Evening star., 1960-09-28
Mr.. H. and the u. N.

Nikita Khrushchev has left no room
for doubt that he is eager to punish the
United Nations Ito the point Of render
ing it powerleSSJ for having dared to
put at least a temporary end to his
SubverSive operations in the Congo.
That is the primary reason, Of course,
for his demand that the General As
sembly get rid of Secretary General Dag
HammarSkjold abolish the Secretary's
Office and replace that Office with tri-
umvirate made up Of one representative
each from the Communist, "neutraliSt"
and Western countries.
Needless to say, any such hydra
headed arrangement would be an ad-
miniStrative monStrosity that would
make it virtually impossible for the
world organization to deal swiftly and
effectively with dangerous emergencies,
as in Korea and the Congo. But the
men of the Kremlin obviously would
like nothing better than to deprive the
U. N. of its present capabilities in that
respect, and hence the Russian Premier'S
Strident, bullying call for revolutionary
revision of the U. MS Charter so as to
do away with the Secretary General and
his unique powerS>aS a sort of Suprana-
tional civil servant.
Happily, however, all signs indicate
that very large majority Of the Assem-
bly'S members is strongly opposed to
this sinister Soviet proposal, and the
reasoning behind that opposition has
been eloquently expressed by Mr.. Ham
marSkjold in his powerful defense Of
himself, his office and the integrity of
the United Nations and its operations.
Thus, as he has just declared in his
reply to the KhruShchev attack, "this
is a question not of man but of an
institution. Use whatever word you like
independence, impartiality, objectivity
they all describe the essential aspects
of what, without exception, must be the
attitude of the Secretary General"
Further:
Such an attitude, which has found
clear and decisive expression in Article
100 of the Charter. may at any stage be-
come an obstacle for those like the Rus
SLAMS in the Congol who work for certain
political aims which would be better
served or more easily achieved if the Sec
ISIdIy GCucIdl Will JIlLS
attitude.
But If he did. how gravely he would
then betray the trust of all those for whom
the strict maintenance of such an atti-
tude is the best protection in the world
wide fight for power and influence. -.
would rather see that Office 1.-THE
Secretary GeneralSl break on strict ad-
herence to the principle of independence,
impartiality and objectivity than drift on
the basis Of compromise. This is the
choice . now openly facing the Gen.
eral Assembly :. believe that all those
whose interests are safeguarded by the
United Nations will realize that the choice
is . . one which Is decisive for the
future, their future.
Even so, despite the truth of all this,
the SovietS can be counted upon to per-
SiSt in attacking Mr. Hammarskjold per-
Sonally in a deliberate effort, to impair
his usefulness and thus force him to
resign. In the circumstances, it must
be hoped that the Assembly-which as
recently as last week firmly supported
this great Secretary General with TO
too emergency vote-will take advan-
tage Of every opportunity at its current
session to make clear beyond doubt that
it continues to back him overwhelmingly.