Evening star., 1949-10-23

| FOR all LIlc lTJIlQdy greetings VI
many happy returns" that will be
received at Lake Success, few an
niversaries can have been cele-
brated in more somber at
mosphere. The whole field of in
ternational relations is filled with
doubt these days, a generous por-
ton of which attaches to the
value of the U. N. itself. There
are rumors that Russia may pull
out of the world organization.
making the global split complete.
There are those who already are
willing to write of the. U. N. as
another high dream Of world
brotherhood, already doomed to
join the dreams Of the past on the
dusty shelf Of history.
There are, on the other hand,
those who see the U. N. as enter
ing an era of prime, new impor-
tance, in which it may serve as
the last-ditch stand Of civiliza-
ton in its attempt to save itself
from annihilation. For these, the
optimists. perhaps Russia's pos
session of the atomic bomb means
the last big chip is on the table
in the cold-war poker gape; that
the time is at hand when the
great powers must either reach an
agreement for living together, or
blow each other sky high. In this
situation they picture the U. N. as
still remaining the one effective
bridge between the. two halves of
the world, the ground on which
mankind can work its salvation.
One thing is clear on this BIRTH
day eve. Whatever the U. MS
chances Of surviving and growing
may or may not be, none of us
will profit from its failure. If it
fails. Each has a stake in its
success, stake which could be
the biggest hope we have in the
future.
1t may be worthwhile, there
fore, to pause for moment at
this milestone and take a sober
look at the record of the four
years past. Let us leave aside our
impatient sense of the organiza-
tion's failure to solve all the
worlds problems. Let us forget,
for the moment, our wishful
thoughts as to the wonders it may
some day accomplish. What, so
far, has the U. N. managed to do?
And where has it tried and failed?
Handled Bad Situations
In the public mind. the failure
OF the U. N. is largely identified
with that of the Security Council,
which again and again has been
stymied by Russian misuse of the
veto power. Yet the fact is that
the Security Council. fettered as
1t Is, has so far dealt with several
situations which might have
sparked a major war and which,
as things developed. did not.
The Councils action has not
been direct in these cases. In it's
first big test, for example, in 1916,
the Iranian government charged
that Russian troops were refusing
to leave Northern Iran, as they
were bound by treaty to do. Rus
sia refused to take part in the
Councils debate. But the situa-
ton was aired. The Council kept
it on the agenda. And Russia
pulled out her troops.
In its function as preserver of
the peace. Palestine proved the
U. MS biggest headache. The
Security Council was not alone in
this matter-the General Assem-
bly, had hand in mediating the
dispute, and now the negotiation
OF permanent peace has been
assigned to a special conciliation
commission. It was a drawn-out
process with many setbacks, but
out of the succession OF cease
fire orders and uneasy truces, the
world finally got a working set
tlement and a psychological tonic.
The same is true of the fighting
in 1ndonesia. The first truce
there, established in the Renville
agreement in January. 1948, COL
lapsed a year later when the
Dutch resumed their police ac-
ton" against the Indonesian Re-
public. There were more cease
fire orders. Finally, the U. MS
Good Offices Committee got the
Dutch to take their troops out of
Jogjakarta, the republican capital,
permitting the Indonesian govern
ment to return to that city. And
last JULY the cease-fire became
effective.
Berlin Another Example
Here again. the U. NJ, cannot
be said to have solved the problem
which caused the trouble. It did.
however, succeed in bringing about
a situation where the two sides
can, with good will, eventually
| WIN oAe q PCALAdllCllG SSGGl6UIGlL
OF their differences.
Then there was Berlin, another
example Of the indirect success
for the U. N. growing out of ap-
parent failure. Here, with Rus
sia's blockade Of the city pitted
against the Allied airlift, was a
real international tinderbox. One
forgets these things easily, but
there were many who feared the
situation in the German capital
might erupt in World War III.
The United States, Britain and
France laid the matter before the
Security Council. Russia, as in
the case of Iran, refused to Join
the discussions. A group of "neu-
trail powers undertook to bring
the two sides together, asking
both for detailed information on
the dispute. The Western Big
Three provided the information.
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