Since the summer of 1949 a number of resolutions embodying proposals for world or regional federation have been pending in the Congress of the United States. During the early months of 1950, extended hearings on these various proposals have been held by the Senate Subcommittee on Foreign Relations headed by Senator Elbert Thomas. The purpose of this article is to present a critical study of the background, content, and the implications of the projects thus submitted for congressional action.

The United Nations at the time of this writing has emerged from a period of uncertainty engendered by the Soviet boycotts beginning in January 1950, into blazing prominence as a fast-acting agency for suppressing armed aggression. Many of the questions raised during the first four years of its existence concerning its vitality and effectiveness as the center of a collective security system have now been dramatically answered. Its forms have altered with experience, and by analogy to our Constitution, its action in response to the armed invasion of the Republic of Korea constitutes a precedent which may rank with Chief Justice Marshall's most momentous decisions. Whatever new directions the organization and its Charter may take in response to the dynamics of the world society they represent, it is indisputable that this new parlimentary form of conducting international affairs has conclusively proved its worth and its indispensability to the future of the international community.

Since 1945 the popular view that the United Nations would bring an end to power politics has given way in some quarters to the conviction that power politics will bring an end to the United Nations. More hopeful opinion recognizes and stresses the value of the United Nations as a continuous and expanding “service” organization operating essentially to facilitate discussion, to find and reduce technical sources of friction, and to crystallize world opinion around universal objectives. If, as Mr. Jessup has written, the United Nations is an instrument for “mobilizing world public opinion and making it articulate to the point at which it becomes a factor in the power situation,” the accent now must clearly and necessarily be on opinion rather than power. No Secretary of State today could tell a Senate Committee, as did Mr. Stettinius in 1945, that the heart of the Charter is to be found in the enforcement provisions of Chapter VII.

On July 10, 1950 the Interim Committee of the General Assembly met to consider the following items: 1) the report of the Subcommittee on International Cooperation in the Political Field; 2) the report of the United Nations Commission for Eritrea; and 3) the study of procedure to delimit the boundaries of the former Italian Colonies. Before these matters could be discussed, however, the committee had to elect a new vice-chairman as Abdur Rahim Khan (Pakistan) had submitted his resignation from that position following his appointment as representative of Pakistan on the United Nations Advisory Council for Libya.

This issue covers the work of the Security Council from the 471st meeting on April 12, 1950to the 478th meeting on July 31, 1950. During this period the representative of the Soviet Union did not participate in the meetings of the Council, although it was announced at the end of July that he would take over his presidency for the month of August.

The eleventh session of the Economic and Social Council opened in Geneva on July 9 and was expected to continue until mid-August. Among the recurring items on the Council's agenda were eleven reports from its subsidiary bodies and nine reports from the specialized agencies. Other topics which ECOSOC was to consider included the problems of economic development and social progress of the Italian colonies, the maintenance of full employment, technical assistance for economic development including methods of financing economic development, forced labor and trade union rights, higher education in the trust territories in Africa, and the problem of refugees and stateless persons. In the procedural field, the Council was to discuss the organization of the Economic and Employment Commission and its two subcommissions, consultative arrangements with non-governmental organizations and the calendar of conferences for 1951; elect new members to eight of its functional commissions: and confirm the membership of its commissions.

Sixth Session

International Regime for Jerusalem: During the second reading of the draft statute for Jerusalem, President Roger Garreau read a telegram from Daniel Auster, Mayor of Jerusalem, stating that the entire population of the city was opposed to any plan of internationalization.

Activities of the Secretary-General: On March 21, 1950, the Secretary-General (Lie), in an address delivered at the triennial dinner of B'nai B'rith in Washington, D.C., called for a twenty-year program of peace within the framework of the United Nations. After referring to the difficulties arising from the non-participation of the Soviet Union in United Nations organs because of the presence of the representative of the Nationalist government of China, Mr. Lie suggested that negotiation between the major powers was possible if the Security Council would hold the “periodic meetings” referred to in Article 28(2) of the Charter, in which the various Members would be represented by either the heads of states or the foreign ministers.

Advisory Opinions

Interpretation of the Peace Treaties with Bulgaria, Hungary and Rumania: Early in May the Secretary-General (Lie) advised the International Court of Justice that neither Bulgaria, Hungary or Rumania had designated its representatives to the commissions provided in the treaties before the deadline of within thirty days from March 30. Therefore the United Kingdom and United States deposited their written statements within the time limit of June 5 for the second phase of the case.1 The two questions under consideration were: 1) “If one party fails to appoint a representative to a Treaty Commission under the Treaties of Peace with Bulgaria, Hungary and Rumania where that party is obligated to appoint a representative to the Treaty Commission, is the Secretary-General of the United Nations authorized to appoint the third member of the Commission upon the request of the other party to a dispute according to the provisions of the respective Treaties?” In the event of an affirmative reply to that question: 2) “Would a Treaty Commission composed of a representative of one party and a third member appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations constitute a Commission, within the meaning of the relevant Treaty articles, competent to make a definitive binding decision in settlement of a dispute?”

FAO Council

The Council of FAO held its ninth session in Rome, Italy, from May 8 to 18, 1950. Financial and administrative arrangements for transferring the headquarters of the organization from Washington to Rome were made, and the need for stronger financial support was brought to the attention of the members. The Council considered the report of the Committee on Commodities, established by the Conference at its fifth meeting. It was unanimously agreed to continue the work of this body and Italy was chosen to replace Poland on the committee, following receipt by the Council of Poland's withdrawal from the organization. Measures taken by FAO preparatory to undertaking its share in the technical assistance program were approved. The Council reported little change in the over-all food situation since the fall of 1949; food production in the world was steadily rising, although in areas of acute shortage, little change was noted. The sixth Conference of the organization was scheduled to meet on November 6, in Washington.

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development reported a net income of $9,856,856 for the nine months ended March 31, 1950. The net income for the first three quarters of the preceeding year had amounted to $7,383,006. Gross income, exclusive of $4,157,591 in the special reserve, amounted to $18,798,663; expenses totalled $8,941,807, including $3,248,017 administrative expenses and $5,693,700 bond interest and other payments. As of March 31,1950 the Bank had an accumulated excess of income over expenses of $23,497,950, and the special reserve amounted to $12,231,732.

Council

Ninth Session: The ICAO Council met in its ninth session in Montreal from January 27 to April 6, 1950 a session devoted primarily to a re-examination of the provisional agenda of the fourth session of the Assembly. The Council decided that the period covered by its annual report to the Assembly should coincide with the calendar year, leaving the period from the first of the year to the opening of the Assembly as the subject of a supplementary report. In considering the work of the fifth session of the Legal Committee, the Council agreed that the draft Convention on Damage Caused by Aircraft to Third Parties on the Surface, a convention which had been prepared by the committee, should be presented to the fourth Assembly which could then consider the desirability of adopting and opening it for signature. Accordingly, the Legal Committee's covering report was distributed to the Contracting States. The Council also decided to recommend to the Assembly that no further consideration be given the question of joint ownership and operation of international services on trunk routes until such times as some group of states, envisaging joint ownership or operation, put forward specific proposals for that purpose.

Governing Body

Before concluding its 111th session in Geneva, the ILO Governing Body took the following actions: 1) established a committee to advise the Governing Body on “Asian problems and on the Asian aspects of general problems;” 2) accepted the application of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions for consultative relationships with ILO; 3) decided to hold early in 1951 a Near and Middle East Regional Conference; and 4) deferred until its autumn session consideration of the proposal that ILO create a commission to conduct an impartial inquiry into the nature and extent of forced labor throughout the world.

A new exchange office was established in March by the International Monetary Fund to keep track of all new exchange restrictions imposed by member countries and to record changes in currency regulations. The office had no policing powers but was to remain in constant touch with officials in all member countries and to maintain files for consultation by bankers, foreign traders and others interested in foreign currency regulations.

Second Annual Report

In accordance with the agreement with the Economic and Social Council, the International Refugee Organization transmitted to the Council on May 2, 1950 a report of its activities covering the period January 1, 1949 to December 31, 1949 and containing the program of the organization for the remaining period of its operation, January 1, 1950 to March 31, 1951. It was reported that, including both those repatriated to the country of their origin and those resettled in other countries, 351,742 refugees and displaced persons had been reestablished during 1949; an increase over the previous year. Starting January 1, 1950, IRO was to assist 590,062 refugees, of whom 16,150 were known to require continuing institutional care (the “hard core” cases), 181,000 considered resettleable, and some 60,000 others desiring resettlement but having little chance of meeting the qualifications. In planning its future activities, IRO had to take into account the limited time and resources remaining and as the date of termination approached, the task became increasingly more difficult as the proportion of “resettleable” cases decreased. IRO reported that it could no longer look to repatriation as a solution to any substantial proportion of its remaining cases.

On March 31, 1950, the United States gave notice that it would not carry out with respect to the American zone of Germany the provisions of the Copenhagen agreement on radio wave lengths signed, under ITU auspices, by all the countries of Europe. On that date new frequency assignments were made for German and official United States radio outlets, duplicating wave lengths assigned to other nations. The new wave lengths became effective on March 15. The United States was not a signatory to the Copenhagen plan and had frequently stated objections to the assignments made under it. The Director of Public Affairs in the Office of the High Commissioner for Germany (Nicholson), in explaining the United States decision, pointed out that the Copenhagen assignments “made no adequate provision for the continuation of the broadcasting services now being rendered and considered an absolute necessity in the United States zone of Germany and the American sector of Berlin.” In order to prevent interference in the broadcasting areas of nations previously assigned the wave lengths subject to duplication, the United States would expedite the construction of directional antennae. In place of the sixteen frequencies previously in use in the United States zone, thirty frequencies were to be utilized after March 15, some of comparatively low power. The frequencies previously assigned were alleged by the United States to be off the normal range of bands used in receivers in Germany.

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

Fourth Meeting of the Contracting Parties:The contracting parties of GATT concluded their fourth meeting in Geneva on April 4, 1950. The group made arrangements for the third round of negotiations between the contracting parties to begin on September 28, in Torquay, England. One important project of the meeting was an examination of the operation of import and export controls in participating countries. Certain types of restriction were declared contrary to Article 11 of the General Agreement: 1) tying the sale of one item considered essential by some importing country to the purchase of something it would not otherwise purchase from that source; 2) making issuance of an export license dependent upon the exporter's getting an import permit from some other country (possibly a third country) for a product such a country would not otherwise purchase; 3) using the export-licensing procedure to enforce a minimum export price — with the object of keeping the prices of raw materials, for example, lower in the producing than in the importing country; 4) using the export-licensing procedure to withhold raw materials altogether from the competitors of a country's own export industries.

Executive Board

The nineteenth session of the Executive Board of UNESCO met from February 13 to 25,1950. Discussion of the program to be presented to the fifth session of the General Conference continued. The Board attempted to design the program to fit a budget of $8,000,000 — the same figure as for 1950. Other arrangements for the Florence Conference were completed. Invitations were sent to the occupying authorities in the Eastern and Western Zones of Germany and in Japan to send observers, accompanied, if they wished, by expert nationals, to the General Conference. A credit of $40,000 was extended to allow UNESCO to continue for the rest of 1950 its assistance to refugee children in the Middle East. The Board discussed other program activities including the sending of a mission of experts to Ecuador to advise in fundamental education experiments in the areas recently devastated by earthquake. Finally it was decided to recommend that the Conference accept the applications for membership from the United States of Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, and the Hashemite Kingdom of the Jordan.

The annual report of the Universal Postal Union for 1949 was submitted to the eleventh session of the Economic and Social Council in accordance with Article V of the agreement between the United Nations and UPU. The Union reported the retirement, effective January 1, 1950, of Dr. Alois Muri as Director of the International Bureau and the subsequent appointment of Fritz Hess, Director-General of the Swiss Posts, as Dr. Muri's successor. The Union further reported that during 1949, 67 postal administrations, nineteen fewer than in 1948, had settled their transit charge accounts through the general clearing account; the annual general account for reply coupons involved a sum total of 505,159 gold francs as some 12,000,000 coupons were supplied by the International Bureau to various postal administrations; 653,744 postal identity cards were also made available to member administrations. During the year, the International Bureau received no communications regarding arbitral awards given or to be given under Article 12 of the Paris Convention of 1947, although various other disputes as well as non-litigious questions were communicated to the Bureau. Japan, CeyIon, Burma, and Israel notified the Bureau during the year of their accessions to the 1947 convention; various other ratifications and accessions with reference to supplementary protocols and agreements were also communicated to the Bureau in 1949.

Third World Health Assembly

Delegates and observers from over 63 countries and territories, and observers from other specialized agencies of the United Nations and interested non-governmental organizations attended the Third World Health Assembly, which met in Geneva from May 8 to May 27, 1950. Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Minister of Health of India, was unanimously elected President of the Assembly, which discussed three main topics: the program for 1951, the budget and other financial questions, and constitutional questions.