BERENDSEN SEES CZECH COUP AS WARNING TO WORLD

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 March 1948, Page 5

BERENDSEN SEES CZECH COUP AS WARNING TO WORLD

SAN FRANCISCO, March 11.

“The death of Mr Jan Masaryk, my good friend and a great and good man, and the tragic engulfment of Czechoslovakia, prove that moderation, good faith, and rectitude are not enough to preserve liberty in the world today,” said the New Zealand Minister to Washington (Sir Carl Berendsen), interviewed on his way to Washington after visiting New Zealand. “Firmness and patience seem to constitute the best available policy for any government—particularly firmness.” . Sir Carl Berendsen praised the Marshall Plan and the western European Union, calling them “regional expedients for purposes frustrated by the veto power, which makes international security impossible.” Sir Carl Berendsen said the United Nations was ineffective because of the veto, and the fact that the veto was embedded in the Charter and could not effectively be limited. He added: “My hope is that the Marshall Plan will be put into effect quickly, and give encouragement to wavering nations. It is the only thm & in sight, plus the western European union, and a growing realisation that words alone are not enough. Sir Carl Berendsen also declared that the Orient was one of the world s greatest future problems, with discontent rampant everywhere. It is a much wider problem than one of self-government,” he added. You have half the people of the world there, and anything can happen.