Scandinavian American

"United Nations Should Be Truly Universal"-Osten Unden

NEW YORK. -The necessity of maintaining that unity of spirit and of action which alone can guarantee the peace of the world is perhaps the most important lesson to be drawn from our twenty years of Geneva experience, Östen Unden, Swedish Foreign Minister, who often represented his country in old League of Nations, said in his address before the United Nations General Assembly on September 19.

"No change of the Charter, no ingenious redrafting of paragraphs the practical application of which, as experience has shown, has often been unsatisfactory can replace the essential condition for peace, which is harmonious cooperation among the great powers."

Mr. Unden further called attention to the fact that the United Nations has from the beginning attained a higher degree of universality than the old League. He hoped, however, that the Assembly would try to apply this principle as fully as possible.

"The United Nations is meant to be a truly universal organization, a body fully representative of the whole world, and I think that we would act in the best and the most generous spirit of the Charter if we could agree to open the doors to all the nations now waiting for admission. Let us be generous. Generosity is essential in all human life and not least in international life."

The question of a more effective use of the services of the Secretariat was also raised by Sweden's spokesman.

"It seems to me that it would be a healthy sign of confidence if the Assembly would decide to recommend that the various Councils and Committees make greater use of the services of the Secretariat. In this connection, Mr. Unden paid a warm tribute to the late President Roosevelt, the "father of the United Nations." He recalled that President Roosevelt wanted to give the Secretariat-General of the U. N. the title of Moderator, in order to stress the exceptional importance of his high offices and the moderating and conciliating influence he has to exercise.