POLICY OF FIRMNESS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26719, 13 March 1948, Page 7

POLICY OF FIRMNESS

BEST METHOD TO PRESERVE LIBERTY SIR CARL BERENDSEN’S VIEW N.Z.P.A.—Copyright SAN FRANCISCO, Rec. 9 p.m. * Mar. 11 “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 to-day,” said Sir Carl Berendsen, interviewed en route to Washington after his New Zealand visit. “Firmness and patience seem to constitute the best available policy for any Government—particularly firmness,” he said. Sir Carl praised the Marshall Plan and Western European Union, calling them “ regional expedients for purposes frustrated by the veto power which makes international security impossible.” 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 thing in sight, plus the Western European Union and a growing realisation that words alone are not enough.” 1 Sir Carl 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 mere self-govern-ment. You have got half the people of the world there, and anything can happen.” Sir Carl 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.