Evening star., 1949-03-19
BY the Assoeioted Press

oy me ASsoctoreo freSS
FOLLOWING is the tert of Sec
.retary OF State Acheson's Ma
tton-,Dide radio address last
night on the North Atlantic
pact:
The text of the proposed North
Atlantic Pact was made public to-
day. I welcome this opportunity
to talk with my fellow citizens
about it. 1t has taken many months
to work out this text with the rep
resentatives of the other nations
involved. First Mr.. Lovett, and
then I, met with the Ambassadors
of Canada. Britain, France, Bel
gium, The Netherlands and Luxem-
bourg.
Recently the Ambassador of Nor
way joined in these discussions
These talks had to be conducted
in private and in confidence, SC
that each of us could speak frankly
and fully on matters of vital i'm
portance to our countries. It is for
this compelling reason that public
discussion of the text of the pact
by your representatives has not
been possible up to this time.
That restraint no longer applies
The treaty and its implications cal,
now be fully discussed. Public
opinion can now be formed on the
basis of complete information. Only
in this way can your Government
have what former Secretary of
State Stimson has termed "the un-
derstanding support of the
American people" which is essen
tial to the success of any policy.
think the American people will
want to know the answers to three
principal questions about the pact ::
How did it come about and why Is
it necessary? What are its terms?
Will it accomplish its purpose?
Peace and Security.
The paramount purposes of the
pact are peace and security. II
peace and security can be achieved
in the North Atlantic area, we shall
have gone a long way to assure
peace and security in other areas
as well.
The achievement of peace and Sc
cufity means more than that in the
final outcome we shall have pre-
vented war and brought about the
settlement of international disputes
by peaceful means.
There must be conviction Of peo-
pie everywhere that war will be
prevented and that disputes will be
settled peacefully. In the most prac-
tical terms, true international peace
and security require a firm belief
by the peoples of the world that they
will not be subjected to unprovoked
attack, to coercion and intimidation,
to interference in their own affairs.
Peace and security requires con-
fidence in the future, based ON the
assurance that the peoples of the
world will be permitted to improve
their conditions of life, free from
fear that the fruits of their labor
may be taken from them by alien
hands.
These are goals of our own foreign
policy which President Truman has
emphasized many times, most re-
Gently in his inaugural address,
when he spoke of the hope that we
could help create the conditions
that will lead eventually to personal
freedom and happiness for all man
kind" These are also the purposes
of the United Nations, whose men,
bers are pledged Ito maintain inter-
national peace and security" and to
promote "the economic and social
advancement of all peoples.s '>~"
These purposes are intimately re-
lated to the origins of the United
Nations. AS the Second World War
neared it's end, the peoples who bore
the brunt of the fighting were sick Of
the horror, the brutality, the tragedy
of the war. Out of that reyulsion
came the determination to create q
system that would 60 as far as hu-
manly possible in insuring interna-
tioral peace and security. ..
Tolerance and Cooperation.
The United Nations seeks to main
tain peace and security by enjoining
it's members from using force to
settle international disputes. More
over, it insists that they acknowl-
edge tolerance and cooperation as
the guiding principles for the con-
duct of nations.
The members are expected to set
tie differences by the exercise OF
reason and adjustment. according
to the principles of justice and law
This requires a spirit of tolerance
and restaint on the part OF all the
members.
But, as In any other institution
which presupposes restraint, vio-
lence or obstruction can be used to
defeat the basic undertaking. This
happens in personal relations, in
families, communities, churches,
politics, and everywhere in human
life. If the system is used in ways
it was not intended to be used, there
is grave danger that the system will
be disrupted.
That applies to the United Ma
tions. The system is not working
as effectively as we hoped because
one of its members has attempted
to prevent it from working. BY
obstructive tactics and the mis-
use of the veto, the Soviet Union
has seriously interfered with the
work of the Security Council in
maintaining international. peace
and security
But the United Nations is fexi-
BILE instrument. Although the &C
tons of the Soviet Union have dis
turbed the work of the United
Nations, it is strong enough to be an
effective instrument for peace. 1t Is