United Nations (36th GENERAL PLENARY MEETING E'riday, 18 September 1953, ASSEMBLY at 10.30 a.m. ElGlITH SESSION Offirial Records Ne'l~ York
CONTENTS pL)Spect might suggest that lasting peace is unlikely of
PaKt attainment and that the only course is continued rearm ament. General debate [continued) 35 Speeches by Mr. Maza (Chile), Mr. Casey (Australia) 4. Nevertheless, material forces are strt:ngthened by and Mr. Wcbb (New Zealand) moral values. The ~act that war has not yet broken out and may not break out is due primarily to the existcnce President: Mrs. Vijaya Lakshmi PANDIT (India). of the United Nations. In many quarters the United Nations is criticized as ineffective. But the United Nations was organized to maintain peace, not to create it; that was the responsibility of the great Powers which were victorious in the recent world war. The General debate [continued] United Nations has worked under difficult conditions in t::e political field, but its moral authority has pre CJ.~EY SPEECHES BY MR. MAZA (CHILE), MR. (Aus- vailed i if war has not broken out, it is because the TRALIA) AND MR. WEBB (NEW ZEALAND) aggressor would have had to face the :'est of the world. 1. Mr. MAZA (Chile) (translated from Spanish): 5. For this reason, in this time of unceasing vigilance, Since the beginning of the last session, the international my delegation reaffirms its adherence to the United situation has substantially changed. We have seen the Nations; it believes that only in so far as the United end of the war in Korea-the cnd, that is, of the Nations is supported by governments and peoples will hostilities to which communist aggression gave risc in peace be maintained even among those who doubt the that republic. If the present promising situation is possibility of it, so that even the aggressors will be compared with that of the world in 1948, when the compelled to live in peace. Berlin blockade was in progress, or with the more 6. Faith in the United Nations is indivisible. The recent period of war in Asia, it might be thought that Charter signed at San Francisco conceived a system international tension had diminished and that the of collective security based on the restoration of normal aggressive groups had realized what risks they were relations among States, steadily increasing respect for running in t .1rsuing a policy of provocation. World human rights and a constant improvement in the opinion wants nothing so much as a feeling of security. standards of living of the peoples. It was considered This may be seen from the enthusiasm which any that, in order to maintain peace, it was not sufficient peaceful gesture on the part of those who have the merely to prevent the outbreak of war, and the last power to cause conflict or promote peaceful coexistence world war showed that a bold and imaginative effort arouses. was required to eradicate the causes of such great dis 2. Upon reading the Secretary~General's report asters. That was why there was talk of respect for [A/24041, however, and especially the chapter on human rights and why it was tacitly agreed that the political and security questions, we realize that there individual was the real subject of international law. are still problems and difficulties which could danger While there remain regions or countries where hum~n ously disturb this precarious coexistence. Moreover beings are despised and abandoned, the fear of war and this is much more serious-there is no sure sign will persist, for it is impossible to believe that a State of a change of heart in those who have long compelled can be peace-loving in international affairs if it denies the other peoples to live in fear. It would seem that a peaceful life to its people at home. the world has resigned itself to living in a state of 7. We must note with regret that very little progress p~rmanent danger and that the cold war makes the has been made in the vast field of human rights. There peoples long for :>eace but without hope. In order to are States which take refuge behind Article 2, para meet the threat of aggression, a level of rearmament graph 7, of the Charter and claim that anything relating has been reached which suggests that a world war is to the abridgement of freedom in their territory is a expected to break out any day. matter of national s()vere~gnty, of no concern what 3. But international life is fraught with difficulties soever to the international community and entirely other than the se caused by the totalitarian menace. outside the com<}etence of the United Nations. But for There are latent conflicts, rcsulting from previous those who stili believe, ancI with rea.son, that an)' arrangemcnts, which are now coming to the surface country which denies freedom to its own people is not again, because the atmosphere of fear is so wide-spread likely to behave in a democratic fashion in the world at iarge, that attitude con~titutes a threat to the system as to give cover to any kind of violence. In OtP' time, too, dogmatic fanaticism of every conceivable kind has of collective security. renewed its strength. As we live in a state of constant 8. The Chilean delegation is therefore anxious that anxiety, opposing sides, instead of seeking a friendly this General Assembly should take a decision on the solution, prefer the path of violence. This menacing draft international conventions on human rights, so 85 A/PV.436 r"8_1!!16:::::::::::::::::::::~:_::·.-~.~;~;_jjr~·~_·A·ssl!!lcl!!l,ml!!l.l!!I)ll!!ly-I!!IEl!!lil!!lgl!!lhl!!lth-SeI!!lIJljI!!lII!!lOnl!!l-l!!Ip·ll!!1enl!!lal!!lry-M--eel!!ltl!!llnl!!lg·s ~I!!I -.,I!!I__ ..•,._-...I!!I.-:::::::::::"._-.,.,_<-_..
-,.. ~-----=- that States may be given the opportunity.of ratifying tating Western Europe and other parts of the world. these instruments which, taken together, wIll encourage They are accused also of denying their peoples better 19. I greater respect for those rights. standards of living when the fact is that, to safeguard her hil that s11 9. Neither formal good relations among Sta,tes, nor their existence a~ nations., thc;y have been c')mpelled to rigl~ts, t~~em sacrifice som~ part of their legitimate right to a better the fa( even a general respect for h,uman are m I reme selves enough to make possIble a lastmg peace. G.ood life so as to be prepared, albl,;it insufficiently, to n:teet the aggressor. It has been asserted that the Umted of Incl neighbourliness among all peoples and the full enJ0Y: at hav] ment of individual rights cannot be ensured untIl N atioi1s forces used bacterial weapons in the war in in Ind: poverty and want have ~een eliminated. Tha,t W~lS defence of the Republic of South Korea, when in fact th~ .11~1pUr its armies deliberately refrained from using c(~rtain sent at why the United Nations Clul;rter stressed it will tance of better standards of hfe and the possIlnhty of modern weapons in order to respect the moral prin ciples of the United Nations. India building a society where there would.be. equal oppor -will Umity for all and industry could ell1mnate poverty. 14. Nevertheless the IJropaganda machine of the 20. I 10. The industrial countries had to recover. from the totalitarian regimes has persisted in its campaign of our IH disaeter of war. The under-developed countnes sought hate which, unfortunately, has been able to affect a part of world public opinion. has cc to attain a satisfactory level of production and .con reputa sumption. The effort required was too much for natIo!1a1 15. The Korean armistice and the appearance of quiet able SI resources and made international co-operation essentIal. on the front of aggression would seem to show that o(h~r Gener: Loans, gifts, technical assistance, credits and the free world's determination to defend itself has good f forms of aid had to be mobilized to carry out thIS contained the totalitarian advance. If this interpretation 21. 1 joint enterprise with ali due speed. All were directly were correct, the United Nations would begin its eighth Asserr interested in a victory over want because all knew session in a more favourable atmosphere. Nevertlwless dang(~r. charac that until that victory was won peace was in we are anxious lest what has been gained in the the wc tC0 political field should be lost in the economic amI social 11. Unfortunately, the cold war is indivisib!e, hopes The democracies have had to arm to meet the danger fields. ~ggression. future of totalitarian The technique of destruction 16. It is essential tbat the effort that made military has reached a levCl at which the expenditures involved 22. j rearmament possible should be directed to economic -the are tremendous. More than $80,000 million has been ends and that from now on the cold war against want rivalr1 spent on armaments in the past fevy years. Th~t is the should be fought and won. A depressio!l, a world price that has so far had to be paid to keep 111 check tionaf economic crisis or the continuation of the present of us those who would engage in violence. If the same sum imbalance between production and consumption could had beeI~ invested in production and ,;,he means of Union cause as much harm as war and disrupt the democratic 1945. production, we should now have a flourishing and system. The most important thing at this point is to prosperous community, a world of common effort and overt tackle the problem of financing programmes of there well-being. Dm.tlg these years we have lost the greatest economic development, to increase the resources of the opportunity offered by history and the.wbole r~spon not SI International Bank for Reconstruction 'and Develop the ~. sibility rests on those governments wluch, dommated ment, to set up an assistance fund-in short, to enable and consumed by an anti-human dogma, believe that Austr all the peoples who desire freedom to live thtir lives of thi war is inevitable that it is a historical necessity and in real freedom without the constant fear of want and that it is almost ~ duty to precipitate it. The co!d war ~ is no poverty. For that reason, my delegation believes, now mU111~ has deprived the under-developed areas of ~aplta1. It as always, that the economic and social questions on has diverted civil industries to unprOdttctlv~ ends. from the General Assembly's agenda are closely linked with well v It has hindered the economic recovery 0 f the countries r(~cent victories in the political field, and if we do not ures t devastated during the las.t war through the conver~ion make headway in dealing with those questions, the of some of their factones to armaments productlOn. little we have gained in one sphere may well be lost 23. It has limited the scope of technical assistance .by 111 the other. matte: leaving it a tiny budget, the tot.a~ amo~nt of whIch recen1 is less than the cost of twenty mlhtary aIrcraft. 17. The Chilean delegation, as the spokesman of its Unior Government and of the people of Chile, believes that hostili 12. The United Nations Secretariat has prepared the eighth session of the General Assembly should be valuable material on the world economic situation; we these concerned principally with the mobilization of inter too g see, once again, that it has been impossible to halt national effort to raise the standards of living of the inflation that international trade has not returned to stand peoples and to avoid an economic crisis whose conse indeec normal, 'that the pace of development in the ;111der quences would be as calamitous as war. Now, more developed areas is extremely slow, that economIes are frank thatl ~ver, imagination is needed to surmount the in pul being bled white by the cost of rearmament and that difficuiries that beset us. Although the international the standards of living of the peoples have remained 'luti01 situation may seem to lead to scepticism, my delegation mind~ stationary. All this, and much more, is the result of the has confidence in this General Assembly, for faith has cold war. It is the price the peoples who wish to remain always risen above disillusionment. 24. free have paid to prevent aggression by those govern suid~ ments which have no respect for the human person. 18. Mr. CASEY (AustraEa) : May I start by offering g-estu: 13. Unsatisfied needs afford a breeding ground for the President of the GeYteral Assembly the sincere throw misunderstandings of all kinds and contribute. to the congratulations of the Atlstr~lian Gover!lm~nt on h~r possil Interr campaign of hate, dominated by a war pSYChOSIS, that election. I think she knows of my specml 111terest In has b~en launched against the free world. The demo and regard for her country, in which I have lived and the e= crade" are wrongly accuscd of having provoked worked. I am confident that her work as President of work rearmament, when in fact they have merely used some the Assembly will bring the highest t.:red;t both to her bring of their resources to prevent aggression frOM devas- country and to herself. Sovie are ( -~.---,,"~~~ 436th Meeting-IS September 1953 37 Norld. some years the Soviet Union held something close to better 19. I have noticed that she said, in cOi1ncxion with th{~. a monopoly of suspicion and hostility, and our side, guard her high appointment, that ..;llC did not wish fact inherently, a near-monopoly of tolerance. But hostility led to that shc was a woman to b" :.;tressed; rather, she WIshed the fact that she was a citizen of India to be stressed. breeds hostility, just as tolerance breeds tolerance. better Every a.ction has its equal and opposite reaction. The . meet I remember that when her brother, the Prime Minister present situation is not very unlike that of the Roman Jnited of India, had to meet some comment in his own c.ountry woma~ leader who said to the Carthaginians: "I have in my rar in at having nominated a doctor for a certa111 post toga peace or war. Choose which you will." n fact in India, he replied: "I have not scnt a woman; I havc ertain sent an ofilcer." Notwithstanding this, I do not believe 25. The gestures made by the Sovi(~t ~Tnion during prin- it will be possible to conceal the fact that the women of this year may he important or unimport: Ilt. Nobody India-and, indeed, I belif've, the women of the world knows except the handful of men in Moscow who -·will be greatly encouraged by Mrs. Pandit's election. control Soviet policy. I f they were df$if,ned to secure f the I should also like to give a sincere welcome to a response by the democracies, and so to lead to a gn of 20. our new Secretary-General,' Mr. Hammarskjold, who genuine casing of world tension and to the eventual fect a has com~ to us from his native Sweden with a high possibility of the two sides living together, then they reputation and who, I have no doubt, will be a very have not yet succeeded-nor, indeed, have they yet : quiet able Secretary-General. To Mr. Lie, the first Secretary failed. 'V that General of the United Nations, Australia wishes every 26. If, in the course of, s,', LIte coming year, the f has good fortune for the future. tentative approaches of the Soviet Union towards the easing of world tension are continued; if, perhaps, they :tation 21. This general debate in the United Nations General gain momentum; if, in particular, we see signs that eighth Assembly has, over the years, come to assume the carry conviction to us that the Soviet ambitions to :lwless character of an annual stock-taking by the peoples af communize the world have given place to some less n the the world. It is a unique opportunity for assessing rt,e offen~ivc and less all-embracing objective, then I believe social hopes and fears of the peoples of the world for their that the Soviet Union is likely to get real reciprocity. future. Vve. for our part, have every right to rem'ember that, ilitary 22. At this time-and, indeL"d, at any tlme since 1945 while tactics may change, the repeatedly stated ultimate nomIc -the problem of the world is, as it ha" been, the objective of communism is the communizing of the want rivalry between international democracy and interna world. Perhaps I may be allowed to quote the old world tional communism. It would be only too easy for most Biblical warning: "By their fruits ye slmll know them./) resent of us here. to make a bitter case against the Soviet could 27. The Soviet Union, in framing it" plans and its Union for what we have suffered at its hands since strategy, has taken a great many factors into account. lcratic 1945. In addition to the many well-known instances of is to It has shown grea~ skill. It has made itself master of overt military :>nd political aggression, I expect that many techniques and much expertise; but I would ~s of there is not one of the democratic countries that has of the belil:;ve that it has left almost completely out of account not suffered by reason of the disruptive activities of a matter on which we in the democracie!' ~et great velop- the dandestine agents of the Soviet Union. \Ve in enable store and importance-and that is the human element Australia, among other countries, have bitter memories in life and in politics. In communist circles it would . lives of this underground and covert warfare-because there It and appeal' that politics come from the head and not the ~ is no other realistic way of describing it. The com heart, whereas with us it is, at any rat.e to a v(;ry great " now i~, i munist dictum, "The easiest way to take a fortress extent, the reverse. We believe that politics that leave Ins on from within", has not been lost on us. VIe know very 1 with the inte1"ests and the feelings of individual human well what it means-and we are taking our own meas beings out of account· rc doomed, and rightly so. They 10 not ures to protect ourselves. s, the are to us the politics of the Middle Ages, from which le lost 23. However, I do not propose to dwell on the~e wc believe mankind has develope~ a very long way. matters. We have, as I have said, some evidence in I believe that, for this reason, if for no other, the recent times of n tendency on the part of the Soviet theory of c01i.lluunism dces not ring true. of its Union to employ gestures of less malignancy, le~s 28. These observations are commonplace truisms, ~s that hostility than formerly. We may be excu5ed if we treat blinding glimpses of the obvious, to us in the democ uld be these gestures with some reserve, if we do not become racies. Maybe they have something of the charm of inter- too greatly impressed with their sincerity. We l111(h~r novelty to those who hav(~ not been brought up and of the stand very well the tactics of retrea~ and of advance lived their Eves in dcmo~~ratic surroundings. I am led conse- indeed, the leaders of the Soviet Union have been to believe that not tm~-.:h thinking has been done on more frank enough to explain it to their followers, and to us, these lines in Mosl'oW by the fact that the Soviet Union It the ill published volumes. The turning on and off of inter representatives to the United Nations do 110t seem to ltional 'lational tension is a tactic to serve a purpose. Our have devoted more ....hall a pa':sing moment of their gation minds have become quite sensitive to such manreuvres. many hundreds of hours of speaking in the Assembly th has 24. However, for myself-and in spit~ or what I hav(~ to the question of th~ vrelfare and the happiness of said---I do not find it impossible to believe that these the indiVIdual human heing. P.erhaps it would be too much to believe that;:hese simple, homely matter:; ffering gestures may be genuine and that, if they r re not have begun to receive some attel1tion in Moscow, and iincere thrown back ill th" face of the Soviet Union, they may that they may have befn responsible for the slight m her possibly lead to a more civilized relationship between casing in the asperity of Soviet policy at home and rest in mternational communism and the democracies, even to abroad that has been noticeable during ~d and the extent of the two systems living side by side in the 1953. .ent of world without danp-erous friction. The possibility of 29. At the sixth session of che General Assembly, in to her bringing' this about is vastly more in the hands of the Paris, two years ago, I suggested that it would not be Soviet Union than of our side. Suspicion and hostility wise for the Soviet l Jnioll to provoke world tension are cumulativ". as a~e goodwill and tolerance. For beyond the point of no return-the point beyond which 88 (;cnt'ral Assembly-Eighth Scs.~ion-Plcnary Meetings ----_.. ~-- ... -,..,,,.,,_.,. ... there co'tld be no turning back along the road which learnt in many centuries of development, and that such 39. appeared in 1951 to be leading inevitably to another lessons are now in the process of beginning to influence not 1 world war. I am not one who suffers from the malady their minds, as practical considerations. Perha·)s,·-we Gem of folie des grandcurs, but I may be excused for do not know-the great thaw may be starting in the [~:ea! believing that some SUdl con~ideration as this ,-lIust Ice Age (f Soviet politics. All this may be. hopelessly bona have influenced the minds of those in control of Soviet wrong. One's common sense tells one that it is, but vinci policy. Such changes in direction as we have seen there is just the hope that we may be seeing a gleam inter during 1953 do not come about by simple chance, but of light at the end of the tunnel, and this bare possi rather by hard calculation of the probable results. tW. bility is my excuse for taking up, for a short time, the in fa 30. There are internal stresses and strains in every time of the General Asslmbly in referring to it. politi country-·democratic and communist-···by reason largely 35. I am not blind to the fact that the Soviet leaders this: of the utlfu1f1lled ambitions of the human beings who show all the signs of being intensely suspicious of us, and make up all our populations. In the democracies these the democracies. They profebs to believe that we are the \ stresses and strains can be resolved--or at any rate plotting and working towards the downfall of the 41. eased-through the operation of the well-known ma communist regime. It would be more true to say that little chinery of democracy. In the communist countries no we arc devoting ourselves whole-heartedly to trying to " such safety-valve exists. The condition of the people stop the aggressive expansion of communist domina 4"'. --of the ordinary common people-in a dictatorship tion beyond its present borders. Those communist have can be altered for the better only by changes in high officials who know the democracies-and surely some the I level policy dictated by the person or the group' in of them do-can have no logical fear of aggression by confl undisputed political control. till' democracies. Hut I can appreciate the fact th~it it is the : Assc 31. We, on cur side, Hre not fonls. We have had some impossibly dangerous for these few men to attempt to communicate their views to their leaders, and still this! expericn('f in the drawing of inference t:-om history disC1 and from events. From the experience of the last forty more, of course, to get them accepted, The communist leaders either have an innate, ingrained and unreason only years we have learnt some lessons. One of them is ferer t.hat totalitarian regimes aiways look-always, in the ing suspicion of the democracies that no facts, no logic, no argument will dispel, or, alternatively, they even nature of things, thcy have ~o look-more durable than even1 they are, until, as in two notable instances, th{'y crack may have decided to adopt an attitude of suspicion ~lnd to propagate it as a consider\.~d part of their policy and furth irrevocably. They secm, while they arc viable, to pre con fe sent an impervious front: whereas, in democratic coun as a means of maintaining the ofTensive spirit in their peoples. The Iron Curtain enables the lack of knowl is de tries, every small differcnce is magnified and emphasized Nort to the world. Mr. Vyshinsky ha~ himself taken advan edge of the rest of the world to be maintained and the tagc of this from time to time by quotin.:~ from scraps suspicion of the democracies to be fostered. 43. of newspaper clippings from obscure journals in demo 36. Oi the two alternatives-that the Soviet suspicion Kort: cratic countries. of the democracies is real or that it is synthetic be d I would tend to believe that the latter is more likely that 32. It has been one of the shibboleths of communism the a that democracy, as we know it, contains within itself to be the case. If tl11.s is so, then it is capable of change. The Soviet l~aders have never been afraid of a radical to dl the seeds 0 f its own destruction. Since this theory was change of policy. They explain it a\vay or, more often In () first advanced over one hundred years ago, democracy still, they do not bother to explain it at all. appo has weathered many storms and cris{~s-·domestic and 37. Now it seems to me that all this adds up to this, to a international-and it has survived and prospered, except start where it has been overcome and stampcd 'out by force that if thc policy-makers o{ the Sovid Union have genuinely decided to try a more human and co-operative 510ns of arms. ! expect it may have occurred to the Soviet affec1 Union leaders·-occurred only to be anxiously rejected policy for the future, the way is clear ahead for them -that it is not at all impossible that the thesis might to do so. We will not, however, lower our guarcl and 44. more properly be true in reverse-that communism they cannot expect us to be notably responsive until for ~ may hold within itself the seeds of its own destruction, i;he process has gonc a good deal further than it has diffel particularly if the human element is to be left C011 up to now. we 11' tinuously aild entirely out of account. 38. vVe shall watch out for communist initiative in Asse: positive co-operative action. Areas of co-operation are expre }i~rever, the incidence of these human observa 3.1 not hard to find. Moreover, let us not forget that we reso} tions-"wl.ether or not they have been taken into account have had experience of the policy of relieving tension the ( and, if so, the weight given to them in Moscow-is no from time to tim~ before this, It 1S an old technique of Unit. more than speculation. Certainly the facts of the past communism, the stl?p back beforc tnking two steps 510n provide but little hopc that such matters have even forward. The mere turning on or off of internatio'.lal comn bt:l:n considererl by the Soviet Union leaders-much tension is not an index to the good faith of communist advis less that their policy has been influenced by them. negotiators. It has been a tactic, in the p;·~t at least~ Rather would it seem that cOl1!'iideration for the incli 45. bourf~eois to serve a purpose; ar.d it is the nature of t1h.' purpose Unit« vidual has been regarded as a weak con that we have tc explore. We are thankful f(Jr the ception which has no place in the armom: of those conte cessation--or perhaps I should say the diminution- orgat whose god is force and to whom domination of others of the campaign of hate and vilification. But the wel is the only desirable aim. force fare of mankind is not immediately afIecte(l by the will I 34. Men's minds develop, whatever the form of manners, good or bad, of international commi111ism. I hav socicty. The Soviet Union has gone far in learning The test of Soviet intentions lies in communist initia that and applying the material facts of life. Maybe they tive, as I have saiu, in positive Co-op'(~rative action in acted are coming round to considering, if not the spiritual, directions of importance, as distinct f rOI11 the tr'1tters have then at least some of the social--or perhaps, rather, of small consequence on which the Soviet Union has The 1 the sociological-lessons that the democratic world has experimented so far. for 11 43(jth Meeting-IS Sel)lemh('r I9!)3 59 t such 39. As I have said, such areas of co-()p('ra~;on \\till 46. We cannot note the conclusion of the fjghting in l1cnce not he hard to find. They exist today, for instar.ce, in Korea-onc hopes the permanent conclu~;ion-·without ~,,-we Germany, in Korea and in lndo-China, each I)f them payi.ng a tribute to the courageous leadership and in the r~:eas in which the Communists can establish their unstinted contribution of the United Statcs. This is ~lessly bona fides and their Rincerity in a practical and con not only true so far as the military action in Korea is S, hut vincing way. They exist, again, in the problem of the concerned, but it is also strikingly true in respect of gleam internationai control 0 f atomic energy. the relief and rehahilitation of devastated Korea. The possi~ 40. If, h()wev(~r, the Soviet gestures of 1953 turn out action ~akcn in Korea under the leadership of the ~;tates le, the in fact to be no more than a minor mano.~uvre in world United was the right action and it will, I am politics-·~-and we .. ,'c likely to discover whether or not quite surf~, be known in the years to come as one of ~aders the really c1ecisive actions in history. this is so in the c.; 1 ng year---then the disappointment, of us, and even the anger, 0 f the ordinary p{~opl(~ all over 47. The cnd of the fighting in Korea has brought to re are the world will be very real. many people a new hope for the future, but, as an ,f the 41. And now perhaps I might be allowed to speak a offset to this hope, another and more dreadful anxiety that y little on the major current problem of Korea. has ari:-;en. It has become clear, during 1953, that both in~ to the United States and the Soviet Union ha\tc the mma~ 42. lVlost of us had. hoped that this Assembly would knowledge and the capacity to make the hydrogen tlunist have been able to aVOId a recurrence of the discussion of bomb. From what tll'" layman knows of the effect of the Korean question and of the constituioll of the po1itic~1 some such Cl weapon we can imagine the unspeakable devasta on by conference, and that all that had been disposed of in tion to both sides in a war in which such weapons are Lt it is the recently concluded seventh session of the General used. A~sembly. Then: sl'{'mec! lit!le that ~ot11d he added by :tempt 48. Vve mhst face, before very long, a situation in cl still tl~IS ses?Ion and, mdced, 1t lmght be thcmght that further d1ScussIon of this matter in N<'w York would tend which both sides will have reached saturation point tlunist in the possession of atomic weapons, saturation point ~ason~ only to complica!e the issues facing the political con being thf.~ point at which both sid($ possess a safficient :s, no ference and pOSSIbly hurden and embarrass it with an even less easy atmo~phe!'e than it will inherit in any quantity of hombs to destroy all the major defences , they of the other side. The approach to this saturation point event. \Vht'ther tlllS CJeneral Assembly can avoid ,n and makes internatic>llal agreements for control, through :yand further argument about the constitution of the political ~tem ~on ference. and.about the Korean problem gener,tlly, an effective s)' of inspection of manufacture of I their atomk \\'eapons, not only urgent but imperative. It is :nowl 1S dependent mamly on the authorities in China and in North Korea. something to which the great Powers which pos::.ess ld the these weapons must set their mind~ if the world is not 43. We helieve quite simply that the settlement of the to be destroyed by itself. They must realize the deep W(~r p1C1()n Korean and the KCHe
national associations, its geographical situation and its that wheI1 we speak of aggression we mean military the p; performance over, say, the last generation. I believe aggression, not political or ideological aggression. occaSl it is true to Hay that the combination of these factor~, Someone has rightly and aptly said that you cannot the v: so far as AUl:itralia is conccrIw'l, adds up to our having kill an idea with bullets, and I think it as well, there at all a pOl:iition in the world more substantial than our fore, to make it plain that we took up arms in Korea I regl population would otherwise warrant. I need not enter to resist military aggression. Political or ideological disccr into these factors in detail, oth\;:- than to mentioIl our aggression, unaccompanied by military aggression, whose traditional and greatly valued membership in the needs counter-measures of a different kind. ft.nda some Commonwealth of Nations, in which we have all the 61. The fact that after these terrible years the whole advantages that flow fr<:..:1 our close association and cnang of Korea is not united and free may seem to some on th co-operation and consultatio 1 with our mother country, l~n.st not to warrant any degree of satisfaction with tl'e hopes Great Britain, and the mem!. el'S of the Commonwealth, or of confidence in the future of the United Nations. whilst at the same time we have our own autonomy and The deliberate decision of the United Nations to seek 67. ] our own ability to determine our own policies. the objective of the unification of Korea by peaceful part 0 54. We are, relatively speaking, a young country, and means is sometimes classed as an act of appeasement. heart, we like to believe that we have shown that we are This pessimistic conclusion would be justified if talk confet determined to pay our way in the world both in p(~ace about the unification of Korea were no more than a for SI: and in war, and not to be a liability to our friends. cover for r..cceptance of the partition of the country. frustr 55. We are in no doubt, we people in Australia, to This is not our view of the spirit of the Charter or Germl whi<:h camp we be~()ng. We are a democratic country of the intentions of the United Nations. two pI of So' and we believe that we art.~ a not unimportant link in 62. \Ve have fought back the aggressor and, by so of de] the world-wide chain of democratic countries, and doing, have prevented him from gaining anything from too lai that in the dreadful event of another w(\r1d war we his break of world peace. We have demonstrated that that a would again have a positive part to play as a strategic military aggression du<.·s not pay. Even when the desired the cli~ base~gainst the common enemy. prize of peace seemed within our grasp we held out for 56. We Australians are not in any proper sense a months ~m a point of moral principle-the question of 68. ( warlike people, but we believe that the part that our the forcible repatriation of prisoners of war. of the fighting services have played in two great wars is 63. Our record to date, therefore, should be sufficient tions 1 evidence that we would not hang back if another threat to inspire confidence that our declared aim-the unifica NatiOl were to develop against our democratic way of life. tion and rehabilitathJ11 of Korea-will he pur5lt(~d by States 57. I believe that all of us in the United Nations are us tenaciously, though peacefully. I do not minimize exc1ud wer aware of the situation in the world today. I have the grave diHiculties, or aLtempt to foretell just how equal1: tried, so far as it i~ possible to do in a short statement, or when they may be overcome. But the determination we ha to put the point of view of the Government and people of the United Nations to work resolutely for the not wi of Australia. "Ve are heartily sick and tired of the reunion of a divided people is a force not to be regarded deep r suspicions and distrust which divide the world, tlw lightly. Such a reunion would, I believe, be imped(~d Unitec seeds of which have been sown hy the Soviet Union, by further recourse to arms, and w(' can only hope long a and we look forward to the day when we can all devote ~hat the measure of pcac~ which has been so dearly of the ourselves again to what is, in truth, the constrllctiv(' won will not be broken by any unilateral resumption means being, task of leadership: that of 111aking the world each year of hostilities. a progressively better place for the average man and centre 64. Above a11, I woul here to emphasiz(' United Nations can best exert its iniluenct i!"; through tariaty 436th Meeting-IS September 1953 ~I
~~tat('s ,ry the pacific settlement of disputes. On more than one to uphold and respect the independence of the m. occasion, back in my own ,'ountry, I have expressed Secretariat and the (~orrelative duty of the staff of the lOt the view that- the clemoC':,,,tic nation!' should he ready Secretariat to avoid any conduct which might reflect upon their position as international officials. ~e- at all times to meet c0tlciJiation with conciliation, hut 'ea I regret to say that s,> far we have not been able to 71. At the seventh session of the Getl(~ral Assembly :al discern much in the way of conciliation from those [416th meeting], the New Zealand represcntative drew m, whose political and ideolog'ical conceptions differ so attentio'l to the importance of developing- along' sound ft.'ldamentally from our own. If we could only have linc'i the "jurisprttdence" of thc Secretariat in person some tangible proof, some convincing cvidence, of nel matters on the basis of the rules laid down by the )le cnangc of heart, rather than merely a change of tactics, ne General Assembly. If the Secretary-General will permit on ~hcir part, we coulcl facc the future with greater me again to quote him, may I say that certain words 1.st hopes or, at any rak, less anxiety. ns. which he used in an address to the United Nations ek 67. If it is truc that there is a will to peace on the Correspondents' Association on 10 July 1953 express tul part of the Soviet Un,on, if there is really a change of very clearly the consideration which the New Zealand nt. ;'t; heart, now is the time to prove it by deeds. The political delegation then had in mind. This is what the Secre 1.lk conference on Korea offers an excellent opportunity tary-General said: ~iI for such proof. We are all only too familiar with the 11 " a I don't believe very much in general statements ry. ~I frustrations and delciys over the peace settlements with and sweeping rulings, but more in orderly develop or Germany ancl Austria. Surely the conclusion of these ments building up a sound body of rules by decisions two peace treaties must be regarded as one of the tesh, in individual cases, creating a kind of common law." of Soviet intentions. Surely, after some 250 meetings J 72. When I addressed the Assembly last year [38: th so of deputies of Foreign Ministers have been held, it is nil meeting], I gave at some length my country's view on too late in the day to argue, as it is now being argued, the manner in which the United Nations could assist tat that a meeting at this level is not the proper forum for 'cd "I the administering Powers to promote the welfare of I(;~ the discussion of an Austrian treaty. vi [or ;1 the inhabitants of the Trust and Non-Self-Governing of ) 68. One further matter upon which the Government Territories. ! do not propose to labour again the points of the Soviet Union can give proof of its good inten I then endeavoured to make. I deeply regret the ten ~nt tions is the admission of new Members to the United dency manifested by some nations to ignore the true 11 Nations. At each session of the Assembly numbers of nature of the task which confronts the administering ca- f States, in every way qualified for membership, are Powers. In establishing stable forms of government ~>y .;t lze excluded with monotonous regularitv. It would be on a democratic basis, in encouraging development in equally monotonous for me to repeaL the arguments sQcial fields, anrl In promoting the DW the economic and Ion we have advanced in favour of their admission. I do health and welfare of tb~ populati,)ns of these terri the not wish to do more, at this stage, than to record my tories, the administerbg Powers have a notable record deep regret that nations so fully qualified to enter the of achievement. ~"e do well to remember the nature led shouldl~ontirHle led United Nations to he excluded. So of the obstacles which the administering Powers have long as they are excluded, we shall have the spectacle >pe overcome in this process. rly of the United Nations being used by one country as a 73. What these problems are in the Trust Territory of Ion means of imposing its will upon the rest instead of Western Samoa, the New Zealand Government has being, to quote the words of the Charter itself, "a recently explained in a statement of policy regarding centre for harmonizing the action,; of nations in the the future of the Territory. New Zealand 1s offering the attainment of these common ends". not to the Samoan people the opportunity to make known, ce- 69. I was particularly impre~sed by the following in a fully representative constitutional convention, ion passage in the Secretary-General's annual report or. their views on the nature of the institutions through ICe the work of tl1e Organization: which they desire to exercise i!lIJ powers of self :'ec1 //1 hope that the government~ will find occasion, government. May I quote a few words from this state its ill the months and years ahead, to give greater ment: Jur atkntion to the importance for world peace of "The recommendations of this Convention) and at extending the scope of international law, of building the date on which the Constitution will be put into up respect for its distiplines and of resorting more effect, will be carefully considered by the New his willingl:' to the International Court. I hope also Zealand Government, which is fully prepared to ent that the} will reaffirm in their policies the respect implement any scheme which seems to it to be con ltlr the:.) have pledged in the Charter for the indepe:1Clent sonant with its responsibilities as AdmirJistering r~gard we position of the Secf(>tariat of the United Nations Authority and its natural for the welfare of nt- and the recognition thert given to the essential role the Samoan people. N?h·rally the New Zealand Government will fulfil its duty of keeping the ph' of an internatiomd civil service in an irrevocat)ly Jllc1 interdependent worl(l, As Secretary-General, I shall Trusteeship Council of the United Nations informed, ;tlv uphrhl" the policies concerning conduct of members and would giv~ due consideration to its views and tl'~l of the Secretariat which are 1. condition for this advict" [T/1057, annex I]. >c1v interdependence" [A/2404, page xii]. 74. My Government greatly appreciates ~he helpful th(~ 70. The New Zealand Government encln<"'ies the prin and constructive spirit in which the proposals were 'Ive ciples laid down in the paragraph I have just read. The received by the Visiting Mission which recently went fea need to make all proper use of the International Court to Samoa and, indeed, by the Trusteeship Council itself. lice of Justice is .', fm.tter to which, on more thal. one When their reports come before the Assembly, all occasion, we h tV(: drawn attention. No less important Members will have the opportunity to r.Gnsider the the are the Secretary-General's references to the Secre progress so far mach in pursuit of New Zealand's Igh tariat, emphasizing as they do the duty of the Memher stated aim, which, as I have s,dd on more th..m one 42 General Auembly-Eighth Sellion-Plenary Meetings ___~~~,,~".,,~~...._~='oo,,'c ~ o~·o.~~... UnJ occasion, is the promotion of the welfare and advance tions for the possible holding of the conference for the ment of the Samoan people. This, I believe, is an revision of the Charter as envisaged in Article 109. GI example of how the trusteeship prindplc was intended Wc therefore welcome the decidon of the Netherlands to work. It is the only spirit in which it will work. G()v(~rnmellt to propose the im~lltsion of the item whit'h A~ If, however, the United Nations is used as a forum now appl':tl'P aB agenda it''''l 70. What is required is for propaganda, alld if unrelated political overtones, the adoptiol! by the Ass('tlA0Iy of a procedure which EIG inimical to the inter~sts of the peoples of the dependent will permit an orderly and sYl'lter~(,ttie preparation for territories, are introduced into i~,sues confronting us, the c()nferen~c. At this stage then.: should be 110 qUt'S Offil the system will nDt. and cannot f111lction as it should. tioll of any particular propol'lal for aml'ndment or, 75. New Zealand':) support ior United Nations activity in<1et~d, of going lwyolld the diHcuHl'lion of the procedure in the field of economic developmcnt is given practical of preparation. 1\0; tIll' representative of the Nether expression by our participation in the technical assist lalHI:-; saitl yt~Htenlay 1·135th mcctiH!lI, it ~s simply a Gencr~ ance programmes or the United Nations and :ts spe matter of carrying llUt the purpose of Article 10~. SPl'C cialized agencies. These programmes have been in 79. Before I conclude, I would like to say a. word or Slim operation for on'lY a few year s, but they have already two on the question of the jurisdiction of this Organ brought benefits '~o under-developed countries in various ization. On a specific isstw it came before this Assembly fields where technical knowled:Jc is mo::t in need of yesterday, and I have no desire to reopen that discus improvement. 'Ve commend the United Nations for sion here, particularly as it will no doubt be continued its inihative in tackling this problem; we hope that in one or more of the committees. My purpose now is this process of sharing skills will be continucd on a to deal with the question of jurisdiction, not as It basis which will bring about a lasting improvement in affects any particular couh~ry, but as it affects the the standards of living of all countries. ft1~urc of this \)rganhmtion. SPEE~ ,I 76. New Zf~aland has made a substantial monetary 80. I believe hat this Assembly should take a more I i
..' •·•····.. contribution in each year of the Expanded Programme realistic attitude in regard to queHtions claimed to lie .. I··,·· 1. ~ )f Technical Assistance. We have endeavoured to have within the domestic jurisdiction of any State. I am .~ this contribution used as fully as possible in the pro far f ram denying that in particular cases it is extremely ~. to off vision of the particular forms of assistance which difficult to determine just where domestic jurisdiction her et New Zealand is best fitted to offer. New Zealand is ends and the A~sembly's competence begins. It is hard Asser a small country) itself needing capital development; to reconcile several articles of the Charter. For that Asser however, this by no means disqualifIes it from pro reason we should have wdeomed greater readiness on the A viding technical assistance ~o less develolJed areas. the part of Members to consult the International Court combi There is, in fact, an obvious advantage when the of Justice on these disputed points. I f<...>el that the Court with I I, receiving country is aiso a small 011C, because technical might well have beeu able to devise a forIllula that 2. V trainees can see things being done on a scale similar would enable us to give a workable interpretation to Secre to that which would apply in their home countries. these conflicting, or apparently conflicting, prnvisions WC" 77. I wish to reiterate that this assistance, together of the Charter. I feel, too, that no one who has candidly co-op with that provided by New Zealand to other l Jnited studied the record of the United Nations over these respo Nations programmes for economic ancI social better eight years can justifiably deny tha.t its tendency has been to give too little weight to the plea of domestic 3. T ment-for instance, UNICEF [United Nations Inter and I national Children's Bmergency Ftmd], Korea and jurisdiction. I am afraid that many of us have been too ready to see the mote in the other man's eye when advar: Palestine refugees-·is a practical example of our sup spirit! port for United Nations action in these fields. These we might have been better occupied in taking the beam out of our own. I think it must be conceded that in e1brt programmes, in my opinion, will be not only of lasting and c value to the countries receiving aid, but V\ ill also add several of these matters thc competence of the United Nations is at the best doubtful, and I have a p'rowing are ~l greatly to the stature and prestige of the United comp: Nations. feeling' that if we attempt too much there is a IlSk that this Organization will lo~e in authority and effective nomi(.. 7K In speaking to the General Assembly last year, IS 111 I threw out the suggestion that at the present eighth ness. session it would not be too soon to begin the prepara- The meeting rose at 11.55 a.m. 4. T the p: 1:0 tht of the better that l proml all pel is the hased self-cl has it ohj{~c' has I there what of res goress heen : Printed in U.S.A. ~1., 42(}()OfktolH't' 195J··;!,(KlO