YouSaid · the spoken record

Auguste

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS AUGUSTE

lines on the record: 115
first: 1959-09-24
most recent: 1961-09-24
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

“Perhaps this thought has occurred to you, as it has to me, when listening to speakers who by attacking colonialism, which is moribund and survives only in a few pockets of resistance, and denouncing capitalism, which springs from human imperfection, appear to be defending the weak and the oppressed while in reality they are cleverly scheming to disrupt the United Nations, which, as we all know, provides the only moral force capable of effectively protecting us all, and particularly those who have just achieved independence, as it has guided their steps in the past up to the point where they could take their places, and with so much dignity, in the great international family. 43. I ask of you, in what shall we believe after so many disappointments — in men or in principles?”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“History will remind those who are in danger of forgetting it, that we, the small, the weak countries, would be absolutely unprotected without the existence in this world of international organizations of the stature of the United Nations, with its high moral authority, to frustrate the bellicose or honey-tongued wiles of those who, in their great love of humanity, cherish the dream of a vast and limitless empire. 42. But, as I have already said, life is made up of contradictions because man himself is full of contradictions.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Since then the fever has spread over the world and we, the economically weak countries, doubly and profoundly disappointed by everything that has happened, have understood that more than ever we must cling to our principles, have confidence only in them, and gather round the United Nations, the only international institution capable of imposing respect for them, for the protection of those who, without rockets and without armies, rely only on the principles of the Charter and of international law for the protection and defence of their sovereignty.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“With that end in view we delegated our powers to the Ten-Nation Committee on Disarmament meeting at Geneva for the purpose of abolishing all the weapons, both conventional and nuclear, diligently piled up in the most monstrous arsenal of destruction, and exempt from any supervision, while at the same time everyone continues to talk about peace. 40. That was a fresh disillusionment, a terrible disappointment. After the resounding collapse of the Summit Conference, those whom we had delegated to build a world without war, like new apostles, although there were only ten of them, were unable to carry out their task because once again one of them revealed himself, although not in the manner described in the Gospel, and purely and simply withdrew, on the instructions of his Government. 41.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Impartial history will one day make it plain to our great-grandchildren. For the time being let us take note that the Conference of the Heads of the Four Powers failed lamentably, despite the efforts made by General de Gaulle, that great leader and eminent statesman, who seems to have done his utmost to induce Mr. Khrushchev, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, not to cry off in an outburst of irresistible indignation— whether justified or not it is not for us to say. 39. Disarm and you shall live in peace, we were told, and you also shall know prosperity.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“We, the under-developed countries, voted for disarmament not only because we believe in peace but also because we were given to understand that disarmament and the assistance we were to be given to conquer poverty, disease and ignorance were closely linked. It was rather as if we had been told: "Disarm and you will have bread, housing and well-being. Do not disarm and you will die in poverty". 37. We voted for that historic resolution for a dual reason: firstly, to save the world from the scourge of war; secondly, to eradicate the hideous cancer of under-development, with its attendant horrors of ignorance, disease, privation and pauperism, of which my country is unfortunately one of the most authentic victims. 38. Alas! A few months later a series of disastrous events had dispelled all our optimism. Who was really to blame?”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“That General Assembly resolution, 1378 (XIV), is an historic act, as I have said; we adopted it because we seek peace, we desire it with all our hearts, with all our good faith, because we are concerned with the responsibilities we have undertaken towards those who have entrusted us with the task of building a better world, and so we believed implicitly in everything we were told because the words in question were uttered not by nonentities but by Heads of Governments for whom we feel the greatest respect and to whom we gave our confidence, because the peace of the world was involved. 36.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“All those who took part in the fourteenth session will doubtless recall the tone of the debates and the atmosphere of understanding which inspired the members of all delegations and whose principal result, truly based on the spirit of San Francisco, was the historic resolution on disarmament, to sponsor which was regarded as a point of honour and which, as you all know, was adopted unanimously.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“The tragedy is that pan-Americanism, before the new approach was adopted, did not teach the ether members of the American family the secret of this success. 34. It is often said that life is made up of contradictions because man, the principal actor, is a complex and frequently contradictory being. Can there be any greater contradiction than the fact that those who talk most about peace are also those who threaten us the most with the strength of their conventional or nuclear weapons and the appalling destructive power of their rockets? 35.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“I trust that these few reflexions will have shown that, however bleak the present situation may seem, there have been changes for the better in some respects, These show that man is not content merely to annihilate distance and to achieve an increasingly comfortable material life but that, under the pressure of an irresistible trend towards socialism, his conscience has been awakened. 32. He has realized the existence of certain fundamental errors which nourished prejudices that were based on nothing but folly and lack of understanding. 33. This awakening has been particularly noticeable in the United States of America during the past two decades, and I believe that that awakening is reflected in the high level of living which enables everyone to enjoy a degree of comfort not easily attained elsewhere even by the more prosperous classes.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Though men pass, principles endure, and it is comforting to note that the new American policy which is taking shape reflects the desire of America's leading statesmen that the contract should in truth be synallagmatic. As proof, I would point to the $500 million recently appropriated by the United States Congress, on the initiative of President Eisenhower, and rightly intended, as the countries concerned have been reassured to learn, as a first instalment of the funds needed to rehabilitate, and seriously to develop the economies of the Latin American countries. 31.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“After "America for the Americans" in political matters came "America for the Americans" in economic matters. 30. Although the application of the Monroe Doctrine in the tragic Luders affair, which was such an affront to our national dignity, was by no means favourable to us, we have always subscribed whole-heartedly to the great hopes raised by pan-Americanism and have given priority to geographical considerations, even though they were not always in accordance with our short-term interests. Nevertheless we have always believed in pan-Americanism, which we have viewed less from the somewhat emotional angle of continental brotherhood, than from the legal angle of a synallagmatic contract imposing reciprocal advantages and obligations.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“But, it may be objected, it takes time for ideas to be translated into action. The yeast may indeed work slowly, but it works steadily and surely, as witness the crumbling of so many barriers, ancient servitudes and feudal privileges, under whose banner the false gods of yesterday took shelter. Because of this approach, which helps man to rise above himself, it was easy for us to turn the page when the time came, and it is for that reason that no people has shown greater respect than my own for international commitments, especially those we have entered into in accordance with the principles of pan-Americanism. 29. As you know, pan-Americanism is nothing other than the celebrated Monroe Doctrine, which in 1826 was transposed by the United States Secretary of State Blaine to the economic field.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“The essential thing is to fight against bad ideas which spread sophism and error, and to defend, disseminate and inculcate ideas which foster principles, mould human values, and promote respect for non-intervention and the sovereignty of States. That is why we have always adhered to the ideas which inspired the souls of our fathers with fanatical zeal; they have done us too much good for us to abandon them, whatever the shortcoming of some of their individual proponents. For us, they have no colour, no motherland; they are purely and simply human ideas. 28 . As sons of freedom, we have always taken freedom as our guide. We believe in freedom. As soldiers of freedom, we are always to be found at the side of those who defend freedom, as the President, of the Republic of Haiti, His Excellency Dr. François Duvalier, has frequently affirmed.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“At that time, the example set by Haiti in forging its independence by fire and sword was viewed with suspicion and even, in the eyes of the advocates of the ideas of the Holy Alliance, as a very bad example, that ought to have no imitators. 27. Nevertheless, having been schooled early in a certain philosophy, we have never borne a grudge against anyone for what happened. The men of the time were not responsible for the ideas which they held in regard to human relations and to the conduct of international affairs. We understand the power of ideas too well to reproach men when ideas cause them to act as they do.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“After a war in which Napoleon Bonaparte's troops attempted to crush the general revolt of the slaves of Santo Domingo, after toe Republic of Haiti’s war of independence (which I would describe, with the approval of certain Latin American colleagues, as a beacon whose light was seen far beyond the shores of Haiti), after that war, which was on so long a scale for the period and which spread fire and bloodshed over the rich colony of Santo Domingo, leaving a trail of ruin and devastation everywhere, we were condemned, when we achieved independence, to walk alone, the hapless victims of the greatest conspiracy that can face a newly independent country, a conspiracy of indifference and isolation.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“I will therefore merely say that the creation of the Republic of Haiti was at the time a new, extraordinary and unprecedented development, that was regarded with so much suspicion and hesitation by the proponents of a certain school of thought that it was thirty-eight years before Haiti was first recognized as a free and sovereign State through the exchange of duly accredited diplomatic representatives. 26.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“My country, which was the; second free land independent State of the American hemisphere, but the first Negro State to claim a place in the international community, achieved independence in 1804. What were the ideas of the time? I have no desire to give a lecture on political history that would tend to arouse passions since I believe that we should make every effort to be dispassionate. And I confess that, as a matter of party discipline as well as of personal conviction, I would be most uneasy in the rôle of public prosecutor with the ungrateful task of examining and accusing.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“They want the kind of society which impresses visitors to the United States, a society in which, thanks to full employment and credit facilities, well-being is within the reach of all in an expanding economy. 23. I am addressing you, the representatives, at this memorable session, of the conscience of millions of human beings whose anxieties my countrymen share, as the spokesman of a small Negro Republic which has been grappling for over 150 years with the great and vital problems that must be resolved if the world is to be freed of its appalling economic and social inequalities. 24. Those problems are, I need hardly say, of particular significance in Haiti, where under-development imposes so heavy a burden and which like all the economically weak countries, suffered so cruelly from, the imperialism of an earlier day. 25.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“It is clear, from everything which is said, shouted and proclaimed, that the world is at a decisive turning point and, whether we like it or not, whether we are aware of it or whether we choose to play the ostrich, all men, regardless of their political beliefs, Africans, Americans and Asians, alike, are clamouring for change. 21. They want a world in which equity and social justice — in other words, justice for better wages, better remuneration, better prices for the produce they grow, better conditions for promoting free international trade, and better housing — shall be a reality for everybody. They want human dignity, of which they have heard so much, to be a part of their political and social life, so that they can eliminate illiteracy, disease and poverty. 22.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“I say this in order to explain the open-minded way in which I have listened to every speaker, with a scrupulous respect for everyone’s opinion. But, I must in all frankness add that I can but deplore some arguments which, although not without weight in themselves, have been irretrievably weakened through lack of moderation. 20. If it is true that moral authority must be distant in order to remain an effective force, truth must also, to retain its virtues, avoid slipping into any exaggeration that reflects passion or prejudice. That is why it is said that truth may be contaminated by carelessness, false psychology and so on, just as authority can be ruined or abdicated.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“We have such different interests at stake that life has made of us, unfortunately, in some way adversaries, and, when passion obscures reason, I do not think we can work as we would wish, in calm and with the dignity that is expressed in the simplicity of the lines of this hall. 17. Others before me have emphasized the human fact that economic and social ideas are never entirely free, so difficult is it to escape from the influence of our earliest environment. 18. This means that, very frequently, we adhere to this or that school of thought, not out of conviction after having thoroughly explored the world of ideas and of things, but out of snobbishness or because a particular attitude or way of thought appears most likely to advance what we believe to be our true interests in a given situation. 19.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“— mistrustful of each other. 15. Those problems are old as the hills; they have always existed. Their history is familiar to you all and I do not need to repeat it. But the fact remains that they are in the forefront of our minds in this second half of our twentieth century, which is great because it will be the century not only of the atom and of man’s exploration of other planets, but also the century of great social achievements and final rehabilitation. 16. Clearly our approaches must defer to problems of such importance affecting the complex social and political structure of our world.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Crises are cyclical phenomena which have already shaken our world more than fifteen times in seventy years, and the impact has always been greatest at the decisive turning-points marked by such major developments as man’s growing awareness of himself, the awakening of national consciousness, the need for freedom, the demand for welfare for all, great industrial changes and, most recently, the astonishing achievements of science which are all too intoxicating to the proud and to those unfortunates not yet touched by the Christian faith, so necessary to the emotional stability of man. 14. The central issues of the great debate, under-development and imperialism in all its forms, explain the presence at this session of so many eminent men, aware of their responsibilities but — and who can say whether justly or unjustly?”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“The arsenals are filled with them, and even outer space is disturbed by prowling visitors. Is this the symptom of a simple disease of the politico-social organism? Can the word "crisis”, which implies, if not a certain innocence, a certain simplicity, at least a relative harmlessness, be applied to this situation? A crisis, whatever it may be, presupposes an imbalance in some organism, whether physical, social or political. 13. In principle a crisis is, in its essence or in its beginning, a purely physiological malady, a growing pain in the case of individuals or of peoples, a structural crisis at one of those great turning points when the need is felt for new approaches and a different way of living, thinking and producing.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Others, less impulsive because they have perhaps a better understanding of that complex being, man, may say: the situation is serious, the world is in a state of crisis, but nevertheless we do not believe that anyone will be so desperate or insane as to unleash war. We do not believe in the possibility of war, because we have seen the representatives of sovereign States from all parts of the world come to this rostrum, appeal to the anonymous crowd of this Assembly and plead, each in his fashion, according to his background, the great cause of the hour, the cause of twentieth-century man and of the civilization he has created. 12. As I said, the world is in a state of crisis. But what is that crisis? Everywhere factories are turning out appalling weapons.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“But it is no less essential to express one's views in firm and moderate language which states the truth, and which does not give offence by being unparliamentary or immoderate, but appeals to that human reason in which, in spite of everything, we can but continue to believe. 11. Doubtless a great many among you have been dis-heartened by attitudes which give pause to all who regard themselves as in any way the defenders and watchful guardians of a world we have inherited as a sacred trust and which it is our duty to pass on to our descendants, enlarged and improved; you may have been impressed by the prophets of doom, whose message raises barriers between men, strains nerves and puts the most vigilant on their guard.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Notwithstanding the great principle of equality which is the basis of State sovereignty, and under which all States, large and small, are legally on an equal footing, my delegation, remembering the birth of our country and the great lesson which it offered on the morrow of 1789 and only some twenty years after the independence of the United States of America, believes that, in this grave hour for our civilization, it not only has a right to come to this rostrum, but a moral obligation which it would be unpardonable to evade. Today more than ever, a policy of silence is impossible. It would not merely be evidence of criminal cowardice or indifference. It might well encourage an attack on our political faith and our personal convictions. 10.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“7. From this free rostrum where everyone speaks according to his temperament and his opinions, we have heard the greatest political leaders of nearly all the continents analyse the social and political organization of a world profoundly shaken by the decisive struggle in which the two opposing ideologies are locked. 8. In all this we have seen, not a mere spectacle, but an indication that this second half of the twentieth century, for which the men of San Francisco, in the sincerity of those trying times, believed they were laying the foundations, is in the grip of the most serious crisis which mankind has ever had to face. 9.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“The agenda on which we are to vote is one of the longest submitted to the Members of the United Nations during the fifteen years of its existence. What is more, it is not only the heaviest agenda we have ever had to discuss, but the questions it contains are of the greatest importance, difficulty and complexity and must be considered in an atmosphere that is to say the least highly charged. 6. Some of the items relate to recent events in our restless and troubled world, while others, of no less topical interest and no less controversial, have been matters of international concern at more than one session. They have been the subject of resolutions, and the fact that they are again being raised in the United Nations in sensational, terms reflects the growing tendency to forget and depart from what I have called the spirit of San Francisco.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Although by nature sparing of compliments, I should be loath to let slip this opportunity of congratulating you because we know that, shoulder to shoulder with all those who have faith in the United Nations, you will seek to defend the principles of the Charter and that you will endeavour, with us, to revive what I would call the spirit of San Francisco. It is your duty as President to remain above the battle, to counsel calm, tolerance and dignity at the risk of incurring the incomprehension of some and the anger of others, and my delegation trusts that you will take your place among the great figures of international life who have laboured without fear or favour, during the troubled hours of mankind, for that peace which we need so much, today more than ever, 5.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“This session is unique, one of the most outstanding in the annals of international life, and my delegation believes that the person entrusted with the heavy responsibility of presiding over its deliberations must possess the qualities of patience and moderation; a deep understanding of the workings, reactions and susceptibilities of political assemblies, and the qualities of a true statesman, accustomed to the stormy seas of political life. 3. All who have known you for any length of time, and even those who have only had the pleasure of meeting you at United Nations receptions, are unanimous in believing that at a time like this the only possible successor to that great President, Mr. Victor Belaúnde, was a man of your experience, with your firmness and fairness. 4.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“The many speakers who have preceded me at this rostrum have expressed their satisfaction at the election of so able a chairman as yourself, Mr. President, to preside at this session of the General Assembly. In voting for you, representatives were, not simply expressing their friendship — a sentiment that is as precious as it is fragile and which is alas too often but the spontaneous or impulsive reaction of the human heart. Their choice was a deliberate one, made in the light of your distinguished record of achievement. 2.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“It is therefore a particular pleasure for the Haitian delegation to pay public tribute to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, a man who time and again has commanded the admiration of all for his profound sense of social justice and his eminent qualities as a statesman.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“It is only natural that those of us who believe in spiritual forces should be stirred by any signs of good will, by an awakening of conscience and by any exceptional effort on the part of our politicians, even when such symptoms bear the marks of personal interest, for it is something new that personal interest should seek to ally itself with the interests of the community. 47. Those who also believe in human values and happen to find them along the path of life should stop to pay homage to the man who embodies those values and to point out his merits, particularly when his actions support the high ideal of "every day more, every day better ".”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“Despite the prevailing poverty in our country, deep devotion to spiritual values among the Haitian people and its present Government, led by Dr. François Duvalier, one of our greatest leaders, makes our country one of the healthiest in its imperviousness to ideas which are causing anxiety to many. 45. Our forefathers who built a home for the Haitians upon the ruins of Santo Domingo bequeathed to us a sound economic and social structure when they based it on a system of small holdings. They were men of great vision for, in 1804, they did what others recommended more than 150 years later. 46.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“Our economy, as I have said, is essentially a liberal one: for more than a century and a half we have used no protectionist weapons to protect and industrialize ourselves, as we had the right to do. Our customs duties are of a purely fiscal nature; we have neither quotas, nor import prohibitions nor exchange control in our country. We are in principle, therefore, the most fervent supporters of international free trade based on the theory of comparative costs. 43. The impoverishment of agricultural countries, brought about by the enormous and unjust discrepancy in the prices of agricultural and industrial products is at the root of the economy's stagnation and the true cause of many of our misfortunes and difficulties. 44.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“We shall throughout our history bear the marks of this spirit of the French revolution — the determination to fight unremittingly all forms of privilege. 41. Our economy must also be liberal, like the one that prevailed when it was born. I need hardly recall how that economy suffered when protectionism was applied everywhere and the world had to live under conditions of real economic warfare. We accepted in all good faith the classical economists' liberal thesis of a division of labour among nations and kept our status as an essentially agricultural country, selling our primary commodities and raw materials in accordance with the law of supply and demand. Unfortunately, this law has proved nothing but a snare, for its functioning has been upset by the imperialism of the stronger nations. 42.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“Ogé and Chavannes, who, under the tropical skies of Santo Domingo, were the first men on this continent to demand the application of these principles, were coloured men, French settlers' sons who had studied in France at a time when the very air vibrated with the ideal of liberty. Once home, their ears still ringing with the Marseillaise and the tumult of the storming of the Bastille, they may have paid dearly for daring to speak of "natural rights". But the idea of those innate rights found a deep echo in the minds of those who were so cruelly exploited. For the first time in the history of mankind, an entire class of men became conscious of its rights. It was the signal for the war of independence in the Republic of Haiti, which helped the dawn of liberty for all slaves on the American continent. 40.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“I am speaking on behalf of a country which, in the past century, achieved its independence under exceptional circumstances. Perhaps this is the proper moment to say that my country has greatly suffered from the isolation in which it was held in the past by the ideas of the time. 39. In this continent — where, with their civic spirit, love of liberty and devotion to the principle of nonintervention, the men of today remind us of the heroism, the spirit of solidarity and the noble virtues of their forefathers — Haiti was the second State which sprang directly from the principles of 1789.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“The feeling of danger which we have felt for a long time is spreading everywhere, and discussions of the utmost importance for the defence and future of our economy have just been held at the Seventeenth Congress of the International Chamber of Commerce, at Washington. It is comforting to note the great decisions taken by the giants of world economy represented among the forty countries. Let us hope that business leaders, inspired by the new concept they have of their responsibilities, will confront the dangers of the moment by applying the right treatment, so State institutions can cure social evils better and more quickly than could any essentially political organization left to its own devices, which falls only too easily a prey to the intrigues for influence and to the passions which blind judgement. 38.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“Throughout the world, there is a desire to reduce protectionism to mere emergency measures; people are turning towards the Common Market, which is the new semi-liberal formula adapted to the atomic age. In Europe, the satisfying experiences with Benelux and the Coal and Steel Community have led those people who have experienced the happy effects of partial economic disarmament to think of the Common Market which could be compared to some kind of economic federation. The conversations which are taking place in certain quarters nearer to us show that Latin America is working in the same direction. 37.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“Our economy is hamstrung by extremist economic nationalism which has never given up its struggle and hampers the development of international trade. It is on international trade that we must rely to stimulate investment, develop employment opportunities, and ensure a good market. It is the eminently sound way to bring about universal well-being. 36. This vision of reality has of late deeply stirred the conscience of mankind. The emotions and anxieties to which heads of Governments and politicians were subject are now being experienced by industrialists and businessmen. Government leaders and the responsible parties are meeting and consulting one another.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“They can be only cured by putting man in accordance with his sense of dignity, now so much discussed, in a position where he can develop his own natural resources. The motives for helping him effectively do not spring from considerations of humanity or altruism, but from a true understanding of everyone's immediate or long-term interests, as made evident to us by the interdependence of economic facts. 34. The fact that only twenty-two out of a community of eighty-two Members can pride themselves on not being a prey to economic anxiety is irrefutable proof that under-development is not a subjective condition, existing in a given country or race, but rather an almost universal one. This does not mean that another type of economy should be sought; it means that our economy is sick and must be cured as soon as possible. 35.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“It is true that, when attempts are made, albeit with inadequate funds, to stamp out under-development, it can at any rate be said that an effort is being made. But such an effort resembles charity; it is not a thorough programme of economic rehabilitation which will heal not one country or one continent but a world — the free world, built on the rock of the capitalist economic system. To overcome the underdevelopment which endangers the whole economic system — so intimately linked to the ideals which we uphold — means to protect oneself and to ensure the survival of the civilization we cherish, 33. Social evils cannot be cured by the development of a philanthropy which only encourages indigence and impoverishes the individual, sometimes permanently.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“Now, what does this most substantial sum which would effectively cure economic evils — the source of all other evils in the world — represent when compared with the 100,000 million dollars spent annually on military budgets by those who — in pursuing a mirage which entices all who are foolish enough to follow it over the precipice — arm themselves for destruction in the vain hops of wresting for themselves world hegemony, 31. More than millions of dollars are needed to carry out a truly adequate programme against underdevelopment, to use Mr. Hoffman’s own words. This would be a third of the thousands of millions spent annually to mount the terrifying machine of war which now threatens world peace. 32.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“The irony of things in this world is that, although these countries may be potentially rich — their valuable natural resources giving them, so to say, a vocation for wealth — they have not yet been able to develop them, since they lack both the means and the necessary technological experience to do so. 30. The facts in the quotation I have just cited indicate that the problem of under-development admits of a quicker and more harmonious solution than some may have believed possible. All that need be done is set the price, and Mr. Hoffman tells us that 30,000 million dollars would suffice.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“If the 5 billion dollars of technical assistance needed over the next decade were devoted to developing and tracking down these natural resources, it seemed quite possible to raise — on are- payable basis — the 30 billion dollars of capital investment that were necessary for the steady development of those countries, which form 60 of the 82 UN members." 29. The specific facts which emerge from these words of Mr. Hoffman are so important that they should be analysed. Let it be noted at the outset by those who would still ignore it that an under-developed country is not necessarily a poor or a ruined one.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“Of the eighty-two countries which make up the great international community to which we belong, approximately two-thirds — Sixty, to be exact — are classified, technically speaking, as less developed and under-developed. However, no less an authority than Mr. Hoffman, Managing Director of the Special Fund, comments as follows on these countries: "But many of them were not inherently poor, but simply unexploited, and the cost to the advanced nations of a truly adequate program would not be too burdensome.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“Indeed, technology has joined forces with education and hygiene in launching an offensive that undoubtedly does credit to the great captains who planned it. In certain instances, the various groups are vying with one another in taking the initiative against under-development. Millions are being appropriated and armies of technicians are moving to and fro in the less developed and under-developed areas. Many people are today amazed that, though years have passed, the results are still rather meagre. Although there is no doubt that inroads have been made on ignorance, poverty and disease, they still oppress millions of human beings.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)