The Grey River Argus MONDAY, April 1, 1946. SNAGS FOR U.N.O.

Grey River Argus, 1 April 1946, Page 4

The Grey River Argus MONDAY, April 1, 1946. SNAGS FOR U.N.O.

It cannot yet be said Unit the United Nations Organisation is attaining its object. Conceived as the best method of consolidating peace, it now is described as the only way to avert war. Hence., what it has done, or left undone, is not the cause of present fears for its existence. The cause is. rather, what might have been done, or what yet might be done in the event of its collapse. Whatever measure of agreement it does connote in theory, there is yet definite disagreement as to how it should work in practice. Jn scarcely any case coming before the Security Council does there seem to have 'been genuine conciliation or even a compromise solution. The differences which led to Greece, Indonesia and Persia, coming under its adjudication, remain still as radical as before. One illustration is the election in Greece, where the Left, or as Mr Bovin says, the Communist, element are against the

polling,'and likely to remain hostile to whatever Government results therefrom. The case of Persia is more crucial only in the sense that the disagreement is more openly admitted. Probably these instances, as also Indonesia, are regarded as test cases. It any is finally decided, it might become a precedent for the citing of other cases, not only Spain, as the French Left wishes, but possibly ones in Eastern Europe which might be brought up on Rightist, initiative. The Allies have announced a plan for the limitation of German industry,. a plan which, however, remains tentative, since France disagrees unless the ulterior idea of reuniting Western and Central Germany is dropped. Eastern Germany has been cut away, and, though there was at first no British .objection, there is now British criticism. It would lie a super optimist who would expect U.N.0., in the •course of the next quarter of a century, to effect in the case of Germany a remarkable I'cgime when U.N.O. so tar has been able to impose free acquiescence nowhere. There is no guarantee that permanent oneparty control may not be the final goal of a powerful agitation in the case of Germany, seeing that it meantime has actually been instituted in Poland, Roumania, Yugoslavia. Bulgaria, and is contemplated in the case of Austria, Greece and Hungary. The institution in some countries ol democratic regimes is admittedly an Allied, objective, and the fact is doubtless regarded as analagous to the object of creating in others such a regime as Britain is accused of opposing in the case of Greece. Nobody could to-day pretend to certainty that in Germany, for instance, the ultimate state of the community may not approximate■ much more to Ilu‘ Communist than to the so-called democratic form of political economy. Should it so turn out the 25 year plan of the Big Four might give place to a five year plan of quite another order. The trend to-day at anyrate, is more than ever in the direction of planning, and it is worthy of mention that the home of such planning was neither east nor west of Germany, but within Germany. One obvious difficulty, if she is left a unity, is that Germany might seek compensation for subjection to an agrarian, instead ol an industrial, economy, by cooperating with whatever alternative country would give her an outlet for the talents of her industrialists. At anyrate, France has at least as good, but. probably a better case in seeking to have part of Western Germany under international control than the Soviet had for obliging the population of East Germany to trek to the west of the Oder River. If U.N.O. is not to break up, it must be able not only to decide cases, but to implement the decisions. In the case of Greece, the decision to have a general election may not have been a. U.N.O. decision, hut at anyrate the decision has been implemented. That is the lesson of the present situation. The original U.N.O. thesis must be realised. It was that, power was essential for the Organisation. It remains so.