It is indeed difficult to find words which do not reflect a false picture of the realities of the international situation at a time when we are faced with such agonizingly slow progress towards the recognition of high ideals in many parts of the world, when blind fanaticism makes a dogma of hate, when a feeling of ever deeper disillusionment, due to the obvious inability of statesmen to distinguish clearly between what is illusion and what is reality in the relations between nations, continues to spread throughout the world, when hope is submerged by unhappy pessimism and when it has become a general habit to voice dissatisfaction with everything we have without knowing what we really want.
116. Yet, these cataclysmal conditions are in themselves a call for action which none can ignore, and it once more becomes my duty therefore to repeat, on behalf of my Government, our devotion to the fundamental truths proclaimed in the United Nations Charter.
117. The lesson — so often repeated — to be drawn from the short and turbulent life of this world Organization clearly shows that we shall have to mitigate the harsh realities by means of a sustained effort of genuine goodwill if we are to succeed in building up a structure capable of ensuring progressive and rapid evolution and the application of legal measures in specific instances of aggression.
118. In this connexion, the delegation of Honduras will be prepared to examine any workable proposals designed to promote a more realistic and equitable procedure for co-ordinating and making use of the resources of Member States.
119. Perhaps, even at this late hour, those representatives who, without unnecessary academic speculations, make a point of considering the sufferings which occur simultaneously in this world grown smaller in size, may find an opportunity to aid in what history expects us to accomplish: to channel the creative anxieties and impulses of the masses, to cultivate human powers to their fullest extent and to raise the dignity of man.
120. It is universally believed that increasing scientific knowledge is directly related to the complexity of modern problems; we must therefore have a correspondingly tolerant intellectual attitude if we are to capture, by means of suitable social reforms, the stimulus of what is new or in a state of ceaseless change. This is the reason for our growing familiarity with a philosophy which is resolutely preparing to mitigate the stubborn conflict in which, while the physical sciences continually advance on the basis of earlier discoveries, philosophic thought is still marked by a rancorous struggle between discrepant conclusions which frustrate the creative impulses and which are the source of perplexities and intellectual doubt. This tendency of philosophy and of the applied sciences to complement each other is already finding forceful expression in the remarkable social gains due to various organs of the United Nations. Obviously the initial effort must in all cases be based on the central principle that political and economic relations transcend all other events, no matter how tragic they may be. The programme of technical assistance for the under-developed countries is an eloquent example of this principle. This vigorous and original experiment in practical international good neighbourliness, like the Point Four programme, recognizes the axiom that poverty hides many virtues.
121. Therefore, although so many things are said here which are out of order, although colossal pedantry is so frequently heaped on the superfluous with the evident purpose of sowing confusion, and although at times there is so conspicuous a contrast between the wealth of good intentions and the barrenness of deeds, we must reject the spectacular but over-simplified charge that the absence of more tangible results is the prelude to all the misfortunes of the world. On the contrary, here we perceive the synthesis of a world of ideals, ambitions and heartaches; here we acquire the habit of higher loyalties. Our awareness of mortal danger and our desire to succeed add great emphasis to the urgent need to base our conduct on pure reason rather than on the fickle impulses of emotion.
122. With the world as the stage for its humanitarian action, it is far from easy to demonstrate convincingly the capacity of the United Nations to work fruitfully for the progress of all peoples towards a life more in keeping with the dignity of the human person or to provide an opportunity for the development and use of new machinery for international administration, investigation and conciliation. But one need only enumerate some of the most outstanding accomplishments recorded in the Annual Report of our dynamic Secretary-General for the period 1 July 1949 to 30 June 1950: “The list. . . is . . . sufficient to demonstrate the continuing usefulness of the United Nations during the past twelve months in the face of the most crippling effects of the ‘cold war’ that the Organization has yet suffered”. The list mentions the independence of Libya, the creation of the Republic of the United States of Indonesia, the increasing efforts to preserve the peace in Kashmir, the satisfactory results in the maintenance of the armistice agreements in Palestine, the progressive pacification of Greece, the launching of the plans for technical assistance for economic development, the holding of the United Nations Scientific Conference on the Conservation and Utilization of Resources, the preparation of a draft covenant on human rights, the progress made in the development of the trusteeship system and of the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund.
123. One need only read the items on the agenda of this fifth session of the General Assembly to realize the grave responsibilities which rest on our shoulders. It is imperative therefore to maintain an atmosphere of complete tolerance, to take advantage of the most useful of our past experiences, to try to foresee what is to come and to restore the reasonable hopes which mankind has grown to cherish, if the principles and things that we are trying to preserve today are not to perish in endless misery and total collapse.
124. To conclude these far from optimistic remarks, I wish to emphasize that the co-operation of Honduras, although at present essentially of a purely moral nature, constitutes a strong appeal for continued vigorous support of our Organization and honest acceptance of inescapable realities. My country believes that it is still not too late to take advantage of this last great opportunity to reconcile our differences within the framework of a genuinely universal structure; it will be a difficult but honourable task, which may well result in the establishment of the rule of law throughout the world, complete economic readjustment and the recovery of spiritual harmony.