erence was unanimously adopted. Since then in the Commission itself the distinguished United States Representative, Mr. Bernard M. Baruch, presented proposals expressing the policy of the President of the United States.

The United States goes further. As President Truman emphasized again last week, it attaches the greatest importance to reaching agreements that will remove the deadly fear of other weapons of mass destruction in accordance with the same resolution passed by this Assembly.

So far as Mr. Molotov's resolution concerns the regulation and reduction of other armaments, the whole world knows where the United States stands and has always stood. For 20 years before the war and in the 15 months since the fighting stopped, the United States has consistently been in the forefront of those striving to reduce the burden of armaments upon the peoples of the world. Since the end of the war in Europe and the Pacific, the United States has progressively and rapidly reduced its military establishment.

After the last war we made the mistake of disarming unilaterally. We shall not repeat that mistake.

The United States is prepared to cooperate fully with all other Members of the United Nations in disarmament. It advocates effective safeguards by way of inspection and other means to protect complying States against the hazards of violation and evasion.

We cannot reduce armaments merely by talking about the "regulation of armaments and possible disarmament", or the "heavy economic burden caused by excessive expenditures for armaments". We cannot achieve it without positive acts which will establish the "peaceful post-war conditions" to which Mr. Molotov also referred.

Nor can a system for the regulation of armaments and possible disarmament as contemplated in articles 11, 26, and 47 of the Charter be effectively planned except in relation to progress in the negotiation of the armed-forces agreements called for by article 43. At the beginning of April, four of the five members of the Military Staff Committee made specific proposals concerning the principles which should govern the negotiation of these agreements. In September the Soviet Union submitted for the first time a statement of its views on the problem.

I am happy to note that Mr. Molotov referred to the work of the Military Staff Committee. I hope it will now be possible for this Committee to make rapid progress. The conclusion of these agreements, providing the Security Council with peace forces adequate to prevent acts of aggression, is essential to carrying out the objectives of Mr. Molotov's resolution for the reduction of armaments.

Mr. Molotov also referred to article 43 in connection with the Soviet proposal concerning the presence of armed forces of the United Nations on foreign territories. He said, "In this connection it is natural that the Security Council should know the actual situation, namely, where and what armed forces of the United Nations are situated at present outside the confines of their countries For its part the Soviet Union is prepared to submit this information to the Security Council."

The Government of the United States understands Mr. Molotov's statement to mean that the Soviet Union is fully prepared to report on its armed forces in ex-enemy states as well as in other foreign territories. Therefore, the United States urges prompt fulfilment of this policy. The United States has nothing to hide with regard to our armed forces at home or abroad. The United States will promptly fulfil that policy. In no case are the United States forces in friendly countries except with the consent of those countries.

It is our opinion that the proposed inquiry should include all mobilized armed forces, whether at home or abroad.

The President of the United States in his address to the General Assembly at its opening meeting defined the policies of the United States toward the United Nations and the work of the Assembly.

As the general debate has progressed, I have been increasingly moved by the potentialities that I perceive in this Assembly for advancing toward a real and lasting peace.

Its members have pointed to the vision of President Truman of a "peace with justice for all-justice for small nations and for large nations, and justice for individuals without distinction as to race, creed, or color—a peace that will advance, not retard, the attainment of the four freedoms."

United in this aspiration we are united in our service. From disagreement we forge agreement. From free and frank discussion of differing points of view we extract the degree of unity necessary for constructive action. It would help us if we make always our chief concern what is right, not who is right.

There is an injunction contained in the Constitution of Vermontmy native state. It calls for "a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles."

It seems to me that, before this general debate comes to an end, it would be helpful for us all to recur to the fundamental principles of the United Nations.

The reports that we have before us from the Secretary-General, the Security Council, and the Economic and Social Council refer to some discouraging things and many difficulties in the record of the United

Nations during the past year. Some of the speakers have referred at length to these disappointments and difficulties.

To me the real story related by these reports is the immense sum of accomplishment and agreement that the United Nations has achieved in one year under all the handicaps of a world in turmoil and just emerging from the disasters and desolation of the war.

In one year we have advanced toward a rule of world law and have created institutions for international action far beyond the dreams of any one of us as recently as September 1, 1939, June 22, 1941, and December 7, 1941.

So I say let us review the theory and practice of the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council, their powers and their work, without evasion, but let us review them in perspective and as a whole and in relation to the powers and work of all the other agencies and institutions of the United Nations.

Australia and Cuba have proposed discussion of article 27, relating to voting procedures in the Security Council. Let us consider article 27, but let us consider it in relation to the other 110 articles of the Charter of the United Nations. We cannot tear article 27 from its context.

A recurrence to first principles of the United Nations starts with the necessity for unity of the large nations on matters essential to the maintenance of peace among the nations, both great and small.

I recall to the Assembly that the spirit of unity of the nations which became permanent members of the Security Council animated the nativity of the United Nations. The united and coordinated action of the great powers in winning the war and in generating the principle of an international organization for security and peace based on the sovereign equality of all peace-loving nations, both great and small, was the travail of the United Nations.

The remedy for the labor pains at Moscow, at Dumbarton Oaks, at Yalta, and at San Francisco was the unanimity of the Great Powers. The principle of unanimity in essential matters reflects the realities of the world as it is today. At the same time it provides the basis for a lasting peace during which all nations can, we hope, work together toward transforming the kind of world we have today into a true world society for tomorrow. Certainty of abolition of war depends upon cooperation by all countries competent to wage war.

The United Nations was created with the purpose of making it unnecessary for the civilized world to resort again to the ultimate sanction of war against an aggressor, with all its bloody sacrifices and terrible costs to humanity. Toward the fulfilment of this purpose the Security Council has been assigned a limited part of the responsibilities placed upon the United Nations by the Charter.

Let me remind you that article 1 of chapter I of the Charter lists four purposes of the United Nations, and of these the primary responsibility for only the first-to maintain international peace and security-rests with the Security Council.

The other purposes as stated by the Charter are:

"To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace;

"To achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion; and

"To be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends."

The primary responsibility for the fulfilment of these other purposes rests with the other organs of the United Nations: The General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the Secretariat, and the specialized agencies related to the central organization. The International Court of Justice has the responsibility of applying international law established by the United Nations Charter and in other ways, and as it is progressively extended by the nations in the new agreements they will reach through the continuing use of all the other organs of the United Nations.

These are the tasks of building the basis for a peaceful world society-the political basis, the economic basis, the social and cultural basis, the basis of knowledge and understanding, the basis of law.

Of all the institutions of the United Nations the General Assembly is by its constitutional functions and its potentialities the most important. It has responsibilities for carrying out all the purposes of the United Nations.

The General Assembly is the supreme deliberative body of the world community. Although it is not a legislative body enacting laws which must be obeyed by the member states, it exercises great responsibilities and wields great power.

The Assembly is responsible for carrying out the organization of the United Nations as laid down by the Charter. It has already accomplished at the first part of this session many of these organizational tasks.

The Assembly also has the power of the purse. This is a vital power in any governmental entity. Its control of the budget will become more significant as the activities of the United Nations are increased

by the addition of new functions and the expansion of existing

programs.

The General Assembly wields power primarily as the voice of the conscience of the world. Its recommendations have behind them the intangible force of the international community. The peace-loving states which are Members of the United Nations will not lightly disregard or flout recommendations of the General Assembly which express the will of an alert and aroused world public opinion. Even when it makes no recommendations, its mere power of discussion under articles 10, 11, and 14 of any matter within the scope of the Charter and of any situation, regardless of origin, which may impair the general welfare, is one of the most constructive functions in the whole organization. By discussion it can clarify the issues and promote mutual understanding among the nations and peoples of the world.

Under the broad and flexible construction of the Charter which the United States wishes to develop, we foresee a great and expanding area of operations for the General Assembly. I need not quote in detail the broad range of the Assembly's competence as it is established in chapter IV of the Charter-in questions involving the maintenance of peace and security; international political and legal cooperation; the coordination of international activities in economic, social, educational, and health matters; and in the domain of the realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all. In all these fields the General Assembly speaks as the voice of all the United Nations and establishes the general goals or objectives toward which the organization and all its component parts will move.

The General Assembly must also exercise definitive powers, such as the determination of the location of the headquarters, and the approval of agreements relating to the powers of the organs and special agencies of the United Nations.

The General Assembly will, we believe, explore new fields of activity as time goes on and as functions which may not be specifically provided for in the Charter but which are not precluded by the Charter are entrusted to it by the members of the United Nations. The General Assembly has only just begun its career as the most broadly representative organ of the United Nations. The final extent of its development cannot even be foreseen at this time; but there can be no doubt that it has a vast and increasingly important position to fill in the international community.

These possibilities will be realized to the extent that the Assembly exercises its very broad competence in strict accordance with the fundamental purpose of the United Nations set forth in article 1, paragraph 4-"to be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends". The Assembly's recommenda