22

The Soviet Union in the sub-committee revised the final paragraph of their resolution to read : " Recommends for the purpose of the supervision of and control over the implementation of the measures for the reduction of armaments and armed forces and for the prohibition of atomic weapons the establishment within the framework of the Security Council of an international control body, to which full official data on the state of the armaments and armed forces of the permanent members of the Security Council—United States of America, United Kingdom, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, France and China — must be submitted." The revised resolution was rejected by 2 votes in favour, 6 against, with 2 abstentions (Australia and Lebanon). Following the vote, the delegate of Poland introduced a resolution containing the substance of the Soviet proposals in different language. This too was rejected by 2 votes in favour, 6 against ; France joined Australia and Lebanon in abstaining. The delegate of the Soviet Union delivered a strong attack on the Belgian draft when it came before the First Committee. First of all, he said, it was inconsistent with the Assembly's resolution of January, 1946, since it contained no proposal for the prohibition of atomic weapons. Earlier in the debate the Soviet delegation had suggested that a convention prohibiting the use of atomic weapons was possible on the lines of the Geneva Convention of 1925 prohibiting the use in war of toxic gases. The Belgian delegate had objected that the convention on atomic energy must prohibit production as well as utilization. But no one wanted to prohibit the production of atomic energy for peaceful purposes ; what must be prevented was its use for warlike ends. Secondly, the draft contained no proposals of substance for putting into effect the Assembly's resolution of December, 1946, on disarmament. The reasons for this were not far to seek. The deadlock in the Conventional Armaments Commission had been caused by the attitude of the AngloAmerican bloc, who were not interested in reaching agreement and co-operating with the Soviet. Instead, governing circles in the United States were continuing to advocate " a mad armaments race." With every year the military budget of the United States became more inflated; the United States had increased its military appropriations by 4-6 billion dollars, while at the same time the Soviet Union had decreased its appropriations by 2-5 billion roubles. The preamble to the Belgian resolution declared that reduction of armaments was impossible so long as States lacked information on the armaments of other States. The Soviet Union, however, had stipulated in their draft resolution that the permanent members of the Security Council must submit authenticated information on their armaments and armed forces to an international control organ. The Soviet Union had thus agreed to submit official authenticated information.