GREAT DECISIONS
Topic No. 8
What Should the U.S. Do
In the New United Nations?
In 1955 the United Nation
completed iU tenth year ai a
forum for international debate
... keeper of world peace . . .
a channel for worldwide pro
grams In hundreds of social and
economic fields ... and a con
troversial "parliament of man."
The Tenth UN General As
sembly, which opened in Sep
tember, 1955, had high hopes of
new cooperation between East
and West after the "summit"
conference at Geneva. But by
December, as the session drew
to a close, most of .the hopes had
gone sour, with the lack of
friendly cooperation and in
creased competition.
Among the battles which took
place in the last few days of
the general assembly, was the
bitter debate on admission of
new member countries. Russia
cast 15 vetoes, and 16 new coun
tries were admitted to the UN
... four communist govern
merits and six Arab neutrals
among them.
What does this "new" UN of
76 nations mean to the U.S.?
What will their influence be
What kind of organization is the
UN becoming? And what is the
UN trying to accomplish in its
11th year? How does it work?
What does it do? Is it a help or
hindrance to the U.S. now?
WHY A UNITED NATIONS?
Thij American people are con
tributing over $16,000,000 to
ward support of the UN this
year, and another $112,000,000
for special agencies and pro
grams of the UN. These contri
butions are roughly one-third
of the total UN budget (although.
only .0003 per cent of the U.S.
military budget for 1956).
How is. the money spent?
What kind of organization does
It help? What benefits, if any.
does the U.S. receive from UN
membership?
Is the UN a "super govern
ment," a listening post for for
eign agents? Is it building a bet
ter world or is it undermining
U.S. leadership in the world?
WHAT ARE UN PURPOSES?
Objectives of the UN, sum
marized in the preamble to the
Charter are, briefly; ' to save
ucceding generations from the
scourge of war ... to reaffirm
faith 'in fundamental rights, in
the dignity and worth of the hu
man person, in the equal rights
of men and women and of na-
"To establish conditions un
der which justice and respect for I
. . . treaties ana otner sources
of international law can be
maintained . .
"To promote social progress
and better standari of life in
larger freedom."
The preamble declares how
the UN hopes to achieve these
aims:
"To practice tolerance and
live together in peace ... as
good neighbors, and to unite our
strength to maintain Internation
al peace . . .
"To ensure . . . that armed
forces shall not be used, save in
the common interest, and to em
ploy international machinery
for the promotion of the eco
nomic and social advancement
of all peoples ..."
HOW DOES THE UN WORK?
A simple organization was set
up to carry out the aims of the
Charter. It has no governor, no
executive power, nor any real
legislative power. The UN passes
no laws, resolutions being sim
ple recommendations to member
countries. A country observes a
UN resolution because it wants
to or because of the pressure of
world opinion. Here is how it
works: ,
The General Assembly has a
membership of 76 countries,
each with one vote (no vetoes).
It meets once a year, may de
liberate on any issue under the
Charter and make any recom
mendations to member coun
tries. It controls no UN budget.
All members belong to the
International Court of Justice,
which settles legal disputes
among members and offers non
binding legal opinions.
The Security Council is com
posed of five permanent mem
bers, each with a veto, and six
non-permanent members elected
by the General Assembly " for
two-year terms. It investigates
and settles political disputes,
stops aggression and works for
disarmament.
Eighteen members elected by
the General Assembly for three
years make up the Economic
and Social Council. It sponsors
worldwide programs to raise
living standards, develop back
ward economies, promote health
and education, working with 12
specialized agencies and vari
ous commissions.
The Trusteeship Council mem
bership is made up of all nations
responsible for trust territories
and an equal number of non-
administering countries, elected
for three-year terms by the As
sembly. It also includes five
permanent members of the Se
curity Council and supervises
the administration of certain
colonies and territories.
The UN Secretariat is the
"housekeeping" agency, with
some 3,500 jobs. The secretary-
MAPLE FURNITURE and LAMPS
general Is eftief et staff otflew.
WHO SUPPORTS UN?
Every member nation con
tributes annually to the support
of the organization. The UN
budget for the current year, ex
cluding specialized agencies and
special programs, is $48,330,000.
The United States contributes
33 per cent; communist coun
tries, 20 per cent; British Com
monwealth, 19 per cent; Western
Europe, 12 per cent; Latin
America, 6 per cent; and 18 oth
er countries, 10 per cent.
WHERE DO THE EFFORT
AND MONEY GO?
Only a small part of the UN
budget is for administration.
Most of it goes into projects and
programs all over the world to
raise standards of living and the
social welfare of human beings,
including Korean Reconstruc
tion agency and Relief and
Works agency for Palestine refugees.
The rest of the money is for
"self - help" projects, showing
backward peoples how to help
themselves. One significant UN
program is the promotion of
equal rights for all mankind;
another the study of peaceful
uses of atomic energy.
Other current programs in
clude expanded program of tech
nical assistance; World Health
organization; Food and Agricul
ture organization; Educational,
Scientific and Cultural organiza
tion; International Labor organ
ization; and UN Children's fund
(UNICEF).
IS THE UN IMPORTANT
TO THE UNITED STATES?
What kind of world is the UN
trying to build . . . and is it sue
ceeding? Does the U.S. want the
kind of world the UN is actual
ly building?
Are the programs and projects
consistent with the UN charter?
Is the UN doing enough or too
much in social and economic
fields? Should any activities be
expanded? Should 'any be re
vised or cut out? Is there a large
enough budget to do a really ef
fective job?
Does pur participation in the
UN strengthen or weaken U.S.
world leadership?. In what
ways? Or is the UN relatively
unimportant in this sense?
If you believe the UN does
not contribute to U.S. interests
around the world, would you
say this is the fault of the UN,
the Russians, or the way the
U.S. uses the UN?
Is there any advantage to our
having a "clearing house" for
international cooperation? Do
we gain or lose in the long run
from UN projects to develop
backward countries?
Is there any political advan
tage in working through the
UN? Would we have more inde
pendence in foreign policy if we
were outside the UN? Would an
independent . foreign policy be
more or less effective?
Is the principle of democratic
voting in the General Assembly,
of one vote for country, with no
veto, an advantage or disadvan
tage? Is the great power veto in
the Security Council a sound or
unsound principle from the U.S.
point of view?
Should we be willing to give
up our veto if the other great
powers agree?
BACKGROUND
The year 1955 was an impor
tant year for the UN. The tempo
of technical assistance all over
the world was stepped"up. Com
munist countries increased their
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psi ttulpe Huii In U3C tcctffitcef as
sistance, made more experts
available and increased their
contributions. And 16 new coun
tries were admitted, increased
membership from 60 to 76 coun
tries. Now, what is the outlook m
the UN for 1956?
How Are iha Votes Divided?
It is inaccurate and unfair to
suggest the UN General Assem
bly votes in blocs . . . "pro-U.S."
or "pro - communist." First of
all, there are no party lines in
the UN in the sense that there
are party lines in the U.S. con
gress. Second, each country rep
resented has its own special rea
sons for voting on each measure.
Frequently, these national in
terests and special concerns
show up in the UN voting. The
communist countries, for exam
ple, almost always cast identical
votes. On any problem connect
ed with "colonialism" the coun
tries which were once colonies
themselves usually vote to
gether. On any vital issue (observers
used to say) the U.S. could court
on the support of her allies and
on Latin America. These 36
votes in a 60-vote General As
sembly were privately called
the U.S. "automatic majority,"
although a study of voting shows
that this was frequently, but by
no means, always true.
If the same voting patterns
held true in the 76-vote assem
bly, the combination of U.S. al
lies and Latin America would
be two votes short of a majority.
Some statistics worth remem
bering for 1956 are that the
number of countries not mem
bers of a Western military alli
ance totals 41; countries which
were formerly colonies, 40;
countries generally considered
"underdeveloped" economically
and socially and requiring out
side assistance, 44; and non
communist countries which do
not have highly developed in
dustries, 55.
Can you think of instances in
which these groups would vote
together?
Are There More to Come?
The original "membership
package" presented to the Gen
eral Assembly last December
called for 18 instead of 16 new
members. The other two were
Japan and Outer Mongolia.
In Security Council debates,
Russia insisted that all 18 be ad
mitted ... or none. (The Coun
cil must approve membership
applications before the Assem
bly votes on them.) Nationalist
China vetoed Outer Mongolia,
insisting it is not an "independ
tent" state. In return, Russia ve
toed all other applicants.
But in a final compromise,
Russia suggested that Japan and
Outer Mongolia both be dropped
and the other 16 be admitted.
Another and more difficult
battle facing the U.S., say many
observers, is the question of
turning over China's seat to the
Peiping (communist) govern
ment. Twenty-five countries al
ready recognize the Peiping re
gime as the legal government of
China. Other countries are be
lieved to resent the Nationalist
Chinese government's veto of
Outer Mongolia and may favor
this Russian-sponsored move.
Another membership question,
which may come up this year is
what to do about the three coun
tries which are half-communist,
half-democratic . . . Korea, Viet
Nam and Germany. The U.S.
does not recognize any of the
three communist regimes and j
would oppose UN membership.
Russia is the only major power ;
to recognize both sides of a di
vided country.
Morocco and Tunisia, two
French - administered areas
which are now gaining Inde
pendence, would be. on the 1956
membership agenda. The rest of
the non-member countries In the
world, except traditionally neu
tral Switzerland, are colonies
administered by European pow
ers. They are not eligible for
UN membership until they gain
independence.
WHAT OTHER UN PROBLEMS
DOES THE U.S. FACE?
1 Because the UN can do only
what its members want it to do,
many international crises are
handled outside the UN, by di
rect negotiation between na
tions. Some observers say this is
a new and dangerous trend.
Rather than face open debate
and open voting, nations some
times prefer to negotiate pri
vately. .
On other occasions, when UN
machinery has not worked ef-;
fectively, negotiating countries
move their talks outside the
jurisdiction of the UN.
Disarmament is an example of
an issue- discussed both in the
UN and outside. A UN disarm
ament committee has been dis-
cussing this question since 1946.
Last year the subject wu taken
up by the heads of government
of the U.S., Britain, France and
Russia at the "summit" confer
ence, and later by the foreign
ministers of these same coun
tries. This spring the UN committee
took up where the foreign min-'
isters left off.
In 1956, the U.S. must face
and answer whether to make
more, or less, use of UN machin
ery. Foreign Aid
United States policy makers
are disturbed by Russia's new
"economic offensive." In recent
months Russia has been compet
ing with the U.S. in offers of
economic aid and technical as
sistance to underdeveloped coun
tries, Including non-communist
countries such , as Turkey and
Pakistan.
; The UN Secretary - General
Dag Hammarskjold suggested
that one solution might be for
the U.S. and Russia to cooper
ate in helping backward nations.
Admission of Peiping
There is always a possibility
that the General Assembly will
seat the Peiping delegates in
spite of the U.S. This is a long
range problem . . . What should
the U.S. do in any situation
where we are Outvoted in the
UN?
Do we go along with the ma
jority ... or do we walk out?
Is the UN important to us only
as long as it votes the way we
want it to?
WHAT CHOICES HAVE WE?
Is the new, bigger UN a threat
to U.S. interests? As the UN,
through increased membership,
becomes more representative of
world opinion . . . does it be
come less representative of what
the U.S. wants in the world? Is
this the fault of the UN ... or
the US.?
Is the increased communist
membership a threat to the U.S.
(from five before to nine coun
tries now)? What about the in
creased membership of Arab
Asian countries (13 to 19) . . .
How will this affect the UN?
How will they probably vote on
economic aid to backward na
tions . . . Colonial issues such
as France in North Africa, Brit
ain in Cyprus? How will they
feel about disarmament in East
West military pacts?
Under the present Charter,
the UN is not capable of being
a "super-government." Since all
resolutions are really recommen
dations, can the U.S: profit from
its UN membership . . . regard
less of how large or how con
trary the UN may become?
Russia and the communist sat
ellites are already cooperating
with the U.S. in UN specialized
agencies and technical assist
ance. Are these significant?
Should we expand this kind of
cooperation with cooperation . .
or cut it off?
Would we gain anything by
Sundey. Mar H 195S
MEDTORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE EIVE
exploring new areas of East
West cooperation in the UN?
Should we consider channeling
more of our foreign aid through
the UN?
Would you prefer the U.S. to
have more say about what the
UN does, despite the democratic
principle of one vote per coun
try? Do you want to see the U.S.
take the lead in strengthening
. . . or weakening . . . the UN?
YOUR OPINION COUNTS
There are a number of
branches to U.S. foreign policy.
But U.S. policy in. the UN is
probably the one branch where
the American people have the
most say . . . through citizens'
organizations for and against the
UN and its various agencies.
You can make your opinion
count by thinking this subject
through and communicating
your decisions to Washington.
The Great Decisions commit
tee will receive letters or the
ballots included in the fact
sheets to be tabulated and for
warded to the State Department
and our congressional represent
atives. Opinions should be sent
to Don Hansen, chairman of the
Great Decisions committee,
Franklin building, Medford.
The material above is a con
densation of the fact sheets pre
pared for discussion and study
in the Great Decisions program.
Central Point Asks
Meeting About Water
Central Point Members of
the Central Point city council
last week directed that a letter
be sent to the Medford water
commission requesting a second
meeting with the group.
Councilmen also ordered draft
ing of a formal request that
water service to the city of Cen
tral Point be considered as one
large connection.
The group made the authori
zation after a letter was read
from the Medford water com
mission indicating it has no in- j
tention of trying to adjust the 1
Central Point water rate scbed-j
ule. j
In the letter the commission :
stated the present water sched
ule is set up to take care of the
20-year water bond indebted
ness and that a change would
confuse the issue. It was indi
cated that the cost to the city
would increase from $1 to $1.75
under the new schedule.
BASS GETS CLIPPED
Lincoln, Neb. (U.R) Van
Fletcher is convinced it doesn't
pay to leave the neck of a bass
viol sticking out the rear win
dow of a car. He tried it once.
A passing car drove out of a
drive-in here where Fletcher
was parked and sheared off the
instrument's neck.
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