UNION ADAMANT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26608, 3 November 1947, Page 5

UNION ADAMANT

SOUTH-WEST AFRICA CONTROL

INCREASING PRESSURE IN UNO

Rec. 9 p.m. NEW YORK, Nov. 1. After a day of tense, sometimes bitter, debate the United Nations General Assembly to-night again called on South Africa to place the territory of South Western Africa under United Nations trusteeship. The assembly made a similar appeal in 1946, but South Africa did not. comply. Tonight’s vote on the Indian proposal, calling on South Africa to submit a trusteeship agreement was £l—ll with Russia and the United States supporting and Britain and Australia opposing. New Zealand abstained. The vote found the colonial countries outvoted by Moslem, Slav and most Asiatic nations and was a victory for India, which led a long fight against South Africa on the trusteeship issue. The ballot came after a Danish amendment watering down the Indian proposal was accepted The Danish modification struck out the one year time limit, and left a resolution expressing the hope South Africa would find it possible to submit an agreement by next autumn. Dr H. V. Evatt, supporting South Africa, said he accepted without qualification the South African Government’s statement that it had decided to continue the administration of South West Africa in the spirit of the existing mandate. He added that South Africa had gone a reasonable distance in acceding to the wishes of the assembly. “If y*'u look at General Smuts’s leadership of South Africa for a generation or more you will find something that is a miracle in development,” he said. South Africa did not intend to submit a trusteeship agreement for South West Africa, Mr Harry Lawrence (South Africa) told the General Assembly. He contended that South Africa was entitled to legislate forjfcnd administer that territory as ap int/gral part of the Uni. n South Afrira would submit annual reports on South West Africa but on the basis that the United Nations had no supervisory jurisdication in respect to the territory. The Union would give representation to South West Africa in the House of Assembly. Mr Lawrence added that although South Africa might not have complete sovereignty over South West Africa it did have definite rights regarding it. The General Assembly could not [(prescribe what was to be approved as morally right and what condemned as morally wrong. There was no legal or moral necessity to confront South Africa with a resolution, couched in terms of increasing urgency, which South Africa was unable to carry out because of the known facts and circumstanes surrounding the issue.