U.N. TRUSTEESHIP

Marlborough Express, Volume 87, Issue 19, 23 January 1952, Page 4

U.N. TRUSTEESHIP

Rapid Development S. PACIFIC COMMISSION

PA.

CHRISTCHURCH, Jan. 23.

"Every one of us is in some way a trustee for others, but in poUtical terms trusteeship is the special and accepted meaning of the responsibilities of some peoples of the world for the welfare and advancement of other peoples," said Mr C. G. R. McKay, former Secretary of Native Affairs in Samoa and later Secretary of the Island Territories Department, when speaking on trusteeship to the conference of the Pan-Pacific Women's Association last evening. Mr McKay was also senior New Zealand Commissioner of the South Pacific Commission, and a special representative of Samoa at the United Nations Trusteeship Council on one occasion. During the last decade hundreds of millions of people formerly governed by others had attained independence, but there were still 140,000,000 for whom people of other countries than their own had assumed responsibilities, said Mr McKay. The Charter of the United Nations had made a distinction between territories subject to the international trusteeship system, and those other non self-governing territories which in each case were the responsibility of one Government. The trust territories were relatively few in number, and contained an aggregate of 20,000,000 people. They were the Cameroons and Togoland (each divided between French and United Kingdom administration) , Tanganyika, Ruanda Urundi, Somaliland (under Italian administration), the United States trust territory in the Northern Pacific, New Guinea (under Australian administration), Nauru and Western Samoa. He said the colonies, protectorates and other territories throughout the world today numbered nearly 70, and contained 120,000,000 people. OF FIRST IMPORTANCE Of first importance to the trust territories and colonies was economic interdependence, he said. Technical assistance to the dependent territories had been greater up to the present time from their individual administering governments than from international sources. Grants and subsidies had been a feature of colonial responsibility, and had increased during the present century. The South Pacific Commission was a partnership of the six Governments which were responsible for the 3,000,000 people in Pacific dependencies, and though its functions were limited to advice, it had done much to improve living conditions of the inhabitants there.

Mr McKay said the most important single factor in the rapid advancement of dependent peoples m the last 10 years had been education, j Men and women of the present generation had had more educational opportunity than their predecessors I and had acquired a greater aware1 ness of modern political ideas and modern economic factorsi f In these directions lay the way to future progress, concluded Mr McKay.