URGENCY OF DELIBERATIONS

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24903, 17 June 1946, Page 5

URGENCY OF DELIBERATIONS

The Secretary-General of UNO (Mr Trygve Lie) said that common people throughout the world demanded that atomic energy should lighten their drudgery instead of filling their lives with fear. Mr Lie, who opened the meeting, said that the world’s peace largely depended on the success of the deliberations.

The United Nations again chose the alphabet as the most convenient method of settling the awkward question of precedence in the selection of a chairman. Consequently, at the opening meeting of the Atomic Energy Commission, Australia was again in the spotlight when Dr. H. V. Evatt took the chair over the deliberations of this body, which Mr Truman described as of such extraordinary importance that nothing in the whole world was of more concern than the achievement of its purpose. Mr Bernard Baruch, who took the chair until the question of the selection of a regular chairman, said that he was impelled, in the late evening of his life, to add to his efforts in the world quest to provide a sure and certain means of controlling this new dread power, and directing its giant force for the benefit of humanity. Mr Baruch made it impressively clear that there must be devised a swift, sure punishment .for those nations which

violated any of the agreements reached. “As matters now stand, several years may be necessary to produce atomic bombs,” he said. “However, as soon as the basic information is generally known an illegal seizure of a plant by a malevolent nation might permit bomb production within a year or even a much shorter time. Such time can only be imperfectly estimated, but presumably no nation would think of beginning a war with only one bomb. This shows how imperative speed is in detecting and penalising violations.” , Dr. Evatt. taking the chair, reminded delegates of the mandate given by the General Assembly last January when it directed that the Atomic Energy Commission “shall proceed with the utmost However, in order to enable a mast careful study and consideration of the General Assembly’s resolution .of January 24 and a general discussion of Mr Baruch’s speech containing the United States proposals, it was agreed that they should be placed on the agenda for the next meeting on June 19. Most of the delegates praised Mr Baruch’s speech, but reserved their comment on the United States proposals for control. Mr Gromyko (Russia) said that so far atomic matters were proceeding smoothly, but he declined to comment on the recommendations.