A.—2

19

logically be asserted that none of the signatories to the Act of Chapultepec could with propriety oppose the whole proposal, since it was in the terms included in that Pact. But, in any case, the New Zealand delegation were not suggesting a definition of aggression. That matter had already been discussed and rejected in another Committee, and the New Zealand delegation, for their part, were prepared to leave to the Security Council —on which each of the five permanent members had a veto —to decide for themselves when the circumstances were such as to amount to aggression. The New Zealand delegation merely asked in their proposed amendment that once aggression had been found by the Security Council, involving, of course, an agreement by the five Great Powers that aggression had taken place, then all members of the Organization, great and small, should be legally and morally bound to resist and defeat the attack, by force if necessary. The New Zealand delegate called attention to the form of organization which would result from the deliberations of the Conference —an Organization under which the five Great Powers reserved to themselves in all cases of importance the sole right of deciding when they were to be bound—indeed, whether the Organization could operate at all—while the small Powers were asked to bind themselves for all time to obey the instructions of the Security Council. The Organization would, in fact be founded on a precarious basis—the continued and continual ad hoc and unanimous agreement of all the five Great Powers. In the long run, the decision as to whether the Organization would operate when the test comes must rest with the conscience, the courage, and the determination of the peoples of the world. The man in the street will most certainly ask himself, having regard to the privileged position of the Great Powers, what guarantee of safety the small Powers are to get in return for the heavy commitments they are to undertake. The very least they are entitled to appeared to be a pledge that once it has been decided by the Security Council that aggression has taken place, then a legal and a moral duty and obligation on all members immediately arises for all members to put down that aggression. In concluding his argument the New Zealand delegate reminded the members of the Committee that they had been told that this was too great a duty to lay upon the Great Powers. The New Zealand delegation, on the other hand, considered that nothing less could possibly be adequate. They had also been told that this was implicit in the Dumbarton Oaks draft. If that was the case, then it could reasonably be asked why should it not be made explicit. New Zealand was asking for nothing more than she was prepared to give, and had proved she was prepared to give. The graves of thousands upon thousands of New-Zealanders throughout the world were undying evidence that New Zealand did not restrict her advocacy of the principles of peace, order, and justice to mere words. This proposal appeared to the New Zealand delegation to go to the very core and kernel of any system of collective security. If no such system of mutual insurance was included in the Charter the organization being set up in San Francisco might, when tested, prove to be a container without content. The cause of the failure of the last great and noble experiment, the League of Nations, was just on this point, that in essence the League failed because its members were not prepared mutually to support each other against aggression. With such an undertaking as the New Zealand delegation proposed, and with a firm determination to carry it out, it was, and is, our belief that war would in fact be prevented, that if this determination were fully understood by potential aggressors there would be no aggression. The omission of this provision in fact left the door open to —and indeed invited —evasion, appeasement, and perhaps the sacrifice of smaller and less influential peoples. For all these reasons the New Zealand delegate urged his colleagues to support this amendment.