We offer to the President a most cordial and heartfelt welcome. He combines in his person qualities of integrity with the mental accomplishments of his illustrious race, which has produced so many politicians and writers. Ireland is a chapter to itself in the history of the world, one with which we in Spain have been associated for centuries; I might also say we have been accomplices. To this day there are to be seen in Spain some fine Irish houses — as they are commonly called — where, not long ago, were educated the sons of the green isle of saints, who were driven by the political turmoil of their times to seek refuge in our country, linked to theirs by so many bonds of religion and outlook. When, therefore, the Spanish delegation sees an eminent Irishman assume the presidency of the Assembly, we must greet him, not with reserved silence, but with warm affection.
2. Nor is the fact that an Irishman is presiding over the fifteenth General Assembly of purely formal significance; the Presidents country is an example of how, even in the face of age-old difficulties, a people with a true sense of nationhood not born of fantasy or of baseless agitation, may win through to its objectives and fulfil its high purposes in the world. It is a particularly relevant example today, when the representatives of several new nations, most of them African, have just taken their seats, nations raised to the higher status of independent countries by a continuing process which promises well for the future of mankind. This great event, rather than others which may seem more important or may cause more stir, will probably go down in history as the highlight of the fifteenth Session of the General Assembly.
3. The story of the peoples of the world is not yet a closed book. This meeting of the United Nations, attended by eminent Heads of State and important leaders of so many countries, bears a resemblance to the Congress of Vienna? — to different music and with a different score — in so far as history changes, which is in fact very little — a wider, less exalted. Congress of Vienna, in which the new countries, whose flags now fly. before our doors, are rightly occupying their places.
4. What could be more heartening to Spaniards and to others who, like us, believe that human development is divinely ordained and who share our firm and unshakable faith in the equality of all men and in their capacity to develop the same faculties and to achieve the same goals in life, than to see so many nations seated here today in this world forum of the United Nations?
5. We had, perhaps, become accustomed to a small ruling world, walled off from large sections of mankind living in areas remote from the centre of the stage. The monopoly of Europe, of the Congress of Vienna, lasted a long time. But now the world, politically (but not culturally) has become non-European and has taken over the stage. Countries of ancient civilization, those of Asia, formerly cut off from the ruling centre, have moved into the forefront. The American States, throughout most of the nineteenth century, were newly independent and more inclined to isolation than to participation in world affairs. But now they, together with the Asian and African peoples, are playing the predominant role in the making of history.
6. I should like to say — and even to dwell on the point a little — that, for Spain, this final emergence into the sunlight of world political life of these peoples who have acquired the status of new nations represents a moment of justice. An eminent British historian, Arnold Toynbee, whose opinions deserve attention, whatever one’s estimate of his work or even of the system underlying his work may be, wrote on 7 August 1960 in The New York Times magazine: “Among the Western Christian peoples, those that speak Spanish and Portuguese are conspicuously free from race consciousness. Is this a heritage of their Islamic past? For about 500 years the best part of the Iberian Peninsula was under Moslem rule. Islamic culture was at the time higher, and therefore more attractive, than the contemporary Western Christian culture. Consequently, the Christian subjects were deeply influenced by the culture of their Moslem rulers, and this cultural influence lasted after the Moslem rule in Spain and Portugal had passed away. "It is no accident, I believe, that those, Western peoples who have had the closest contact with Islam Should also be the Western peoples with the best record in the matter of race relations. "Anyway, the freedom of the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking peoples from race feeling is an unquestionable fact whatever its historical origins maybe." This is a complimentary opinion, and I am grateful for it as far as Spain it Concerned — Portugal has an authorized spokesman here who can speak for his country — and I think there is much truth in it.
7. I believe, however, that a different interpretation should be placed on Spanish motives from the one given by the British historian. It is true that the Spanish and the peoples of Spanish origin gained much — and I have made this very point both here and in the First Committee — from the culture and way of life of the Moslems during their centuries in the Iberian Peninsula. Things of beauty, moral qualities, spirited words incorporated in our language — these are the legacy of the tremendous conflict, which was followed by coexistence in many parts of Spain, and now there remain a cultural heritage of which we are proud, and a sentimental bond between us and the Arab and Moslem peoples as a whole, a bond of which we have been conscious here in the United Nations. But I do not believe that it was the Moslem conception of the equality of man which determined cur attitude to people of other races with whom we came in contact, as Toynbee says in the passage I have just read. That attitude was typical of, and innate in, the Spanish people when America was discovered — the great occasion on which our principles were put to the test — and the creative process, which might be described as colonial in the finest Roman sense of the term, was initiated by the first Spaniards transported to the continent recently discovered by Spain;, it was the Spanish instinct, the Spanish outlook, Christian, Catholic and filled with the humanity that is always alive in us, which revealed to us the equality of all men.
8. As early as the beginning of the sixteenth century. Father Montesinos, of the Order of Preachers, defended the rights of the Indians faced with Spanish settlement in America in the following words "Are they not men? Are they not rational souls?" Here, then, were the rights of man being served by the thought of the Spanish jurists and theologians of our golden age, and of other ages. I quote Domingo de Soto, whose words must be read in the light of his age and of his religion: "The Christian, sanctified by grace, does not possess an iota more natural right than the savage infidel, white or black." The great Spanish Dominican, Francisco de Vitoria, the father of international law, held that the Indians were the lawful owners of their lands and estates, that their princes and lords were legitimate rulers, and that other princes should respect them and not use their unbelief and their customs as a pretext for imposing domination over them. "War and conquest, therefore, are not legitimate, even though they refuse to believe, and persist in their unbelief and idolatrous practices", wrote Vitoria,
9. My distinguished colleague of the Madrid Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, Father Venancio D. Carro, of the same Order of Preachers as these great theologians and jurists, has written some excellent studies of the Spanish theologians and theologian-jurists and their views on the conquest of America, which I should like to see better known by cultured and experienced representatives of Spanish America, such as sit here. His work has been most useful to me in clarifying my ideas, which were too general and even confused, about this phase of Spanish thought and activity. "Neither in respect of Indians, nor of any other people, do the sins of the subject race give to foreign Powers the right of intervention," said Vitoria. "Provided no offence is committed against foreign and sovereign Powers, there is no justification for a war of conquest. The only cause for a just war is an offence by one people against another, which can be expiated only by arms, in cases where no higher authority can be invoked."
10. Remember that this was written early in the sixteenth century, and that it was Spanish thought which guided and enlightened governments and kings. Translated into the language of today, it is a complete indictment of those who, in the name of a more progressive way of life or of allegedly superior principles, conquer and occupy foreign territories or remain there contrary to justice and right. Take the idea further and you will find implicit in it the right of these peoples to form states. And does not the sense of a need for a higher authority to adjudicate among the nations, which emerges from Vitoria’s words, foreshadow world-wide international organizations such as the United Nations?
11. The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Argentina, the Chairman of his country's delegation, and Mr. Amadeo, the Argentine representative on the Security Council, have both recalled this Spanish sense of justice and have said that they count it part of their country’s moral debt to Spain. We thank them from our hearts.
12. Was the work done by Spain in America actually in keeping with these principles? Broadly, yes, in spite of some mishaps and acts of violence. We created about a score of nations of our tongue and culture by a fusion of races mingling with the indigenous population. When the peninsular Powers ceased to exercise their authority as rulers, they left behind their piety, their culture, their language, their love of beauty, their creative capacity and a generally recognized high standard of life. These qualities were absorbed and fabulously enriched in the development of the new countries, which today form one of the strongest bastions of the free world against barbarism.
13. The truth is that the Spanish forged not only new cultures but new men. Thus, a race, at once old and new, the mestizo, came into being and we are proud of this contribution to the improvement of mankind. Throughout our history we have produced mestizos, and ideas of racial purity have been, and still are, foreign to us. Felix culpa, if indeed it be a fault to give practical effect, here in our life on earth, to the eternal truth of the equality of man. And what I have said of the past still holds good today.
14. I would point out, in passing, that our Spanish past was not entirely American and, as is very well known, the same process occurred in other continents where the Spanish settled. The Spanish system and way of life persists today wherever Spaniards are found, Spaniards are equal whatever the colour of their skins in all continents. What a vital philosophy in contrast to the cold geometrical approach of those who would separate human beings and confine them to areas of land with purely geographical names!
15. It may seem surprising that I am dealing at such length with a topic that is apparently of no practical importance and far removed from our present preoccupations. It may be thought that I am simply trying to calm an atmosphere that sometimes becomes overheated, but that is not so, anxious though I am that it should become calmer and more serene. Some may be surprised that I should quote humanitarian and liberal friars of the sixteenth century in a debate on immediate and urgent matters. But my delegation believes that the words and the states of mind of peoples are a decisive factor in maintaining peace and the dignity of men. Our basic moral attitudes are sound and, as Toynbee recognized, they are reflected in the way of life of the new peoples the Spanish have brought into being. If reference is made to possible lapses, this must be our ultimate justification.
16. Despite such possible collapse, there will remain, to quote the eloquent words used in the debate by a man of our race and language, the distinguished President of Uruguay, Mr. Haedo: “a handful of free men who would survive the fearful catastrophe and raise again the banners of liberty, independence, and justice, under which all material progress and the amazing advances of science have been achieved, for they are the watchwords of God.” [875th meeting, para. 7] And there can be nothing more practical or pragmatical than these watchwords, the supreme guide of the peoples.
17. It would be idle to deny that the appearance of new peoples causes concern, and perhaps fear, to some. In every period of history men become accustomed to a particular political trend, and when time brings new developments, it is understandable that they should give rise to surprise and more than surprise. We had been accustomed to a fairly stable existence in the United Nations with an established distribution of votes, and now an unknown factor has appeared. But there is no cause for alarm, and I am confident that the spirit of the United Nations will be little changed.
18. We must have faith in the ability of mankind at large to act as the circumstances require; we must not cheat it, for the benefit of the entrenched minority, of its legitimate right of participation. To the Spanish people, whose civilization is essentially Christian, such lack of confidence in the potentialities of man is not Christian. For us, with this spiritual conviction, there are no masses; the multitudes are not a dark mass nor a crowd in the background of a picture, but the sum total of individuals. In improving the lot of these individuals, we believe that we shall be improving the political situation as a whole. The responsibility for this task cannot remain for ever in the same hands. As man, created by God, grows and rises ever higher, new and more complete projections of His will and His purposes are needed, and these will follow from the participation of the new actors on the stage of history in the most responsible activities.
19. The recently established countries will certainly be subject to the temptations of organized demagogy in its present communist form. They will hear enticing speeches, full of violence, real oratorical intoxicants, designed to divert them from collaboration with the other free peoples of the world. Their good sense will show them the extreme self-interest of these proposals, as dangerous to them as they have been to others, and basically insulting to their natural ability and experience of life, they are capable of resisting the sterile and deceptive blandishments of revolutionaries.
20. To address the former colonial peoples in this somewhat extravagant style is to treat them as infantile, which, thank God, they are not. Bet not the tempters deceive themselves; if, at some stage in the process of emancipation, these peoples show weakness or seek the help of Chose who, in contrast to the Western countries, seem to be helping them, this is a mere accident, a slip by the way. In view of their moral integrity and of the helpful attitude of the former colonial Powers, they will, we are sure, come to occupy a position of freedom and respect for international law in keeping with their highest qualities.
21. World politics today are dominated by concern for material progress, which is also spiritual improvement, since it gives man the means of self-perfection. We have not always recognized this. The representative of Panama has said in this debate [876th meeting], in plain words of which we should take note, that poverty in these days is an injustice, and that the reasons traditionally given for its inevitability are no longer valid. This is a sound comment.
22. It is the duty of the more advanced and wealthier nations to assist the poorer ones and it is only fair to say that they are doing so to a very considerable degree. I certainly noticed, in the statistics cited before the Assembly [877th meeting] by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, that the Soviet countries are doing so much less than the others. The large loans granted by the United States, economically the most powerful nation in the world, and the help it gives to those in need, have shown the way and have helped to improve or rebuild the lives of other peoples after periods of crisis. When the time for polemics has passed, it will remain one of the fine and comforting signs of conscience in our day. I have already had the honour of telling the Assembly with what unconcerned frankness our delegation dares to praise the work of the powerful nations, not caring whether what it regards as a just tribute and enlightenment for the future may be considered by some to be adulation.
23. That sense of world responsibility on the part of those who, after all, attained their advanced economy and high standard of living through their own efforts, must spread throughout the international organizations and be one of their major concerns. Spain, midway in economic development between the present-day industrial countries and those that are relatively backward, has also experienced such assistance and is eager to express its gratitude, I myself cannot forget the $62.5 million voted ten years ago, when I was Spanish Ambassador to the United States, by the Congress in Washington under the Mutual Security Programme to assist Spain in solving its economic problems. After that, further large sums were allocated to us, as also to other countries of the world, particularly the European countries. We found relief from our always troublesome economic problems and today we can present a distinctly satisfactory picture of progressive accomplishments. It is only right to express our gratitude for this and I recall with emotion the words of the eminent senators who voted at that time to authorize economic aid, which was then continued by the United States Government and Congress. It is our wish that the specific example to which I have referred, as also similar efforts which have been made on a much larger scale in other countries, should be known to everyone and should promote further results of the same kind. These programmes of world economic assistance are obviously designed to promote peace and prevent subversion. That object does not detract from the gratitude of those who have received aid and have no reason to conceal that fact.
24. To those countries which have long been Members of the United Nations and to those recently admitted to membership, the world presents a spectacle that is very far from reassuring. To us, the world appears to be divided into two great blocs with different political objectives; at any moment, through any careless act, the conflict between them may erupt into a universal cataclysm of incalculable dimensions. How well Dr. Beladnde, the former President of the General Assembly, expressed it when he spoke of the huge Swiss glaciers, where a vibration or the echo of a voice is enough to unleash an avalanche, and with it catastrophe!
25. That may happen. Let us not, with more dry logic than humanity, think that fear of such overwhelming evils may prevent the impassioned clash of war. Back in 1939 — how well I remember it — the danger and the destructive capacity of the machinery of war were tremendous. The risk was apparent at that time and even if it was perhaps slow in making itself felt, the possibility was recognized from the very day that war broke out. In 1939, at the beginning of the war, we were protecting our buildings with simple sandbags and, armed with gas-masks, we who lived in the various threatened capitals went about in dread of the conclusion, essentially the same as that which we now anticipate, the possible total destruction of all that we personally care for. Yet the military preparations did not cease on that account, nor did the nations hold back from the final breaking-point of war. Why should the same thing not happen today, if a tremor in the glacier, an accident, can provoke cosmic catastrophe? No, we do not place complete confidence in the fear of peril, since mankind in its folly has overcome that fear many times.
26. Our delegation considers that nothing can do so much to prevent war as the strengthening, with full support and co-operation, of that one of the contending groups which is animated by a desire for peace; whose resistance, already put to the test, has so far prevented violence; and whose superiority will, we trust, be able to make violence impossible in the, future as well. In saying this, we are thinking of the so-called Western group, which, spread over several continents, is armed, thank God, with all the necessary weapons of war to ensure respect and success for its designs for peace. My delegation considers it bad policy to vacillate between one group and the other, or to be remiss or hesitant in doing, each one of us; what we can to support the peace-loving group. It was once said: whosoever is not with me is against me. When we lack decisive strength of our own, the only way in which we can help to avert those dangers which may perhaps destroy the human race is to show full confidence in those who serve our cause and to assist them with the means at our command, whether they be bases — I stress bases since we in Spain have honourably and satisfactory obligations in that respect— or any form of military preparations or other specific measures that may be indicated.
27. In our view, simply to leave any doubt about our enthusiastic adherence to the great force defending world order and peace is harmful to the peaceful aims we pursue. For the very reason that we respect the intentions of the neutralist countries — we have many excellent friends among the countries that are so called — and appreciate the special situation in which many of them find themselves, and that they too may have the same peaceful aims as our country and our delegation — we say this with deliberate plainness, as one should in speaking to friends — we respond more readily to the appeal of the Powers who stand for good than to the appeal of the powerless neutralists.
28. The opposing group, that of the Soviet, today represents the only threat to world peace. At Ibis very time, we have seen how, in the Congo (Leopoldville), that group has unleashed a campaign to discredit the world organization, the skilful work of the Secretariat and the combined and capable intervention of neutral armed forces. What is even more disturbing, we have witnessed the imperialistic sending of agents of the Soviet Powers to split the country and deliver it into the hands of the oppressors. The United Nations reacted well in its votes; in particular, the attitude of the African-Asian nations has been a lesson in judgement and responsibility, which fully justifies my optimism, as a Spaniard, in welcoming them here fraternally. But the danger of Soviet imperialism is not restricted to Africa; it is beginning in Europe itself. We Europeans may have sinned in the colonial past, but we are paying for it now in full measure with the Soviet colonization of Europe. There can be no clearer case of the infringement of the historical rights of a country than the occupation of East Germany, which divides one of the oldest and best defined nationalities on earth into two. And there are threats to Berlin; they have been made known here upon the highest authority. The fate of the Baltic countries, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, still cries out to the heavens. And what about Hungary? We cannot rise to speak in the United Nations without remembering, in the midst of so many earlier achievements, that grievous Hungarian misfortune, which we do not regard unmoved, even though normal caution and the fear of unleashing immeasurable evils may prevent the adoption of decisive measures.
29. The United Nations Representative on Hungary, Sir Leslie Munro, former President of the General Assembly, has not yet succeeded in entering Hungary, which is occupied by Soviet troops. When we see him talking through these corridors and consider the obstacles to that journey, which is normally not unduly difficult, we cannot say that the European world has regained its freedom and its non-colonial status. We think, too, in face of the wave of Soviet violence, of the Tibetan affair. We have already mentioned the Congo.
30. Nevertheless, our view of the possibilities for peace is not pessimistic. We believe peace is possible, even with political forces so incapable of inspiring us with confidence as the Soviet world led by the USSR, We are speaking in a purely political sense and with the respect which we owe to all its representatives and institutions. The internal principles of the Soviet system, its organization and its history have never concerned us from the international point of view; As many speakers have urged, it should be one of the principles of United Nations procedure to refrain from statements implying moral meddling, still less sharp criticism, and least of all any direct or indirect action with regard to the internal political systems of any nation. There we join hands with countries as different as Brazil and Yugoslavia, whose opinions on this point we support. It was with sincere emotion and intellectual assent that we listened to much of the eloquent and well-informed speech of the eminent Head of State of Indonesia [880th meeting], Indeed, there is nothing more wearisome than dogmatic assertions concerning the systems which each country has adopted in accordance with its history and requirements, or definitions, by inclusion or exclusion, of such systems. Let us, like President Sukarno, reserve the right to political originality, without foolish acquiescence, which is sometimes purely superficial and intended to flatter. The Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs expressed this point very ably at a private meeting of Members of Parliament in London this summer. Therefore, let the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the countries associated with it continue under a system which we disregard except to pay it all due international respect.
31. It is their proselytizing activities outside their borders, their eager intervention in the politics of other nations, their imperialist ambition and their lack of scruple in using violence far beyond their own borders and in imposing their power indirectly, through infiltration, that make us suspect their public action. It is that that leads us to unite with those who defend the Western cause and to mistrust the appeals of the neutralists, despite our great regard for them. Such appeals are more to be feared by the Western Powers, which are joined together voluntarily in a world of order and freedom and are not bound, as are; those of the other group, by the rigid relationship of subjugation to a dominant country. IE those who freely support the West weaken, the hour of peace will be delayed and its attainment and maintenance may be seriously endangered.
32. Nervous appeals for conciliation strengthen the aggressor countries and, by placing them on the same moral plane as others, add to their stature and influence. As people who do not belong to that exalted brotherhood, we find — and I say this with due respect for contrary opinions — this idea of relinquishing our duties and going as defenceless suppliants to the powerful countries, asking them to be good and condescending in return, somewhat humiliating. I am well aware that some of the most war-hardened and indomitable peoples on earth, whose heroism we have always respected, are following that path. But we think they are mistaken; we are not prepared to relinquish our rights and duties, to efface ourselves and to hand over life itself and its problems to gatherings of powerful countries. Nor do we think we can appeal to these overbearing conquerors with cries and lamentations. It would not seem fitting to us that Members of the United Nations, which have obligations with respect to all problems, should wash their hands of these problems or delegate them. Here no one can be neutral with respect to any problem; we must think, act and decide on all problems according to well-considered standards.
33. When we review our country’s position, we find its attitude towards neutralism irreproachable, and we have no desire to change or modify it. For instance, we are a nation of Europe and sometimes Europeanism is spoken of as a distinct or special force within the Western defences against communism. What do we think of it? If Europeanism means a belief in the unity of our European civilization and a desire to strengthen its might in unity with that of other countries inspired by the desire for peace and freedom; if it means making more effective and coherent the will to resist of 250 million free Europeans , many of them at a high economic and, in particular, industrial level, with great traditions and stability in the service of political causes, sharing common frontiers, moreover, with the Bolshevist nations, then the strengthening of Europeanism seems to us reasonable and useful. We should not find Europeanism so attractive if it were merely used to provincialize the great civilized resistance, to give it local colour and to weaken Western unity, even with thought and concern.
34. An excessive emphasis on Europeanism may conceal the resurgence of local preferences of parts of the old continent, preferences based on a long history which has been both glorious and harsh. The cooperation of Europe and America, above all, and of other countries from different areas — as f will undoubtedly be the case with the new countries — is too fortunate a circumstance to be jeopardized by such exercises. The world, threatened since 1945 with destruction as a free and civilized entity, has been saved by the unity of America and Europe, A common culture unites the two continents. The differences are slight, and the extent of agreement on objectives and similarity of outlook is almost unlimited. It is a fact, moreover, that the strength throughout these last fifteen years has resided, and still resides, particularly in the American continent and it has been used to contain aggression and to preserve the peace,
35. We Europeans are wont to cherish some pretension of greater diplomatic maturity and to ascribe to ourselves the wisdom of Nestor, born of time and experience. I doubt whether there is any truth in this. All nations are responsible for the violent events of the last five decades; no special American responsibility is apparent in them, nor has the experience of Europe helped to avert them. Let us Europeans, then, give up the illusion that we are better experts in international affairs and devote ourselves with all our hopes to this unity, which one day will be the unify of the whole world.
36. Nothing that we have said excludes the desire for peace and for agreement. On these points we feel as do all other delegations. Who can want anything else? Who can love violence for the sake of violence and reject the use of specific measures to prevent it? To recognize the enemy in a war, including a cold war, and to ascertain his intentions is the principle of wise strategy and, at the same time, the only basis on which peace, even a cold peace, can be established. We want a guaranteed and solid agreement, with adequate precautionary provisions to make it durable and effective. There is usually more bargaining and negotiating between nations which are competing and seeking the same objects, which do not like each other and have fought for a long time, than there is between close friends. Why then should we delude ourselves about others? Why should we misrepresent a bitten reality as a sentimental comedy? To speak of disarmament without control is to misrepresent the problem and to give free scope to preparations for violence on the part of countries which find it convenient to prevent the world observing their movements.
37. I have confidence in the result of this harsh procedure. I believe that, after many disillusions and under the confused pressure of universal discontent, the Soviet leaders, like others in history who were driven by similar impulses to threats and fury, will finally give up their aggressive intentions and will concentrate happily on their own national affairs and on improving idle lot of their people, instead of thinking constantly of violence. Their authorized representatives are sitting with us today. We listen to them with all due respect, in the hope — for they are human, like the rest of us — that they will soften as a result of contact with others, when they discover better qualities than they had expected in the other peoples sitting with them in the General Assembly Hall.
38. This time the Soviet leaders came in quite a spectacular manner, looking rather like a naval expedition, in a ship filled with doctrinal theses and important men of their group, and they cast anchor on the democratic banks of the Hudson. As a Spaniard, with a strong sense. of history, I could not help thinking — it was not the pleasantest of thoughts, but I have such faith in the history of my country that gloomy memories do not affright me — of the "Invincible Armada" which Philip II once sent on a warlike mission which I need not describe. I saw the Baltika as a great galleon in that fleet and, thinking of the Armada, I reflected how fate cheats such arrogant ventures of success. I hope this reminder will be some consolation to those who fail to take a foreign shore by storm. Such misadventures can be followed by useful lives and valuable reconciliations. Perhaps — and I say this with all respect and consideration — God will touch the hearts of the aggressors against mankind.
39. From time to time unexpected signs appear. They are probably irrational — "There are more things in Heaven and earth, Horatio...", as Shakespeare said — but who knows whether those signs may not have some meaning which is beyond our powers of observation? I say this because, in yesterday morning’s debate, I heard with emotion some beautiful words on sowing the seeds of peace: "The young shoots", it was said, "may encounter drought, storms and hurricanes. And it may even happen that some of these seeds will simply fall on stony ground." [882nd meeting, para. 61] And the speaker added that some of the seeds would grow and develop into the tree of life. But, I thought to myself, is this not the parable of the sower in the Christian Gospel, a little changed, of course — to make it more optimistic, but on the same lines and even in the very words of the sacred text?
40. I turned at once to the Gospel according to St. Luke and in chapter 8, verses 6 to 8,1 found the following, in the parable of the sower: "And some [of the seed] fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground" and these are the seeds which will grow and flourish and develop into the tree of life. Then the Evangelist explained that the good ground was those who, having heard the word of God, kept it and brought forth fruit with patience.
41. I was impressed by the similarity of ideas and I must say that this quotation from the Gospel, introduced into our debate for a solemn purpose, was not in the speech of a representative whose religious beliefs or practices would have led one to expect such a quotation. It was, and it appears in the records, in the speech made by the Chairman of the delegation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
42. It seemed, I thought, as if a Christian subconscious — not surprising considering the religious tradition of his country. Holy Russia — had led him to seek inspiration in the Gospel, though he did not mention the source. I have given the text and the chapter and verse. It is a paradox that this is the only quotation from the Gospel which I have heard in the debate. Only one representative, speaking my own language — although much more eloquently and at far greater length — began a quotation of the same kind but he quickly cut it short. It was the Soviet delegation which quoted the Gospel. Let us therefore seize on this good sign. It is certainly very different from other anti-religious declarations which have sometimes come from the same source, but which, we like to believe, considering the great authentic heritage of centuries of Christianity, are only the last vestiges of the Voltairian attitude which is so typical of bourgeois civilization, which the Soviet leaders themselves have not yet been able to shake off.
43. No organization is as well placed to produce these happy results as the United Nations, with its very special position — due largely to its most discerning Secretary-General — whom we warmly admire and sincerely support. The United Nations oscillates between authority and advice on the one hand — and, oh the other, the vision of the abyss into which we shall fall if we do not make use of this mechanism, which is often unique and irreplaceable. Our delegation has complete faith in the United Nations. It is a body made for lofty tasks, scrupulously respecting the sovereignly of its Members, as established by the Charter, and not an instrument to be used in settling petty quarrels, which are beneath it. When we speak of armament and disarmament, let us not be discouraged by the weakness of those who are not armed and who can make little direct contribution to the task. Enthusiasm, resolution and the spirit of sacrifice for a cause are also useful weapons.
44. The Soviet hurricane we are experiencing these days, and to which I referred earlier, is like those which are now baptized with proper names and it might well be given one. It is trying to sweep away the United Nations, under the pretext of eliminating its Secretary-General, Until this imperialist storm dies down, as I hope it will, in a return to Christianity, perhaps already foreshadowed, the United Nations must inevitably be an organ standing for the respect and protection of law. The emancipated peoples owe so much to the Secretary-General that he must of necessity be the target for any attack by those who at present stand for violence. As the Assembly has shown several times by its warm applause, it is our duty to support and sustain our Secretary-General in this struggle, in which there can be no compromise solution, and not to go into more or less technical questions of organization, which are only a cover for very definite and dangerous purposes.
45. In this survey of the situation I should like to say how much we are reassured by the position of those who, like the President of the United States, now have at their disposal the greatest strength, fortunately on the side of justice. In this hall we have heard President Eisenhower’s speech [868th meeting] containing straightforward and impressive offers of peace, of the abandonment of nuclear weapons and of the use of outer space for peaceful purposes alone. For all these he offered firm, unquestionable international, guarantees, which could be supervised by all and in the application of which the United Nations would play an important part. The President offered to begin the task of financing the new Africa and to help the United Nations forces to maintain the freedom of the African peoples. In another region, that of outer space, we may say that he has literally renounced national sovereignty, warlike activity and the means of destruction, and has invited international co-operation in using it for meteorological purposes and for communications. The President plainly proposed an agreement for complete disarmament. He proposed that the scientists of the nuclear Powers should stop producing nuclear weapons and should dispose of their stocks of fissionable materials, which his country is prepared to transfer to an international stockpile. The President also asked, in the clearest terms, for effective and reciprocal international inspection. Secrecy, he said, is not only an anachronism — it is downright dangerous. President Eisenhower, does not call for a super-State — but for a community. What more can we say, if we have nothing but our fervent approval and our good wishes to offer? Let us give them sincerely, and let us hope that grace will move all of us to cooperate for the common purpose, for which the peoples long so eagerly. Let there be no more hasty meetings, which imply a certain injustice and coercion towards those who now defend the cause of order.
46. These words of the President of the United States and their full endorsement in the speech by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom [877th meeting] have so far been the most encouraging incidents in the fifteenth session of the General Assembly and allow us to face its future with optimism.
47. We Spaniards have greeted the new countries of the United Nations with high hopes, as indeed — and I say this with no false modesty — our history entitles us to do. May they begin their work by joining in this enterprise and may they be united in the common effort for improvement. As I said before, we are living in an age which is alive to the need to struggle against human poverty, backwardness and degradation. This public concern represents one of the advances of our age. Let us all join in this noble struggle, even those of us whose means are more limited. Let us do what has to be done and make whatever sacrifices maybe necessary. The new countries can be given economic and cultural aid. As several speakers, including the President of the United States, have Said here, the essential instrument for the life of a State is a trained civil service. Spain can provide this by means of its School of Administrative Experts and Civil Service Training, through the United Nations Programmes of Technical Co-operation, and we have the advantage in regard to Africa, of knowing the continent and having some affinities with the African temperament.
48. We think that the question of technical assistance, with which many delegations have dealt here, is of particular importance. Economic aid would be of little use if it did not, at the same time, go to the root cause of this state of under-development from which the world still suffers — namely, the lack of administrative and executive officers properly trained to promote economic and social progress.
49. Spain is not rich in material resources, but it has a glorious tradition of education which it is happy to offer to all peoples, especially to its brothers in Spanish America and the Arab world, to whom it feels bound by the closest ties. Spain is ready to cooperate actively in the United Nations Programmes of Technical Co-operation.
50. Let us co-operate in everyway, to show our gratitude for the help we are receiving, both from the powerful nation which is responsible for this action — Spain had occasion to draw attention to it in the Economic and Social Council — and from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. I mention this as a specific example, since this body, in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, is helping with the process of stabilization which is being carried out so successfully in Spain. Among so many generalizations, you must forgive me if I cite a specific example, which is very important for my country.
51. I have spoken in generalizations, but man lives by generalizations. In this very hall we are affected by currents of thought and doctrine, by principles and philosophies. We are not afraid — through any false concern with immediate results and dry utilitarianism — to pass beyond these things to whatever lies beyond and above immediate experience and governs the development of national life, leading nations to obey the dictates of justice and to avoid aberrations. Which, as history shows us, are always punished. On the contrary, let us boldly take the higher way in this great experiment, carried on through so many practical, executive bodies but inspired primarily by idealism, which is the United Nations.