that of 1912, reached unanimous conclusions in the shape of the International Radio Telegraph Convention and Regulations of November 25, 1927; this instrument was signed by repre sentatives of over 7o Governments, and provided for the general control of radio electric communication and for the assignment of different bands of wave lengths covering the whole range from about 6 metres to 30,00o metres to the various services such as, for example, long distance trans-oceanic services and broadcasting. The new Convention came into force on January 1, 192g, and instituted a new international body in the shape of a Technical Advisory Committee with the function of studying technical and related questions on this subject. This is attached to the existing International Bureau of the Telegraph Union which acts as the Secretariat of the Radio Telegraph Union and will continue to carry out any administrative duties arising out of the revised Regulations which the Conference adopted.
The Covenant of the League of Nations lays down in Article 24 that there shall be placed under the direction of the League all international bureaux already established by general treaties, if the parties to such treaties consent, and that all such interna tional bureaux and all commissions for the regulation of matters of international interest hereafter constituted shall be placed un der the direction of the League. The bureaux here referred to are of course the creation of States; unofficial international bureaux or associations may at their request be placed under the League's directions; the tendency, however, is for such international bodies not to do so, but to work with the League Organizations. The execution of the extensive programme which the World Economic Conference of 1927 laid down, in the sphere of international eco nomic questions, and which covers mostly the same ground as the recommendations of the various International Associations dealt with above, is entrusted to the Economic Committee of the League of Nations, aided by the Consultative Committee. It has been decided that on the latter body should be represented the International Chamber of Commerce (3 members), while co operation is intended with such bodies as the International Man agement Institute and the International Co-operative Alliance.
Representatives of several international organizations, such as the International Shipping Conference, took part in the General Conference on Communications and Transit in 1927, and provi sion is made in the new statute for this branch of the League for the participation in its work in an advisory capacity of repre sentatives of international organizations. It is thus becoming clear that these bodies, for the most part private in origin and con stitution, are likely to find in this sphere the opportunity for their most effective work, since they can contribute to the work of the paramount official international association the best avail able experience and generally matured policy.
International law has so far made no provision for giving a definite status to international associations, but the question of regularizing their position (which is especially desirable when they are not the creation of specific agreement between States) is on the agenda of the League of Nations Committee for the Codification of International Law for 1928.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.—The Handbook of International Organisations published by the League of Nations gives particulars of international associations on all subjects; the League's Quarterly Bulletin gives particulars of international conferences held or forthcoming, also a list of current publications by international organisations.
P. B. Potter in his "Introduction to the Study of International Organisation" (1922) has chapters on international associations, official and private, and gives a brief bibliography. More recent and full is W. Kaufmann's "Les Unions Internationales de Nature Economique" (1924) with a full bibliography published in the Recueil des Cours de l'Academie de Droit International. See also MONETARY CONFER