Blackballed

From the beginning, the dreamers who created the United Nations thought of it as a place where all countries, good & bad, could meet and settle their differences. It did not work out that way: each of the two big blocs blackballed the applications of any nation on the other side. Last week at the General Assembly in Paris, the issue was joined.

Up for consideration were the applications of Italy and eight other non-Communist nations. Russia would agree to admit them only if the Assembly also approved the applications of Hungary and four other Russian captives. The U.S. called Russia's package deal a plain case of blackmail. When the vote came, Russia's package failed to win the necessary two-thirds majority, though the balloting was 22 to 21 in its favor. More important, 16 nations, including England and France, abstained. Technically, it was a U.S. victory, but obviously, a lot of nations still believe in admitting everybody, good or bad, to the club.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.