U.S. PROPOSES CUT IN VETO POWER

Greymouth Evening Star, 12 March 1948, Page 5

U.S. PROPOSES CUT IN VETO POWER

——— * (Rec. 10.55 a.m.) NEW YORK, March 11. The United States today proposed drastic restrictions on the Big Power veto in the United Nations. The American spokesman said the proposal would exclude all the issues in which Russia had used the veto 22 times. . The proposal was laid before the “Little Assembly today as the first move towards carrying out the declaration made by General Marshall before the General Assembly last September, when he said the United States was filling to limit the' veto on questions of prime, importance, if other nations would agree.

The proposal listed 31 categories of questions which would be excluded from the veto, and would.limit the veto almost exclusively to enforcement measures, economic or military,

Among the issues proposed to be placed outside the veto, are the admission of new members.

The American spokesman said the United States hoped that the changes could be brought about without changing the Charter, but added: “We are not closing the door. to possible amendments to the Charter.” ;

The spokesman contended that there was no evidence that Russia would agree to any modification of the voting procedure, ..but said the issue was so important that it was worth trying anyway. Russia is boycotting the “Little Assembly.”