FIRMNESS NEEDED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22585, 13 March 1948, Page 5

FIRMNESS NEEDED

ALL GOVERNMENTS PRESERVING LIBERTY N.Z. DIPLOMAT'S VIEW (N.Z.P.A.—Copyright.) (10 a.m.) SAN FRANCISCO, March 12. “The death of Jan Masaryk, my good friend and a great and good man, plus the tragic engulfment of Czechoslovakia, prove that moderation, good faith and rectitude are not enough to preserve liberty in the world today,” said Sir Carl Berendsen, New Zealand Minister to Washington, in an interview en route to Washington after a visit to New Zealand.

"Firmness and patience seem to constitute the best available policy for any Government—particuarly firmness,” he added.

Sir Carl Berendsen praised the Marshall Plan and the Western European Union calling them “regional expedients for purposes frustrated bv the veto power which makes international security impossible." He said the United Nations was ineffective because of the veto and the fact that the veto owas embedded in the charter and could not effectively be limited.

“My hope is that the Marshall Plan will be put into effect quickly and give encouragement to the wavering nations," he said. "It is the only thing in sight, plus the Western European Union and a growing realisation that words alone are not enough,” He also declared the Orient was one of the world’s greatest future problems, with discontent rampant everywhere. "It is a much wider problem than one of mere self-government. You have got half the people of the world there and anything can happen.”