The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-14


every effort to see to it that before
the San Francisco conference our
people are well informed about
the Dumbarton Oaks proposals. Bu1
l cannot help thinking that the de-
partment is devoting too much at
tenion and emphasis to the OBJ
jectives, which few are criticizing
and to the mechanics of the or.
ganization, which is not of the
first Importance.
The point which is, 1 believe,
least understood and, therefore,
most needs careful and sustained
explanation, is that the Dunbar
ton Oaks charter is not now an
instrument for making peace but
one for keeping the peace. Though
eventually The distinction between
these two operations will disa2-
pear we shall confuse everything
if we dc not hold to it firmly at
San Francisco and for some years
after the fighting ceases.
When we look at some OF the
matters that have 10 be decided
and acted upon, we can best see
why the making of this peace is
not the business at San Francisco
and of the new world organization.
There are the new frontiers of Ger
many, OF Japan, and of their sa-
tellites. There is the problem Of
governing Germany in the period
which begins with the disintegra-
ton of ner armies and the disso-
luton of the German state and will
last until the Allies can restore
and dare to restore sovereign
equality 10 the German nation.
There are the problems of provis-
ional governments in liberated
countries, and of how these pro-
visional governments are to be-
come legitimate governments ex-
ercising the full International
rights OF sovereign states. There
are the problems of the territories
which Germany and Japan are TO
lose, some temporarily and some
permanently. and how they are TO
be administered. There is the
whole complicated task OF relief,
rehabilitation, reconstruction, and
of how he nations are to demo-
billie and reconvert and how
normal trade is to be established.
These, and many other similar
problems are the substance OF
peace-making. and they cannot be
taken in hand and dealt with by
the world organization. For one
thing the organization does not as
yet exist whereas many OF these
problems have already had to spe
dealt with, at least in some meas
ure. For another thing, the world
organization, precisely because 1t
covers the world, cannot deal eff
fectively with the particular and
regional issues that arise in max
ing peace
The peace will be made by
series of treaties and conventions
embodyins concrete decisions on
the unsettled issues aising from
this war. The peace will not be
made. as SO many suppose, at San
Francisco, or by the security coun-
Gil which will be instituted at San
Francisco. These particular treat
les and conventions will define the
rights and duties of the nations
that sign and ratify them, and it
is here that most of the immediate
practical questions about the
small, the middle-sized and great
powers will be answered concrete
Nv. It will be for example at
Signing of the convention to de-
militarize Germany, that a coun-
try like Canada, the Netherlands,
and Brazil will have the oppor-
tunity to stipulate how far it is
committed, what military or
economic force it will contribute,
to the pacification of Germany.
Commitments as respects Ge~-
many, as respects Japan, will not
be defined in the Dumbarton Oaks
charter but in specific treaties. Be-
cause there will be many specific
treaties dealing with most of the
concrete situations that need in
ternational regulation, it reflects
misunderstanding of Dumbarton
Oaks to treat the charter as if it
were the whole scheme of interna-
tional relationships.
One of the great unfinished
chapters of the Dumbarton Oaks
plan is to define the relationship
between the world organization