Other Business

Disarmament (a last-minute agreement to consider same) was the big news, but New York's first U.N. Assembly meeting coped manfully with many another issue. Those it "disposed of" in any final sense were few and unimportant. But on none did the U.N. show tne hopeless confusion or bitter-end deadlock which SKeptics had predicted. Among the issues:

Spain. The Assembly resolution, approved 34-to-6, recommends that U.N. Ambassadors and Ministers should be withdrawn from Madrid, and bars Spain from all U.N. organizations, but otherwise leaves trade and diplomatic relations as before. In effect, this was a postponement of tne Spanish issue for future action.

"The Veto. Many of the U.N.'s small nations wanted the veto power overhauled or abolished. None of the Big Five would give it up, but the Western powers were willing to make some rules restricting its use. Russia's Vishinsky opposed "excessive reglamentation* and formalism." The final resolution, in effect, simply called on the veto-wielding powers to use restraint. The Slav bloc resisted even that much; the vote went against them, 36-to-6.

Trusteeships. The Assembly brought into being a Trusteeship Council, replacing the old League of Nations mandate system. Nearly all the trusteeship drafts were carried by a vote of 41-to-6 with five abstentions. Russia & Co. voted against them for several reasons--mainly because a trustee can build air, military or naval bases in certain custodial areas without declaring them "strategic areas" --that is, leaving them out of the Security Council's purview and beyond reach of the veto.

South Africa. Involved in two controversial issues, the Union of South Africa took the worst spanking of the session:

1) India charged that South Africa illegally discriminated against 280,000 Indian nationals in the Union, condemning them to a "ghetto" life. South Africa's Jan Christian Smuts, backed by Britain and the U.S., asked to have the matter adjudicated by the International Court of Justice. But many delegates watched the appealing, sari-clad figure of India's Mrs. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (sister of Jawaharlal Nehru, who dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief), and they forgot the World Court. Mrs. Pandit had previously claimed that "Jesus Christ Himself . . . would be a prohibited immigrant [to South Africa]." The two countries were instructed (32-to-15, with seven abstentions) to compose their differences in the spirit of the Charter, report to the Assembly next September. This in effect

2) South Africa asked for annexation of South West Africa, which she now holds under a League of Nations mandate. The Assembly found itself "unable to accede" to the request, politely asked South Africa to seek a trusteeship under the new arrangements.

Relief, Refugees, Money. Faced by the imminent end of UNRRA, the Assembly set up a Special Technical Committee to "study . . . survey . . . report concerning the amount of financial assistance which it believes may be required." The U.S. has insisted on its right to send relief when & where it chooses.

Senator Vandenberg obtained a reduction of the U.S. share in the U.N. budget from 49.89% to 39.89%.

The Assembly approved the constitution for an International Refugee Organization for repatriation and resettlement of European refugees.

Greetings, Brothers. Siam, Sweden, Afghanistan and Iceland were accepted as U.N. members, bringing the total of member states to 55.

Home. The Assembly accepted the permanent U.N. site offered by John D. Rockefeller Jr. on Manhattan's East River (see NATIONAL AFFAIRS). The only opposition came from Australia, which hated to give up San Francisco, from tiny El Salvador, and from a few Arab states appalled by the fact that New York harbors more Jews (about 2,500,000) than any other city in the world.

Freedom. The Assembly called for a 1947 conference on freedom of press, radio and other media of information. The vote in favor was unanimous.

*Meaning: rule-making that hampers freedom of action, the second noteworthy addition to the diplomatic lexicon which the Soviets had made in a matter of weeks. At the Council of Foreign Ministers, Molotov's man, Pavlov, had launched "majorization" (TIME, Dec. 2): the imposition of a majority's will on a minority by vote. shifted the burden of proof over to South Africa.

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