UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND REHABILITATION ADMINISTRATION REPORT BY THE NEW ZEALAND DELEGATION TO THE FOURTH SESSION OF THE COUNCIL, HELD AT ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 15 TO 29 MARCH, 1946, TOGETHER WITH A RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL AT THE ADJOURNED MEETING OF ITS FOURTH SESSION, HELD AT WASHINGTON, D.C., ON 9 MAY, 1946

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1947 Session I, A-02a

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1946 NEW ZEALAND

UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND REHABILITATION ADMINISTRATION REPORT BY THE NEW ZEALAND DELEGATION TO THE FOURTH SESSION OF THE COUNCIL, HELD AT ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 15 TO 29 MARCH, 1946, TOGETHER WITH A RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL AT THE ADJOURNED MEETING OF ITS FOURTH SESSION, HELD AT WASHINGTON, D.C., ON 9 MAY, 1946

Presented to bath Houses of the General Assembly by Leave

New Zealand, Legation, Washington 8, D.C., 3 April, 1946.. The Right Hon. the Minister of External Affairs, Wellington, New Zealand. Sir, — I have the honour to report on the Fourth Session of the Council of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, held at Atlantic City, New Jersey, from 15 to 29 March, 1946. Twenty-seven months after its /inaugural meeting in the same city, the Council of UNRRA returned to Atlantic City, New Jersey, on the occasion of its fourth session. Delegations were present from all but four (Chile, Ecuador, Iraq, and Paraguay), of UNRRA's forty-seven member countries. During the session Turkey was unanimously admitted to membership, but an application from Albania, though strongly supported by the U.S.S.R. and several other countries, was rejected, after a lengthy debate in both the Committee on Procedure and in Plenary Session, by a large majority of those present and voting. Italy, Austria, and the Vatican were non-member States represented by visitors; also present, as at previous sessions, were official

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observers from the League of Nations' Economic, Financial, and Transit Department, the International Labour Office, the Inter-governmental Committee for Refugees, the Food and Agriculture Organization, and the European Central Inland Transportation Organization; represented for the first time were the United Nations and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. In view of the contemplated assumption by the United Nations of functions previously exercised by the League's Economic and Financial Department, and of other changes consequent on the establishment of the United Nations, it was decided that Council Resolution No. 5, relating to observers, should be revised. The Committee on Observers, to whom this matter was referred, accordingly recommended that Resolution No. 5 should be modified as follows: (1) That the Council reaffirm the principle of co-operation between the Administration and other intergovernmental agencies as set forth in the report of the Temporary Committee on Admission of Observers adopted by the Council on 12 November, 1943. (2) That the Council invite representatives of those intergovernmental agencies which have a special position by virtue of the scope of their membership and function, or by virtue of being charged with duties closely related to those of the Administration, to attend as observers and to participate in the meetings of the Council, its Committees and subcommittees, and in the meetings of Regional Committees and Technical Standing Committees, in accordance with appropriate provisions in the Permanent Rules of Procedure. (3) That the Director-General, in pursuance of the principle set forth in paragraph (1) above, co-operate to such a degree and to such extent as he may deem desirable in the interests of the Administration with all intergovernmental agencies whose operations and specialized services may be of value to the Administration, including the sending of his representatives as observers to the meetings of other intergovernmental agencies. The Committee further recommended that the Director-General should be authorized without further action by the Council or the Central Committee to invite to the next regular session the following organizations:— United Nations. United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees. European Central Inland Transportation Organization. International Labour Office. World Federation of Trade Unions. These recommendations were accepted by the Council, subject to the additional provision that the Director-General should be entitled to receive applications from other non-governmental agencies and to recommend to the next meeting of the Council those which he wants to invite. New Zealand was represented on the Council at its Fourth Session by Sir Carl Berendsen, New Zealand Minister at Washington, with Mr. B. R. Turner, of the New Zealand Legation, as Alternate, and Miss B. A. Foster, also of the Legation staff, as secretary.

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The member of the Council representing China, Mr. T. F. Tsiang, was ■elected Chairman of the Council for this Fourth Session, and he was assisted Tby the members for Brazil and for the Ukraine as Vice-Chairmen. The effective and consistent support which the New Zealand Government has given UNRRA since its inception, which was explicitly referred to on more than one occasion, was appropriately recognized by the election of Sir Carl Berendsen as Chairman of the Committee on Policy—an ad hoc Committee of the whole Council —to which the more important and, in many respects, the most difficult and controversial of the items on the Council's agenda were initially assigned. Specifically, these included consideration of the Administration's problem arising from food shortages, review of the Administration's authority with respect to displaced persons operations, and consideration of the problem created for UNRRA as a result of the requisitioning of land and other resources by occupying Forces in countries receiving UNRRA assistance. The representative of Poland, Mr. Stanczyk, presided over the other main ml hoc Committee—that on procedure. Matters dealt with by this latter Committee, besides the applications from Albania and Turkey for membership in UNRRA, includLed an Australian proposal, which had been unsuccessfully pressed at the Third Session in London but was unanimously accepted at Atlantic City, to enlarge the Central Committee by the addition of Australia, Brazil, and Yugoslavia. This brings the membership of the Central Committee to a total of nine—comprising, in addition to these three new additions, the four original members, U.S.A., U.K., U.S.S.R., and China, plus France and Canada, who were admitted during the London Session. The Committee on Procedure also adopted a resolution recommending the extension of the period of UNRRA's responsibility under the amended International Sanitary Conventions, to which New Zealand is a signatory. It is pleasing to record on thig occasion that, on the basis of the reports made to the Council concerning the work of UNRRA in the six months since the Third Session, noi substantial reasons now exist for doubt or misgiving as to UNRRA's fitness for its task, or as to the justification of its seeking the continued support of member Governments. If the results achieved seem to fall somewhat short of the high-sounding promises of the first Atlantic City session, they are; by common consent, impressive indeed when measured against the almost insuperable difficulties with which the Administration has been confronted from the very beginning. As summed up by the Director-General, there have been, besides organizational difficulties associated with the recruitment of a competent international staff, continuing shortages of particular commodities; delays in receiving funds from some contributing governments; .stoppages of work in supplying countries;: severe shipping shortages; breakdowns and bottlenecks at the ports and in the internal transportation systems of receiving countries; droughts unequalled in fifty years; while " over and above these particular difficulties, there has been one general influence at work retarding and delaying all our operations. This is the very natural slackening, now that the war is over, in the pace of governmental operations, and in the force of governmental controls, upon which UNRRA must depend to an important degree." The success with which UNRRA has, nevertheless, been transferred during the last six months into an efficient operating agency may be judged by its actual accomplishments in two major fields of activity. First, by the end. of March, over 7,000,000 tons of supplies will have been shipped, with the scale of operations increasing daily, despite the presentfood crisis; second, since 1 September, 1945, approximately 725,000 displaced persons have been repatriated, in association with the military authorities.

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this movement having been accomplished under most difficult conditions and in the middle of winter. It was fitting, therefore, that at Atlantic City the well-publicized criticism to which the Administration had been subjected (not always without some justification) at previous Council meetings was conspicuously absent. Instead, many deserving tributes were paid by Council members, including the representative of New Zealand, to the Administration's efforts, and especially to the work of the Director-General, Governor H. Lehman, whose resignation, for reasons of health, was announced unexpectedly as the session convened. At least one definite conclusion may be said to have emerged from the general debate on the Director-General's report with which the session opened. Delegates were unanimously agreed that whatever UNRRA had done or failed to do, it had " given clear proof that where the will of the United Nations is clearly expressed, prompt and effective action can be taken." Appreciation of this fact was a salutory reminder of the purposes for which the United Nations exists, at a time when these purposes were becoming somewhat obscured as a result of mounting international tension over the Iranian and similar " situations," which many anxiously feared might prematurely test the very precarious foundations upon which the system of world co-operation had been over-confidently erected. In such an atmosphere, and with an agenda containing questions which in the past had aroused heated discussion and apparently irreconcilable points of view, a minimum of conciliation and compromise might reasonably have been expected. Such, however, was not the case. On the contrary, the fact that, with few exceptions, these questions, including such politically contentious issues as the allocation of foodstuffs in tragically scarce supply, and the repatriation and care of displaced persons, were unanimously resolved is evidence of the very real desire that was shown by all concerned to find a common basis of agreement. Indeed, in several instances the measure of agreement reached represented a substantial advance past the point beyond which differences in principle and conflicting political interests had hitherto made a common approach impracticable. Though the Conference was primarily preoccupied by the catastrophe with which the world is faced during the next eighteen months in the shape of famine and starvation for many millions and pitifully inadequate rations for many millions more, it was generally recognized that this problem and the general questions of peace and security were not unrelated. This relationship was, in fact, effectively stressed by the Director-General's statement at the outset of the session that " foundations of a secure peace cannot be built on famine." The facts of the present food crisis are by now sufficiently well known; in essence, however, the situation is that the world is faced with a net deficit over the first six months of 1946 "of 9,000,000 tons of bread grains (on the basis of the best available estimate of exportable surpluses as against minimum legitimate import requirements) and with a shortage of rice and fate of a corresponding magnitude. This means, quite simply, that countless millions of people in Central, Eastern, and Western Europe, in India, in Asia, and elsewhere must suffer extreme privation—many of them must literally die of' hunger—even before next winter. The problem is a particularly serious one for countries depending on UNRRA supplies; nor, according to Governor Lehman, will it be one of merely temporary duration. " Even more important than the present crisis," he said, " is the ominous fact that all our present information indicates that the situation next winter (1946-47) is likely to be even worse."

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Much of the time of the Committee on Policy was accordingly devoted to a consideration of ways and means of meeting the food crisis. At the end of the Committee's general discussion of this problem a, sub-committee was appointed to draft resolutions for submission to the Council —the sub-committee consisting of representatives of those countries which had served on the ad hoc sub-committee on special supply problems of the Committee on Supplies, with the addition of representatives of India and of Cuba. In the course of the general discussion, strong criticism was expressed by countries receiving UNRRA relief, as well as by spokesmen for the Administration, of the existing international machinery and arrangements for allocation of food-supplies. This criticism was directed primarily against supplying countries, and more particularly against the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, as members of the Combined Food Board. Specific complaints may be summarized as follows: (1) That the membership of the Combined Food Board should be broadened to include recipient as well as supplying countries, particularly in view of the present critical situation in which supplying countries whose peoples face no serious shortage are, in effect, able to allocate their surpluses as they see fit and thus to determine how, among the peoples of the recipient countries, the incidence of inevitable suffering and starvation shall be allocated. Specific proposals for broadening the membership of the Combined Food Board included a suggestion from the Director-General that the U.S.S.R. be invited to join—a proposal which evoked no comment or response from the Soviet member of the Council — and a further suggestion, which found a considerable measure of support, that UNRRA itself should be represented, on the Board. (2) That, in any ease, the Governments comprising the Combined Food Board have made allocations which, so far as they are known, are seriously out of proportion with the needs of claimant countries, particularly those countries dependent on UNRRA assistance. In this connection, the U.S.S.R., China, Poland, and Yugoslavia, among others, claimed that the requirements of UNRRA as an international body should not be subjected to a further screening and review. A number of recommendations designed to ensure a more equitable distribution of scarce supplies were put forward, including a specific proposal by the Administration, which clearly shared the doubts and misgivings of recipient countries as to the equity of existing procedures. In a resolution submitted for consideration of the sub-committee, the Administration urged the adoption of the following principles by the Combined Food Board and, also by the national allocating authorities as their sole criterion of equitable distribution:— " That the total supplies of food made available for export by all countries should be allocated so as to result in each food-importing member of the United Nations attaining the same percentage of its 1935-39 level of consumption as every other such importing member of the United Nations; and that in applying this principle the Combined Food Board, and also the national allocating authority should: "(a) Measure levels of consumption in terms of calories, fats, and animal proteins; and "(b) Take into account the indigenous production of each importing country/'

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(3) That there should be the widest dissemination of information: concerning allocation, procurement, and export of foods of the types essential for UNRRA's programme, and that in present circumstances the Combined Food Board should publicly state the policy on which allocations are made and be prepared to explain these allocations before a fully international body. As will be seen from the following series of recommendations contained in the resolution which emerged from the sub-committee and was adopted by the Council, the demand for fuller publicity was substantially accepted. The Committee reported, however, that it had considered carefully the DirectorGeneral's and other proposals concerning enlargement of the Combined Food Board and the adoption of definite formulae as a basis of allocations, but had decided to make no positive recommendations on these matters at this time. In the face of strong opposition from supplying countries to any drastic modification of present allocation arrangements, it was agreed instead to recommend that the Director-General immediately enter into consultations with representatives of the supplying Governments and with the Combined Food Board in order to consider the effectiveness of the steps being taken for the improvement and adaptation of national and intergovernmental machinery for allocating and distributing food-supplies, and to report the results to the Central Committee of UNRRA and to the Council, which is to reconvene for this purpose in a few weeks time. It was understood that the Director-General would include discussion of all relevant factors, including the specific proposals which had been put forward, in his discussion with allocating authorities. The text of the resolution 0) referred to is as follows: — " "Whereas, the Council has considered the grave crisis arising from food shortages throughout the world and the threat of mass starvation in those countries which have fought the common enemy; and " Whereas, the Council deems it imperative in order to avert worldwide tragedy that all of the United Nations, including those not members of UNRRA, take immediate and vigorous governmental and voluntary action in the spirit of common sacrifice demonstrated by these nations during the war; and " Whereas, the Council considers that this grave food crisis must be met with justice and equity to those who fought against, and suffered at the hand of the common foe and in accordance with the resolution adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on February 14, 1946, with the widest dissemination of information to all the United Nations called upon to make common sacrifices; be it therefore " Resolved : " 1. That the Council recommends to all United Nations governments, including those not members of UNRRA, the following: "(a) The taking of all possible measures at the earliest possible date to ensure the maximum production of food required to meet the present emergency and the uninterrupted maintenance of facilities and services for its mobilization, shipment and distribution. "(b) The conservation of food in every form by: "(i) Elimination of all waste; " (ii) Diversion of the maximum possible amounts of wheat, corn, barley, and oats from animal to direct human consumption; (*) Resolution. 89; see page 18.

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"(iii) Drastic curtailment of the use of grains for beverages and all other non-essential products; "(iv) Adoption by all countries of the maximum possible extraction ratio in the processing of all cereals; "(v) Diversion of the maximum possible amount of linseed, palm products, copra, tallow and other fats from the production of paints, toilet soaps, and other non-food products to the production of edible products; "(vi) Vigorous de-infestation measures. "(c) The reduction, so far as possible of the numbers of grain consuming livestock, especially of pigs and poultry, to levels consistent with the critical need to increase the production and use of the optimum quantity of grain for direct human consumption; in those countries where livestock numbers, especially draught animals, were drastically reduced as a result of the war, special attention should be directed to the rehabilitation of such livestock through the utilization of hay and pasture lands not usable for the production of food for direct human consumption. (d) The strengthening and continuation of present and the adoption where necessary of new and more rigorous methods of control and procurement designed to increase exportable supplies and decrease import requirements, such as: "(i) Food rationing; "(ii) Government procurement, including the most effective and widespread use of requisitioning and set-aside orders; and "(iii) The tightening up and extension in all countries of governmental measures to collect and transport to export ports or urban areas for relief consumption the maximum possible amounts of both the 1945 and 1946 yields of all grains, fats, and other basic foods; "(e) Thel immediate adoption of positive measures for increasing in all countries the production of food, particularly the production of cereals for direct human consumption, by the earliest possible provision of: "(i) Seeds to expand acreage; "(ii) Fertilizers through greatly increased production including discouragement of dismantling of plants which may be used in the production of fertilizers; "(iii) Draught animals, tractors, farm implements, and tractor fuel; and " (iv) Trucks, wagons, and other road and railroad transport equipment; "(v) Increased supplies of insecticides and pesticides. " 2. That the Council recommends that during the emergency period " (a) The Governments represented on the Combined Food Board and its commodity committees shall arrange that those intergovernmental agencies and the related governmental agencies concerned with the allocation, procurement, or export of foods of types essential for UNRRA's relief and rehabilitation program adopt immediately the procedure of disseminating publicly full information regarding allocations and exports made to any country, including enemy or exenemy areas under military authority.

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"(b) All governments not covered by 2 (a) above shall adopt similar publicity procedures regarding their exports of foods of types essential for UNRRA's relief and rehabilitation program. " 3. "(a) The Council has noted with appreciation statements by representatives of the supplying countries of bread-grains, rice, and fats and oils that in recognition of the grave emergency they are now reviewing all steps that can be taken to increase their exports of these and other scarce foodstuffs in order to make more adequate allocations to deficit areas. "(b) In order to achieve the objectives of Resolution 17 and of the recommendations contained in the present resolution, the Director General is requested to consult immediately and continuously as long as the emergency lasts with representatives of the supplying governments and with the CFB to consider the effectiveness of the steps being taken and to report thereon to the Central Committee and the Council. "(c) In view of the gravity of the present situation, the Fourth Session of the Council will remain in session and, upon completion of its meeting in Atlantic City, will be convened at Washington, D.C., by its Chairman or Acting-Chairman, as soon as the Director General can report on the outcome of his consultations referred to in paragraph 3 (b) above, but in time to allow the Council to assess the position regarding scarce supplies to be made available to UNRRA to meet the grave emergency of this spring and early summer. During the period, between the completion of the meeting of the Fourth Session of the Council in Atlantic City and its convening in Washington, D.C. the Central Committee and the Director General may exercise all of their powers to the same extent and in the same manner as if the Council were not in session. . " 4. With a view to achieving the most efficient methods of dealing with the world wide food crisis through 1946 and 1947, the Council calls upon all United Nations Governments, including those not members of UNRRA, and upon the intergovernmental organisations concerned to give continuous consideration to the problem of improving and adapting national and intergovernmental machinery for allocating and distributing food supplies," One further observation seems called for in the situation now upon us. It was natural that concern should be expressed lest the policies followed by national and international allocating authorities fail to pay due regard to the responsibility of those aggressive peoples who did so much to bring about the present tragic situation. This concern was voiced, among others, by the New Zealand member of the Council, who urged that in distributing scarce supplies proper preference should be given to those groups who are wholly innocent of responsibility—that where some must suffer we should endeavour in due proportion to shelter those who were attacked, even, if necessary, at the expense of those whose responsibility is such a heavy one. This comment, it was asserted, should apply not only to the aggressors and their victims in the European theatre, but equally to the Far East, where the claims of Japan for a large measure of assistance to meet the food shortage that is certainly coming there should be fairly and' judicially balanced in the light of what is available against the claims of those people whose hunger and misery are the direct result of Japanese aggression.

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The Council was assured by the Director-General that, subject to the responsibility imposed on. the Administration under Council resolutions in respect to assistance given such ex-enemy territories as Italy, Austria, Hungary, &c., this principle was being fully observed by UNRRA. A further matter directly affecting UNRRA and its programming of supplies for countries sorely in need of food, which the Council debated at some length, concerned the requisitioning of land and other resources by occupying Forces in liberated countries receiving UNRRA assistance. Consideration of this question was added to the Council's agenda in the course of the Atlantic City session on the initiative of the United States member, who informed the Council that his Government had fully confirmed press reports that in Austria the occupying Russian Army had acquired, and was continuing to acquire, very large areas of arable land. He said, also, that the Soviet military authorities had declared their opposition to an UNRRA proposal that oil and gasoline necessary for the relief programme should be provided without cost to UNNRA from the indigenous production now under Soviet military control. Inclusion of this question on the Council's agenda was strongly, though unsuccessfully, opposed by the Soviet delegation, who, in common with representatives of Yugoslavia, Poland, and Czechoslovakia, thereupon expressed their inability to take any part in the discussion that ensued. Their attitude was based on the contention that this matter was outside the scope of UNRRA's authority, that it was under consideration by the Allied Control Commission, and that UNRRA would harm its reputation as a relief organization by taking sides in an essentially political issue, The United States., however, with the support of the United Kingdom and the majority of Council members, insisted that the consequences of such requisitioning were of the gravest concern to UNRRA as a relief agency and that the Council, as such, was concerned only with the principle involved and not with proving or disproving the facts as they may exist in any specific country. In the course of the discussion the Administration expressed doubts as to the practicability of giving effect to the principle that where such requisitioning takes place, supplies should be adjusted in such a way as to avoid penalizing other countries or regions receiving relief, in as much as UNRRA, in liberated areas, can work only through the Governments and military authorities concerned. The majority of the Council, however, were clearly reluctant to allow the prospect of administrative difficulties to baulk adoption of the statement of general principle as contained in the following resolution submitted by the United States representative and accepted by the Council:— " Whereas, Section 2 (a) of Article 1 of the UNRRA Agreement sets forth as a primary purpose of UNRRA that in areas in which it operates it shall provide food, fuel, clothing, shelter and other basic necessities, medical and other essential services and shall facilitate in such areas so far as necessary to the adequate provision of relief, the production and transportation of these articles and the furnishing of these services, and " Whereas, the use or requisitioning by foreign military forces of local relief supplies or land or other resources for their production in such areas will tend to defeat the purpose of UNRRA as stated above, and " Whereas, such use or requisitioning by decreasing local relief supplies will put an additional burden on the resources of UNRRA in its efforts to provide adequate relief

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" Resolved : "1. That the Council recommend that member governments maintaining military forces in other countries receiving relief from UNRRA direct their forces to refrain from: " (a) Consuming locally produced foodstuffs (other than fresh fruits and vegetables of a perishable nature which are in temporary local surplus), fuel or other supplies which are normally included in an UNRRA program, or using land or other local resources which could be utilised for the production of supplies to meet the relief needs of the local population and "(&) Impeding in any way the equitable distribution of imported and indigenous relief supplies, or the effective use of land or local resources for the production of such supplies. " 2. Tihat the Administration shall establish programs for such countries on the assumption that all such military forces of member governments will, in fact, carry out the recommendation set forth in 1 above. "3. That if the Central Committee determines on information received from the Administration or any other official authoritative source that any such military forces are not carrying out the provisions mentioned in 1 above the Administration shall accordingly adjust its program in such a way that to the greatest practicable extent the deficit in relief supplies thereby created will not reduce the standard of living in areas other than the zones in which the military forces of the member governments responsible for causing the deficit are present, except that the Director General in consultation with the Central Committee, may take other appropriate action if he deems it advisable." Under the heading of Displaced Persons, three items were set down for consideration on the agenda for the Fourth Session:— (1) Review of the authority of the Administration with respect to displaced persons operations under Resolution 71. This resolution, passed by the Third Session of the Council, authorized the Administration to care for displaced persons of United Nations nationality in ex-enemy territory, irrespective of whether the Governments of which such persons are nationals consent to such assistance. The resolution provided for the authority granted therein to be reviewed at the end of six months following the termination of the Third Session. The question before the Fourth Session was whether the Administration's authority should be continued, modified, or terminated. (2) Consideration of the general problem of continued assistance to all displaced persons for whom the Administration has responsibility under various! Council resolutions. Tfliis item concerned those displaced persons who cannot, or do not desire to, be returned, to their country of former nationality or former residence and who are entitled to UNRRA care for a temporary period. The question before the Council was to decide when and under what conditions this period of temporary care should be terminated and whether arrangements should be made for the transfer of UNRRA responsibility to other organizations. The Council agreed at the outset to consider the above two items jointly and to embody its conclusions in one general resolution.

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(3) Extension of Resolution 46 to include persons of other than United Nations nationality who have been displaced by the enemy because of their race, religion or activities in favour of the United Nations. By Resolution 46 the Administration was authorized, under certain conditions, to assist displaced persons located in United Nations territories which had never been occupied by the enemy. This authority has been, applicable only to stateless persons or nationals of the United Nations; it has not covered the class of ex-enemy nationals who are included in Resolutions 57 and 60—namely, those persons who have been displaced by action of the enemy because of race, religion, or activities in favour of the United Nations. The question before the Council was, therefore, whether this group of persecuted persons or " friendly ex-enemy nationals " should be eligible for assistance on the same basis as the other displaced persons for whom the Administration has responsibility. The Council readily gave an affirmative answer to this last question, a resolution authorizing the Administration to assist such persecuted persons being adopted unanimously. Consideration of the first two items, however, provoked considerable controversy, although the debate was conducted with? a good deal more calmness and objectivity than has characterized previous Council discussions of these same problems. The arguments advanced, both, for and against continuation of UNRRA's authority were essentially the same as those produced during the Third Session of the Council and subsequently during consideration of the refugee problem by the United Nations General Assembly last January. Those opposing extension of the Administration's authority, while admitting the right of asylum, contended that persons who, for political reasons, do not wish to be repatriated should not continue to receive aid from UNRRA or from any other international organization, but should be obliged to rely on their own efforts. Criticism was also voiced of the administration of displacedpersons camps—the main points of criticism being that such camps were harbouring large numbers of war criminals and quislings, that no effective measures were being taken to prevent the circulation of propaganda hostile to the Governments of countries of which displaced persons are nationals, and that, in general, insufficient progress was being made to remove impediments to repatriation. On the basis of a compromise proposal offered by the United States member, agreement was, however, somewhat unexpectedly reached in terms of the following resolution:— " "Whereas " It is necessary that the authority of the Administration with respect to displaced persons under Resolution No. 71 be reviewed by the Council at this time and clarified with respect to future operations; it is therefore " Resolved " 1. That paragraph 3 of Resolution No. 71 shall be revised to read as follows: — N "' That the authority of the Administration provided in the foregoing paragraphs with respect to operations in any area shall be continued and again reviewed by the Council at its next regular session.'

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" 2. That the Council wishes to emphasise that, in carrying out its operations under the authority of Resolution No. 71, it should be the constant concern of the Administration to do all within its power, in consultation with and by representations to the occupying authorities, military authorities and the governments concerned, to bring about the removal of conditions which may interfere with the repatriation of the displaced persons concerned at the earliest possible moment. To this end the Administration is directed: "(a,) To remove any handicaps in the assembly centers to the prompt repatriation of displaced persons wishing to be repatriated, as may fall within its authority and to recommend to the occupying authorities, military authorities, and the governments concerned, as well as the Central Committee of UNRRA, measures for the removal of any other handicaps; "(b) To make available to the maximum extent the facilities and personnel of the Administration for the facilitation of the repatriation of displaced persons; "(c) To make available the required personnel and to proceed at once, in co-operation with the occupying authorities or military authorities which maintain assembly centers for displaced persons, to complete the registration of all displaced persons in assembly centers and to compile data concerning their skills, previous experience and other qualifications for employment and to make such data available in summary form without specification as to particular individuals or in such other form as may be authorized by the Central Committee, to the Central Committee of UNRRA to intergovernmental organizations and to governments of origin or former residence requesting such data; "(d) To make reports every two months to the Central Committee concerning the problems and progress of repatriation, as well as the status of the program of the occupying authorities or military authorities, which maintain assembly centers, for the elimination of those persons receiving UNRRA assistance who are ineligible for such assistance. "(e) To ascertain which of the displaced persons receiving UNRRA assistance wish to be repatriated or returned to their countries of origin or former residence. "3. That the Council recommends to the occupying authorities, the military authorities and the governments concerned that only those persons who have been properly nominated by presently recognized governments shall be accredited to the occupying authorities and military authorities, and permitted to serve as Liaison Officers, The Council further recommends that existing liaison officers who are not so nominated and accredited shall not be given access to assembly centers. "4. In carrying out operations with respect to displaced persons under Resolution 71 the Administration shall keep in touch with the governments concerned with a view toward reaching agreement regarding such operations. In case of disagreement between the Administration and a, government concerned, while such operations of the Administration may continue, such matters of disagreement may be referred by either party to the Central Committee for its! consideration. It is understood that all of the members of the Council accept the principles announced in the resolution adopted by the United Nations Assembly on February 12, 1946.

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"5. That paragraph 2 (a) of Resolution 71 shall be revised to read as follows: "' That in cooperation with the occupying authorities the military authorities, and the governments concerned, the Administration will take immediate measures to withdraw its assistance from those displaced persons who have been determined by the military authorities to have collaborated with the enemy or to have committed crimes against the interests or nationals of the United Nations, whether or not such persons are detained in custody.' " 6. That in carrying out its operations under Resolution 71, the Administration, in cooperation with the occupying authorities, the military authorities and the governments concerned shall facilitate all necessary arrangements so that displaced persons may receive full information from the governments of their countries of origin or former residence. " 7. That in view of the temporary nature of the assistance that can be given by the Administration with respect to all of the remaining displaced persons in all areas in which the Administration is authorized to operate, it is the recommendation of the Council that its members shall seek to do all in their power to expedite the early creation of a United Nations body capable of dealing in an effective manner with the problem, such as is contemplated under the Resolution adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on February 12, 1946, and, prior to the establishment of The United Nations body for this purpose and, provided this does not delay its creation, to secure consideration of this matter by other inter-governmental agencies, and that efforts shall be made to devise ways and means to facilitate resettlement and otherwise to provide a solution to the problems which will confront the remaining displaced persons when the Administration's assistance comes to an end." The need for urgent action being taken by the United Nations was heightened by the announcement early inl the Council session that the United States Government is considering closing displaced-persons camps in the United States zones in Germany before 1 September, 1946. Such an action would place an additional heavy burden upon UNRRA's limited and strained resources pending the time when the United Nations is in a position to take over responsibility. The last paragraph of the above resolution touches on a matter which, though not formally discussed nor, in fact, intended to be considered at this session, was nevertheless very much in the minds of many Council members throughout the Atlantic City proceedings—namely, the serious situation that would arise from any sudden and arbitrary termination of UNRRA activities whilst the need fori them is still an urgent one and before arrangements have been made for them to be carried on where necessary by the United Nations, either by agencies already functioning in related, fields or by new agencies which may be established for the purpose. In this connection, the DirectorGeneral in his opening address to the Council expressed the strong conviction that United Nations leaders have underestimated the enormous task of providing even the most simple form of relief and rehabilitation to a war-ravaged world. " I would draw the attention of those leaders," he stated, "to the consequences which must inevitably arise if the ground which has been so laboriously gained by UNRRA over the past year is lost. It is therefore essential that the new international organizations should be brought into effective operation immediately so that they can continue any part of UNRRA's work which the United Nations may desire to go forward. It has been a

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great satisfaction to me to see the various agencies of the United Nations slowly take shape and prepare to assume their responsibilities. These heirs to UNRRA's problems and its responsibilities will have no easy task, but at least each will deal with one distinct group of problems and each can start without loss of time: we will welcome their increasing participation in our problems and the gradual shift of responsibility. But let me underline as heavily as possible the fact that any delay and hesitation in the fulfilment of the promise of the Food and Agricultural Organization, UNESCO, and the International Bank, or any tardiness by the United Nations to commence the necessary operations for example on displaced persons, will lead to disaster. In the expectation that there will be no such delay in that the new organizations will get into operation quickly, I am content to see a term set to UNRRA's work; but a failure to fulfil that expectation by the time UNRRA's work ends would be tragic." Considerable force is lent to the Director-General's warning by the changed circumstances with which UNRRA and the United Nations are .now confronted. Until the end of 1945, UNRRA's operations proceeded substantially according to plan; but since the London decision to cease the shipment of supplies to Europe by December, 1946, and to the Far East by the following March, two new factors have been introduced, First, early in 1946, following the decisions of the Third Council Session, the Administration undertook further substantial responsibilities (in Italy, Austria, Ukraine, Byelorussia, &c.) ; second, the recent deterioration in the food situation in the receiving countries has made it necessary to place a greater emphasis on food-supplies than was originally contemplated, and, as a result, agricultural and industrial rehabilitation supplies have had to be greatly reduced. This latter development, it was pointed out, is the very reverse of the future conditions anticipated at the Third Council Session, and must inevitably delay the efforts of liberated countries to restore themselves, With these considerations in mind, the opinion was voiced by many Council members (including New Zealand) during the Atlantic City session that if UNRRA is to disappear (as it was generally agreed it should at the appropriate time) it should disappear only when the need is past or when some other body, presumably the United Nations, is willing and able to take over what remains of its essential responsibility. The importance, meanwhile, of bringing about the closest possible relations between UNRRA and the United Nations was formally acknowledged by the Council with the adoption of the following resolution in response to a request from the General Assembly that it be furnished with full reports on the work of UNRRA and on the progress made towards economic rehabilitation in the countries being assisted by UNRRA:— " Whereas " The General Assembly of the United Nations on 1 February 1946 by resolution has instructed its Secretary General to seek to make arrangements with the Director General of the Administration whereby the General Assembly may be furnished with full reports on the work of the Administration and on the progress made towards economic rehabilitation in the countries assisted by the Administration; and ut Whereas " The interchange of reports and information of common interest would also greatly assist the work of the Administration and of the United Nations including the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, and of the specialized agencies; it is therefore

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" Resolved " 1. That the Director General is hereby authorized and requested to make arrangements with the Secretary General of the United Nations for the interchange of information and reports with the United Nations including the General Assembly, the Economic and, Social Council and with the specialized agencies. " 2. That the Director General is authorized and requested to furnish to the United, Nations reports on the work of the Administration and the progress made towards economic rehabilitation in the countries assisted by the Administration. "3. That the Council recommends that all member governments and the governments of non-member countries being assisted by the Administration extend their full cooperation in the furnishing of such reports and information as may be required for these purposes." It will no doubt be appropriate here to record the activities in Atlantic City of the United Nations Committee on UNRRA, which it will be remembered was established by the General Assembly of the United Nations in February last, consisting of representatives of the following countries: Canada, China, Dominican Republic, France, Greece, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, USSR, United Kingdom, and United States of America. This Committee, under the Chairmanship of the Hon. Sol Bloom (United States), held several meetings ■during the currency of the UNRRA Conference, for the most part to discuss a difference of opinion amongst members of this Committee as to whether the Committee should confine itself to the primary functions contemplated by the Assembly—namely, to endeavour to facilitate the payment of contributions to UNRRA and to urge upon members of the United Nations who are not yet members of UNRRA to join that organization—or whether the Committee should assume a wider function and act as a continuing bridge between UNRRA and the United Nations with a view to facilitating, and at the appropriate time accomplishing, the transfer to the United Nations of some or all of the functions of UNRRA. The Committee rapidly disposed of the first two questions, authorizing its Chairman to communicate, in each case, with the countries concerned; though it was obviously not without surprise that some members of the Committee found that the Assembly's resolution required them to extend an invitation to join UNRRA to the Argentine Republic. Accordingly, the Hon. Sol. Bloom is, in co-operation with the Administration of UNRRA, taking up with the nations concerned the question of contributions in arrears, and has also on behalf of the Committee extended an invitation to join UNRRA to the four members of the United Nations who are not already members—namely, Syria, the Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Argentina. On the second question, whether the Committee should assume wider and ■continuous liaison between UNRRA and the United Nations, the Soviet representative took a firm stand, not unwarranted by the text of the Assembly's resolution, that the Committee was limited to the two specific functions outlined above and that it had no authority to assume any other functions. It was the common opinion of all the other members of the Committee, however, that, whether explicitly authorized or not, the assumption of these functions would serve a useful purpose, and a paragraph to that effect, strengthened by an amendment proposed by the New Zealand representative, was passed without dissent, the Soviet representative abstaining from voting. For this purpose, the Committee will continue to meet in Washington from time to time as occasion requires.

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The text of the Committee's resolution on these aspects is as follows: " T'he United Nations Committee oni UNRRA, in accordance with the resolution adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations at the 21st Plenary Meeting in London on February 1, 1946, and in order to facilitate the work of its Chairman in preparing a report to the forthcoming meeting of. the General Assembly of the United Nations, authorizes the Chairman:—• " 1. To communicate with each member of UNRRA who has not yet contributed the full amount of the contributions recommended by the UNRRA Council in order to secure the prompt availability of these contributions. " 2. To approach the members of the United Nations who are not now members of UNRRA as directed in paragraph 1 (&) of the resolution and to inform them of the manner of election to membership in UNRRA. "3. To suggest to the UNRRA Council that a resolution be submitted at its present session authorizing the Director General to take such steps as are necessary to obtain information concerning the progress made towards economic rehabilitation in the countries being assisted by UNRRA and recommending that the members of UNRRA make available the necessary information and that such information together with full reports on the work of UNRRA be furnished to the Secretary General of the United Nations; and "4. To request the Director General of UNRRA and the Secretary General of the United Nations to consult with the Committee, through its Chairman, on the progress of the reports to be made under paragraph 3 of the resolution and on the establishment of the closest possible relations between UNRRA and the United Nations. Amongst the remaining business transacted by the Council at its Fourth Session was the adoption of a report from the Committee on Financial Control including a recommendation as follows: " That the Administration be instructed to take all appropriate measures for the solution, of its accounting problems which the Administration recognizes are essential for the efficient and economical direction of its affairs; recommends further that the Administration submit audited accounts as at 31 December 1945, as prescribed by the Council, to the satisfaction of the Council at the earliest practicable date; and in addition recommends that the Council direct the Administration to make periodic reports to and in the discretion of the Committee on Financial Control and the Audit Subcommittee of the progress it is making in order that these committees shall keep the Council or the Central Committee as the case may be, fully informed of the progress made by the Administration." The decision of the Central Committee, authorizing approval of an Administrative Budget for 1946 of $15,209,078, was also accepted without dissent. The Council's last act, prior to its temporary adjournment, was to accept, with expressions of profound regret and sincere tributes to his unselfish and devoted service, the resignation of Governor Lehman as Director-General of UNRRA. Simultaneously, a new post was created for Governor Lehman—that of Permanent Honorary Chairman of the Council.

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As Governor Lehman's successor, the Council unanimously approved the nomination of the Hon. Fiorella H. La Guardia, formerly Mayor of New York, who, it is confidently expected, will bring to his new office those qualities of administrative experience, political sagacity, and energetic leadership which the necessities of the present emergency so insistently demand. The success of UNRRA, however, as, indeed, of any international effort, must, in the final analysis, depend on the measure of effective support which individual member Governments voluntarily make available. For this reason it would seem appropriate to conclude this report with a brief recapitulation of certain lessons that have been learned in establishing the first international operating agency and which the retiring Director-General of UNRRA commended to member Governments' earnest consideration. These, as he frankly stated, are as follows: "(1) It is of cardinal importance that member governments provide enough first-class men (even at the expense of their own national requirements), so that international organizations such as UNRRA may be able to function effectively. "(2) Individual members of the United Nations must recognize that when they establish international organizations, endowing those organizations with specific responsibility to perform certain functions, they must also recognize that they must yield some small part of their own sovereign power to the new organizations. Governments must give reality and substance to the grant of authority when they establish international organizations such as UNRRA. "(3) In view of the great anxiety among the peoples of many, if not all, nations that our new ventures in the machinery of international cooperation shall succeed in their vital tasks, individual members of the United Nations must explain to their people the purpose of these new organizations and build Up their stature by strengthening the support and respect given to them by national agencies," I have, &e., Carl Berendsen.

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ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE FOURTH SESSION The adjourned meeting of the Fourth Session of the Council was held at Washington, D.C., on 9 May, 1946, to enable the Director-General to report on the outcome of his consultations regarding the world food situation with the representatives of the supplying Governments and the Combined Food Board. The following resolution was adopted:— " Whereas " Resolution 89 ( 1 ) instructed the Director General to consult with representatives of the supplying Governments and with the Combined Food Board to consider the effectiveness of the steps being taken to meet the present food, crisis and to report thereon to the Central Committee and to the Council: and " Whereas " The Director General has submitted to the Council a report which indicates that, in spite of his vigorous and forceful efforts to secure adequate quantities of essential foods, and despite the adoption of emergency measures by the Governments concerned, the situation has nevertheless become increasingly grave; and " Whereas " The Council has noted the recommendations of the Director General in his report ; and " Whereas " The Council has been informed that the Governments principally concerned are now in consultation regarding plans to improve the international machinery for the allocation of foodstuffs in short supply and regarding the development of more adequate measures for implementing allocations; and " Whereas " At the forthcoming special meeting of the Food and Agriculture Organization on the 20th May there will be considered, ' the desirability of making recommendations to Governments regarding a four or five-year plan, designed to carry the world through the present crises and to assist in effecting a smooth transition from emergency measures to a permanent world food policyit is therefore " Resolved " The Council recommends that, in view of the prospect of continuing serious world food shortages, the supplying and importing Governments concerned develop immediately plans for the improvement of international machinery for the allocation of foodstuffs in short supply. " The Council recommends further that the Governments concerned, in view of the present emergency, develop immediately more adequate machinery for making effective all allocations. " The Council recommends further that in making allocations the allocating authorities should constantly seek to achieve a fair and equitable distribution of supplies! among all the United Nations according to their needs." to the world food crisis. Adopted by 1 the Council at its Fourth Session; see page 6. Approximate Cost of Paper—Preparation, not given ; printing (570 copies, £3O/10/0.) By Authority: E. V. Paul, Government Printer, Wellington.—l 947 Price 9d.]

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