Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-07-15


for the Associated Press the United
Nations Charter drdiDn at San Fran
cisco. Lord Cecil is the younger
brother of the present Marques OF
Salisbury and an uncle OF LORD
Cranborne, one of Britain'S chief
delegates at San Frdncisco)
LONDON. The most important
thing about the San Francisco Confer
ence is that it reached unanimous
agreement in spite of the doubts and
difficulties usual in such meetings.
The result is what President Truman
very rightfully called a solid struc-
ture."
The Charter is an elaborate and de-
tailed scheme with more than four times
as many articles as were contained in
the Covenant of the League of Nations.
number of new proposals in it. For the
most part, it is built-very properly
on the principles and practice of the
League. The actual machinery with its
General Assembly, its Council, its Inter-
national Court of Justice, its secretariat.
its department for dealing with nom
self-governing territories and even its
Economic and Social Council, all had
their counterpart at Geneva.
They have been clarified and ex-
pounded; but the conference very right
ly availed itself of the experience gained
in working the earlier organization. That
is the only way to build really solid
structure" Even the Constitution of the
United States owed not little to the
parliamentary and other institutions de-
veloped from Magma Charta.
Better and Wider Principles.
That does not mean that there is
nothing new in the Charter. Very far
from it. Take, for instance, the Chap
tiers XII, XII and XIII establishing the
international truSteeship system in some
18 articles. They represent the single
article % of the Covenant. But they
establish better and wider principles.
They provide for the extension of the
system and more elastic machinery.
Above all, they specifically insist that
the primary consideration in the whole
system must be the well-being and pros
perity of the peoples concerned.
So two chapters-I and X-take up
the great work done by the League in
economic and social matters and the
unavailing efforts of M. BRAND to i'm
prove the machinery for that purpose,
and propose to create new council
which will carry on the work done in
this direction by the Council of the
League, together with the activities of
several committees and commissions It
will operate in direct connection with
the new Assembly.
All this co-ordinating and clarifying
work ought to be of great advantage,
particularly if some one of the same
energy and ability as M. Albert Thomas
and his successors can be found to direct
such activities. Indeed, to one school
of thought it is on the success of inter-
national cooperation in these directions
that the success of the organization will
ultimately depend.
Much Accomplished by League.
And yet it is due to perfectly just
instinct of the peoples represented at
the conference that the public attention
has been chiefly concentrated on the
proposals for the maintenance of peace.
That is what really matters. Peace is
essential to all international progress.
In the 10 years of its full existence
the League did great deal for the i'm
provement of the conditions of life in
its member states. But when war broke
out all this was suspended or destroyed
and we have now got again to build up
the whole complicated system of credit
and confidence without which no pros
perity is possible. 1t is therefore essen
tial to realize what are the basic changes
now proposed in the peace-keeping pro-
visions of the older system.
j. In the first place, the direct security
functions of the new organization are
divided from the rest of its duties. They
are placed under the Security Council
which is given position independent
of the Assembly in security matters,
though it is to report to the latter body
any action taken. Next, it is to have the
assistance of a military staff consisting
of the chiefs of stats of the permanent
members of the council; that is, of the
Big Five. Its duties are to deal with all
aggresSions, threatened or actual, and
with all disputes and other circum-
stances which threaten the maintenance
of peace. Its action is to be primarily
the promotion of the settlement of dis
putes by peaceful means. But if they
are inadequate, it is empowered to use
international forces contributed by the
members of the League in numbers and
conditions to be agreed
Much More Businesslike.
Evidently this is a much more busi-
nesslike arrangement for forcible action
than anything that existed under the
league, though in principle no great
change is made except that the military
staff is nominated by the Big Five, a
reasonable arrangement since they will
supply most Of the fighting force
Then comes the question Of how this
machinery is to be set in motion; in
other words, how the Security Council is
to act. Here distinction must be
drawn between responsibilities and
rights. The council is to consist of IL
members, of which six are to be period
ically appointed by the Assembly and
five are to be permanent representatives
Of the Big Five.
No complaint can be made of this,
which substantially follows the prece-
dent Of the League. 1t is evidently right
and necessary that chief responsibility
for peace should be placed on those
powers whose strength enables them to