Evening star., 1945-07-09

i manent basis in conformity with th'
! Charter.
n Nv,
/ Voting Provisions
The provisions for membership ant
voting in the Security Council agreed
upon at San Francisco were 81
drawn up as to enable the Securit.
Council to discharge, with the bes
chance of success, its responSibilit.
for the maintenance of peace with
justice.
Five nations are given permanent
membership in the Council-th'
United States, Great Britain, tn,
ISoviet Union, China and France
These nations possess most of thu
industrial and military resources o.
the world. They will have to beal
the principal responsibility for main
tanning peace In the foreseeable fu.
ture. The provisions of membership
recognize this inescapable fact.
i The five powers do not, however
form majority of the members oi
the Council. Six members art
elected by the General Assembly
from among all the other United
Nations. This Is the first OF severa
checks and balances provided for ir
the charter in order to safeguard
the rights of smaller nations.
L Majority Is Required.
The voting provisions for the Sc
curity Council also recognize the
special powers and responsibilities
of the great nations. A majority
of seven members which includes
all five of the permanent members
is required in any decision by the
Council for dealing with dispute
either by peaceful means or by
enforcement action, except that a
party to a dispute must abstain
from voting in the peaceful settle
ment stage.
There has been a great deal OF
discussion of these voting provisions
and I should like to request per-
mission to place in the record my
statement of March S, 1945, Mr.
Crews statement of March "a, and
the interpretative statement by the
delegations of the four sponsoring
governments on June 7, all of which
are on this subject. I think they
will prove useful to the committee.
The requirement for unanimity of
the five great nations has been criti-
cized because each of them can ex-
ercise q veto. I submit that these
five nations, possessing most Of the
worlds power to break or preserve
peace, must agree and act together
If peace is to be maintained, just as
they have had to agree and act to-
gether in order to make possible a
United Nations victory in this war
Veto Question Answered.
The question is asked, What would
happen if one of the five permanent
members used the unanimity rule to
veto enforcement action against it
self. The answer is plain. If one of
these nations ever embarked upon
a course of aggression, a major war
would result, no matter what the
membership and voting provisions
Of the Security Council might be.
The Charter does not confer any
power upon the great nations which
they do not already possess in fact.
Without the Charter the power of
these nations to make or break
the peace would still exist. What
the Charter does is to place special
and binding obligations upon the
great nations to use-in unity to-
gether for peace, not separately for
war-the power that is already in
their hands. The uanimity rule
is an expression of those special
obligations and of their commensu-
rate responsibilities.
With an important exception, the
unanimity rule applies to peaceful
settlement as well as to enforce
ment action, because any action
toward settling dispute peacefully
may lead to the necessity for en-
forcement measures. Once the
Council orders an investigation or
takes similar action in a dispute,
it must be prepared to follow
through with whatever further
measures, inclding the use of
force, may ultimately be necessary.
And this must be clear to the
states involved in the dispute. If it
were not, the authority and prestige
which the Council needs in order
to secure peaceful settlements of
disputes might be fatally weakened.
That is why the five permanent
members are required to agree and
vote together from the beginning
of any dispute on which the Coun-
Gil takes action.
Nations Have Equal Rights.
The power of veto does not, how
ever, apply to consideration and
discussion of dispute by the coun-
Gil before action is taken. Thus the
right of any nation to bring a dis
pute before the council and to OBJ
tain a hearing of its case cannot
be blocked. Furthermore, no mem
Der of the council-and this in
cludes the permanent members-can
vote in any decision involving peace
full settlement of a dispute to which
it is a party. BY this provision the
five permanent members must sub
NIT themselves to the same processes
Of peaceful adjustment and settle
ment that apply to any other mem
Der nation.
Additional checks are provided
against abuse of their voting powers
by the five permanent members. Any
decision by the council in either
the peaceful settlement or enforce
ment stage requires at least seven
votes. Thus at least two of the
smaller nations of the council must
agree with the five permanent men,
berS before the council can take
action. The Charter also provides
that the General Assembly, where
the five major powers possess no
special voting powers, may make
recommendation to the council on
any question relating to peace and
security not being dealt with by the
council 1t provides further, that
the council must report at least once
year to the General Assembly on
all measures it has taken to main
tain peace. These provisions mean
that the council must act under the
watchful eye of the whole organ