Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1944-10-10
The Security Proposals


The Security Proposals
: The text OF the tentative proposals
submitted to their respective gov
ernments by the delegates to the
conferences at Dumbarton Oaks
provides ample confirmation of the
claim that large measure of agree
ment has been reached in the COM
mon effort to set up international
machinery to maintain the peace of
the world.
Our own State Department, in
making public these tentative pro-
posals. emphasizes that a great deal
remains to be done before an effec-
tive international security organiza-
ton can begin to take final form.
The governments represented at
Dumbarton Oaks-Britain, Russia,
China and the United States-must
first examine the tentative proposals
and then prepare complete proposals
which could serve as a basis of dis
cussion at full United Nations con-
ference. This may not be without
its difficulties. Then there are mat
tiers on which not even tentative
agreement has been reached, notably
the voting procedure for identifying
future aggreSsorS and invoking
sanctions against them.
But it would be extremely short
sighted, especially at this stage OF
the undertaking, to permit these
matters of unfinished business to
becloud the fact that very substan-
tial progress has been made. The
governments represented at Dunn
barton Oaks are not bound by any
agreements which may have been
reached there. Nor are the govern
ments obligated to ratify the tenta-
tive proposals advanced by the dele
gates. But to some extent, surely,
these proposals reflect the senti-
ments OF the home governments,
and they are, therefore, of very
great Importance.
These proposals contemplate the
establishment Of general interna-
tional organization dedicated to the
preservation Of peace and the pro-
motion of the well being of the
member nations. 1t would have as
its principal organs a general as
sembly, security council, an inter-
national court of justice and a
secretariat. OF these the security
council is the most important, for
the ability Of the international
organization to prevent war will de-
pend primarily upon the authority
finally delegated to it and the pro-
cedures through which it is per-
mitted to function. AS contemplated
in the tentative proposals, this coun-
Gil is the organ which will have to
make the important decisions and
enforce them. Hence. it is inevitable
that most of the coming debate will
center around its character and its
powers.
In the United States there will be
particular interest in the proposal to
empower this council, after certain
preliminaries, to use military forces,
OF which we would contribute a part.
against an aggressor. It will be said,
on the one hand, that this would be
an act OF war, and that under our
Constitution only Congress can de-
clare war. On the other hand, it
will be contended that If the inter-
national organization is to act
effectively, 1t must be able to act
quickly through its council, and that
to require specific congressional au-
thorization for the use of force in a
given emergency would result in
evitably in fatal delay. This ques-
ton, obviously, is a serious one, de-
serving the fullest study and debate.
The least that we can do now is to
refrain from prejudgment.
Another difficulty concerns the re-
ported Russian stand on the voting
procedure to be followed in the
council. There are to be eleven
members OF this council, with five
permanent members representing
Russia, Britain, China, the United
States and eventually France. The
Russians are said to have insisted
that these permanent representa-
tives OF the major powers must vote
unanimously for the use of force
before 1t could be invoked against
an aggressor, and this, If one of
the major powers should become an
aggressor, would enable the delegate
OF the offending nation to tie the
hands of the other powers by the
simple expedient Of casting a mega
tive vote in the council. This atti-
tude OF the Soviet government is
disturbing. But it does not neces-
sarily represent Moscow's final posi-
ton, and, in any event, it should not
be used to cry down the notable
gains that have been made.
What is needed now is the deter
mination to build on the foundations
which have already been laid. It
would be idle, of course. to expect a
perfect international security organ
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