UNITED NATIONS DEBATE
Sir,-Listeners who tuned in to the 1ZB Citizens’ Forum to hear the question, "Is the UN Effective?" debated were sadly disappointed, for within two minutes after the discussion was opened the three participants were in complete agreement. Because there was not one person on the panel to take the negative, the question was quickly answered by the three members to their own satisfaction, although there were many points that could have been contested by any person taking the negative. One cannot but ask why -there was not such a person on'‘the panel. The panel agreed that the League of Nations and the United Nations were fundamentally different whereas the basic structure of both of these organisations is that of a league. The panel seemed to think that the removal of the veto would make the UN more democratic and then completely overlooked the undemocratic nature of the one vote per nation system of representation. A statement that the ability of a court to enforce its decision has no bearing ypon the question of its effectiveness or power, was accepted without protest. At one point it was stated that the UN was not intended to be a world government but was created to prevent war. If there had been a real discussion someone might have mentioned that history shows that only government is able to prevent war between social units. When the fate of our civilisation depends upon the ability of the UN to keep the peace every effort should be made to discover whether or not the UN as now constituted is effective. Discussions which are not discussions, but merely one viewpoint, will not help us to find the answer.
CHRIS
McPHEE
(Auckland).
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19491118.2.14.3
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 21, Issue 543, 18 November 1949, Page 7
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286UNITED NATIONS DEBATE New Zealand Listener, Volume 21, Issue 543, 18 November 1949, Page 7
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