I have already had occasion to congratulate the President during my previous intervention [686th meeting]. I will now add to what I said then, if I may, that we are indeed fortunate to be entering upon the twelfth year of our work under his guidance and widely respected ability.
95. At the close of the eleventh session of the General Assembly, we were already a great family of eighty-one nations, the greatest ever known in the world’s history. On 17 September 1957, we welcomed yet another Member, the Federation of Malaya. The Ethiopian delegation extends a warm welcome to our most recent Member, and we are confident that its contribution will strengthen our efforts for peace and security.
96. The growth in membership is in itself proof of the accomplishments of the decade which has followed the birth of the United Nations. It is also a recognition of the service that the Organization has rendered in advancing the cause of world peace and the liberation of a large portion of mankind. Thanks to the efforts of this Organization and thanks also to the co-operation it has received from some of its worthy Members, we have in recent years had occasion to congratulate, year after year, the new nations that have risen to the status of sovereign States and have joined us in this world forum. The Government of the United Kingdom and its great people deserve to be commended on the results so far achieved in this field.
97. Furthermore, my delegation is happy to note that the vast emancipation which is nearly accomplished in the continent of Asia is now at work in our continent of Africa. It is with gratification and joy that we are witnessing the rise of African nations, one after another, into sovereign entities. Yet, although a good beginning has been made, there still remains a vast work of liberation to be achieved in Africa. There is no other continent where so many nations are still subjected to colonial rule. The African people who are still under foreign domination are anxiously awaiting the fulfilment of the promises of the Charter for themselves. We therefore urge the United Nations to accelerate further the process of liberation in Africa. For our part, we will do everything we can to help the cause of freedom.
98. The principal problem before this session is undoubtedly the problem of disarmament. My Government’s views on the perennial problem of disarmament are well known. Although we have always recognized the difficulties, we confess we have not grown accustomed over the last decade to the apparently permanent deadlock on disarmament proposals which has existed in the relevant United Nations organs. It is sometimes claimed that disarmament is difficult to achieve until a political settlement has been reached upon some of the important problems which divide the nations today. The technical arguments by which the discussions on disarmament are so often clouded seem to suggest that a correlation exists between disarmament and political settlement. On the other hand, there are some who hold the view that disarmament in itself is a road to political settlement.
99. The achievement of disarmament is too big a stake for humanity to be enclosed in a vicious circle. We believe the time has come when the United Nations should make every effort again in order to find a new approach to the problem of disarmament. If disarmament appears to be contingent on a degree of political settlement, it will be worth while to work on both sides of the board.
100. As regards so colossal a matter, which mainly concerns two formidable Powers, a small nation such as my own has but little influence upon the course of action. Yet we are mindful that no nation, great or small, powerful or weak, can pride itself on being free from the deadly danger of atomic holocaust. Long ago it was said that peace was indivisible; in our atomic age destruction has become equally indivisible. We are therefore hopeful that the increasing pressure of popular opinion among all the peoples represented in the Assembly will be heard in this year's discussions. My Government nourishes the ardent hope that the coming years may make it possible to devote a much smaller part of the budget of Member States to national defence. Apart from the danger with which the armaments race is fraught, this heavy burden of expenditure on arms is a wearisome charge upon each Member's programme of social, economic and educational development. Moreover, my Government is fully aware of the possibilities that would result from the decrease of defence expenditure on the part of the capital-exporting countries in opening up new programmes of cooperation in economic development and assistance.
101. In this connexion my delegation noted with interest the summary statement in the introduction to the Secretary-General's annual report [A/3594/Add.l] extracted from the World Economic Survey, 1956, regarding the uneven rates of economic development in different parts of the world. The need for more rapid economic development in the less developed regions of the world is recognized, and the Secretary-General well states that it will be necessary to redouble the efforts of all concerned.
102. The emergence of the International Finance Corporation under its clarified status as a new and important factor in international commercial and financial affairs is a matter of great satisfaction to my Government, and the future of the corporation will be followed with close interest. My delegation likewise welcomes the establishment of the International Atomic Energy Agency, with its great promise for the future.
103. The delegation of Ethiopia would also express its appreciation of the Secretary-General's reiteration, in his annual report, of the importance of the universal acceptance of international law and his statement that "in the present state of international society there are many disputes which would be closer to settlement if the legal issues involved had been the subject of judicial determination" [A/3594/Add.1, p. 5] in this connexion, my delegation would express its concurrence with the view expressed by the representative of Denmark from this rostrum at the tenth session of the General Assembly, when he noted the "tendency to seek a political settlement, even in cases where a conflict stems from questions of law", and added that "reaching settlements of as many matters as possible on principles of law [will] in the long run ... safeguard, not threaten, the freedom and independence of national States" [526th meeting, para. 102].
104. My delegation is fully aware that differences or disputes are sometimes best subjected to political settlement, but we consider that the proper use of legal procedures is frequently ignored, to the disadvantage of a truly acceptable settlement. In the language of the Charter itself, our objective is the establishment of "conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained".
105. In an effort to curtail my remarks and at the same time to contribute usefully to the general debate, I have mentioned but a few of the many and often familiar items on our agenda. But any review, complete or incomplete, would leave my delegation with a feeling of measured optimism and of confidence that, in a spirit of accommodation and with an earnest effort at comprehension, our work at the twelfth session will go forward steadily and faithfully under God's blessing.