I Address by the Honorable James F. Byrnes, Secretary of State of the United States of America, and Senior United States Representative to the General Assembly, January 14, 1946 We have met here today to consider the Report of the Preparatory Commission. This Report is the result of painstaking and devoted labor by the delegates on the Executive Committee and the Preparatory Commission. This preparatory work has made it possible for the United Nations to begin its work at the very start of the first year of peace after six successive years of devastating war, and less than five months after the surrender of Japan. For this prompt beginning the world owes an immeasurable debt to many who are not here today. We are particularly indebted to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. It was they who, four years ago this month, at one of the darkest moments of the war, joined with their allies to proclaim the United Nations Declaration. Even as they exerted every effort to mobilize and unite at that late and critical moment the forces of freedom for survival, they knew that military survival, military victory, was not enough. The vision of those nations, large and small, which joined in the United Nations Declaration was not restricted to a wartime alliance. Their determination was to bind together in peace the free nations of the world, so that never again would they find themselves isolated in the face of tyranny and aggression. Their resolve was to see that military victory was not a mere armistice to allow time for aggressor nations to choose their victims and enslave them one by one. The purpose of these nations which united in the defense of their freedom was not to escape, but to face the realities of the world in which we live. They recognized as the peace-loving nations failed to recognize after the last war that in this modern world nations like individuals cannot live unto themselves alone. They realized the lives and treasure which might have been saved if the free nations of the world had heeded in time the practical Maxim Litvinov. They realized the lives and the treasure which might have been saved if the free nations of the world had united to preserve the peace before the peace of any of them was broken, instead of waiting until aggression had engulfed the whole world in flames and compelled them to unite or perish. So the nations which were compelled to unite in a war for survival resolved even before victory was attained that they would take steps to preserve a free and a united world. They resolved to keep faith with the millions who were fighting and dying to give the world the chance which it so tragically missed after the first world war. At Moscow in 1943 a start was made by Mr. Hull, Mr. Molotov and Mr. Eden. On that occasion, a pledge was undertaken by the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, in which China joined, to work for the creation of an effective international organization. Then came the Dumbarton Oaks Proposals, the Yalta decision to call the San Francisco Conference, and finally, the United Nations Charter which fifty nations joined in writing. The Charter is now part of the law of nations. It has been ratified by all the countries which are represented here. The preparatory work has been completed. The Assembly of the United Nations is no longer a plan on paper. It is a living reality-the representatives are here in this hall. The Security Council and the Economic and Social Council have been elected. The functioning of the United Nations will depend not merely upon the words of its charter or the rules of procedure we adopt here or upon the individuals we elect to hold office. It will depend upon the support it receives from the governments and the peoples of the nations which have created it and which must sustain it. If the United Nations lives in the minds and the hearts of our peoples, it will be able to adapt itself to the changing needs of a changing world and it will endure. If it lacks broad popular support, no charter, however perfect, will save it. I believe the United Nations will live. I believe it because it springs from the impelling necessities of the age in which we live. It has been born out of the indescribable pain and suffering of many peoples in many lands. It must live because in this atomic age the common interests which should unite free nations in maintaining a friendly, peaceful world far outweigh any possible conflict in interest which might divide them. The United Nations does not threaten any people. It comes into conflict with no real or vital interests of any of its members. It is not interest, it is fear and suspicion which in turn breed fear and suspicion, that cast a shadow upon the path of peace. As the late President Roosevelt said, "We have nothing to fear but eliminating blind and unreasoning fears and the unnecessary difficulties which they create. Nothing can help dispel fear and suspicion so much as cooperation in common tasks and common problems. The opportunities afforded for working together within the United Nations can help to break down habits of thinking in national isolation and go far to bring about understanding and tolerance. The United Nations is not a mere pact among its members. It is an institution or a series of institutions capable of life and growth. Let us use the institutions that we have created to help one another rebuild a shattered world in which there can be real security. Let us not be unduly concerned about possible shortcomings of the Charter before we have even tried to operate under it. No charter that must be acceptable to all of us can be regarded as perfect by any one of us. But it is a great tribute to the framers of the Charter that it has been accepted by all the United Nations, large and small. It is argued that the great states may abuse the rights given them under the Charter. There are risks in any human undertaking. But I have confidence that the great states will respect their obligations. As President Truman stated in his opening address at the San Francisco Conference: "While these great states have a special responsibility to enforce the peace, their responsibility is based upon the obligations resting upon all states, large and small, not to use force in international relations, except in the defense of law. The responsibility of great states is to serve and not to dominate the world." Great states, as well as small states, must come to view their power as a sacred trust to be exercised not for selfish purposes, but for the good of all peoples. If the United Nations becomes a working institution with broad popular support, devoted to the development of peace, security and human well-being, whatever defects there may be in its lettered provisions will not be beyond practical remedy. Institutions that come to live in the minds and the hearts of the people somehow manage to meet every crisis. But I offer a word of warning. Let us not expect feats of magic over night from the institutions we have created. Let us beware. of the die-hard enthusiasts as well as the die-hard unbelievers. Let us not think that we can give over any and every problem to the United Nations, and expect it to be solved. Let us avoid casting excessive burdens upon the institutions of the United Nations, especially in their infancy. I recall to you the clear provisions of the Charter which obligate |