Evening star., 1950-10-25
Truman S Talk on u N
Called One of Finest
Papers in History
Definition of Purposes
Regarded as Doctrine
Of All Free Nations
Bv David Lawrence

OF All Free Nations
By David Laurence
The voice of the Government of
the United States rang with truth
and sincerity as the President de-
livered to the United Nations on
its fifth anniversary one of the
finest state papers in recent his
tory.
The clear definition Of disin-
terested purpose. the simple out
line of what the requirements for
a peaceful world really are, and
the promise Of patience and
conscientious effort to bring about
a better and more effective inter-
national organization will be re-
garded as the living doctrine of
all free nations in the present
period of tension and crisis.
Mr.. Truman's advisers un-
doubtedly gave much thought to
the drafting Of this message. In
a sense, what the President said
will give the members of the
United Nations an added feeling
of confidence in the new amend
ments to the General Assembly
procedures which stress a means
of utilizing the collective strength
of the member nations.
Epitomize Policy.
What the President said about
the Importance of seeking by
negotiation to achieve peace but
not depending on negotiation
alone was expressed without
harshness and without offense to
any nation. Two sentences, in his
address epitomize the prevailing
policy:
THE United Nations, if it is to
be an effective instrument for
keeping the peace. has no choice
except to use the collective
strength of it's members to curb
aggression
"Above all, the peace-loving ma
tions must have the military
strength available, when called
upon. to act decisively to put
down aggression.
Mr.. Truman said that the free
nations intend to build up
strength for peace as long as that
is necessary" When he took up
the problem of disarmament or
reduction of ornaments, he was
also explicit and unequivocal. the
agreement must include all kinds
of weapons, the plan must be
based on unanimous agreement
and the plan must be foolproof.
Paper promises" he said, are
not enough" and there must be
safeguards founded on "free and
open interchange of information
across national borders"
The President made plain to the
free world what is needed to be
done, but it is, unfortunately,
doubtful if the slave world will be
able to read what he has said.
What the President said was
heard nevertheless by the Russian
delegation and will be read by the
few officials in the Soviet orbit
who do control policy. They can
not but understand the strength
of the Presidents utterance in
mobilizing the rest of the world.
How long can the Soviets main
tain within their own country
the barriers against information
which sooner or later will trickle
in and tell the Russian people the
truth? Their governments pres
tige in the world has dropped and
a blot has been placed on the Rus
sian name which can only be
erased by the Russian people in
establishing other spokesmen so
that Russia can become a faithful
and valued member of the family
of nations. Then reduction OF
armaments can be safely under
taken.
Warning to Free Nations.
There was significance, too, as
Mr.. Truman directed a warning
perhaps to the free nations in ref
erence to possible controversies
among them. He said:
within the spirit and even the
letter of the Charter (of the U. NJ
we should go even further. We
must attempt to find peaceful
settlements of underlying situa-
tions or tensions before they
harden into actual disputes"
If somehow before now the
American people could have been
assured of the leadership here and
among the free peoples to carry
out such high purposes, the re-
cent opportunities for the Com
munists to exploit differences
of opinion between democracies
would have been less.
Likewise, if somehow the means
could have been found in the past
or can yet be found to reach the
hearts and minds of the Russian
people, such sincere expressions
of the free spirit of the world as
President Truman has just pro-
claimed to the United Nations
would begin to fulfill the dream
of Woodrow Wilson-the man who
in 1919 called for an international
conscience among governments
and peoples as the only way to
promote enduring peace.
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