Evening star., 1945-11-03
Reports on UNRRA

adopted the amendment forbidding
the expenditure of any part of the
$550,000,000 scheduled to be appro-
priated for the United Nations Relief
and Rehabilitation Administration
in any country where accredited rep
resentatives OF the American press
are denied opportunity to report
fully on UNRRA operations. There
is real possibility. however, that
the amendment, if finally adopted,
would defeat the very purposes for
which UNRRA was created.
1t is most unjust to say that this
"free press" amendment was in
Spired by desire to cripple UNRRA
or defeat it's purposes. On the con-
trary, there is every reason to believe
that most of the members who voted
for it did so in the belief that its
adoption would tend to make Ger
tain that the food and other relief
supplies actually reach the people
who need help instead of being di-
verted to serve shady political ends
at the expense of the needy. There
were, of course, other considerations.
Some of the sponsors objected to the
present method of operation on the
ground that Russia, though contrib
uting nothing to UNRRA, indirectly
controls go per cent of its admins
tration. Others contended that
UNRRA was shipping food to Yugo-
slavia, while that country was ex-
porting like amounts of the same
food to the Soviet Union Another
was struck by the alleged fact that
one of the Soviet republics has made
a request for a certain tonnage of
vegetable oils at time when it was
reported that Russia had agreed to
ship an identical tonnage of vege-
table oils to Finland.
These and similar objections, how
ever. are largely irrelevant to the
main issue-have the American peo-
pie, who put up 72 per cent of the
UNRRA funds. the right to know.
through American press representa-
tives, how their money is being spent
and upon whom?
The opponents of the amendment
met this main contention on two
grounds. First, they pointed out the
pending bill already provides that
no country can participate in
UNRRA funds unless personnel ac-
credited by UNRRA are given free
access and safe conduct to follow
the relief supplies to their ultimate
destinations. Second. they argue
that the free reporting requirement
might be rejected by some govern
ments. with the result that the
needy there would starve.
With respect to the first point,
sponsors of the amendment said that
the provision in the bill. in effect.
called upon UNRRA to check on it
self, and that therefore it was un-
satisfactory. AS to the second, they
said that if any government should
refuse to admit American corre-
spondents, with resulting hardship
to its own people, the onus would be
on that government and not on the
American Congress.
There is merit in both OF these
replies. But in the light of all the
circumstances, and in view of the
fact that we have already contrib
uted so much to UNRRA, it would
seem qnwise at this time to put
IN jeopardy the operations which
UNRRA has scheduled for this COM
ing winter, which will bring hard
ships enough to the suffering people
of Europe. If Congress desires to
pursue the "free press" amendment,
which is basically sound, that can
be done when UNRRA comes back
for a new appropriation next year.
In that way the risk that relief might
be cut off during this most critical
winter by the hostility of some for
eign government toward free report
ing can be avoided, and it is to be
hoped that the Senate will take this
view.