CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5286, 24 December 1946, Page 4

CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE

TpHE 'Christmas season of 1946 arrives in an atmosphere of doubt, distrust, disputation and defiance, which a year ago were thought to be on their way to .final dispersal, so sanguine were the majority of the peoples of the effectiveness of the consultations of the Foreign Mfnister§ j of the Big Four and of the i development of the United ' Nations into an effeetive organI isation. It was hoped that the / problems of famine, relief and displaced persons would be well i on the way to solution ; that a ! measure of co-operation among : the occupying Powers would : make the Germans a self-sup-porting and self-respecting nation. It was predi'cted that with goodwill everywhere, the channels of trade would be flow- .. kig again and that Britain would by now be basking in the enjoyment, if not of prosperity, at least of some relaxation of wartime a'usterity. ; All these things are yet in : abeyance but it is also true to : say that while this hoped-for i progress has been retarded, the i Four Freedoms are still possible | of achievement. The coming year will be all-important. The . essential ingredient of communi- | cation between groups in single j communities and of governI ments is goodwill ; in the indus- . trial field, the social field, and I the scientific field. Its absence has been recorded during the last few days in a number ofinstances, both small and great, and it must be admitted that in New Zeafend we have had an unfair share of such examples. i The main prop of free and frank relationships on all planes, 1 it would seem, is the inter- ' national set-up known as U.N.E.S.C.O. — the United : Nations Educational, Sfcientific and Cultural Organisation, which has chosen Julian Huxley, the , t eminent writer and natural scientist, as its chief executive. I Its principal objectives are to . contribute to peace and s'ecurity i "by promoting collaboration among the nations through edu- ; cation, science, and culture, in ! order to further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law, and for human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language, or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations" and to collaborate in advancing mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples through all avenues of mass communication; to give fresh impulse to popular education and the spread of culture and to maintain, increase, and diffuse knowledge. With the ultimate achieving of these objectives, all that we can reasonably require will have been accomplished.