READY TO BEGIN REAL WORK

Dominion, Volume 38, Issue 3, 28 September 1944, Page 5

READY TO BEGIN REAL WORK

Relief Organization NEW OPTIMISM IN U.N.R.R.A. (By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (Received September 27, 7.-10 p.m.) NEW YORK, September 26. The Montreal session of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration has been a great success, because U.N.R.R.A. has now “come down to earth and is ready to do a practical job as a practical organization in a severely practical world,” said the British representative, Sir Richard Law at the closing plenary meeting of the conference. The Montreal correspondent of . the “New York Times” says that considerable pessimism was felt at the opening of the conference: indeed, it was fearen that U.N.R.R.A. was on the verge of collapse because of its failure to get the consent of the Allied military authorities and certain Governments, notably Russia and France, to operate in liberated territory, and, moreover, because only a few supplies had been made available to the British. American and Canadian combined Governments. However, as a result of the give-and-take spirit which has characterized the conference, the air has been cleared. The general' feeling is now optimistic, and U.N.R.R.A. is at last ready to go ahead with its real work after 10 months of mere planning. Russia and France co-operated much more readily than at the previous United Nations conferences. Indeed, the Soviet Union abandoned its previous proposal th give Russia the lion’s share of relief in addition td power to control relief distributions in east Europe and the Balkans. and finally accepted a British, and American compromise resolution giving the U.N.R.R.A. director discretion on relief priorities. The next session of the council is expected to be held in some liberated European country early next year.