YouSaid · the spoken record

MARTIN

lines on the record: 245
first: 1952-09-24
most recent: 1967-09-24
sittings or episodes: 6
sources: un-general-debate

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“I have been the representative of my Government in the Sub-Committee talks since their resumption in New York on 29 August 1955, and I should not like to conclude my comments on this Subject without a reference to the friendly and co-operative spirit exhibited by all delegations on the Sub-Committee in their relations with one another and in their work in the Committee. It would seem that the members of the Sub- Committee are all seriously determined to reach a practicable and mutually acceptable agreement on disarmament. 26. Atomic energy seems to come more and more to the forefront in our discussions. This is not surprising. A revolutionary source of energy has been tapped and the consequences are as yet incalculable.”
1955-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 10 (1955)
“As we see it, it is essential that we start quickly on this road, admitting that there must inevitably be experimental phases while we search for the trust and confidence without which disarmament would be impossible. This search will not be successful, however, unless prior agreement on a system of control has been worked out. This will admittedly require an enormous amount of careful study and discussion by our technical and constitutional experts before it can be formulated. It would be unwise, therefore, to expect too early decisions. 25.”
1955-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 10 (1955)
“So I say to the Soviet delegation, is it not clear from this paragraph that the Soviet Union also sees the inevitable connexion between insecurity and the threat of war and the prospects of disarmament? 23. We think that the President’s plan, as well as the other proposals made at Geneva, are not necessarily inconsistent with the proposals which have already been advanced in the Sub-Committee and on which, after long and difficult negotiations, some degree of general agreement may be in sight. None of these proposals, in our view, need be mutually exclusive. There is no reason why they might not all — modified perhaps — become steps along the road to disarmament. 24.”
1955-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 10 (1955)
“Dulles occurs in the proposals made by the Soviet Union on 10 May 1955 in the United Nations Sub-Committee of the Disarmament Commission. 21. In the Soviet proposals of 10 May 1955, which have now been circulated to all Members as a General Assembly document, we read the following paragraph: “On the other hand, the cessation of the ‘cold war’ between States would help to bring about a relaxation of international tension, the creation of the necessary confidence in international relations, the removal of the threat of a new war and the establishment of conditions permitting a peaceful and tranquil life of the peoples. This, in turn, would create the requisite conditions for the execution of a broad disarmament programme, with the establishment of the necessary international control over its implementation” |A/2979, annex I, A]. 22.”
1955-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 10 (1955)
“We in Canada know the Americans well and, although we often disagree with them, it never occurs to any of us to doubt the fundamental goodness and sincerity of their intentions. And so we were particularly happy to hear Mr. Molotov’s tribute to President Eisenhower [520th meeting] and we assure Mr. Molotov, as people who know, that his confidence in the sincerity of this American proposal is not mistaken. 20. I noticed with regret, however, that Mr. Molotov, in his statement in the general debate on 23 September, seems to have misunderstood a comment made by Mr. Dulles the day before [518th meeting] on the inevitable connexion between a sense of insecurity and fear, on the one hand, and a possibility of disarmament on the other. I would recall to the Soviet delegation that a thought very similar to that expressed by Mr.”
1955-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 10 (1955)
“This Soviet plan incorporates some important advances on the question of control, although in the view of my Government the Soviet provisions for inspection and control are still inadequate. 19. Finally, at Geneva, President Eisenhower suggested a step which might be taken immediately, a step designed to eliminate the possibility of a major surprise attack and to prepare the way for a general disarmament programme. Such an agreement would certainly be more easily attainable if we could first remove the overhanging threat of surprise attack. My Government has expressed its great interest in this plan, a plan put forward by the President of the United States for the exchange of military blueprints and for mutual aerial inspection. To us, that plan is a gesture of faith and of imagination typical of a great man and of his country.”
1955-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 10 (1955)
“It was partly in order to meet the difficulties on this key problem of control and inspection that a number of new proposals were advanced at the Geneva meeting. 18. The Prime Minister of France, Mr. Faure, suggested a plan involving budgetary checks on reduction in defence expenditure and the use of savings resulting from disarmament for assistance to under-developed countries. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Mr. Eden, with his great experience in international matters, suggested a preliminary pilot project which would give us useful practical experience in the mechanism of inspection and control. Mr. Bulganin, Prime Minister of the Soviet Union, put forward a plan in almost the same terms as a proposal made by the Soviet delegation on 10 May 1955 in the Sub-Committee [A/2979].”
1955-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 10 (1955)
“The reductions and prohibitions must be so co-ordinated and scheduled that no nation, at any stage in the process, will have genuine cause to fear that its security is endangered. In the course of our Sub-Committee meetings, progress has been made towards an agreed position on this most important question of the time-table, or schedule, of reductions and prohibitions. 17. However, the whole question of an effective arrangement to guarantee the fulfilment of any undertaking to prohibit atomic weapons must now be considered in the light of the fact, admitted by all concerned, that the secret evasion of any agreement for total prohibition of atomic weapons would, given present knowledge, be possible, however stringent the control and inspection might be.”
1955-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 10 (1955)
“We certainly have not, in the past, refrained from doing so on many occasions, and we intend to continue criticizing when we think it is justified and making suggestions when we think they might be useful. We trust that during this session all of us will have a free opportunity to express our views on a subject which is of as much concern to all countries as to the major Powers. We hope that these contributions will be as constructive as possible, and will bear directly on the dilemmas which I believe the great Powers are striving with determination and imagination to solve. 16. I realize that all of us, in this Assembly, are fully aware of the difficulties to be surmounted in reaching a general agreement on a major reduction in armed forces and conventional armaments and the prohibition of atomic weapons.”
1955-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 10 (1955)
“From the outset, we have been particularly conscious of the terrifying responsibility that rests on the great Powers on which the peace of the world primarily depends. One wrong decision for them could mean disaster not only for them but for us all. I say this in recognition of the awesome potentialities of present nuclear weapons, and without any reference to the even more frightful possibilities the future may hold. We must remember too, of course, that the longer we delay in reaching agreement on disarmament, the greater will be the encouragement to nations not now in possession of nuclear weapons to begin their manufacture. 15. It is well for all of us to realize, then, the solemnity of this obligation when we complain or castigate. This is not to say that other Powers should refrain from criticism or suggestion.”
1955-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 10 (1955)
“We must seek to match their realism with a constant recognition of the complexity of the problems we face, of the fact that truth is unfortunately not revealed to one of us alone, and of the infinite amount of patience which progress requires. 13. There is no doubt that the question of the reduction of armaments and the control of their use is the subject on which the achievement of peace and the dissipation of tensions most depend. Here we are more hopeful than at any time in the past ten years, although by no means unaware of the enormity of the problems yet to be solved. 14. As a nation associated with the Big Four in the work of the Sub-Committee of the Disarmament Commission, I feel that my country in a sense speaks not for itself alone, but for many other nations within and outside this Organization.”
1955-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 10 (1955)
“It is the great Powers themselves, and particularly those at their summit who met in July 1955 in Geneva, that have set us an example and given us cause to talk about a new spirit and to hope that it may extend. We must all acknowledge — as we do, I am sure — our great debt to those leaders who have looked squarely at the appalling, brute facts of life and decided that man must not be allowed to extinguish himself when he can be saved by the use of human intelligence. 12. This, it seems to my delegation, is the challenge of the present Assembly. The great Powers have pointed the way to the relaxation of tension. It behooves the General Assembly to respond to that situation. We must match their moderation and restraint with moderation and restraint.”
1955-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 10 (1955)
“It seems to us that the most hopeful augury for this session is the fact that, both here and in such important organs of the Assembly as the Sub-Committee of the Disarmament Commission, there is evident a desire to state as straightforwardly as possible positions sincerely held rather than to establish propaganda positions or to score debating points. If we carry on in this way, there is no limit to what we can achieve in the United Nations. 11. What I have said is, I assure you, said in all humility. There is no cause for smugness on the part of any Member or group of Members. Nor is it just for us to blame all our errors on the great Powers and simply demand that they change their ways.”
1955-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 10 (1955)
“Unhappily, during the brief history of our Organization, appeals to the mind and conscience of the peoples of the world, which are the rightful work of the United Nations, have too often become a sordid effort to trick and seduce mass opinion. 9. This is no time for recrimination. However, it is still a time for caution. I do not suggest that one State or one group of States bears the full responsibility for lowering the standards and frustrating the achievements of the United Nations. Propaganda has inevitably been matched by counter-propaganda which has mistakenly aped the technique of the opponent. 10.”
1955-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 10 (1955)
“This may seem to be little enough in the way of progress, but it is a beginning in the right direction. Our very processes of thought have become corrupted by the deadening spirals of propaganda and counter-propaganda in this forum and in lesser councils. So deeply have we been mired that this evidence of simple honesty and sincerity in our dealings with one another seems in the nature of a fundamental regeneration. Confronted by the appalling spectre of disaster, the world has sobered up in the nick of time. At least, we trust that it has. We cannot yet be sure. 8. The test is whether those who bear the chief responsibility for debauching international relations by the manipulation of truth for their own purposes and the denial of civilized ethical traditions have finally renounced their old habits and methods.”
1955-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 10 (1955)
“If it is too early to say that confidence has been re-established — or perhaps one should say “established”, for international confidence would be something quite new in the history of the world — one can at least say that there is evident a search for confidence, a struggle for mutual understanding which did not exist before. 6. It seems to my delegation that, in the dark years through which we have passed, it was not so much the matters at issue which created a sense of frustration and despair, but the absence of any real anxiety to solve them. What encourages us most now is not that the issues have been solved — although the gaps are closing — but that the leaders of the great Powers in particular now seem to be seeking to define the issues and to understand and, if possible, to meet each other’s objections. 7.”
1955-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 10 (1955)
“But once again, ten years later, we are given a fresh opportunity to establish here, on this island of Manhattan, a new beach-head of hope. 5. So much has been said here and elsewhere about the new atmosphere and the new spirit abroad in the world that I hesitate to speak of it again. Indeed, there is perhaps a danger that the vitality will be squeezed out of this so-called Geneva spirit if it becomes no more than a stale phrase, a muddy conception trotted out to bemuse us, to befog the hard issues we still face, or to cover a multitude of sins — whether of omission or commission. This would be a pity, because I believe there is something alive in the Geneva spirit — Or at least the germ of something which can come alive if it is only nourished.”
1955-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 10 (1955)
“Despite the enormous burden of responsibility which he carries, his far-seeing wisdom and sober counsel have been a constant source of encouragement to all peace- loving peoples. I know that I speak for many when I express the fervent hope that the President of the United States will soon be restored to sound health. 4. All of us gathered here are, I know, acutely aware of the extraordinary importance of this tenth session of the General Assembly. Ten years ago the golden gates of San Francisco, where we signed our Charter of peace, seemed to open on the bright vista of a future free from conflict. And then the gates to that future suddenly narrowed and a war-weary world has had to live through a decade of division and difficulty.”
1955-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 10 (1955)
“Our Prime Minister, on behalf of the Government and people of Canada, telegraphed yesterday to Mrs. Eisenhower the great regrets of the Canadian people on learning of the illness of the President of the United States. On behalf of the Canadian delegation at this General Assembly, I should like to say to Mr. Dulles and Mr. Lodge and their associates, and I am sure I say this on behalf of all of us, that it was with great regret that we learned during the past week-end of President Eisenhower’s sudden illness. We welcome today’s news that he is progressing satisfactorily, and we join with the American people in wishing him a complete and speedy recovery. As the great leader of a peace-loving nation, President Eisenhower symbolizes all that is best in the ideals of the United Nations.”
1955-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 10 (1955)
“1. As a participant in this general debate, which is as yet in its initial stages, I should like to convey to Mr. Maza, on behalf of the Canadian delegation, our warmest congratulations on the occasion of his election to the presidency of the tenth session of the General Assembly. I should like also to assure him of our full co-operation in the fulfilment of his difficult and important duties. Three years ago, Mr. Pearson, the Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs, had the honour of presiding over the seventh session of the Assembly. That experience has taught us how onerous, although satisfying, those duties can be. 2. Through the President, I should also like to acknowledge our debt of gratitude to his able predecessor, Mr. van Kleffens, who presided with such distinction over our deliberations last year. 3.”
1955-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 10 (1955)
“Augustine’s City of God: “A nation is an association of reasonable beings united in a peaceful sharing of the things they cherish,” It Is hard for us individually or collectively to live up to it, but if we come here prepared to act as reasonable beings and to try in some measure to be united, as many of us as possible, we shall have served our countries and the United Nations well at this critical time in the history of the world.”
1952-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 7 (1952)
“I am not speaking in favour of a “deal”, but, as the Secretary-General has expressed it in the introduction to his annual report, of “real universality”. As he has said, surely, despite the deadlock on other issues, we should be able to make some progress on this issue at this session, although the General Assembly alone cannot, of course, resolve the deadlock among the great Powers. 137. All I have said may be summed up in one phrase, one definition. I left my text, so to speak, to the end, because I think it can usefully be applied to almost everything I have said. It is a definition of a nation taken from St.”
1952-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 7 (1952)
“There is, however, one issue on which I hope and believe there will be general agreement, although this may not be enough for a solution, that is the question of the admission of new Members. 136. I have no doubt whatever that the United Nations was intended by the great majority, and probably all, of the “founding fathers” at San Francisco to be, in due course, a universal organization. True, there were restrictive provisions concerning ex-enemy States, but these were not intended to debar them forever. This is not the place for a detailed argument as to the reasons, but let me simply state my belief that neither the right of veto nor Article 4 of the Charter was ever intended to keep out of the Organization any independent State worthy of the name.”
1952-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 7 (1952)
“In the simplest terms, most of the water must come out of the same well for one or for the other, and we are inevitably faced with the problem of priorities. The balance is not easy to find, but we must, according to our lights, do our best to keep it. And I am not ashamed of the contribution which my country, in that particular, is making, 135. In this opening statement I have tried to develop a concept of the United Nations and to use it as a guide to the policy which my delegation will follow in threading its way through all the subtle and often conflicting legal, interpretations to which the Charter of the United Nations is likely to be subjected. Perhaps we might make more use of the advisory opinions of the International Court of Justice to guide us.”
1952-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 7 (1952)
“To quote my Prime Minister again, we hope and believe “that once the measures for our own safety, and the safety of all freedom-loving peoples with which our own is bound up, have been reasonably secured from the formidable threat that still shows no signs of diminishing, Canadians will want to participate to a greater degree than they can today in helping their less fortunate fellow human beings to improve their lot in life”. And yet we are convinced that the measure of the contribution which we are making at the present time is not without its significance. 134. I have linked the extension of our programmes of economic development and technical assistance with the question of disarmament and collective security.”
1952-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 7 (1952)
“They are not even willing to belong to the various specialized agencies of the United Nations, 133. And we, who do want to tackle the needs of the under-developed areas practically, want you who speak for those peoples at this Assembly to understand some of our difficulties. It is not that we are unwilling to lay upon ourselves as heavy burdens of taxation as others, but that a large part of ray Government’s budget has to be spent for the unprofitable, unproductive but wholly necessary purpose of providing our people, at this time in the history of the world, with a minimum of security — a minimum insurance premium that we consider it prudent to devote to the upkeep of our freedom and to the prevention of a third world war.”
1952-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 7 (1952)
“The under-developed countries need what President Roosevelt used to refer to, when speaking of another emergency, as “priming the pump”, and as the Prime Minister of Canada said recently, when speaking of the Colombo plan, that we hope “not only to raise the living standards of the people benefiting from it but that it will also build up enough confidence in their countries to prime such a flow of foreign and domestic investments that prosperity will come to the entire southern part of Asia”. And think not only of Asia but of all countries whose peoples desperately need help, impartially and unconditionally given. 132. One group of Members of the United Nations which consider themselves developed do nothing at all about these problems except, one regrets to say, exploit them for propaganda.”
1952-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 7 (1952)
“We believe that it is through the sharing of the technical knowledge which has brought such striking advances to the Western world that other regions of the earth can themselves develop along the same path and towards the same goal. We recognize that where local resources are inadequate, a measure of financial assistance may still be necessary while this process is being brought into play. But in the interests of the under-developed countries themselves, and particularly of their independence, economic as well as political, we believe that the most effective form of help is the self-help which an advance in technical knowledge will bring about. 131.”
1952-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 7 (1952)
“We sympathize most earnestly with the picture that has been painted by several speakers of the poverty and distress that afflict so much of the world. We have made our contribution to the generous and promising schemes of assistance that have already been inaugurated. We are interested above all in the programmes of technical assistance with which we are already associated, and we are profoundly aware that much of the poverty in other regions springs, not from a lack of resources, but from a lack of the technical knowledge and ability that would enable the peoples of those countries to develop their own resources for their own benefit.”
1952-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 7 (1952)
“With the dissolution of most of the old political relationships by the sometimes over-hasty, action of that powerful solvent, nationalism, new ways of meeting the perennial problems of economic development must be found. The United Nations has an important place in working out and applying experimental solutions for these new relationships between countries which happen to be more developed, not so much in natural resources as in “know-how”, and those which are in need of development and as yet lack the resources both of capital and skill to develop themselves unaided at the pace demanded by their peoples. 130. And so, in this effort to aid in raising the standards of undeveloped nations, my country has played and will continue to play its part.”
1952-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 7 (1952)
“I should like to conclude this section of my remarks with a quotation from that great book of Islamic knowledge, the Mathnawi, I cannot pretend to my Moslem friends that I am conversant with the Mathnawi, but I was very much taken by what it says about justice. It says that to give water to a tree is just, but to give water to a thorn is not, At this Assembly, we might also consider the appropriateness and the usefulness, for the purposes and principles of the United Nations, of giving our time and our place to discussions that can never bear fruit, but only thorns. 129. By no means all of our problems in this field will be political. We shall also be discussing very practical and pressing economic problems — how to feed the mounting populations of Asia, how to pick the fruits of the earth from land at present bearing only thorns.”
1952-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 7 (1952)
“If the General Assembly is misused as if it were a government or a court, the result will, I fear, be that delegations which think as we do will be less inclined than they are at present to see whether Assembly discussions — of, for example, the colonial issues of which we have been speaking — can be channelled into moderate and constructive lines. For if politics is “the art of the possible”, we can see no good coming from demands which are patently impossible, no matter how many votes they may gain. We live in a troubled world, and we must all take that fact into account in what we ask and when we ask it. 128, Much will undoubtedly be said in our debates about justice.”
1952-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 7 (1952)
“To achieve this, two things are necessary: orderly progress not jeopardized through the reckless and destructive action of extremists, and a constant awareness by the administering Powers of the need for the maximum rate of progress in the countries under their authority. Moderation on the one side and good faith on the other side are the twin methods by which the progress of dependent peoples toward freedom will be steady and sure. 127. In the same temper of moderation and good faith, our debates here should not, certainly at this time, degenerate into an exchange of accusations and recriminations, but should seek to bring the collective good sense of this body to bear on these problems in a way that will help instead of hinder our advance towards the goal in which all civilized States believe.”
1952-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 7 (1952)
“125, Yesterday [381st meeting] the Foreign Minister of Iraq paid a generous tribute here to the far-sighted leadership of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, under whose auspices freedom has come to India and Pakistan, to Ceylon and to Indonesia. He also acknowledged, with a gratitude we all share, our debt to France, which has for so long stood as a living symbol of the principles of liberty. My country has confidence that the notable record of progress, of which these nations are so justly proud, will continue unabated, and that their proclaimed goal will be realized to the benefit of the peoples concerned. 126.”
1952-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 7 (1952)
“The point at issue, therefore, has become increasingly one of means rather than of ends, of timing rather than ultimate objectives. 124. Speaking for a country which grew up from colonial to independent status before the United Nations came into existence, I cannot guess how the development of Canada would have fared had those of our forefathers who pursued the family struggle for independence had such an organization as this to which they might have appealed. I think it would be very difficult to say whether, looking back on our history, any kind of international organization could, in fact, have speeded up the process. And I think it is even more difficult to say whether a speeding-up would, from our purely national point of view, have been to our long-term advantage.”
1952-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 7 (1952)
“It is our duty to give a fair hearing to every complaint and to every appeal that we have bound ourselves by the Charter to consider and discuss. Since the Second World War, it is a fact that one quarter of the world's population has achieved, by various roads, independence and direct control over its own destinies. This great surge towards self-determination is an historical trend. It is the goal not only of the aspirations of the peoples who for many years have been dependent economically upon other Powers, but it is in large measure true to say that the same goals are now recognized also, for the first time in history, by all civilized free States, those which control dependent territories as well as those which do not.”
1952-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 7 (1952)
“121. From whatever point of view we approach this problem of achieving an armistice in Korea, we must never allow ourselves to accept the continuation of the fighting for one day longer than necessary to achieve the principles for which the United Nations went into Korea. 122. I suppose we have always been aware in the United Nations that, underneath the so-called East-West issues which have for the most part preoccupied our political discussions in the General Assembly during the past six years, there lay other difficulties of a long-range character which at some time or another would be bound to emerge here and which would continue to exist even if by some magic the East-West issues were to evaporate overnight. Some of these underlying issues are this year beginning to come to the surface as major problems before the Assembly. 123.”
1952-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 7 (1952)
“That was, I repeat, its sole purpose. We should regard that purpose as having been achieved through an honourable truce negotiated on the basis of the present battle lines. And, if I may say again, addressing my remarks to the last speaker; whose territory, whose security is threatened by this proposition? Why, then, can we not agree? 120. One issue alone is holding up a truce. Surely it should not be beyond the resources of human intelligence and patience on both sides to find, consistently with principles, a Way to resolve this sole remaining obstacle if there is a real desire on both sides to come to an agreement. The most recent proposals of the Unified Command should have gone a long way towards convincing all who bring an impartial mind to the examination of the question that the desire for agreement is deep and genuine on our side.”
1952-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 7 (1952)
“Now that four of the five points of disagreement outstanding have been resolved, and only one issue divides the negotiators at Panmunjom, I profoundly hope that we, at this Assembly, will not complicate the task of the United Nations negotiators, Theirs is a thankless task, and yet one for which we should render thanks to those members of the Unified Command whose patience has been so sorely tried in these past months and in which they have been ably representing the United Nations. 119. My delegation will take it as a fundamental premise that present hostilities must be limited to the Korean peninsula and that the search for an early settlement of those hostilities by negotiations at Panmunjom must be continued. The United Nations intervened in Korea for the sole purpose of resisting and defeating aggression.”
1952-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 7 (1952)
“Acheson yesterday [380th meeting], I shall therefore confine my remarks on this aspect of our problem to one or two general observations. 118, Last year, the Assembly voted [resolution 507 (VI)] to defer consideration of the Korea items on its agenda until a military armistice had been achieved or until other developments made further consideration of the problem desirable. The good sense of that proposal was realized by the overwhelming majority, who saw that a solution would not be facilitated by an angry exchange of charge and counter-charge.”
1952-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 7 (1952)
“We have had our difficulties, as neighbours do, but we know from a hundred years of experience that this great and this smaller nation can live together without fear and in mutual respect. We are proud of our friendship and proud of our example. Our only wish is that the United Nations could see established the same confidence and friendly relations among all nations. If such a basis of mutual trust and respect could be made universal, this body would be truly the United Nations. 117. By all odds, the most important, the most explosive and probably the most difficult question we face is Korea. As we shall, before long, be discussing Korea in committee, I think that the Assembly would do well to follow the example so wisely given us by Mr.”
1952-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 7 (1952)
“These are the goals I am sure that most of us seek, and yet the sad fact is that there is no agreement. Our task is not made any easier when one group of nations directs a deliberate and sustained campaign of hate against another group, or when all efforts at compromise and conciliation are met by a stream of abuse directed particularly against the United States and, incidentally, against all who are friends of that great democracy. We had an example of that a few moments ago. 116. Well, we are friends of the United States. We are friends in spite of the fact that we are also neighbours, Canada and the United States have lived side by side now for nearly two centuries.”
1952-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 7 (1952)
“I may say to the representative of Poland that I do not propose to follow his address, but I would say to him that what the world wants now is not another peace pact but a firm determination on the part of every nation to live up to peace pacts and obligations already solemnly undertaken. I mink Mr. Padilla Nervo was right to insist on the primary role of the United Nations as being one of conciliation, and to apply that principle to Korea, 114. It is perfectly obvious that the United Nations is not in any sense a world government. The only basis on which we can operate is on the basis of consent. We cannot dictate an armistice in Korea or impose upon the world a system of general disarmament. Such great and desirable ends can only be obtained by free agreements based on a mutual desire for peace and stability. 115.”
1952-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 7 (1952)
“Although, as the Secretary-General has said in the introduction to his report, “the situation today has not changed in any fundamental way for the better”, I do believe that this session of the General Assembly could be a turning point in our affairs — a turning point on the road towards establishing the United Nations and all it stands for on as solid and enduring a footing as the rock on which these permanent buildings now stand. 113. I think, however that our past President, Mr. Padilla Nervo, did well to remind us, in his fine address on Tuesday last [376th meeting], that our situation could easily turn, not for the better but for the worse, The United Nations cannot indefinitely survive an annual increase of international tension, nor an annual repetition, if I may say so, of propaganda debates.”
1952-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 7 (1952)
“I am sure that this Assembly will permit me to say that I am proud, as the acting head of the Canadian delegation, to find myself addressing a fellow Canadian as President of the General Assembly of the United Nations. The support which the President received for this high office is, if I may say so, a tribute both to Canada and to him personally. It is a recognition of his — and our — devotion to the cause of peace for which the United Nations was created and remains dedicated. 112. And now, for the first time since our countries pledged themselves to the ideals for which the United Nations stands, we meet in a new permanent home. I think it is fitting that we should pay our respects and offer our best thanks to those whose skills and talents have made possible the completion of these magnificent buildings.”
1952-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 7 (1952)