The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1946-03-28
Operation Crossroads!
Nv ANNE n,HARE MCCORMICK

naTne given by the reputSo1y uH1hloeAfotiSe
military people to the atom bomb experiments
to be conducted by the Navy in the Pacific.
The sudden postponement of this test is attri-
buted in some quarters to a desire not to
focus interest on the great explosion at Blkinl
when so many explosive issues are lying around
the world Others suggest that it is concllla-
tory gesture to match the Stain statement
blessing the United Nations Organization.
.'When Stain came out for peace on the eve
of the UNO meetng," remarked European
delegate. 'the least Truman could do was to
respond in kind and play down the weapon
which affected the Russians as a red flag at
fects other people"
If this explanation were true ana the
White House stoutly denies it - it would be
sufficient reason for delaying the tests. Inc
two moves probably have no connection, yet
they combine into a pacifylag preluoe 1or tne
first meeting of UNO in the country chosen
as its permanent home
The smallest motions of great powers sway
the balance and change the weather OF the
world Just the timing of MoscoWs declara-
ton of support of International organization
and Washingtons intimation that there is no
urgency about the atom bomb trials serve to
put the two great protagonists in the drama
of war and peace in different position VISA
Wis one another and in the eyes OF the united
Nations than they were week ago. Shghtly'
but palpably, it shifts the emphasis from the
simmering caldron in the Middle East and
the atoll stripped for death in the Pacific to
the job of construction UNO is being organic
ed to- do.
The fireworks In London distracted atten-
ton from this job. The international Crisis
began there. 1t began in debate that brought
into the open international stresses and strains
that threatened to break the frail machinery
Of cooperation in its first test The underlying
treason for the tepid welcome of New York
compared to the enthusiasm of San Francisco
last April is not the lower emotional tempera
ture of this topheavy and overcrowded town.
At this Eastern gateway, battered and burn
ished by the millions who crashed through to
get away from wars and tyrannies, the dream
of collective security stirs as much ardor as
it does at the Golden Gate. The outlook is
darker that at San Francisco. But the inter-
national atmosphere is not the same as 1t
was last year. Questions and doubts OF the
will and ability of the great powers to work
together have Swallowed the preparations for
todays meeting. They have enveloped the
search for headquarters with air of I'M
reality. If UNO's reception is halfhe arted, it
is because events have sobered the highheart-
ed mood of the end of the war.
1t is because great expectations have given
place to great suspense. The decisive Opera
It will take place here, in the Bronx, in a
school gymnasium transformed with New
Yorks genius for improvisation into a stately
council chamber. The experiment in the Paci-
fic is designed to show whether navies will
stand up under atom bombs. 1t will be an
exercise in destruction, a dress rehearsal for
the war of the future.
Yet not this experiment but what happens
in the Bronx, or wherever the UNO meets
rir &ba fo,,, do ybofH
er people can sleep in their beds - not when
the atom war begins but now. For nobody
rests in peace in the world as it is. Anxiety
gnaws at the minds of the best-fed and the
safest as hunger gnaws on the bodies OF the
starving.
Today New York becomes the scene of the
operation that will decide whether human in
telligence and the human spirit are stronger
than atomic energy. In the environment and
atmosphere of this metropolis, the most in
ternatonal of all the cities of the earth, fitted
by its restless blend of breeds and races to
represent the City of Man, the great question
of our time and all time will be answered: Can
nations form international above all other
internationals-an international for peace? I'm
til it is answered there will be no stable
Governments in wartorn countries, no zeal
for reconstruction, no fulltime production in
fields or factories, no hope to make people
care enough to resist death and slavery and
fight for life and freedom.
1t will not be answered in this session of
the Security Council or in many sessions. But
for the first time it is laid on our doorstep,
and for the next few weeks this community
will be more than a witness, it will be par
ticipant, in the wrestling with the devils and
the angels in which great compacts and great
decisions made. 1t Is awful responsible
ty for the United States, cast for the leading
part in the drama.
In all Catholic churches of the city yes
terday an old prayer from the liturgy was
said for the success Of UNO and though no
prayer pcefaces its sessions, it is an enter
prise that calls For the humility that express
es itself in words of prayer:
Suffer us not to disturb the order of JUS
tice, Thou who lowest equity above all things; |
let not ignorance draw us into devious paths, |
nor partially sway our minds, neither let re-
spect Of riches or persons pervert our judg-
ment may we never forsake the truth, and
in all things hold fast to justice tempered by
pity" New York Times.