YouSaid · the spoken record

Stewart

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS STEWART

lines on the record: 87
first: 1965-09-24
most recent: 1969-09-24
sittings or episodes: 3
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“If, then, we can get as far as the withdrawal of troops from Czechoslovakia and if we can proceed to make workmanlike progress on disarmament, we can still promote that confidence which is needed if there is to be some measure of agreement between the permanent members and if in consequence the United Nations is to be able to get on with its work. I said that its work was in the first place concerned with preventing conflict. I want to look at some particular problems, to try to chalk up where we have been successful and where we have not and see whether we can draw from that some conclusion concerning what the conditions of success are and how, therefore, we ought to approach our problems in the future. 95.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“We know by experience that if we are to get there we have to seize hold, one after another, of the steps to disarmament that can practically be taken now. It was because we approached the problem in that way that we obtained agreement on a draft and got the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons [see resolution 2373(XXII)] signed. Where do we go next? My own country has put forward proposals at Geneva for making the test ban treaty comprehensive. There have been difficulties in this. We have put forward a proposal which we believe finds a way through those difficulties. We have also put forward proposals with regard to chemical and biological warfare. My country is in a position to claim that a substantial number of the ideas now before the eighteen nations in Geneva have been brought forward by the British Government. 94.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“I repeat here once again the solemn commitments undertaken by the British Government with its allies to uphold the security of the Federal Republic and of West Berlin. 92. Now I have said that about Czechoslovakia and its effects upon the European scene. But, even now, there is some work that it is possible to do to try to recreate confidence and that can be done particularly in the field of disarmament. Here I would say that I welcome the emphasis given to disarmament by many speakers, including the speaker for the Soviet Union and the speaker for the Ukraine who preceded me here. The signing of the non-proliferation treaty was an important step forward, but it is a step that will rapidly lose its value if it is not followed by further measures in the disarmament field. 93. Our aim is general and complete disarmament.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“However, this movement towards closer integration in Western Europe — although it has the support of almost all the Governments and the great majority of the peoples of Western Europe — has so far been frustrated. We all know why, and we deplore the fact. 91. Meanwhile the people of Germany remain divided and unrepresented in the United Nations, and the efforts of the Federal Republic to develop a new relationship with its neighbours in the East have been rebuffed and misrepresented. It is symptomatic of the bankruptcy of Soviet policy that Moscow should have embarked on the clumsy diversion of threatening West Germany with articles of the United Nations Charter framed in completely different circumstances. I wish to say one other thing on Germany.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Despite this tragic setback to all our efforts to bring understanding between East and West, the United Kingdom Government remains convinced that this is the path — the continued search for détente — which we must still try to follow. We in the West have helped to arrest conflict in recent years through a collective defence organization which is within the terms of Article $1 of the Charter. This has preserved peace in Europe and the North Atlantic area for twenty years. But it is not enough to prevent conflict; we must also work to relax tension and work for a lasting security, That is one of the reasons why the British Government has repeatedly made clear that we remain dedicated to the aim of closer integration in Western Europe.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“That is wholly repugnant to the Charter, Speaking as a socialist and representing a country which belongs to a real Commonwealth, I reject both the doctrine and the perversion of language in which it was expressed. 89. However, the United Kingdom still earnestly seeks to develop understanding with. the nations of Eastern Europe, as with all others. We must hope that the Soviet Union and the other Governments concerned in the invasion will come to realize and to repair the harm they have done to the authority of international law and order. By far the most significant step they could take would be to withdraw their troops from Czechoslovakia. There is no external threat to Czechoslovakia and there never has been except from its allies in the East. 90.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“that the socialist States cannot and will not allow a situation where the vital interests of socialism are infringed upon and encroachments are made on the inviolability of the boundaries of the socialist commonwealth...” [1679th meeting, para. 78.] 88. Set those words side by side with what has been done in Czechoslovakia and we see that this doctrine of a so-called “socialist commonwealth” is an assertion that the Soviet Union will judge for itself what the interests of certain other States may be, and will, if it sees fit, take military action outside its own territory in accordance with its judgement of what the interests of other States may be.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“In his speech to the Assembly on 23 September 1966, the Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union, Mr, Gromyko, said: “Acts of interference in the domestic affairs of independent States, wherever they are committed, are a threat to peace and to the security of all peoples... “The Soviet Union, a firm adherent of the principle of non-interference ... vigorously opposes those who disregard the sovereign rights of peoples and seek to implant lawlessness... in international relations,” [1413th meeting, paras. 125 and 126.] 87. Now, I should like to ask, how can this be reconciled with some other words used by the Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union in this Assembly on 3 October 1968, and again I quote: “The Soviet Union deems it necessary to proclaim from this rostrum...”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“It is here that the effect of what happened in Czechoslovakia is most disturbing. It is clear from the Charter that Members of the United Nations are required to oppose aggression; to promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; to recognize the sovereign equality of all Member States; to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State. 86. Those words are familiar to us all because they come from the first two Articles of the Charter. But almost equally familiar are repeated protestations of the representatives of the Soviet Union, and of Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland, of their devotion to these objectives. Let me quote one example.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“I ask him to notice that what I say now is not just some prejudice of the British representative; it expresses, as we know from proceedings in the Security Council, the overwhelming view of mankind — for the Security Council’s resolution would have been overwhelmingly adopted but for the Soviet veto. 84. We in Britain respect and admire the Government and people of Czechoslovakia in this tragic and testing time and we assure them of our sympathy and goodwill. 85. I said that hope had been growing of progress, progress in relations between States and progress in meeting some of the new challenges posed by scientific development and discoveries; say, in outer space or on the sea-bed. But this progress can best be founded on a wider respect for international law based on the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“But the permanent members cannot have that degree of unity necessary to the success of this Organization unless there is a measure of confidence among them. And we must say straight away that that confidence, which many of us had hoped was growing, which we had some reason to believe was growing, has been sadly shaken by events in Czechoslovakia. For the conscience of the whole world was affronted by that invasion and an indignant world made its feelings plain here in the United Nations. 83. The representative who was at this rostrum before me took a rather different view.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Now those are questions that face all of us, but they face with particular intensity those who are permanent members of the Security Council. For this Organization has to work on the assumption that its real effectiveness depends on a considerable measure of agreement among those permanent members. Do we do enough to make a systematic attempt to see that that agreement, necessary to the work of the United Nations, is forthcoming? The Secretary-General has addressed a letter to four of us which suggests ways in which we could get somewhat nearer to the answer to this problem. I believe that letter deserves from all those to whom it is addressed sympathetic and constructive attention, and that is the spirit in which our Government will approach it. 82.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The United Nations should not exclusively and does not mainly act as a policeman; it must also try to act as a conciliator. But beyond the task of preventing conflict and making it possible for people to live, there is the further task of making, life worth living. And that we endeavour to do in our social, our humanitarian and our economic activities. 80. If that is the answer to the question “What are we here for?”, we have to admit that we have had, so far, only very limited success. We can mark some successes, but we are conscious all the time of great problems where we have not fulfilled yet either of those purposes: either to make life safe or to make it worth living. So a further question we have to ask is: What are the conditions of successful action, what in fact do we have to do? 81.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“It is not possible at this Assembly to make a complacent speech, because we all know that we meet in an atmosphere of frustration, a frustration not confined to us but felt by citizens and peoples all over the world, a frustration which is in part the cause of the unrest we find among the younger generation in almost every country in the world. 79. We have therefore to ask ourselves certain fundamental questions. First of all, what is the United Nations for? What are we here for? First among its purposes, I suppose, is the prevention of armed conflict. And that means preventing it, not merely in the way in which a policeman may stop a brawl in the street, but going further than that and getting to the causes of conflict.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“76. I want first to congratulate our President on his election, to wish him success and to express our goodwill and our support. I would want also to express our gratitude. to the retiring President, Mr. Manescu, the Foreign Minister of Romania, whose country I had the honour to visit recently. I believe that the way he handled our affairs earned the admiration of us all. 77. The President in his opening address to this Assembly reminded us that the United Nations is not a separate body with an existence of its own from its Members. If in what I have to say I use the words “United Nations", I shall try to keep in mind, as I think we ought all to do, that that is simply a way of saying “we ourselves acting in and through the United Nations". Its successes are our successes, and its failures are our failures. It is ourselves. 78.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The United Nations is twenty years old and if we set that twenty years in the perspective of recorded history, we cannot suppose that the United Nations has yet reached its full stature. If, therefore, in every department of our work we take steps which are now within the power of our Organization in its present form, but which at the same time encourage the Organization to exercise its muscles, we shall find that over the years the United Nations grows in stature, so that it becomes an effective guardian of the rule of law and, beyond that, an instrument through which law itself can be constantly refashioned so that it can produce political freedom and social Justice and can meet the needs of mankind.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“For example, any progress, however modest, which we make in disarmament frees resources which could be given to our economic a social work; every advance we make in that work helps to remove tension and reduce occasions for dispute. Along each of these avenues I have tried to suggest steps which could be taken immediately or in the near future. 51. There are some who warn us against trying to make the United Nations undertake tasks for which it is not sufficiently strong or for which there is not sufficient agreement among its Members. This is a counsel of prudence; but if we are guided by prudence alone to the neglect of imagination, we shall deny to the United Nations any possibility of growth.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“It is also important, if time and energy are not to be wasted, that discussions within the specialized agencies should be confined to practical and relevant matters and should not stray into political disputes for which the specialized agencies are not the proper forum and which can be more effectively discussed elsewhere. 50. There are, then, these four avenues — disarmament, peace-keeping, peaceful settlement of disputes and our economic and social work — along which we can progress, and every step we take along one of them makes progress along the others easier and gives to the United Nations as a whole a brighter prospect of success.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“The United Nations is making some progress here through the specialized agencies, through the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, through the Special Fund and through the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance, I am sure we are right to decide to bring these last two together in the proposed new Development Programme. We do not want this work to be hampered by unwieldy administration or the proliferation of committees. The amount of help given to the poor sections of mankind is still so small in comparison to the need that it is imperative to see that it is wisely and economically administered.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“Within the borders of any single State, citizens expect their Governments to be such that they can live in peace and under the rule of law. But citizens do not regard that as the whole duty of Governments. Indeed, the reason why they respect the law and keep the peace is that they believe that by so doing they promote prosperity, welfare and social justice. In the same way, on the world scale, we must demonstrate that peace is more than a mere absence of war but a condition in which prosperity can be achieved and justice established. 49.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“Finally, I want to refer to the economic and social work of the United Nations, and I feel I may do so with some confidence since Her Majesty's Government is the second largest contributor to this work. We ought not to think of this work as a mere side-line by comparison with the major political concerns of the United Nations. It Is in fact an integral part of the task of making a peaceful world. We sometimes take If for granted that all men desire peace even if they do not always desire it zealously enough. We ought to remember, however, that so long as there are millions of people living in such poverty that peace seems to offer to them nothing but drudgery, insecurity and want, those people cannot be expected necessarily to regard peace as the highest good.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“This matter of the peaceful settlement of disputes is particularly important today because we live in a rapidly changing world. Disputes do not necessarily arise because any nation is ill-intentioned or wishes to harm its neighbours. They may arise because economic, social and scientific changes create new situations which can render old settlements and old agreements out of date. In such circumstances, it is important that the process of revising such settlements should be by agreement and in a peaceful and civilized manner. But, for the reasons I have Just given, this problem of the peaceful settlement of disputes is one that is permanently with us. 48.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“I believe — subject to whatever other procedures might be suggested in the course of the debate — that this Assembly should decide to refer the problem to a body of pre-eminent political and legal experts representative of the membership of this Assembly, men of outstanding ability who would study material provided by Governments and by the Secretariat, and we should, of course, put our own detailed proposals before them. 46. From such a group we could get recommendations which would produce not only an improvement of the methods already known for peaceful settlement, but also the creation of new methods. In the end we should get what I would call, to use a homely term, a handbook for nations on how to settle disputes and a set of tools for that purpose. 47.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“For this purpose we might establish, under the auspices of the United Nations, a small group of specially qualified people who would be available as mediators, as conciliators or as people who could undertake impartial investigation of facts. In this connexion, I would wish to acknowledge the proposals which have been made by the delegation of the Netherlands. Sometimes disputes can be settled through regional organizations, and I note that a study of this method is at present proceeding in the Council of Europe. 45. We have, then, a number of methods not always put to full use. On further examination, we are likely to find other methods in addition. I trust, therefore, that this matter will be debated at this Assembly fully and constructively.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“This leaves us with the task of establishing and improving other means of settling disputes. 43. Some disputes are of a purely legal character and capable of judicial settlement. For this we want to encourage greater use of the International Court of Justice, wider acceptance of its compulsory jurisdiction and greater readiness to have recourse to arbitration. There are references to this in the Annual Report of the Secretary-General [A/6001]. 44. Other disputes involve more than legal considerations. Those can sometimes be settled by conciliation or by the meeting of the parties concerned with the help of a mediator or the good offices of friendly nations.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“It halts the combat and creates the opportunity for sober judgement of the causes of the dispute and the way in which it may be resolved. So I turn now to the subject of the peaceful settlement of disputes. This is something which Her Majesty's Government has proposed as an item for the agenda of this Assembly, and I wish to express my thanks to the impressive number of delegations who have made favourable references to this step which we have taken. 42. The principle behind our thought is simply this. In past centuries, war, inhumane and destructive though it was, was the instrument through which disputes were settled and sometimes the instrument through which injustices were righted, tyrannies overthrown and nations liberated. Today we must recognize that war is not an instrument which mankind dare employ.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“Second, it will be helpful if an increasing number of nations pledge themselves to supply forces for peace-keeping. We welcome the pledges already given, in particular the increased offer made very recently by the Government of the Netherlands. We have ourselves made an offer of logistic support as earnest of how seriously we take this problem. 40. The more that can be done in that way, the sooner we shall get to the position where the essential instruments of peace-keeping are ready to hand for the United Nations, and it will no longer be necessary to go through the difficult process of improvisation whenever an emergency arises. 41. I mentioned that, although peace-keeping is an essential step, it is only a first step.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“However, others took different views and, so that progress could be made, we have been prepared to put this disagreement to one side and to help the United Nations out of the financial difficulties that had arisen by voluntary contribution. 39. None the less, I do not believe that we can forever accept a situation where peace-keeping activities can be frustrated by what may be a short-sighted judgement by one nation alone of where its true interests lie. For in the long term, it is in the interests of us all that the peace should be kept. However, consideration of that problem lies in the future. For the present there are two practical steps which could be taken now. First, Britain would welcome the organization of a peace-keeping fund which could be drawn upon for such future peacekeeping activities as may be necessary.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“The extent, if any, to which measures of control and verification are necessary for an effective agreement of this kind is a matter of scientific facts and principles. Let us proceed to the examination of scientific evidence and let us do it with a sense of urgency and a firm intention to reach agreement. 38. Next, after disarmament, I put the task of peacekeeping. The achievements of the United Nations in this field are considerable and, although peacekeeping only halts combat and does not remove the roots of the evil, the roots of the dispute, it is none the less an essential step. It was because we in the United Kingdom believed in the importance of the United Nations peace-keeping activities that we took the stand we did over Article 19 in the last Assembly.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“We in Britain are now studying the Soviet Union's ideas as I know they will be studying ours, and I believe that with patience we can reach agreement. The second step in the field of disarmament is the extension of the Moscow test-ban Treaty to cover underground tests. If all testing ceases, there is infinitely less opportunity for nations to devote skill and resources to the making of these weapons. There is also far less motive for them to do so, since a nation will hesitate before putting itself to enormous expense to produce a weapon it can never test. 37. In our view, the possibility of progress here depends in the first instance on a dispassionate examination of scientific evidence, so that we may discover what measures of control and verification may or may not be necessary for an effective agreement of this kind.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“We must regard progress in disarmament and efforts to resolve political differences as tasks which must be undertaken simultaneously. We ought not to use the existence of political differences as a reason for not making progress with disarmament. The tasks should be undertaken simultaneously, and any success achieved in the one makes progress in the other easier. 36. I fully recognize the importance of general and complete disarmament, but I none the less want now to stress two particular points on which progress can, I believe, be made now. The first is an agreement to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. The United States and, more recently, the Soviet Union [see A/5976], have both presented draft treaties to this end, and we also have made our contribution.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“I want to suggest to this Assembly four avenues along which we could advance: first, disarmament; second, peace-keeping; third, the peaceful settlement of disputes; and fourth, the economic and social work of this Organization. 35. First, disarmament. I know it can be argued that the piling-up of armaments is only a symptom of the disorders of the world and the tensions in it and that therefore we cannot hope to make much progress towards disarmament until we have solved problems such as those to which I have referred. There may be some truth in this argument, but I think it falls far short of the whole truth. The presence all over the world of weapons, massive in quantity and unspeakably destructive in nature, is in itself something which creates fear and distrust and makes the solution of political problems more difficult.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“I shall mention that only briefly because talks about it are now proceeding in London. Because that is so, I say at this juncture only this: first, that when any country is given independence, that independence must be given in a form which safeguards the interests of all its people and not only those of a minority group; second, that it is greatly to be desired that this process should be carried through by consultation and agreement, as has indeed happened in so many countries of the Commonwealth who now take their places here with us in the United Nations. 34. These are some, but not all, of the problems that face us. Amid all these difficulties, how can the United Nations go forward with the task which His Holiness the Pope commented to us, the task of creating a peaceful world?”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“The Commonwealth Mission contains States which take different views as to the merits of the whole Viet-Nam situation, but which are united in a desire for peace. That Commonwealth Mission is ready to go to Hanoi or Peking as soon as those doors are opened. Sooner or later I believe peace will be made on lines not greatly different from those I have described. Why they should we delay? 32. We rejoiced when the courageous and timely efforts of the Secretary-General and the demands of the Security Council achieved an acceptance of a cease-fire — in the conflict between India and Pakistan; but the Security Council still has to hold to the course which it has charted if there Is to be a final end to the conflict and an honourable and lasting peace. 33. There is however, the problem of Rhodesia.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“From that, let us get a situation in which South Viet-Nam, and North, is firmly guaranteed against attack. Let us have a programme of rehabilitation, administered by the United Nations, to repair the ravages of war. 31. With those steps taken, we can create the conditions in which Governments can emerge in South and North, truly representative of their people; and in which South and North shall be completely neutral, with no foreign troops or bases, and able? by their free choice to determine their future relationship to each other. Those are the principles on the lines of which we believe that problem could be solved. But Britain has not been sought to put them into action. We are ready now at any time to join in reconvening the Geneva Conference.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“Germany remains divided, its people denied their right to frame their future in unity. As long as that is so. a happy settlement of European affairs is obstructed. Indonesia has withdrawn from the United Nations, and the People's Republic of China is not represented here. The absence of these countries deprives the United Nations of that universality which is essential to its ultimate success; and it is for this reason that my Government holds firmly to the view that the People's Republic of China should be with us here. 30. Fighting continues in Viet-Nam. Now the British Government believes that this problem could be solved on the following lines. Let all the fighting stop, let all the interference cease and let us have a conference under whatever auspices might promise success.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“27. First, Mr. President, I gladly offer to you my congratulations on your election. It is altogether fitting that the distinguished representative of a country which has contributed so greatly to human civilization should preside over our counsels. Also, as we embark on a new session, I wish, like the distinguished representative of Sierra Leone, who has just addressed us, to pay my tribute to Foreign Minister Quaison-Sackey for his guidance through the difficulties of the previous session. 28. Next, I would ask the Assembly's indulgence for one who addresses it with some diffidence as a newcomer — with some diffidence, but with confidence also as the spokesman of a country which is dedicated to strengthening the authority of the United Nations. 29. We meet at a time when many grave problems remain unsolved.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)