Third Plenary Session...

MR. MOSTAFA ADL (speaking in French; translation follows) Mr. Chairman, Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen: The very noble intent that has presided at the organization of this Conference has been greatly appreciated by my country, and I welcome this opportunity, for which I thank you, Mr. Chairman, to express the gratitude of Iran for the great leader who took this initiative.

But let us now recall the memory of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. All nations seeking peace, justice, and equity honor his memory, but Iran has an extra claim to this mission, for had it not the privilege, if only for a short while, to entertain the late President during the Conference at Teheran and this at a time when President Roosevelt was displaying his greatest activity in collaboration with Marshal Stalin and Mr. Churchill in order to elaborate plans for victory, which ever since has never failed to confound and seek out the common enemy.

It will never be superfluous to repeat that the present war, imposed on the United Nations by aggressors, has as a final aim the establishment of justice and the assurance of a permanent peace so that the sufferings borne by humanity today may not be repeated in the future.

This war has spared no country. In turn, mine experienced all it can bring in the way of grief and suffering. It has, however, the satisfaction to note that its great allies have duly recognized its share of help to the common cause in the Declarations of Teheran.

The honorable delegates who have preceded me here explained with eloquence how necessary it is to put forth solid bases for an honorable peace and to establish among the nations a political understanding and an economic solidarity based on the principles of equality and justice. We are happy to note that the draft of Dumbarton Oaks

Third Plenary Session...

has already laid the basis of this peace to which world democracy is so strongly attached. We feel, nevertheless, that certain points must be stressed more precisely so as to insure fully territorial integrity and political and economic independence to states, members of the future organization. The Iranian Delegation will not fail to present, at the proper time, its recommendations.

I would like to stress equally the importance of an intellectual and moral collaboration. If individuals are to live in peace, it is necessary that they should live in Larmony, that they should understand one another. The same can be said of nations. The nonobservance of this principle is, to my mind, the root of the misunderstandings which wreck the peace. The importance of intellectual co-operation in the new organization must be stressed. I believe that I am not only the mouthpiece of my country's feelings, but also that of the countries represented here, when I speak of the steady faith in the fulfillment of our duty and our unwavering aim. By this I mean that this Conference will not close before we have laid the foundation of an international structure, which must guard and insure the peace and security of the world. We all of us have covered thousands of miles; from the far corners of the world we have come, bringing with us the wishes of millions of souls, different in race and creed, but together in their deep desire for peace, justice and freedom. They have placed their faith in us. We must not go back with empty hands; our peoples expect their delegates will bring back from San Francisco the signed Charter which will safeguard the welfare of humanity. Let us do our utmost not to deceive them.

MR. SOONG: I now recognize His Excellency, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and chairman of the delegation of the Netherlands.

MR. VAN KLEFFENS: Mr. Chairman and Fellow Delegates: On behalf of the Netherlands delegation, I should like to contribute only a few brief remarks to this general debate. First of all, I wish to confirm that the Government we have the honor to represent is wholeheartedly in favor of a plan generally acceptable to the United Nations for the maintenance of international security.

In endeavoring to help reach that goal, we simply continue a tradition. The Netherlands have always stood for a better organized international community. We should like to see international anarchy reduced to the utmost possible extent. We are ready to accept certain limitations of that more or less complete freedom of action which hitherto has characterized a sovereign state. We should like to see those limitations accepted in the same measure by all states, great and small, but if this cannot be attained at once, and if, together with the other medium and smaller states, we are to set an example in this respect, we shall be proud to do it.

We fully recognize that apart from the sovereign equality of peace-loving states, which is a legal concept, here are between them inequalities in the realm of fact

which must be duly taken into account. But, let me point out, that in the realm of fact there is, in another sense, complete equality between larger and smaller states, inasmuch as good and just ideas may and do occur to either category without regard to size or power. And I need not remind anyone that the intrinsic force of good and just ideas is very great.

We of the Netherlands have learned through bitter experience how necessary it is that every possible effort be made to make war as unlikely a contingency as is possible. We have fought and suffered in the course of the present conflict, and we are still suffering as few others. Almost everything has been taken away from us by our enemies except our honor and our abiding faith. But the price we are paying is enormous, not only in wealth but also, and most especially, in terms of human life and happiness. Even our very soil has been partly destroyed.

We should, therefore, like to see conditions created which will make it impossible, or at any rate unlikely, that ever again an innocent country should be thrown into such a depth of what we, applying human standards, consider undeserved sorrow. The world must be enabled

to restore civilization to its proper place, seeking that harmony between the rights of the individual and those of the community, national or international, which is the essential goal in our pursuit of happiness. We recognize that, to attain that end, a good plan is an essential element, but even the best plan could be of no avail without an earnest resolve to observe in international relations those simple moral standards which our enemies have debased to their everlasting infamy.

I do not think that we can add anything to the exposition we have heard from those who spoke before me of the noble ideals we should strive to attain. Let us, rather, insist on the need to carry our good intentions into practical effect.

We have endeavored to make our point of view clear before the Conference opened. We have also laid on the table of the Conference certain amendments which we hope and trust will prove to find favor with all, and whose adoption, together with suggestions presented by others, would make the results of the conversations of Dumbarton Oaks more acceptable to all the United Nations. We approach this great work with an open mind, and we are ready to take the views of others into the most serious and sympathetic consideration.

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Let us then approach this business in a practical fashion. We should like the working committees to start their labors as soon as possible, moved by a spirit of sober optimism, and that humility which is fitting in view of the magnitude of our task. We hope to contribute all we can to the success of the Conference, for we cannot and should not forget that it has been said, "Blessed are the peace makers."

"Blessed are the peace makers," and so the memory is blessed of that great American, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, whom to our deep sorrow we have lost. It was one of the ironies of fate that this friend and champion of peace had to engage in war in order to obtain it. We of the Netherlands are proud to think that through his ancestry he belonged to our nation. To us, in our tribulations, he has been a staunch friend, a wise counselor, a veritable pillar of strength. His departure leaves this world a poorer place. Let his memory inspire us.

MR. SOONG: His Excellency, the chairman of the delegation of Lebanon, has designated the Minister Plenipotentiary of Lebanon to the United States as speaker for the delegation of Lebanon. The Chair recognizes His Excellency, the delegate of Lebanon, who will be the last speaker of this session.

MR. MALIK: Mr. Chairman, Fellow Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen: Lebanon wishes to express its gratitude to the great powers sponsoring the United Nations Conference on International Organization for their just invitation of Lebanon to the Conference. Lebanon, as one of the United Nations, appreciates fully and shares the high motives which prompted them to hold this Conference. There is presented today to the peace-loving nations of the world a unique, historic opportunity for organizing the peace, which, considering the infinite issues at stake, certainly no one can afford to miss or slight.

Lebanon is completely ready to do its modest part in the maintenance of international peace and security on the basis of the Dumbarton Oaks Proposals, which, we believe, are inspired by the principles of justice and the sovereign equality of all peace-loving states, big or small.

It is impossible, Mr. Chairman, to be present here in this gathering without thinking of President Roosevelt. This Conference would have been impossible without his continued devotion to the cause of justice and his vision for a true unity among the nations. We in Lebanon have deeply grieved his loss. We have come to know that, when freedom and justice were in question, he was sure to be their champion. No greater and more fitting homage can be done President Roosevelt than for all of us, great or small, to bend every effort to produce a world Charter embodying the supreme principles he so dearly loved.

As regards the fundamental purposes of the proposed Organization of the United Nations, Lebanon wishes to suggest that there be added the following purpose: "To create a permanent Committee of Jurists, whose function shall be the periodic codification or consolidation of existing principles of international law, together with the modifications thereof which shall be deemed necessary from time to time." It is obvious that the precise formulation of the law of nations, brought always up to date in accordance with the development of the theory and

practice of that law, will be a potent instrument for the maintenance of international peace and security. In this way, the more political and military aspects of the Organization, on which the Dumbarton Oaks Proposals seem to lay such justifiable stress, will be balanced and tempered by those equally important requirements of international justice.

The maintenance of international peace and security is certainly a worthy purpose of the United Nations. No price is too high for that end, but it will be noticed that in themselves peace and security are merely formal, derivative and static. It is patent that certain outwardly peaceful and secure situations do not spring from genuine justice and therefore are not worth maintaining.

Unless, then, the positive content of peace is determined on a foundation of real justice, there will be no real peace. Accordingly, the United Nations in this Conference must devote some time to the determination of a dynamic and positive conception of civilized existence which will justify the Organization they mean to set up. The peace which man believes in and will spontaneously rise up to defend is only that which is grounded in his ultimate rights and freedoms and in the reality of justice. There is a peace which only cloaks terrible inner conflict and there is a security which is utterly in

secure.

The Proposals at Dumbarton Oaks envisaged political, military, judicial, economic, and social measures for the maintenance of international peace and security. There is, however, hardly any mention of matters of an intellectual, moral, and educational order except for the rather vague phrase "humanitarian problems" in Chapter I, Article 3, and Chapter VIII, Sections A and C, which may imply such matters. But the promotion of understanding in respect to ideas and beliefs among the nations is no small matter in the securing of enduring peace.

Therefore, educational and intellectual co-operation among the nations is of the utmost importance. A free exchange of ideas will train the mind in the ways of

peace and will bring the nations together. The United Nations can save themselves many wars if they attend properly to the liberal arts of peace.

To this end certain small nations, while they may not be in themselves of much consequence militarily and politically, may be of the greatest importance intellectually and educationally. The unobtrusive moral contribution to international peace and security is altogether out of proportion to the size or material importance. Nations such as Lebanon, by reason of their traditions, educational institutions, potentialities, and geographical position must be looked upon as peculiarly entitled to a dominant representation in the Economic and Social Council or in an educational commission under that Council.

The present war, Mr. Chairman, is drawing to a close. We here are interested in the organization of peace, but the important thing is not the war of arms nor therefore the peace, which merely means the absence of such war. The important thing is the war of ideas. The war of arms itself derives whatever importance it has from whether

it decides rightly in the war of ideas. There is no doubt in our mind that the decision which is being enacted today in the various theaters of war is a right decision. But when we look ahead to the years of peace, we find that distressingly little is being contemplated to be done in this Conference in the realm of the mind and spirit. For the most part, we are dealing with means and instruments and machinery and mere framework and form, but certainly the fundamental thing is the spirit which fills and justifies that form.

It is to the spirit and mind of man, to his ideas and his attitudes that we must devote considerable attention if the peace is going to be truly won. Unless we secure the right conditions for spiritual and intellectual health and unless we determine the right positive ideas for which man should live, I am afraid all our work in this Conference may prove to have been in vain.

MR. SOONG: Ladies and Gentlemen, this session is now adjourned. The next session will be held in this same auditorium at 3:30 this afternoon.

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MR. MOLOTOV (Presiding Officer) (translation): Fellow Delegates: First let me express my thanks to you for electing me, the Soviet representative, as one of the four Presidents of the Conference. Assuming the discharge of my duties, I express great satisfaction that Russian speech will be heard from this high international rostrum.

Fellow Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen: The Fourth Plenary Session of the United Nations Conference on International Organization is hereby convened. We now have the pleasure of hearing from other chairmen of delegations who have indicated their desire to address the Conference. I now recognize the chairman of the delegation of El Salvador.

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MR. CASTRO: Mr. Chairman, Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen: I express on this occasion the deep gratitude of my Government for the cordial welcome that the delegation of El Salvador to this important Conference of the United Nations has received in San Francisco.

The members of the Salvadoran delegation are constantly receiving the earnest co-operation of the Secretariat, for which my Government, and the delegation, are also very grateful.

We are very happy to be here and we feel optimistic in regard to the results of our labors.

Almost at the very time when we were able to assemble here, the sad news of the death of His Excellency Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, became known to the whole world. My Government and my people associated themselves most sincerely with the Government and the people of the United States of America, and with the governments and the peoples of all the United Nations in their sentiments of great grief and sorrow. President Roosevelt played a very important part in making this Conference possible, and he was very hopeful of its results. His memory will be a great inspiration to all of us.

All members of the Salvadoran delegation are fully aware of the heavy responsibilities which are placed upon the shoulders of all delegates to this Conference, in our common task of organizing the future peace. The Conference itself is the focus where the eyes of the whole world are centered in these eventful days. The hopes of humanity are also centered here. We must be successful. We cannot afford to disappoint our peoples. We must relieve their anxieties and fear.

I cannot but recall vividly some of the words of His Excellency Harry S. Truman, President of the United States of America, which were transmitted to us by radio at the opening session of this Conference. I quote:

"You members of this Conference are to be architects of a better world. In your hands rests our future. By your labors at this Conference, we shall know if suffering humanity is to achieve a just and lasting peace."

We certainly have a tremendous task to perform; and we must be successful. Our agenda includes the Dumbarton Oaks Proposals which contemplate as the principal organs of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace, the following: A General Assembly; a Security Council; an International Court of Justice; and a Secretariat.

.I naturally regard the General Assembly as the most

representative body of the United Nations because of its two following characteristics: First, every one of the United Nations is to be represented there; and, second, all such nations will have an equal vote.

The Security Council, as contemplated in the Dumbarton Oaks Proposals, should consist of five permanent members, namely, the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,. the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the Republic of China, and France, and also of six nonpermanent members which should be elected for a term of two years, three retiring each year.

"Section C" was incorporated in the Dumbarton Oaks Proposals as the result of the Crimea Conference. It comprises, among others, the following provisions:

"Section C. Voting. 1- Each member of the Security Council should have one vote.

"2- Decisions of the Security Council on procedural matters should be made by an affirmative vote of seven members.

"3- Decisions of the Security Council on all other matters should be made by an affirmative vote of seven members including the concurring votes of the permanent members; provided that, in decisions under Chapter VIII, Section A, and under the second sentence of Paragraph 1 of Chapter VIII, Section C, a party to a dispute should abstain from voting." It is only natural for us to expect that the proper amplification of the Dumbarton Oaks Proposals by this Conference will answer many important questions relative to the Security Council.

The fact that the great majority of the United Nations will not be represented in the Council by their own representatives at any given time, makes the proper functioning of the Council their special concern.

I am sure that we all agree in regard to the desirability of having the Security Council fully united in its vital mission of adopting measures to preserve the peace of the world. We cannot but be deeply concerned by the possibility of any deadlock that may impair the work of the Council. I have at least one instance in mind, which is suggested by the very text of Section C, as already quoted.

If any nation which has a permanent seat in the Security Council is a party to an international dispute submitted to the decision of the Council, the representative of such a nation will have to refrain from voting, and a deadlock will ensue because the issue cannot be decided unless the necessary majority vote includes the

concurring votes of all permanent members. I feel sure that this matter has been subject to discussion at the Crimea Conference; but it is very likely that a solution has not yet been found. To end a deadlock of this nature, and to do so in a way that may fully agree with the democratic ideals of all of our nations, would certainly require reference of the dispute to the General Assembly, which is, as I repeat, the most representative body in the proposed machinery of peace of the United Nations.

I do not know if such an important step is likely to be taken at this time by the Conference. My real purpose is only to point out the need of dealing properly with possible deadlocks in the Council, because if they really happen, and if they, as a result, paralyze the activities of the Council, the whole world will be utterly discouraged. In regard to the Permanent Court of International Justice, the delegation of El Salvador hopes that the jurisdiction of the Court may be made compulsory for all the United Nations. It is clear to the delegation that most of the nations of the world are willing to accept the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court. The smaller nations, in particular, cannot but feel that the future Permanent Court of International Justice is their greatest asset in the whole machinery of peace. But this agency will certainly be deprived of a great part of its impor

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tance if the larger nations do not all accept the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court, at least for those disputes which are regarded as justiciable.

The Salvadoran delegation remembers with pride the fact that the first permanent court of international justice which has ever existed in the world was the Central American Court of Justice, which was organized by El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.

The Court existed from 1907 to 1917 and it had compulsory jurisdiction over all international controversies between the republics of Central America.

The members of the delegation of El Salvador place their full confidence in the divine guidance of God in our deliberations. We, therefore, rely fully on the satisfactory results of this Conference. We do not aim at complete perfection of our common work, but we have a definite share in the hopes of all mankind that the machinery of peace which we have the responsibility to produce here may answer effectively the expectations of the whole world.

I thank you, Ladies and Gentlemen.

MR. MOLOTOv (translation): I now recognize the Minister of Foreign Affairs and chairman of the delegation of Greece.

MR. SOFIANOPOULOS: Mr. Chairman, Fellow Delegates: The Greek delegation desires in the first instance to place on record their sense of deep sorrow at the tragic loss of President Roosevelt, the great man whose constant efforts were directed toward fulfillment of the ideal of general security. Assuredly, his absence is for us all a most grievous blow.

We were privileged to listen at the opening session to the encouraging words of President Truman as he assured the Conference of his support, and to receive a no less heartening assurance from Mr. Stettinius.

It was with satisfaction that the Greek Government took cognizance of the Dumbarton Oaks Proposals, as completed at Yalta.

They welcomed with deep gratification the gesture of the sponsoring powers in convoking a conference of the United Nations in this city, and they accepted the invitation to the Conference in a spirit of confidence and of high hope.

No one, I venture to think, will be surprised at their readiness to participate in these deliberations and to contribute their every thought to the creation of a better world order, in which aggression, and the ways leading to aggression, shall be given no encouragement and shall have no possibility of success.

The attitude of the Greek Government is not due solely to the unprecedented trials-moral and physical-endured by the Greek people during the long dark years of enemy occupation; nor again is it dictated solely by the strong impulse which an age-long tradition, originating in the amphictyonic councils of classical Greece, has implanted in the consciousness of the Greek people.

There is a more immediate and less emotional motive: the unequivocal devotion of the Greek Government and Greek people to the ideal of international collaboration and their belief in the possibility and the necessity of creating a genuine international community governed by a set of rules of international conduct.

That we do not intend merely to pay lip service to this ideal is amply proved by Greece's long record of faithful observance of, and respect for, the criteria of contemporary international law. We venture indeed to assert that during the past quarter of a century Greece more than any other nation abode by the principle of resorting to the political, economic, and judicial machinery created after the last war for the settlement of international disputes. Every dispute, of whatever nature, was submitted by the Government of our country to the arbitrament of law and justice.

In spite of our law-abiding attitude, we were invaded by the Axis and their satellites, we suffered unjustly, and we lost everything except our honor and our faith in the possibility of setting up a world order immune from violence, from fear, and from want.

In this hope we have come to the beautiful city of San Francisco-fulfilling an act of faith in the wisdom and earnestness of the inviting powers, and of all the United Nations here assembled-for the purpose of recreating the criteria of ethics, justice, and law that have been shattered by the aggressors.

It is incumbent upon us in the first place to express our gratitude to the United States Government and to the State of California for their generous hospitality and for all the facilities so kindly afforded for the success of our mission. I should also take this opportunity of extending our thanks to Mr. Lapham, Mayor of San Francisco, for the many tokens of hospitality showered on the delegations to the Conference. Peoples of diverse origin, race, language, and religion have come to this land and not only created a great nation but also discovered the secret of working together for a great cause, the cause of democracy. They have done so with outstanding success because they have had the wisdom to sink their differences and discard their prejudices, and because they have accepted as their sole guide the higher interests of the community. We are proud to find among them hun