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shown lately by the Russians.
"The work of the assembly was a fitting
retort to those who had dismissed it as a
'mere debating society.' True, it does not
have the final word in matters affecting war
and peace. But in its debates no punches
were pulled. They were honest and earnest.
And the resolutions which emerged from
them reflect the real temper of those de-
,bates. The Security Council in which so
much of the final authority of the United
Nations is lodged cannot disregard them
Though things look better than they did,
prudent people will hold their optimism
under strict control, just as they held their
pessimism under strict control when inter-
national collaboration seemed by way of dis-
integrating completely."
Washington Post: "The assembly has
justified the faith and the hopes of the men
who wrote the Charter at San Francisco.
It is in fact what it was dubbed by its
founders - the town meeting of the world,
the place where nations of different size,
population, race and historic background
meet on common ground to discuss issues
of concern to them all. The small powers,
in particular, have taken seriously and seiz-
ed upon with avidity the freedom of ex-
pression which this forum has made avail-
able. The assembly just ended was re-
markably free speaking. It also was un-
biased ...
"Taken all in all, adding up its successes
and its failures, its strength and its inade-
quacies, the General Assembly has justified
itself before the world. It presented an old
force - the force of world opinion -man-
ifesting itself in a new setting. It is alive,
dynamic, pregnant, with great possibilities
... experience of this assembly proves in
abundant measure that the United Nations
is a going concern.
New York Herald Tribune: "When the
Assembly opened only a very optimistic
prophet could have taken a hopeful view
of the international situation or of the prob-
able contributions which the assembly could
make to it. As the session now closes only
a pessimist can deny that the whole scene
is immeasurably brighter than it was in late
October; that the prestige of the United Na-
tions is at the highest point it has yet reach-
ed, and that even if nothing has been finally
settled the bases for workable settlements
are nearer and clearer than they have ever
been.
"The Assembly has shown itself, in the
first place, a true sounding board of world
opinion and not merely a house packed, by
voting majorities, for some one view or
another . . . The assembly in short has been
doing the work for which it was mainly
designed. It has acted as a useful forum
of opinion and of minority interests; it has
exposed the basic forces out of which any
world order must be made; it has arrived
at resolutions which in general reflect the
presently possible rather than the disas-
trously extreme. It has not made peace or
a new world. But is has helped toward
those ends."
World Troop Survey
Commenting on the proposed world-wide
troop survey the Philadelphia Inquirer said
in a recent editorial: "There are worthwhile
possibilities in an honest showdown of ar-
mies. It could lead to a reduction of them and
perhaps provide a basis for an earlier ap-
proach by the Big Five Powers to a dis-
cussion of disarmament. The new British
position wisely dissociates the troops census
from disarmament parleys, which would de-
lay the troops survey for a year or more. It
does call for inclusion of reports on forces
held in active status inside each nation. This
is also part of the American Government's
proposal.
"All nations, and particularly Russia with
its large armies, can gain by straightforward
treatment of this question. The United States,
while holding firmly to a policy of adequate
defense for this country, should endeavor to
have the issue dealt with on that basis.
America and Britain are reasonably close
together in their ideas about a troop survey.
It is to be hoped Russia will join with them
and seek a constructive, not a political or
propagandistic, disposition of the question."
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