"Unanimity of the Great"

Unanimity of the Great

UNO has never felt quite strong enough to walk without the crutch of Big Three meetings. When Harry Truman removed the crutch last week, Russia and Britain wondered just what Truman meant.

While agreeing with the President's principle, the British did not like his blunt oversimplification. Moscow's Pravda pooh-poohed talk of limited national sovereignty or abolition of big-power vetoes, reiterated Russian belief that the future of UNO depends on "unanimity of the great powers in passing on the most important resolutions." Pravda, however, displayed no doubt of essential Big Three collaboration. Neither did Harry Truman. Asked if he shared the fear that Russian failure to cooperate would lead to war, the President unhesitatingly said he did not think so, added that he would discuss the matter more fully later.

Despite Truman's optimism over UNO, the question remained whether UNO could walk alone. Even if the stymied Council of Foreign Ministers handles the peace treaties, as Potsdam stipulated, UNO will have plenty of headaches. The agenda of the first General Assembly meeting in January includes such knotty problems as Palestine, trusteeships and refugees--not to mention the atom bomb.

On Truman's side there was the common-sense dictum that, whatever difficulties UNO may face, the way to begin is to begin.

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