CENSUS OF TROOPS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22200, 10 December 1946, Page 5

CENSUS OF TROOPS

BRITAIN SEEKS CHECK RUSSIA’S OBJECTIONS INCLUSION OF HOME FORCES (9 a.m.) NEW YORK, Dec. 3. Britain has asked the United Nations Assembly to establish an. international inspection board to verify as worldwide a census of Allied troops at home and abroad. , Sir Hartley Shawcross said the principle of verification was fully accepted by everybody. The adoption of the British proposal would show the world “we do mean business in disarmament. ’ M. Molotov, immediately after Sir Hartley Shawcross spoke, made a surprise move by demanding the deletion of the home troop census from a resolution which had been approved by the political committee with M. Molotov concurring at that time on both domesic forces and those on foreign soil. M. Molotov said that if the United Nations decided to ask for information about troops at home, Russia would have to insist that the census also include a count of all armaments, including rocket and atom bombs. British and American interests had insisted on counting home troops as a means c£ diverting attention from their own troops stationed in territory other than members of the United Nations. He added that he could not accept the British proposal for a double check on the troop census.

The assembly adjourned until Friday. The United Press recalls that Russia had tried in the committee to insert an amendment requiring a count of atomic bombs and other arms. Britain also met defeat in the committee, failing to get approval for a plan to verify the troop figures. M. Molotov and Sir Hartley Shawcross have now brought their problems to the full assembly.