The many speakers who have preceded me at this rostrum have expressed their satisfaction at the election of so able a chairman as yourself, Mr. President, to preside at this session of the General Assembly. In voting for you, representatives were, not simply expressing their friendship — a sentiment that is as precious as it is fragile and which is alas too often but the spontaneous or impulsive reaction of the human heart. Their choice was a deliberate one, made in the light of your distinguished record of achievement.
2. This session is unique, one of the most outstanding in the annals of international life, and my delegation believes that the person entrusted with the heavy responsibility of presiding over its deliberations must possess the qualities of patience and moderation; a deep understanding of the workings, reactions and susceptibilities of political assemblies, and the qualities of a true statesman, accustomed to the stormy seas of political life.
3. All who have known you for any length of time, and even those who have only had the pleasure of meeting you at United Nations receptions, are unanimous in believing that at a time like this the only possible successor to that great President, Mr. Victor Belaúnde, was a man of your experience, with your firmness and fairness.
4. Although by nature sparing of compliments, I should be loath to let slip this opportunity of congratulating you because we know that, shoulder to shoulder with all those who have faith in the United Nations, you will seek to defend the principles of the Charter and that you will endeavour, with us, to revive what I would call the spirit of San Francisco. It is your duty as President to remain above the battle, to counsel calm, tolerance and dignity at the risk of incurring the incomprehension of some and the anger of others, and my delegation trusts that you will take your place among the great figures of international life who have laboured without fear or favour, during the troubled hours of mankind, for that peace which we need so much, today more than ever,
5. The agenda on which we are to vote is one of the longest submitted to the Members of the United Nations during the fifteen years of its existence. What is more, it is not only the heaviest agenda we have ever had to discuss, but the questions it contains are of the greatest importance, difficulty and complexity and must be considered in an atmosphere that is to say the least highly charged.
6. Some of the items relate to recent events in our restless and troubled world, while others, of no less topical interest and no less controversial, have been matters of international concern at more than one session. They have been the subject of resolutions, and the fact that they are again being raised in the United Nations in sensational, terms reflects the growing tendency to forget and depart from what I have called the spirit of San Francisco.
7. From this free rostrum where everyone speaks according to his temperament and his opinions, we have heard the greatest political leaders of nearly all the continents analyse the social and political organization of a world profoundly shaken by the decisive struggle in which the two opposing ideologies are locked.
8. In all this we have seen, not a mere spectacle, but an indication that this second half of the twentieth century, for which the men of San Francisco, in the sincerity of those trying times, believed they were laying the foundations, is in the grip of the most serious crisis which mankind has ever had to face.
9. Notwithstanding the great principle of equality which is the basis of State sovereignty, and under which all States, large and small, are legally on an equal footing, my delegation, remembering the birth of our country and the great lesson which it offered on the morrow of 1789 and only some twenty years after the independence of the United States of America, believes that, in this grave hour for our civilization, it not only has a right to come to this rostrum, but a moral obligation which it would be unpardonable to evade. Today more than ever, a policy of silence is impossible. It would not merely be evidence of criminal cowardice or indifference. It might well encourage an attack on our political faith and our personal convictions.
10. But it is no less essential to express one's views in firm and moderate language which states the truth, and which does not give offence by being unparliamentary or immoderate, but appeals to that human reason in which, in spite of everything, we can but continue to believe.
11. Doubtless a great many among you have been dis-heartened by attitudes which give pause to all who regard themselves as in any way the defenders and watchful guardians of a world we have inherited as a sacred trust and which it is our duty to pass on to our descendants, enlarged and improved; you may have been impressed by the prophets of doom, whose message raises barriers between men, strains nerves and puts the most vigilant on their guard. Others, less impulsive because they have perhaps a better understanding of that complex being, man, may say: the situation is serious, the world is in a state of crisis, but nevertheless we do not believe that anyone will be so desperate or insane as to unleash war. We do not believe in the possibility of war, because we have seen the representatives of sovereign States from all parts of the world come to this rostrum, appeal to the anonymous crowd of this Assembly and plead, each in his fashion, according to his background, the great cause of the hour, the cause of twentieth-century man and of the civilization he has created.
12. As I said, the world is in a state of crisis. But what is that crisis? Everywhere factories are turning out appalling weapons. The arsenals are filled with them, and even outer space is disturbed by prowling visitors. Is this the symptom of a simple disease of the politico-social organism? Can the word "crisis”, which implies, if not a certain innocence, a certain simplicity, at least a relative harmlessness, be applied to this situation? A crisis, whatever it may be, presupposes an imbalance in some organism, whether physical, social or political.
13. In principle a crisis is, in its essence or in its beginning, a purely physiological malady, a growing pain in the case of individuals or of peoples, a structural crisis at one of those great turning points when the need is felt for new approaches and a different way of living, thinking and producing. Crises are cyclical phenomena which have already shaken our world more than fifteen times in seventy years, and the impact has always been greatest at the decisive turning-points marked by such major developments as man’s growing awareness of himself, the awakening of national consciousness, the need for freedom, the demand for welfare for all, great industrial changes and, most recently, the astonishing achievements of science which are all too intoxicating to the proud and to those unfortunates not yet touched by the Christian faith, so necessary to the emotional stability of man.
14. The central issues of the great debate, under-development and imperialism in all its forms, explain the presence at this session of so many eminent men, aware of their responsibilities but — and who can say whether justly or unjustly? — mistrustful of each other.
15. Those problems are old as the hills; they have always existed. Their history is familiar to you all and I do not need to repeat it. But the fact remains that they are in the forefront of our minds in this second half of our twentieth century, which is great because it will be the century not only of the atom and of man’s exploration of other planets, but also the century of great social achievements and final rehabilitation.
16. Clearly our approaches must defer to problems of such importance affecting the complex social and political structure of our world. We have such different interests at stake that life has made of us, unfortunately, in some way adversaries, and, when passion obscures reason, I do not think we can work as we would wish, in calm and with the dignity that is expressed in the simplicity of the lines of this hall.
17. Others before me have emphasized the human fact that economic and social ideas are never entirely free, so difficult is it to escape from the influence of our earliest environment.
18. This means that, very frequently, we adhere to this or that school of thought, not out of conviction after having thoroughly explored the world of ideas and of things, but out of snobbishness or because a particular attitude or way of thought appears most likely to advance what we believe to be our true interests in a given situation.
19. I say this in order to explain the open-minded way in which I have listened to every speaker, with a scrupulous respect for everyone’s opinion. But, I must in all frankness add that I can but deplore some arguments which, although not without weight in themselves, have been irretrievably weakened through lack of moderation.
20. If it is true that moral authority must be distant in order to remain an effective force, truth must also, to retain its virtues, avoid slipping into any exaggeration that reflects passion or prejudice. That is why it is said that truth may be contaminated by carelessness, false psychology and so on, just as authority can be ruined or abdicated. It is clear, from everything which is said, shouted and proclaimed, that the world is at a decisive turning point and, whether we like it or not, whether we are aware of it or whether we choose to play the ostrich, all men, regardless of their political beliefs, Africans, Americans and Asians, alike, are clamouring for change.
21. They want a world in which equity and social justice — in other words, justice for better wages, better remuneration, better prices for the produce they grow, better conditions for promoting free international trade, and better housing — shall be a reality for everybody. They want human dignity, of which they have heard so much, to be a part of their political and social life, so that they can eliminate illiteracy, disease and poverty.
22. They want the kind of society which impresses visitors to the United States, a society in which, thanks to full employment and credit facilities, well-being is within the reach of all in an expanding economy.
23. I am addressing you, the representatives, at this memorable session, of the conscience of millions of human beings whose anxieties my countrymen share, as the spokesman of a small Negro Republic which has been grappling for over 150 years with the great and vital problems that must be resolved if the world is to be freed of its appalling economic and social inequalities.
24. Those problems are, I need hardly say, of particular significance in Haiti, where under-development imposes so heavy a burden and which like all the economically weak countries, suffered so cruelly from, the imperialism of an earlier day.
25. My country, which was the; second free land independent State of the American hemisphere, but the first Negro State to claim a place in the international community, achieved independence in 1804. What were the ideas of the time? I have no desire to give a lecture on political history that would tend to arouse passions since I believe that we should make every effort to be dispassionate. And I confess that, as a matter of party discipline as well as of personal conviction, I would be most uneasy in the rôle of public prosecutor with the ungrateful task of examining and accusing. I will therefore merely say that the creation of the Republic of Haiti was at the time a new, extraordinary and unprecedented development, that was regarded with so much suspicion and hesitation by the proponents of a certain school of thought that it was thirty-eight years before Haiti was first recognized as a free and sovereign State through the exchange of duly accredited diplomatic representatives.
26. After a war in which Napoleon Bonaparte's troops attempted to crush the general revolt of the slaves of Santo Domingo, after toe Republic of Haiti’s war of independence (which I would describe, with the approval of certain Latin American colleagues, as a beacon whose light was seen far beyond the shores of Haiti), after that war, which was on so long a scale for the period and which spread fire and bloodshed over the rich colony of Santo Domingo, leaving a trail of ruin and devastation everywhere, we were condemned, when we achieved independence, to walk alone, the hapless victims of the greatest conspiracy that can face a newly independent country, a conspiracy of indifference and isolation. At that time, the example set by Haiti in forging its independence by fire and sword was viewed with suspicion and even, in the eyes of the advocates of the ideas of the Holy Alliance, as a very bad example, that ought to have no imitators.
27. Nevertheless, having been schooled early in a certain philosophy, we have never borne a grudge against anyone for what happened. The men of the time were not responsible for the ideas which they held in regard to human relations and to the conduct of international affairs. We understand the power of ideas too well to reproach men when ideas cause them to act as they do. The essential thing is to fight against bad ideas which spread sophism and error, and to defend, disseminate and inculcate ideas which foster principles, mould human values, and promote respect for non-intervention and the sovereignty of States. That is why we have always adhered to the ideas which inspired the souls of our fathers with fanatical zeal; they have done us too much good for us to abandon them, whatever the shortcoming of some of their individual proponents. For us, they have no colour, no motherland; they are purely and simply human ideas.
28 . As sons of freedom, we have always taken freedom as our guide. We believe in freedom. As soldiers of freedom, we are always to be found at the side of those who defend freedom, as the President, of the Republic of Haiti, His Excellency Dr. François Duvalier, has frequently affirmed. But, it may be objected, it takes time for ideas to be translated into action. The yeast may indeed work slowly, but it works steadily and surely, as witness the crumbling of so many barriers, ancient servitudes and feudal privileges, under whose banner the false gods of yesterday took shelter. Because of this approach, which helps man to rise above himself, it was easy for us to turn the page when the time came, and it is for that reason that no people has shown greater respect than my own for international commitments, especially those we have entered into in accordance with the principles of pan-Americanism.
29. As you know, pan-Americanism is nothing other than the celebrated Monroe Doctrine, which in 1826 was transposed by the United States Secretary of State Blaine to the economic field. After "America for the Americans" in political matters came "America for the Americans" in economic matters.
30. Although the application of the Monroe Doctrine in the tragic Luders affair, which was such an affront to our national dignity, was by no means favourable to us, we have always subscribed whole-heartedly to the great hopes raised by pan-Americanism and have given priority to geographical considerations, even though they were not always in accordance with our short-term interests. Nevertheless we have always believed in pan-Americanism, which we have viewed less from the somewhat emotional angle of continental brotherhood, than from the legal angle of a synallagmatic contract imposing reciprocal advantages and obligations. Though men pass, principles endure, and it is comforting to note that the new American policy which is taking shape reflects the desire of America's leading statesmen that the contract should in truth be synallagmatic. As proof, I would point to the $500 million recently appropriated by the United States Congress, on the initiative of President Eisenhower, and rightly intended, as the countries concerned have been reassured to learn, as a first instalment of the funds needed to rehabilitate, and seriously to develop the economies of the Latin American countries.
31. I trust that these few reflexions will have shown that, however bleak the present situation may seem, there have been changes for the better in some respects, These show that man is not content merely to annihilate distance and to achieve an increasingly comfortable material life but that, under the pressure of an irresistible trend towards socialism, his conscience has been awakened.
32. He has realized the existence of certain fundamental errors which nourished prejudices that were based on nothing but folly and lack of understanding.
33. This awakening has been particularly noticeable in the United States of America during the past two decades, and I believe that that awakening is reflected in the high level of living which enables everyone to enjoy a degree of comfort not easily attained elsewhere even by the more prosperous classes. The tragedy is that pan-Americanism, before the new approach was adopted, did not teach the ether members of the American family the secret of this success.
34. It is often said that life is made up of contradictions because man, the principal actor, is a complex and frequently contradictory being. Can there be any greater contradiction than the fact that those who talk most about peace are also those who threaten us the most with the strength of their conventional or nuclear weapons and the appalling destructive power of their rockets?
35. All those who took part in the fourteenth session will doubtless recall the tone of the debates and the atmosphere of understanding which inspired the members of all delegations and whose principal result, truly based on the spirit of San Francisco, was the historic resolution on disarmament, to sponsor which was regarded as a point of honour and which, as you all know, was adopted unanimously. That General Assembly resolution, 1378 (XIV), is an historic act, as I have said; we adopted it because we seek peace, we desire it with all our hearts, with all our good faith, because we are concerned with the responsibilities we have undertaken towards those who have entrusted us with the task of building a better world, and so we believed implicitly in everything we were told because the words in question were uttered not by nonentities but by Heads of Governments for whom we feel the greatest respect and to whom we gave our confidence, because the peace of the world was involved.
36. We, the under-developed countries, voted for disarmament not only because we believe in peace but also because we were given to understand that disarmament and the assistance we were to be given to conquer poverty, disease and ignorance were closely linked. It was rather as if we had been told: "Disarm and you will have bread, housing and well-being. Do not disarm and you will die in poverty".
37. We voted for that historic resolution for a dual reason: firstly, to save the world from the scourge of war; secondly, to eradicate the hideous cancer of under-development, with its attendant horrors of ignorance, disease, privation and pauperism, of which my country is unfortunately one of the most authentic victims.
38. Alas! A few months later a series of disastrous events had dispelled all our optimism. Who was really to blame? Impartial history will one day make it plain to our great-grandchildren. For the time being let us take note that the Conference of the Heads of the Four Powers failed lamentably, despite the efforts made by General de Gaulle, that great leader and eminent statesman, who seems to have done his utmost to induce Mr. Khrushchev, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, not to cry off in an outburst of irresistible indignation— whether justified or not it is not for us to say.
39. Disarm and you shall live in peace, we were told, and you also shall know prosperity. With that end in view we delegated our powers to the Ten-Nation Committee on Disarmament meeting at Geneva for the purpose of abolishing all the weapons, both conventional and nuclear, diligently piled up in the most monstrous arsenal of destruction, and exempt from any supervision, while at the same time everyone continues to talk about peace.
40. That was a fresh disillusionment, a terrible disappointment. After the resounding collapse of the Summit Conference, those whom we had delegated to build a world without war, like new apostles, although there were only ten of them, were unable to carry out their task because once again one of them revealed himself, although not in the manner described in the Gospel, and purely and simply withdrew, on the instructions of his Government.
41. Since then the fever has spread over the world and we, the economically weak countries, doubly and profoundly disappointed by everything that has happened, have understood that more than ever we must cling to our principles, have confidence only in them, and gather round the United Nations, the only international institution capable of imposing respect for them, for the protection of those who, without rockets and without armies, rely only on the principles of the Charter and of international law for the protection and defence of their sovereignty. History will remind those who are in danger of forgetting it, that we, the small, the weak countries, would be absolutely unprotected without the existence in this world of international organizations of the stature of the United Nations, with its high moral authority, to frustrate the bellicose or honey-tongued wiles of those who, in their great love of humanity, cherish the dream of a vast and limitless empire.
42. But, as I have already said, life is made up of contradictions because man himself is full of contradictions. Perhaps this thought has occurred to you, as it has to me, when listening to speakers who by attacking colonialism, which is moribund and survives only in a few pockets of resistance, and denouncing capitalism, which springs from human imperfection, appear to be defending the weak and the oppressed while in reality they are cleverly scheming to disrupt the United Nations, which, as we all know, provides the only moral force capable of effectively protecting us all, and particularly those who have just achieved independence, as it has guided their steps in the past up to the point where they could take their places, and with so much dignity, in the great international family.
43. I ask of you, in what shall we believe after so many disappointments — in men or in principles? All free men, all who know that they owe their presence here on a footing of equality with others to those principles and to their strength, will reply with me that we should believe in principles. May I be forgiven my lack of enthusiasm for the generous intentions of some, and the fervour of others, for the cause of the weak and the disinherited, since, under the cloak of indignation over certain evils of the past, an attempt is being made to deprive us, the small and the dispossessed, of the moral strength of this institution which, whatever may be said of it, imperfect though it is — as every human creation may be — remains the world's bulwark against many dangers, and the only effective defence available to those whose sole opportunity of making themselves heard is found on this rostrum.
44. However, we must be fair and admit that we would not be so simple-minded as to claim that our Organization is absolutely perfect. God forbid that we should, like the proud and vainglorious, indulge in such exaggeration. The Secretary-General, too, is far too much of a humanist to believe himself the perfect man, whose semblance is not to be found in this mortal world to which we all belong. Having been educated in the great, the best school, which teaches men that they are not infallible, perhaps he prefers criticism, when it is constructive, to banal compliments which in the end are like paper money, a thing without intrinsic value.
45. It is our nature, too, to prefer criticism, for it not only requires a certain amount of mastery over the self and over the tendency to resent opposition, but compels men to weigh the facts more carefully and to exercise moral probity in their actions. Could anything be a more salutary training to help us to improve?
46. Hence so long as criticism is constructive, and is characterized by the mutual respect which is due, we should thank those who criticize us rather than those who praise us.
47. Since I believe in freedom of opinion, I shall refrain from prejudging the intentions of others, and I will not say that the proposal to reform the Secretary-General’s post and to entrust it in future to a panel of three, representing three distinct political tendencies or beliefs, constitutes a serious threat to the United Nations. Certainly I do not believe that such a proposal will carry the day because it is not based on any solid or legal argument that could win the support of the free men of good will who form, the majority among us.
48. The Charter was drafted at a crucial time in world history by men who combined learning with talent and with a profound knowledge of human nature, which is always inclined to abuse authority, no matter how small. The Charter did not endow the Secretary-General with discretionary powers that would have enabled him to transform the United Nations into an instrument for his own purposes or for those of any cause which appealed to him. Apart from administrative questions, he is simply the executive agent of the main organs, and of the resolutions adopted in Committee and in the General Assembly, in accordance with a procedure which confirms the right of the majority.
49. In connexion with the unfortunate affair of the Congo, he has consistently complied with the resolutions of the Security Council, of which he is but the instrument, the supreme executive agent. We know how that Council works. It reflects the free opinions of the members which compose it. It is not the Secretary-General who imposes his will, makes laws and carries them out. He submits himself to our will, the will of the Members of the United Nations. In this Organization he represents the true executive, carrying out. the will of the legislative and governing organ. As you know, in political matters that organ is the Security Council, with its all-powerful right of veto, wielded only by the permanent Members. For all these reasons my delegation considers that, since the geographical distribution of seats ensures equitable and proportionate representation for all, the actions of the Secretary-General are examined and supervised by all, which fact more than justifies the claim that in the United Nations matters are regulated by the most scrupulous parliamentary procedure, which might profitably be used as a model by the most exigent, I am sure that any innovation which would lead us to chaos will be rejected by the majority, in accordance with these democratic principles, to the end that fairness and common sense may continue to prevail in the United Nations.
50. Looking from this rostrum round this distinguished Assembly, I see new names and friendly fates which have come here from far-away Africa, so dear to us Haitians, whence Our ancestors were taken and transplanted to America to cultivate Santo Domingo, the fairest and richest colony at that time. I see you therefore, the representatives of all the Republics of the African continent, not as others do but with eyes full of quiet pride and satisfaction, following the example of our great predecessor, the inspired Toussaint Louverture, who, gazing for the last time at the waters of Santo Domingo from the frail bark in which he was being taken to the French frigate that was deporting him for ever, uttered these prophetic words: "My overthrow has felled the trunk of the tree of freedom of the Negroes, but it will grow again, for its roots are deep and strong". It may have taken some time for that prophecy to be fulfilled, but anyone who hears and sees you must admit that you also are a part of that majestic and vigorous tree spoken of by Toussaint Louverture. You have come to take your places in the great family of nations at a time of great troubles and you are warmly welcomed, since you seem to represent the new blood which is needed to breathe fresh life into this world labouring under so many burdens, I hope, however, that this great lesson will bear fruit but will not intoxicate you, since to defend independence, which calls for persistent and steady economic and social progress, is far more difficult than to win military victories on the field of battle.
51. I hope that this message, transmitted to you on behalf of my Government and of the people of Haiti, will remind you of the close links between my country and yours,
52. In addressing you, gentlemen, I have tried to consider certain international situations which affect us all and at times cause us concern and even alarm. I have said nothing which my conscience could not approve and have tried to offend nobody even though we might hold contrary opinions. In our opinion the purpose of this rostrum is to bring men together and not to separate them. Our words should encourage peaceful coexistence and not hatred. We are here to build, not to destroy. What has chiefly struck us in this troubled world is the fact that while some countries are moving towards a kind of socialism in their own way, in others the early collectivism has become more flexible and human. Thus each side has borrowed something from the other, which may indicate the beginning of a system in which the social sense, with man in his incomparable dignity as a centre of attraction, will enable us to build in the general interest the better world for which we have been seeking for so long.
53. I leave this rostrum with the satisfaction of having done my duty if my words have, as I wished, expressed the idea of peace which summons men to recover what I would term the spirit of San Francisco.