Bards in Session

Mrs. Thomas Woodrow Wilson, having successfully unveiled a bronze statue of her husband in Poland fortnight ago (TIME, July 13), was in Switzerland last week, just looking around. She stopped at Merges to see silver-maned Ignace Jan Paderewski, donor of Poland's statue, and she went to Geneva to see her husband's greatest memorial, the League of Nations, at work.

Last week was not quite a normal one in which to inspect the League. The problem that was temporarily occupying the Secretariat's exalted minds was the low state of Poetry. The Assembly looked more like a publisher's tea than a political assembly. Present as members of the new League Committee on Arts & Letters were: Poet Laureate John Masefield of England, French Academician Paul Valery, German Nobleman Thomas Mann, Italy's Ugo Ojetti, Norway's Nina Roll-Anker. Professor Gilbert Murray (Oxford English Dictionary) was there in his capacity as President of the International Commission for Intellectual Cooperation. The delegates spent most of their time rushing about with fountain pens in their hands autographing each others' books and sign ing group photographs, but they did pass resolutions asking for more broadcasting of poetry, suggested that the donors of poetry prizes give supplementary prizes for elocution in poetry. Neither were they too busy to recognize and honor the Widow Wilson.

"Madame," said the chairman while the poets rose respectfully, "yours is a great name that is not forgotten here.''

"I only wish," responded Mrs. Wilson, "that my husband could have the great privilege of seeing your committee in session."

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