Page image
Page image

41

adopted approved the majority proposals, requested the permanent members of the Atomic Energy Commission to consult together to determine whether a basis of agreement existed, and meanwhile directed the Atomic Energy Commission to resume its work. The proposal for Great Power consultation was included in this resolution as the result of a New Zealand amendment. The New Zealand representative, in expressing approval of the majority proposals, pointed out that the Commission had wisely avoided too close definition of the division of authority between the proposed control organ and the Security Council. While measures of " technical" enforcement should be within the competence of the •control organ, the Security Council was the proper body to apply sanctions. Whether this task could, in fact, be reserved to the Council depended, however, on whether it could be formally agreed that decisions of the Council on this subject should not be subject to the veto. (b) Disarmament Following an Assembly resolution of December, 1946, the Security -Council established in February, 1947, a Conventional Armaments •Commission to draft concrete proposals for the regulation and reduction of conventional armaments. This Commission had not its work when, in September, 1948, the question was again brought before the Assembly by the Soviet delegation in the form of a proposal for the prohibition of the atomic weapon and the reduction by one third within a year of the armaments and armed forces of the permanent members of the Security Council. In the Political Committee of the Assembly the New Zealand representative, voicing a general criticism of this proposal, referred to the need for security as a prior condition of disarmament. The •one thing more grievous than the production of armaments, he said, was war due to unpreparedness. This view was reflected in .the resolution eventually adopted by the Assembly in which the following previous conditions for a general reduction of armaments were laid down : —- (1) The publication of exact and authentic information on the armaments and armed forces of all States ; (2) The conclusion of a convention defining the types of military forces to which reduction would apply; (3) The establishment of a control organ ; and (4) The attainment of an atmosphere of real and lasting improvement in international relations, which implied <(5) Control of atomic energy and the prohibition of the atomic weapon.

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert