able to observe the regulations and much material was still on its way. He
agreed entirely with the views of Captain Reading and General Brown on what
the ideal solution should be. It was applied in other congress organisations (e.g.
the World Hydroelectric Conference) but they had permanent secretariats and
plenty of money. The selection of papers for such an early publication would
also presumably be very difficult, especially since many of the most valuable
results of research are often obtained under great pressure of time just before
the congresses. Already at this Congress it had been suggested to the Commission
Boards that they should try to concentrate on some central problems. This
proved impossible to achieve, and was mentioned here only as an example of
the great difference between wishes and their realization in practice. The
Secretary-General also pointed out that the costs for most of the off-prints
were not borne by the ISP, the congress participants or the authors, but were
largely paid for by state institutes etc. More attention should also be paid to
the difficulties of producing a thick volume — a special number of Photo-
grammetria — in time, since it would be dependent on the last arriving contri
bution. This was exemplified by the present Congress Number of Photogram-
metria, which arrived in a limited number of copies only after the opening of
the Congress. This dependence, in order to respect the time limit, on a single
and perhaps very valuable paper, did not occur with the present system,
especially if it could function, as was indeed the intention, so that the off-prints
were distributed before the Congress. The Secretary-General concluded by
saying that the hands of the new Administration should not be tied too hard.
A general discussion followed on how much the congress participants should
pay for this special number. It was stated by the Administration that the fixing
of the congress fee at 70 Swedish crowns had aroused some opposition, but that
an increase to the quite usual fee at large congresses of about 40 U.S. dollars
would probably be necessary.
Professor Schermerhorn emphasised the importance of the Archives as his
torical documents and criticised the Administration for making certain changes
in the distribution of the material. He also stated that if an author could not
get his paper accepted for publication in a technical journal in his own country,
he could, if he had the money, pay for the printing himself and thus get it
included in the Archive, which in its present form he described as a »waste-
paper box». He requested that discussion of this question, in view of its great
importance, should be postponed until the following meeting.
Mr. Cruset replied to Professor Schermerhorn’s criticism and insisted on the
considerable step forward taken at the present Congress. The normal time for
publication of the Archive had earlier been two to three years: now a large part
of it was available already at the Congress. Mr. Cruset also illustrated the
difficulties in obtaining replies from reporters and authors of papers.
The delegate meeting was adjourned until July 24th.
Réunion des Délégués II, le 17 juillet 1956
Le Président ouvre la séance et explique que les questions à examiner sont les points restants
ou renvoyés de l’ordre du jour de la séance précédente.
Point 16. Motion No. 5/1956.
Il est déclaré que l’autonomie des présidences des commissions ne doit pas être limitée, mais le
besoin pourra se faire sentir d’un organisme coordinateur dans le cas d’essais appartenant au
domaine de travail de plus d’une commission. Le Conseil devrait aussi être représenté dans un
tel comité, afin de lui donner son appui. Le comité devrait être aussi restreint que possible: le
moyen le plus sûr d’obtenir un bon résultat serait de charger un photogrammètre, bien connu et
expérimenté, de la direction pratique des travaux et du classement des résultats.
Le Secrétaire Général explique que l’intention de cette motion est de faciliter la mise en marche
des essais exécutés en commun par plus d’une commission. Les essais contrôlés décidés à Washington
avaient dès le début été affectés par certaines difficultés de caractère administratif et de sérieuses
pertes de temps avaient résulté. Après une discussion animée qui révélait entre autres choses la