Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1949-01-09

Objectivity in the text books O
the world is one of UNESCOi
most difficult yet significant goals
UNESCO faces the task Of correct.
ing the perversions Of history by the
Nazi and Fascist schoolmasters dur.
ing the past generation. AS long
as dictators continue to rewrite his.
tory, and now even biology, to suit
their own tastes, UNESCO has ar
immediate and challenging duty Il
perform.
Another great UNEsCo project
Is a study of the tensions which
lead to war. Why do people want
to fight each other? UNESCO /.
trying to find out.
Sometimes the motive is revenge
France has been overrun by Ger.
. many three times since 1871. Japa.
nese troops waged constant aggres.
sive war against China from 1913,
to 1s45. People remember and arr
bitter.
Sometimes racial or religious ten.
sions lead to conflict. More war
have been fought because of quar-
rels over religion than any othe
one reason during the past, and re
ligion remains today a stronge
force than nationalism in man,
parts of the world, particularly il
the Middle East.
Often tensions result from eco.
nomic conditions. Hungry peopl.
are illogical and listen to soap-bo,
operators who tell them that Wal
Street Is the cause for their misery
Seeks Remedies for Strife
UNESCO is trying to diagnose the
causes for strife and to find rene.
dies for the disease. The success.
it will achieve is not known. bu,
certainly some United Nations
agency should be attacking thi,
problem If we hope to make prog.
ress toward lasting peace.
Dozens of similarly vital projects
are under way at UNESCO House
in Paris or are being stimulated BY
UNESCO. Some are making more
progress than others. Perhaps tn,
greatest has beer in the field Of
educational reconstruction In war.
devastated areas. One of the great.
est needs is for more progress il
the field of mass communications
where effort is being made to spreac
more correct information through.
out the world by honest use of the
radio, press, publications and the
motion picture
A part of the skepticism about
UNESCO comes from the fact thai
the major problem results from the
iron curtain, Which UNESCO, thu
skeptics say, cannot penetrate.
believe, on the contrary, thai
uNESCO is the most likely U. N
agency to penetrate that curtain
UNESCO deals with ideas, and M
curtain has ever been created which
can keep out ideas, no matter how
strict a censorship is maintained
BY strict adherence to the princi!
pies of human liberty and freedom
on which UNESCO vas founded
the organization can steadily en-.
courage people anywhere not only
to retain the liberties they have
hut also to gain those which the,
do not now enjoy.
! Tyrants have never been able tt
keep individuals deprived of theil
liberties indefinitely. Steady prog
ress has been made in Russia, a.
elsewhere, during the last 10
years In the direction of Liberation
from serfdom. The peoples o
Eastern Europe will not submit in
definitely to the policies of thei
present governments, which ar
more destructive of liberty thai
anything Europe has seen since tn
Middle Ages.
Urges Respect for Liberty
> UNESCO can help not only Il
Eastern Europe but also in the res
Of the world, including the Unite
States, in continuing the march O
history toward full respect for hu
man liberty and equality. Lastin
peace. the first great milestone o.
the road Of human progress, will b
achieved only when q substantial
degree Of democracy has been firm
ly established throughout majo
portion of the globe. UNESC(
must insist on human liberty ant
denounce its violation wheneve
and wherever it occurs.
UNESCO, in my view, has the bes
central idea. Although member
ship in UNESCO itself is limited t
governments, the organization seek
to bring about understanding anon
peoples as distinct from their gov
ernments. 1t comes nearer t
dealing with individual huma
beings directly than any othe
United Nations agency. 1t has FIRE
quently been pointed out that worl
government never will be achieve
until its agencies reach down pas
governments to deal with people di
rectly UNESCO is a signifcan
step in this. direction.
The new director general Q
UNESCO. DR.. Jaime Torres Bode,
is not only a level-headed states
man of international reputation, bu
man who has always dealt witt
people in the mass. AS Minister o
Education in Mexico, he became ia
nous throughout the world for tn
program of fundamental education
which he introduced.
Fundamental education mean
much more than reading and writ
ing and arithmetic. People are no
given these basic tools by neutra
inc oro