It will always be a source of the deepest satisfaction to us that this forum of world opinion affords us an opportunity to hear the views of all the peoples of the world expressed by their representatives.
53. Size is of no account; nor are natural differences in regard to territory, population or wealth. States are legally equal. More than anything else, they are equal in their sacred right of freedom of expression, their unrestricted freedom to make known their views on specific matters included in the agenda and on the general principles laid down in the Charter.
54. There is no doubt that, where the complex problems of world policy are concerned, the enormous responsibility of promoting, establishing and maintaining international peace and security with the least possible diversion of the world's human and economic resources to armaments rests primarily with the five Powers specifically mentioned in the Charter.
55. But the remaining seventy-seven States, both medium-sized and small, which are as deeply aware of their fundamental duties as Members of the Organization as are the five great Powers, can also co-operate effectively in the achievement of these ends. In fact, their co-operation will be more substantial if they take collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace; if they bring about, by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, the adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace; if they achieve international co-operation in solving common problems of an economic, social, cultural or humanitarian character and promote and encourage respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all.
56. Apart from co-operation of this kind, which is implicit in the fulfilment of what may, since they are laid down in the Charter, be described as the legal duties of Members, there are other duties of a purely moral character, which, of necessity, provide the essential foundation for all enduring human achievements. Although moral principles are more easily and generally applied in relations between individuals, they have an equally important part to play in the proper conduct of international affairs.
57. Good faith, the dignity and worth of the human person, a belief in justice, respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law, tolerance, peaceful and good-neighbourly relations, are some of the moral concepts which, although they are repeated with monotonous regularity in speeches, in diplomatic notes, and in treaties, conventions and international instruments, are certainly not always properly interpreted or applied; in practice they are often distorted or disdained and are sometimes used as a cover for outright propaganda.
58. Anyone listening to some statements might suppose that the international policy of the State on whose behalf they were being made was beyond reproach, and that tensions and disagreements were due to the behaviour of others. It is the old story of unwillingness to admit one's faults or to accept one's responsibilities. The danger of a new war is so appalling that it is imperative that each State should sit in judgement on its own actions and recognize and correct its own errors if there is to be any hope of a fair and reasonable understanding.
59. It has been said time and time again, and history has confirmed, that none of the great problems of mankind has been settled by war, and there is even less likelihood of any problems being satisfactorily settled by a war waged with modern weapons of mass destruction. The logical inference is that we must lose no time in solving the thorny problem of disarmament.
60. My delegation trusts that moral forces will prevail over material forces. It will be possible for the small Stales to make a fuller and more constructive contribution in a world which is completely and whole-heartedly dedicated to the great cause of peace. It is of no consequence if this attitude is dismissed as visionary or idealistic or described by any other name. If these ideas take root and are cultivated in the minds of the majority of representatives, if not of all, I believe that a satisfactory agreement may not be long delayed.
61. I should now like to make a few references to my country, which may be of interest to the Assembly.
62. By a happy coincidence, Honduras is to-day commemorating the anniversary of the birth in Tegucigalpa of the great statesman and reformer, General Francisco Morazán, who was for ten years President of the Federal Republic of Central America, consisting of the States which are now the independent republics of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. His revolutionary achievements cut across the frontiers of Central America, and his political and military activities fill the finest pages of nearly a quarter of a century of Central American history.
63. He died a martyr's death, and he is the symbol of Central American unity. I pay this brief tribute to his memory as an expression of our admiration and gratitude for his achievements and ideals.
64. Those ideals are perhaps now being realized in such bodies as the Organization of Central American States and the programme for the economic integration of Central America.
65. Owing to a defect in the Constitution which governed the country, there was a temporary break in the normal functioning of our democratic institutions, and the people of Honduras were without a Legislative Congress from 5 December 1954; but the situation was recently remedied, to the general satisfaction, by the election on 22 September 1957 of deputies to a National Constituent Assembly, which is to meet on 21 October.
66. Impartial critics in the Honduran and foreign Press have commented favourably on the conduct of the elections and on the results; the elections were completely free and honest, a fact which is greatly to the credit of the country and the military junta which rales it. The system of proportional representation, which has been applied for the first time in Honduras, will make it possible for the three contesting parties to be represented in the Assembly according to the actual numbers of men and women voting for them.
67. Honduras has, throughout its life as an independent State, striven scrupulously to observe the rules and principles of international law, even before they were incorporated in positive law in the form of law-making treaties such as the Charter of the United Nations, the Charter of the Organization of American States and other legal instruments of an international character or relating to the Pan-American regional system. In particular, it has tried to fulfil in good faith its obligations under treaties, conventions, arbitral awards and other international undertakings. I shall cite two examples out of many.
68. On 7 October 1894, Honduras concluded a treaty with Nicaragua with a view to achieving a friendly and final demarcation of their common frontier. The treaty provides for direct negotiations and also contains a solemn undertaking to have recourse to arbitration if agreement is impossible. Under the treaty, which is in full force, a mixed commission is at the present time demarcating the line which was agreed on in direct negotiations and which runs from the Gulf of Fonseca, in the Pacific Ocean, to a point called Teotecacintef and no difficulties have arisen. The remainder of the dividing line was settled by the award made on 23 December 1906 by His Majesty Alfonso XIII, King of Spain, whom the two parties had pleasure in appointing as arbitrator.
69. No one reading the award can fail to re cognize its high legal value. The parties were represented by two eminent Spanish lawyers of international standing Mr. Antonio Maura, who presented his submissions first, on behalf of Nicaragua, and Mr. Francisco Silvela, who acted for Honduras. The immediate basis of the award, and a solid guarantee of its thoroughness, correctness and wisdom, was a careful and detailed report by the investigating committee appointed by royal decree which analysed in detail the arguments of the parties, the evidence produced and the opinions of the plenary Council of State and Council of Ministers. A clause of the agreement to arbitrate provides that the award shall have the character of a treaty duly concluded and binding on the High Contracting Parties for all time, and that there shall be no appeal.
70. On receiving the award, the Presidents of the two countries exchanged warm congratulatory telegrams on the final settlement of the dispute. Both the Nicaraguan and the Honduran legislatures approved the reports on the matter submitted to them.
71. Six years later, when Honduras proposed that the parties should proceed jointly to demarcate the small section of the line established which was not a natural boundary, Nicaragua raised its first objection and has thus far refused to comply with the award.
72. Because of the disputes and even, as in April 1957, of the armed clashes which have arisen in consequence of this irregular position, the Council of the Organization of American States intervened at the request of the two parties and acted as a provisional consultative body in accordance with the terms of the 1947 Treaty of Mutual Assistance.
73. Both Governments, respecting the effective machinery of the inter-American system, undertook in the agreement signed in Washington on 21 July 1957 by the Foreign Ministers of the two countries to submit the case to the International Court of Justice. In view of its sound legal and moral position, and having regard to the great prestige of the Court, the absence of any factors which are not strictly legal in character and the high moral and intellectual standing of the judges of the Court, Honduras awaits with complete confidence the Court’s decision, which will be of importance both as providing a just settlement of the issues in question and as a verdict which will substantially affect the status of international arbitration as an institution.
74. My second example relates to the final settlement of the boundary between Honduras and Guatemala by an arbitration award given in Washington on 2 3 January 1933. Both parties respected the award, although it did not satisfy their respective claims, and appointed a mixed commission to comply with it.
75. My delegation would be failing in its duty if it did not mention some of the many benefits which Honduras has received as a founding Member of the United Nations. I shall refer only to the economic and social fields, about which I can speak with some personal knowledge, having served as Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance from 1949 to 1954 under the presidency of Mr. Juan Manuel Gálvez.
76. During that period, the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development provided us with technical assistance in the establishment of the Central Bank of Honduras and the National Development Bank, both of which have been outstandingly successful in their seven years of operation.
77. The programme sponsored by the Economic Commission for Latin America [ECLA] for the economic integration of Central America took its first vigorous step towards realization with the first meeting of the Central American Economic Co-operation Committee at Tegucigalpa in 1952. Various basic studies and projects were put in hand, and some of them have already reached the stage of practical achievement. I may mention the College of Public Administration at San José, Costa Rica, with four years of outstanding work to its credit, and the Central American Institute for Research and Industrial Technology in Guatemala, which is also doing effective work. It is hoped that the preliminary work which has been done in connexion with the establishment of a pulp and paper factory in Honduras will be carried forward to a successful conclusion.
78. Among other fruits of the programme are many studies on the industrial possibilities of various materials, the adoption of a uniform tariff nomenclature, the trend towards uniform customs duties, the conclusion of bilateral trade agreements between most of the Central American countries and the recommendation that their Governments should approve a draft multilateral convention providing for free trade and economic integration and a draft concerning Central American industrial integration.
79. Apart from ECLA, the Fund and the Bank, my country has also benefited from the work of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the International Labour Organisation and the International Civil Aviation Organization. To all these, and to the United Nations as a whole we express our gratitude and appreciation.
80. During the ensuing deliberations of this Assembly, my delegation will do its utmost to make its modest contribution to the examination and solution of the questions before us.
81. In conclusion, I should like to make an invocation and an exhortation: an invocation to the Supreme Being that he may guide our leaders in their thoughts and acts towards the establishment of a peace free from qualifications and threats, the corollary of genuine disarmament, and an exhortation to all the peoples of the world through their representatives in this Assembly to co-operate in harmony and concord in the great crusade for peace.