accordance with the principles applicable to British subjects in need of relief. This system has several advantages. It maintains the direct link between the refugee and the voluntary organization; it encourages voluntary contributions in money, kind and especially in service; and it has enabled the voluntary movement to carry on when otherwise it might have had to close down owing to lack of funds. From the government point of view it has relieved the state of the troublesome task of accepting direct responsibility for the welfare and care of some ninety thousand refugees. At the red close co-operation between government departments and vo Similar schemes might well be adopted in other countries where the state makes grants towards refugees. It is capable of modification and adaptation to local conditions. For instance, some governments might think it desirable to have an official chairman or official representative on the committee which administrates the grant. Or they might find it convenient to deal direct with a well- established voluntary organization. But the principle by which the public authority assesses the rate of maintenance in each individual case while the actual payment is made through a welfare agency has, I believe, many merits. (e) International Funds. We come to the last source of financial assistance, namely international funds. It is clear that international assistance will be necessary on a very large scale. Without it, reconstruction cannot begin, or continue, or be completed. And without reconstruction there cannot be revival of international trade, commerce, and prosperity. Since the problem of displaced persons is one part only of the gheneral question, it is outside my province, even if it were within my ability, to make any suggestions regarding the system of finance or the fixation of contributions. But I would most strongly urge that, within the general framework, adequate provision be made for the short and long-term programmes, and that the acceptance of the refugee problem as an international question, as it undoubtedly is, be accompanied by the practical consequence that the financial gulf between expenditure and the revenue available from other sources should be bridged by international funds. This will, of course, mean the complete abrogation of the principle observed by the League of Nations and also laid down at the Evian Conference that, except for administrative expenditure, the refugee problem should not be a charge o international funds. When we come to consider the nature and scope of the expenditure which the International Refugee Authority will have to incur, it is necessary to form as clear a picture as present circumstances will allow of:- (a) the functions which relief organizations will perform; (b) the gradual transference of some of those functions for particular problems to the international refugee authority; (c) the intial functions of the International Refugee Authority; and evelopment of its functions as the long-term problems become |