1. My first words must be addressed to Mr. Belaúnde to congratulate him on behalf of the delegation of Haiti on the highly important and difficult position he is called upon to occupy as President of the General Assembly at this fourteenth session, the great session, as it may well be called on account of certain memorable events that will be recorded in its annals.
2. I understand from those who have already spoken here, and who have long enjoyed the privilege of his company, that Mr. Belaúnde was chosen to guide the work of this international assembly in recognition of his outstanding qualities as a diplomat, statesman and scholar, which have never ceased to impress them throughout his long and brilliant career.
3. His colleagues were therefore equally inspired by affection and admiration when they elected him to use his rich experience in presiding over and guiding this Assembly on which the anxious eyes of the world are fixed. And I feel sure that for him it is one of the greatest satisfactions of his public life. He will perform his duties with his customary dedication, in the knowledge that he is now serving a great cause, the cause of our civilization and of a world longing for true peace. My delegation congratulates him on the great honour done to him.
4. We regret his absence on account of ill-health during the last few days and beg you, Mr. President, to convey to him our sincere wishes for a speedy recovery.
5. The greatest honour of my public life now falls to me, namely that of speaking for my country as the head of the Haitian delegation to this fourteenth session of the great family of the United Nations. Any emotional note in my voice may be attributed either to the atmosphere and circumstances, which may make a speaker nervous on a "great day", or to a sense of personal inadequacy in speaking at this rostrum from which the greatest politicians of the world have addressed such distinguished audiences.
6. There may be times when it is fitting to practise the philosopher's policy of silence, but there are certainly other times when to refrain from expressing an opinion would be a kind of cowardice not in keeping with the moral responsibilities; we have undertaken in promising to "maintain international peace and security".
7. The true way to peace as defined by our Charter is not that of force based on conventional and nuclear weapons, because an armament policy, whatever its motives, embodies, if we analyse it thoroughly, something injurious — the element of premeditation which in criminal law is not easily excused by extenuating circumstances. Armaments arouse doubts and suspicion, and as force is answered with force it is enough for one country to begin arming for the contagion to spread among all the other countries that are in a position to arm.
8. That is, briefly, in my delegation’s view, the way international tension is created, maintained and developed, keeping on tenterhooks the political and military authorities in those countries which have plunged madly into the construction of the most monstrous arsenal of modern times. Mutual distrust finally engenders fear, an emotion that is most difficult to restrain, for a man who is afraid is not absolutely sane and there is always a danger that he may commit acts of despair and madness.
9. The fact that humanity has twice been plunged into disaster in less than a generation reminds us that, if history repeats itself, it is chiefly because man refuses to change. If the light of reason does not prevail in time to make the nations understand each other a little better, we all know from recent experience what unfortunate and startling use may one day be made of this formidable arsenal of destruction that has been accumulated over the years at the cost of large sums which, otherwise invested might have served to promote the welfare of so many needy peoples.
10. In the dark and gloomy picture I have just drawn, the clouds on the horizon seemed to many, until quite recently, to be the presage of further calamities on earth. But the recent talks between the great Powers at Geneva on the serious problem of disarmament, which we so anxiously followed, are the kind of initiative that soon leads to the much desired atmosphere of relaxation in international affairs.
11. Such efforts are an attempt to re-kindle the flame of hope which yesterday was dim and flickering, and to restore the spirit of understanding in those who once, having; fought side by side on all the battle-fields and knowing only too well the horrors of war, brought into being at San Francisco the Charter of the United Nations in which they all promised to prefer the pacific settlement of disputes to the use of armed force.
12. The meetings which have made international history during recent weeks have given us new hope and strength to combat the surges of pessimism that nurture and intensify the anxiety which is so fatal to the cause of peace.
13. When our Charter, inspired by the abstract principles is of the rights of man, stipulates international co-operation and the development of friendly relations among nations, it implicitly condemns the armaments race, even in circumstances where man, to salve his conscience, tries to justify it by the old saw of preserving peace by the preparing for war. History is a sufficient reminder of how the empires of the Napoleons of every age came to an end.
14. The important meetings to which I refer are present proof that reason and wisdom can work a miracle, that men are not only capable of uniting for purposes of destruction but also for construction, the kind of construction which gives them stature in our eyes, because they are prepared to make mutual concessions to win the greatest battle of all — the battle for peace, and because the human spirit has for once achieved a rare victory of the mind over the emotions.
15. The sociologists, who try to explain away everything to prove to us that spontaneous generation does not exist in their field, will tell us that what the uninitiated considers astonishing is only the result of more inter-dependence among men, the abolition of distances and the age-old need to group together which has its modern expression in words like "common market" or "continentalism" — soon, no doubt, to be replaced by "intercontinentalism".
16. The United Nations represents, I think, the great cross-roads to which all the magnificent efforts to unite men and nations converge. It is a meeting-place of all political creeds, where men learn to accept contradiction and where they hold seemingly commonplace talks which have, however, often helped to remove foolish obstacles by giving us the opportunity to see each other in a more human light.
17. That is the significance of the talks between the great Powers responsible for the fate of our civilization, considered in conjunction with other equally important events which redound to the credit of the United Nations, such as the accession to independence of the new African States.
18. The close ties which bind my country to Africa compel me to express on behalf of the delegation of Haiti our tremendous satisfaction at seeing those States represented here in this Assembly, on the same footing and with the same rights as any other States Members of the United Nations.
19. Let us not then give way to despair, for there is now in the world something different and new which does man credit, namely, the great advance made in international political thought. Thanks to all these changes, independence is no longer something to be brutally hatched, as in the last century or more than 150 years ago, by fire, sword and destruction.
20. The Trusteeship System, as established by the Charter, is a progressive method of achieving independence and self-government, by accelerating the political and social development of peoples that have not yet reached political maturity. It sets the seal on the right to independence. And if certain other principles of primary importance demand that it be made conditional, the system still serves to safeguard the right to independence and to destroy the old false notion that certain countries are incapable of ever attaining self-government.
21. Thanks to the positive achievements of the United Nations, the recognition of new States is no longer postponed indefinitely as it used to be.
22. The hard way of independence has no longer to be learnt in isolation, under the scrutiny of those who dissociate themselves from the process and watch from a distance to see what experience will prove. Like young saplings shooting proudly upwards, the new independent States are fostered with a care which is yet another indication of the changes wrought in the world today by the many opportunities which better international understanding can offer. The social conscience is making itself felt everywhere.
23. The richer countries are giving more thought than ever to the fate of the under-developed countries. We look forward to the day when a better distribution of this world’s goods will make charitable works unnecessary. That is the object of the many cultural, social, economic and humanitarian measures undertaken by the specialized agencies to improve the lot of man, whatever his race or creed, and to drive back ignorance, poverty and disease. Privileges and barriers are disappearing, and only an unfortunate few fail to realize it.
24. We are so disturbed by the clash of arms and the nuclear tests which poison the atmosphere that we do not stop to examine the significance of all these social upheavals revealing what some call "adjustment of ideals". There is no pure ideology at the present time. Let us admit that the. different systems borrow ideas from each other, and let us hope that from this interchange there may emerge one day a standard and vitalized specimen of a social and economic democracy which is thoroughly sound and healthy.
25. In the meantime, however, our great concern should be the problem of under-development, which carries with it ignorance, poverty and disease.
26. Hitherto the remedy of increased production has been the one stressed by well-intentioned people who would begin by creating wealth so that there is food and housing and comfort for all. But in a capitalist economy such as ours, based on profit making and not on social needs, an economy that we have no real wish to see changed, the more riches accumulated the more necessary it becomes to make the machinery for their distribution more efficient and flexible.
27. If a capitalist economy is to be sound, it must have constant means of expansion, and this can best be ensured by the easy circulation of wealth; there must be ready access to it through a high degree of purchasing power, an extension of credit, an investment policy leading to more employment, and lastly, international trade free from any restrictions based on the rigid economic nationalism which has done so much harm in the past.
28. However, we must recognize that everything has been done to create wealth. Indeed, technology has joined forces with education and hygiene in launching an offensive that undoubtedly does credit to the great captains who planned it. In certain instances, the various groups are vying with one another in taking the initiative against under-development. Millions are being appropriated and armies of technicians are moving to and fro in the less developed and under-developed areas. Many people are today amazed that, though years have passed, the results are still rather meagre. Although there is no doubt that inroads have been made on ignorance, poverty and disease, they still oppress millions of human beings. Of the eighty-two countries which make up the great international community to which we belong, approximately two-thirds — Sixty, to be exact — are classified, technically speaking, as less developed and under-developed. However, no less an authority than Mr. Hoffman, Managing Director of the Special Fund, comments as follows on these countries: "But many of them were not inherently poor, but simply unexploited, and the cost to the advanced nations of a truly adequate program would not be too burdensome. If the 5 billion dollars of technical assistance needed over the next decade were devoted to developing and tracking down these natural resources, it seemed quite possible to raise — on are- payable basis — the 30 billion dollars of capital investment that were necessary for the steady development of those countries, which form 60 of the 82 UN members."
29. The specific facts which emerge from these words of Mr. Hoffman are so important that they should be analysed. Let it be noted at the outset by those who would still ignore it that an under-developed country is not necessarily a poor or a ruined one. The irony of things in this world is that, although these countries may be potentially rich — their valuable natural resources giving them, so to say, a vocation for wealth — they have not yet been able to develop them, since they lack both the means and the necessary technological experience to do so.
30. The facts in the quotation I have just cited indicate that the problem of under-development admits of a quicker and more harmonious solution than some may have believed possible. All that need be done is set the price, and Mr. Hoffman tells us that 30,000 million dollars would suffice. Now, what does this most substantial sum which would effectively cure economic evils — the source of all other evils in the world — represent when compared with the 100,000 million dollars spent annually on military budgets by those who — in pursuing a mirage which entices all who are foolish enough to follow it over the precipice — arm themselves for destruction in the vain hops of wresting for themselves world hegemony,
31. More than millions of dollars are needed to carry out a truly adequate programme against underdevelopment, to use Mr. Hoffman’s own words. This would be a third of the thousands of millions spent annually to mount the terrifying machine of war which now threatens world peace.
32. It is true that, when attempts are made, albeit with inadequate funds, to stamp out under-development, it can at any rate be said that an effort is being made. But such an effort resembles charity; it is not a thorough programme of economic rehabilitation which will heal not one country or one continent but a world — the free world, built on the rock of the capitalist economic system. To overcome the underdevelopment which endangers the whole economic system — so intimately linked to the ideals which we uphold — means to protect oneself and to ensure the survival of the civilization we cherish,
33. Social evils cannot be cured by the development of a philanthropy which only encourages indigence and impoverishes the individual, sometimes permanently. They can be only cured by putting man in accordance with his sense of dignity, now so much discussed, in a position where he can develop his own natural resources. The motives for helping him effectively do not spring from considerations of humanity or altruism, but from a true understanding of everyone's immediate or long-term interests, as made evident to us by the interdependence of economic facts.
34. The fact that only twenty-two out of a community of eighty-two Members can pride themselves on not being a prey to economic anxiety is irrefutable proof that under-development is not a subjective condition, existing in a given country or race, but rather an almost universal one. This does not mean that another type of economy should be sought; it means that our economy is sick and must be cured as soon as possible.
35. Our economy is hamstrung by extremist economic nationalism which has never given up its struggle and hampers the development of international trade. It is on international trade that we must rely to stimulate investment, develop employment opportunities, and ensure a good market. It is the eminently sound way to bring about universal well-being.
36. This vision of reality has of late deeply stirred the conscience of mankind. The emotions and anxieties to which heads of Governments and politicians were subject are now being experienced by industrialists and businessmen. Government leaders and the responsible parties are meeting and consulting one another. Throughout the world, there is a desire to reduce protectionism to mere emergency measures; people are turning towards the Common Market, which is the new semi-liberal formula adapted to the atomic age. In Europe, the satisfying experiences with Benelux and the Coal and Steel Community have led those people who have experienced the happy effects of partial economic disarmament to think of the Common Market which could be compared to some kind of economic federation. The conversations which are taking place in certain quarters nearer to us show that Latin America is working in the same direction.
37. The feeling of danger which we have felt for a long time is spreading everywhere, and discussions of the utmost importance for the defence and future of our economy have just been held at the Seventeenth Congress of the International Chamber of Commerce, at Washington. It is comforting to note the great decisions taken by the giants of world economy represented among the forty countries. Let us hope that business leaders, inspired by the new concept they have of their responsibilities, will confront the dangers of the moment by applying the right treatment, so State institutions can cure social evils better and more quickly than could any essentially political organization left to its own devices, which falls only too easily a prey to the intrigues for influence and to the passions which blind judgement.
38. I am speaking on behalf of a country which, in the past century, achieved its independence under exceptional circumstances. Perhaps this is the proper moment to say that my country has greatly suffered from the isolation in which it was held in the past by the ideas of the time.
39. In this continent — where, with their civic spirit, love of liberty and devotion to the principle of nonintervention, the men of today remind us of the heroism, the spirit of solidarity and the noble virtues of their forefathers — Haiti was the second State which sprang directly from the principles of 1789. Ogé and Chavannes, who, under the tropical skies of Santo Domingo, were the first men on this continent to demand the application of these principles, were coloured men, French settlers' sons who had studied in France at a time when the very air vibrated with the ideal of liberty. Once home, their ears still ringing with the Marseillaise and the tumult of the storming of the Bastille, they may have paid dearly for daring to speak of "natural rights". But the idea of those innate rights found a deep echo in the minds of those who were so cruelly exploited. For the first time in the history of mankind, an entire class of men became conscious of its rights. It was the signal for the war of independence in the Republic of Haiti, which helped the dawn of liberty for all slaves on the American continent.
40. We shall throughout our history bear the marks of this spirit of the French revolution — the determination to fight unremittingly all forms of privilege.
41. Our economy must also be liberal, like the one that prevailed when it was born. I need hardly recall how that economy suffered when protectionism was applied everywhere and the world had to live under conditions of real economic warfare. We accepted in all good faith the classical economists' liberal thesis of a division of labour among nations and kept our status as an essentially agricultural country, selling our primary commodities and raw materials in accordance with the law of supply and demand. Unfortunately, this law has proved nothing but a snare, for its functioning has been upset by the imperialism of the stronger nations.
42. Our economy, as I have said, is essentially a liberal one: for more than a century and a half we have used no protectionist weapons to protect and industrialize ourselves, as we had the right to do. Our customs duties are of a purely fiscal nature; we have neither quotas, nor import prohibitions nor exchange control in our country. We are in principle, therefore, the most fervent supporters of international free trade based on the theory of comparative costs.
43. The impoverishment of agricultural countries, brought about by the enormous and unjust discrepancy in the prices of agricultural and industrial products is at the root of the economy's stagnation and the true cause of many of our misfortunes and difficulties.
44. Despite the prevailing poverty in our country, deep devotion to spiritual values among the Haitian people and its present Government, led by Dr. François Duvalier, one of our greatest leaders, makes our country one of the healthiest in its imperviousness to ideas which are causing anxiety to many.
45. Our forefathers who built a home for the Haitians upon the ruins of Santo Domingo bequeathed to us a sound economic and social structure when they based it on a system of small holdings. They were men of great vision for, in 1804, they did what others recommended more than 150 years later.
46. It is only natural that those of us who believe in spiritual forces should be stirred by any signs of good will, by an awakening of conscience and by any exceptional effort on the part of our politicians, even when such symptoms bear the marks of personal interest, for it is something new that personal interest should seek to ally itself with the interests of the community.
47. Those who also believe in human values and happen to find them along the path of life should stop to pay homage to the man who embodies those values and to point out his merits, particularly when his actions support the high ideal of "every day more, every day better ". It is therefore a particular pleasure for the Haitian delegation to pay public tribute to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, a man who time and again has commanded the admiration of all for his profound sense of social justice and his eminent qualities as a statesman.