Evening star., 1946-02-17

come from Europe, and they put forward
the Yugoslavian Ambassador to the
United States, Simic, and If he did not
make the grade, then they wanted a
Pole None of this suited the British
or the Americans Into the apparent
deadlock finally stepped Edward R.
Stettinius. jr, United States representa-
tive in the Security Council. taking the
initiative in favor of Norwegian Foreign
Minister Trygve Lie. Mr.. Lie was
selected. His name had been on a list
OF possible" candidates picked by the
American delegates weeks before.
Elected for Five Years.
The new secretary general is a man
OF considerable force, independence and
ability. Only so years old, he is a
lawyer who turned to the Labor party
IN Norway many years ago and worked
his way to the front in his progressive
country. He was Foreign Minister all
during the war, and in London when
Norway was invaded by the Nazis He
Is persona grata to the British and also
the Russians, and by all accounts, should
make good executive officer. His term
is for five years, with privilege of re-
election. The first five years of the
new peace organization, however, will
be the formative years, years in which
the UNO will either develop or slide
back to impotence. much as the old
League of Nations did
Even more important than the selec-
. ton of the secretary general was the
election by the Assembly of the six
nonpermanent members of the Security
Council and the Is members of the
Economic and Social Council. To the
Security Council-which is the Executive
Board of Directors of the UNO-is given
the duty of preserving peace. To the
Economic and Social Council, the duty
of eradicating conditions in the world
that lead to war, so far as possible. The
election of both these councils was
had with comparatively little friction.
In addition to the Big Five-perma-
nent MEMBERSHIP Security Council has
as members, Australia, Brazil, Egypt,
Mexico, Netherlands and Poland. These
are the nations which, through their
representatives in Council, may decide
the fate of the world If crises arise in
the next year. Under the Charter, the
Council must first seek to bring about
settlement of disputes that threaten
peace by pacific measures. If those
fail, however, then, with the Big Five
concurring, the Council may order the
use of sanctions and force to preserve
the peace.
Craftsmanship Rotates.
Sitting as members of the Security
Council at the London meeting have
been the principal delegates of the II
countries, some of them Foreign Min
listers. Mr.. Stettinius is the permanent
representative Of the United States on
the Council, appointed by the President,
with ambassadorial rank. Britain has
appointed Sir Alexander Cadoganas its
representative. Other countries have
still to name their permanent repre-
sentatives-if they wish to do So
to this Council which is, under the
/. Charter, to be in continuous session,
ready at all times to attend to the
business of the organization. The chair
man or president of the Council serves
for only month, and the nations rotate
in the Craftsmanship in alphabetical
order. Under this arrangement, N. j.
o. Maxim, Australian Minister for the
Navy. became the first presiding officer
Of the Council. incidentally, Mr.. Maxim
handled the business of the Council
fairly and expeditiously.
The l8 nations elected to membership
in the Economic and Social Council are
Belgium, Canada, Chile, China, Colom-
bia. Cuba, Czechoslovakia, France,
Greece, India, Lebanon, Norway, Peru,
Ukraine, Russia, United Kingdom,
United States and Yugoslavia. Geo.
graphical reasons entered into the selec-
ton of both the Security Council and
the Economic and Social Council. In
picking the Security Council, the
Assembly also took into consideration
the extent of the nations contributions
to the United Nations in the last war.
The only real upset was the substitution
of Australia for Canada, as a member
of the Security Council.
Belgium Is Elected.
In measure it stemmed from Russia's
defeat in the election of a president of
the General Assembly. The Soviet dele
cation backed Mr.. Lie of Norway for
president and was defeated % to 23
The United States voted for Lie, but did
not make speech in his behalf. The
British and some of the Western Euro
pean countries and the Latin Americans
were for Foreign Minister Spaak of
Belgium, who was elected. Although
Ambassador Gromyko argued that nomi-
nations for president be made in open
session, and he spoke for Lie, it was
ruled that nominations were not neces-
sary-and Spaak's name was never put
forward openly-but lot of work had
been done for him privately. The Rus
slams took their defeat-although they
rather felt the United States had let
them down. When it came to the
Security Council, they were able to pre-
vent Canada's getting the necessary
two-thirds vote for election-the only
nation on the United States slate not
to win.
One of the most important achieve
ments of the Assembly was the estab-
lishment of an Atomic Energy Commits
sion-to study the whole problem Cd to
prevent its use for mass destruction and
Cd to advance knowledge of atomic
energy for peacetime use and produc-
ton. The United States was particularly
interested in having this commission set
up, and it was to see the resolution
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