34. Almost exactly a year ago today my Prime Minister, Sir Milton Margai, from this rostrum acknowledged the congratulations of the sixteenth session of the General Assembly which had unanimously voted to admit Sierra Leone as the 100th Member of the United Nations [1018th meeting]. Although we took our seat at a time when there Were heavy clouds of sadness and uncertainty caused by the death of the Secretary-General and the unsolved difficulties of the Congo, we are proud to remember that our admission brought a certain amount of relief, by breaking the deadlock which had existed over the admission of new Members. Now at this Assembly the family has grown by the addition of seven new Members. It is our turn to congratulate and to welcome the delegations of Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Rwanda and Burundi, and we hope to have a special welcome for Algeria next Week. Our hope is that as the universality of membership of this unique family: becomes, each, year, more and more a reality, the tensions and fears which constantly threaten world peace will be resolved and new energies will be released and devoted to the challenging task of building a truly international community of nations from which hatred, suspicion, fear, ambition and aggression will be banished forever.
35. Mr. President, you have our congratulations on being elected to pilot the ship of the United Nations for the coming year. We have great confidence in you because of the way in which you combine in your person qualities of academic excellence, political experience and wisdom, cultural appreciation and above all a warm heart. You are, in short, a good man, and we know you will make a good President.
36. I have already referred to the United Nations as a family of nations. It is in this context that my delegation wishes to make the following observations on some of the problems which confront us and the world. Within a family one expects to speak in a forthright manner, motivated not by the desire to make propaganda, but to seek solutions which will ensure that the family will continue to live and work in peace and prosperity, each Member being willing to place family interests above individual interests and willing to make what sacrifices may be necessary for the security and ultimate good of all.
37. The Acting Secretary-General, U Thant, has already demonstrated, if indeed there was any necessity for him to do so, that he possesses the qualities which anyone should have who is called upon to fill the crucial role of Secretary-General of the United Nations. My delegation sees no reason why he should not be given an early call to fill this post definitively, and we urge all delegations to support his candidature and to encourage him to put aside any doubts which he may have about our determination to resist any efforts to reduce the effectiveness of the United Nations or of its Secretary- General.
38. It is a matter of concern to my delegation that the finances of the Organization are in such a precarious state. Although our own national assessment might appear to some to be merely a drop in the bucket, I can assure fellow representatives that it represents a sum of money we could otherwise little afford to spare, in the light of the demands for economic and social development in our country. On our part, nevertheless, we are prepared to pay our dues and assessments promptly and willingly because we believe this to be the honourable thing to do. We expect all Members to fulfil their obligations equally honourably. In this connexion, we welcome the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice [A/5151] on the obligation of all Members to pay their share of all expenses incurred by the Organization in pursuit of the purposes for which the Organization exists. In the opinion of my delegation all Member nations, great and small, should honour their obligations promptly as this is the only means by which this Organization, on which we all profess to place such high hopes, could be saved from bankruptcy and ultimate disintegration.
39. My delegation is disappointed that no final agreement has been reached on the negotiations for a general disarmament treaty and for a complete cessation of nuclear testing. We are, however, encouraged by the report that an agreement on nuclear tests is within sight, and we would co-sponsor and vote for any-resolution which will call upon the negotiating sides to make final efforts beyond the realm of propaganda, bad faith and expediency, so that this first step toward saving all humanity from the holocaust of nuclear extinction will become a reality during this session of the General Assembly. The hopes of countless millions for peace and security will not, and should not, be dashed to the ground by stubborn unwillingness to compromise.
40. One can already begin.to dream of the vast universal projects for the relief of human suffering, for economic and social improvement and for the restoration of human dignity in all parts off the world, which can be readily implemented if even the smallest fraction of the phenomenal sums of money now devoted to arms and armaments were to be made available for these constructive purposes, I shall return to this hope later with a practical suggestion.
41. As each new Member is admitted to the United Nations, the remaining number of nations and peoples who continue to be subject to colonial rule is reduced. Unfortunately, however, it would appear that there is in certain quarters a hardening of the attitudes of those few nations who have not yet accepted the universal challenge to end colonial domination once and for all. On the continent of Africa, in spite of this Assembly's declaration on the granting of independence to colonial peoples, Spain and Portugal continue to shut their ears to the demands of the indigenous people of so-called Spanish and Portuguese Guinea, of Fernando Po, Angola and Mozambique for independence. Surprisingly, the Government of the United Kingdom, with an excellent record of preparing the people of former British colonies, including my own Sierra Leone, for independence, appears in the case of Southern Rhodesia to be hesitant to defend this fine record of theirs against the increasingly totalitarian policies and methods of the white minority who, claiming a totally false and undemocratic "self-government", continue to trample on the rights of the African majority. In South West Africa the Government of South Africa insists on flouting the authority of the United Nations by attempting to convert a mandate of the League of Nations into an imperial right to govern the indigenous people against their will.
42. My delegation is absolutely opposed to the policy of apartheid and pledges in advance its support of any resolutions find other actions of this Assembly which seek to persuade the Government of South Africa and, failing persuasion, to force it — as long as South Africa remains a Member of the United Nations — to abandon this policy and join the rest of the world in working towards the complete elimination of racial bias and prejudice in all its forms. We speak without hesitation on these matters because as long as any territory in Africa is denied its rightful independence, the continent cannot be at peace, and any turmoil in Africa is in itself a danger to peace and world security. We therefore urge continued efforts to implement the Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples [resolution 1514 (XV)] with no further delays.
43. Only a few days ago the representative of South Africa, in a statement from this rostrum [1128th meeting], implied that the admission of States such as my own to the United Nations has caused a deterioration in the “exclusive club” atmosphere of the United Nations. I suppose that the logical pursuit of the apartheid policy led the representative to long for the good old days of San Francisco when probably, according to him, there were so few blacks around. I only wish, in the name of my delegation, to assure the representative of South Africa that we will not dare to lift a finger to prevent him from walking out of the same open door through which we were admitted. We on our part feel very much at home here where most representatives speak the language we understand: of equality, of freedom and of justice.
44. Permit me at this juncture to pay tribute to the President of the United States and his Administration, and to the vast majority of the people of the United States, for the firm demonstration which we have seen during the past week of progress in the field of racial equality and of the supremacy of the rule of law. At a time when we are forced to call the attention of this Assembly to failures in some parts of the world to uphold, by law and in practice, the human rights guaranteed by the Charter, my delegation thinks that it is altogether appropriate to note and to commend the significant landmark, which the recent events in Mississippi constitute, in the struggle of American people of African descent in this country to attain their full rights and privileges of citizenship.
45. The inability, or perhaps the unwillingness, of the Western Powers and the Soviet Union to reach agreement on a German peace treaty and on the fate of Berlin causes ray delegation great concern. With the excellent record of mediation in these matters which is slowly being built by the United Nations, we urge that special attempts at reconciliation be made over the question of Germany, and that the great Powers be persuaded to give priority to the exercise of the right of self-determination by all the German people as a whole, in settling this vexed question, so that an honourable finis could at last be written to the dreadful history of the Second World War.
46. My delegation is pleased to note some progress in the solution of the Congo problem. We believe that a speedy end will be reached in the Congo, by the Congolese themselves, if only the great Powers refrain from overt and covert interference. We also agree that the integrity of the Congo Republic can best be maintained in a strong Federal relationship which at the same time safeguards the rights of the Provinces to internal autonomy in the appropriate fields mutually agreed upon by the Federal and Provincial governments. My delegation would like to put forward the practical proposal that, until an agreed national constitution has begun to work smoothly and the armed forces of the Congo have become integrated, the external payments now being made to the Katanga Government be paid in a trust fund held by the United Nations. Here again, only the Western Powers concerned can take the necessary legal action to implement such a proposal. With so much money freely available to finance any policy; the Katanga authorities happen to decide upon unilaterally, any agreement reached at a conference table can be set aside with impunity.
47. Too often from this platform the political aspects of the work of the United Nations are given preference of attention and comment. My delegation regards the United Nations as the greatest hope today for speedy, competent and unfettered development of our human and natural resources. The work of the specialized agencies of the United Nations, in various forms of technical: assistance, is already reaping results which are very highly appreciated by us in Sierra Leone. What we of the developing countries would like to call attention to, however, is the urgent need to accelerate the provision of capital and over-all development, through international channels and organizations.
48. We therefore strongly support the establishment of a United Nations Capital Development Fund as recommended by the Committee set up by the fifteenth session of the General Assembly in resolution 1521 (XV). If the argument is true that the ultimate justification for the expenditure of very large amounts by great Powers for military purposes is that this ensures world peace, my delegation hopefully offers this practical suggestion: that the great Powers involved in the arms race should now divert to this fund an initial contribution equal to only 1 per cent of their individual military budgets. Such a practical demonstration would be warmly applauded by countless millions in the developing countries and would go a great way towards a lasting solution of the fundamental problems of hunger, poverty and insecurity, which are in themselves real threats to peace.
49. My delegation believes that the role of the regional economic commissions is a necessary and an important one and we support the general trend towards decentralisation of those activities of the United Nations which, being related to specific local needs, can best be carried out on a regional basis. The Economic Commission for Africa is now firmly established, and is proving a useful instrument in unified economic planning for all of Africa.
50. We commend the work done during the past year in the Committee on the Peaceful Use of Outer Space. The participation of my country's representative in this work underlines the universal importance of the new problems now being added to a world already full of unsolved problems by the opening vistas of outer space. If the ideological conflicts of both East and West are not permitted to invade this latest conquest of man there will be hope that all mankind will benefit from this fast treasury of new knowledge.
51. My delegation would like to express satisfaction at the agreement reached by the Governments of Indonesia and the Netherlands in their dispute over West New Guinea and would like to pay special tribute to the Acting Secretary-General, U Thant, for the part he played in obtaining this agreement. We further hope that the United Nations presence during this transitional period will bring about the peaceful solution we all desire in that area. We now urge the Government of Indonesia to arrange for a plebiscite among the people of the territory as soon as possible, primarily in the interests of safeguarding the principle of self-determination in the name of which we have all won our cherished independence.
52. My delegation notes with great apprehension the storm-clouds which are developing on this side of the Atlantic over Cuba. Since we believe that there is universal agreement amongst us that each Member State has the sovereign right to choose its own form of government, we urge both the United States Government and the Soviet Union to refrain from interfering in Cuba's internal affairs and from armed intervention over Cuba. Any act on either side leading to warfare today is folly, but an unnecessary unleashing nuclear warfare on the world should be treated as an unpardonable and criminal folly.
53. My delegation is pledged to support the Charter of the United Nations. But if changing conditions necessitate any changes in the organizational and procedural provisions of the Charter, we are not so afraid of change that we would not recommend a careful study of new proposals. Our only insistence will be that the human rights enshrined in the Charter be regarded as inviolate. In this connexion we welcome the proposal already made by our distinguished former President, Mr. Mongi Slim [A/5123], which are designed to make the meetings of the Assembly more efficient. But if it is necessary to go beyond procedural changes in order to make fair regional representation in the various organs of the Organization a reality. My delegation would be prepared for a bold but cautious exploration in this direction and we would support the proposal that a special committee be appointed by this Assembly to review and make recommendations on all the proposals already before us concerning the General Assembly and the organs of the United Nations.
54. Once again this year there is on our agenda the question of the admission of the People's Republic of China. We have already stated clearly that we cannot envisage this Organization fulfilling its universal role without the representatives of some 600 million of the world's population, and we shall always vote in favour of the representation of the People's Republic of China. We are not unmindful, however, of the problems caused by the de facto existence of the present Government in Formosa — which, it seems to us, regards itself as the Government of China in exile — or of the right of self-determination of the people of Formosa themselves; nor do we treat lightly the fears of some Member delegations that we have no assurances that the People's Republic of China either respects the Charter of the United Nations or will be prepared to act in conformity with its provisions. To my delegation, important as are these fears, they are irrelevant, and to introduce them into the debate on the right of admission is to do violence to the Charter itself. We believe that no country which, in the exercise of its sovereign right of choice, decides to gain or to regain admission to the United Nations, will do so without adequate deliberation on the provisions of the Charter. If we were to set up a tribunal to assess performance under the provisions of the Charter, accusing fingers might have, perforce, to be directed at Member States who already enjoy the privilege of membership, I can think of some half & dozen States which could not possibly qualify under the criteria by which the People's Republic of China is now prevented from occupying its rightful place among us.
55. In conclusion, my delegation wholeheartedly endorses the hopes already expressed by a previous speaker, that this seventeenth session of the General Assembly of, the United Nations will go down in history as the "break-through" session.