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For my own part I am deeply conscious that we are dealing primarily with human beings. We must not yield to the temptation to reward this nation, or to punish that, by giving to the one, and taking from the other, some territory so easily marked on a map. We are dealing not with maps —or abstractions. We are dealing with living men and women, their homes and families —with their lives, their hopes. Human beings are not fit subjects to serve as prizes and rewards. The New Zealand delegation endorses what previous speakers have stressed regarding the positive task of peacemaking—the creation of goodwill and good-neighbourliness, and the avoidance of perpetuation of old antagonisms. Though we do not forget the baseness with which some of the now defeated enemies struck at us when our fortunes were at the lowest ebb, we are none of us actuated by the spirit of revenge at this Conference. We know, full well, that there can be no lasting advantage to be gained from a policy actuated by revenge. What we seek above all is a settlement that will avoid the recurrence of war. In defeating aggression we hoped to see established an international order which would provide the maximum discouragement to aggression in the future. The war was not fought to aggrandize any one of the victors. Such purpose is expressly disowned in the Atlantic Charter. While we do not object to the punishment of the aggressor powers, the effects of punishment must clearly be such as to promote the security of the United Nations. The peace at which we aim must not only be based on justice, but it must also appear just to those who come after us. Let us therefore see to it that our conception of justice to-day is far-sighted and thus avoid those elements of instability that will disrupt our settlement. In our approach to the peace the New Zealand delegation consider that the Atlantic Charter, as a statement of principles and pledge of common faith by the United Nations, is of full effect. In particular, the territorial changes should not, we think, be adopted unless a very strong case has been presented, and certainly not until the wishes of the inhabitants of the territories concerned have been clearly ascertained. We believe that the beneficiaries of such changes should give effective guarantees as regards the protection of human rights and economic collaboration. In many cases we shall have no alternative but to accept compromises reached by the Great Powers ; let us, however, have a clear guarantee that the Great Powers regard these compromises as something more than temporary reconciliations of divergent interests and hopes. New Zealand would welcome, in certain instances, the establishment of international control of areas which involve the economy of more than one country, or of territories whose people would not otherwise be able to maintain their political or cultural independence. But we consider that the Great Powers should not take the responsibility of proposing an international solution of such problems, unless they are unitedly resolved to uphold that solution as a permanent settlement, and that they should make it fully clear to the Conference that this is their resolve. Given such conditions, we believe that international solutions can be workable. We trust that the various settlements will be such as to commend themselves to the United Nations Organization, which is charged with the responsibility of preserving world peace. The areas dealt with in the peace treaties may be the sore spots and trouble centres which will
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