United Nations Asks For World-Wide Census Of Armed Forces And Of Non-Atomic Weapons

Wanganui Chronicle, 7 December 1949, Page 5

United Nations Asks For WorldWide Census Of Armed Forces And Of Non-Atomic Weapons

NEW YORK, Dec. 5 (Rec. 6 pm).—The General Assembly today approved, by 44 votes to live, a plan for a world-wide census of armed forces and non-atomic weapons. The Soviet bloc countries opposed the resolution, which was submitted by France and Norway, and indicated they had no intention of submitting the requested data.

The Assembly rejected a So- I viet proposal which would have included atomic data in any census of weapons. Both resolutions grew out of Soviet demands that the "Big Five” Powers slash their armaments by onethird. The Western Powers argued that no arms reductions could be put , info effect until complete and verified information was available. i France opened the last round of the debate by charging Russia with trying to trap the Western Powers into disarming while she was building "a gigantic army unprecedented in .history.’’ Charges that Field Marshal Mont- i gomery, now military chief of the :

I Western Union high command, had said in his off record conferences i while in New York recently that Western Germany must be rearmed were l made in the debate by representatives of Poland, Czechoslovakia and Byelo-Russia. Mr Stefan Wierblowski (Poland' said: “it is stated overtly that Western Germany must be rearm / and that a German army is to be set up. Montgomery said it during a recent conference with representatives ot Wall Street. He said that rearmament of Western Germany is necessary and public opinion in the United States must be prepared for it.” The New York “Times” says persons who heard the off-record talks declined to discuss whether rearmament was mentioned.