The Press WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1959. Antarctic Treaty

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29067, 2 December 1959, Page 16

The Press WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1959. Antarctic Treaty

The Antarctic Treaty represents a triumph of international

compromise, patience, common sense, and foresight Its inspiration was President Eisenhower’s resolve to foster continued scientific co-opera-tion after the Antarctic studies of the International Geophysical Year, The results may not guarantee, but certainly offer good hope of avoiding international friction in the barren Antarctic wasteland. The treaty is significant in a wider context: it provides for the world’s first international system of arms inspection and control. The signatories undertake that the world’s most inoffensive continent will not be used for warlike purposes. Continued peaceful research should not be hampered by fear of military intentions or territorial transgressions. The treaty “freezes” the territorial status of Antarctica, thus holding claims in abeyance, and preventing future rivalries.

Because New Zealand administers the vast Ross Dependency, the Dominion has shared in the task of shaping the Antarctic destiny. Last Wednesday the Prime Minister (Mr Nash), who earlier participated briefly in the Washington negotiations, expressed confidence that, although the treaty might not coincide with all the Dominion’s desires, “ the " most important provisions ” were then assured. The Australian Government, too, has endorsed the treaty because it will achieve the Commonwealth’s three principal purposes in Antarctica: freedom of scientific research, non-mili-tarisation, and the protection of territorial claims.

Technological progress, increasing the risks of more distant areas being menaced by events in the Antarctic, has sharpened Australian and New Zealand concern for an enduring peace in Antarctica. The treaty is welcome for reasons of direct importance to the South Pacific. It is even more important for its promise of progress towards ending the cold war. The agreement on arms inspection and control could well be the prototype of more general

arrangements leading to world disarmament. Continuous scientific collaboration among the countries interested in Antarctica cannot fail to stimulate wider contacts elsewhere for the benefit <?f all mankind. Finally, the treaty could be a model for international accord on the peaceful uses of outer space—a matter that daily becomes more urgent. Because Antarctica has no permanent population, no attractions for colonists, and no certain economic future, its problems were easier to settle than those of probably any other international zone. The extent to which sensible compromises have contributed towards the treaty should not, however, be minimised. For instance, the Soviet Union originally wanted to internationalise all Antarctica; the treaty incorporates the American counter-proposal for “freezing” claims to territory. The United States, while agreeing to an embargo on military bases, manoeuvres, and other defensive or offensive projects, sought approval for “ peaceful ” nuclear tests in Antarctica; and the deadlock caused by Soviet insistence upon banning all types of nuclear blasts was not broken till November 24, when the United States and the other JO negotiating Powers conceded the Russian demand. Originally, too, the Soviet Union sought to prevent the employment of military personnel or equipment for scientific and other peaceful purposes in Antarctica. The treaty shows that the United States has successfully resisted this attempt. Argentine misgivings about the disposal of radioactive wastes in Antarctica have been allayed by an embargo. The right of nations other than the 12 represented at the Washington conference to accede to the treaty appears to have been the final matter for decision. The acceptance of Russia’s plan for admitting all member countries of the United Nations may cause difficulties; but the concession was worth while if it ensured the signing of the treaty, which may well prove an important advance on the road to enduring peace, not only in Antarctica, but throughout the world.