On June 5,1947, Secretary of State George C. Marshall delivered a brief address at a Harvard University commencement. A few sentences in the address were devoted to the problem of European recovery. These few sentences have had a profound effect, and it is difficult to measure the potentialities of events which they set in motion. Secretary Marshall spoke, as many before him had spoken, of “the visible destruction of cities, factories, mines, and railroads.” This was the story that had been told many times, the tragic story of bombed homes, smashed locomotives, shattered factories, blown bridges, and blocked canals. But he went on to point out that there was an even more serious destruction than this visible and easily understood physical destruction of war. More serious was the “dislocation of the entire fabric of European economy.” The rebuilding of the economic structure of Europe would take “a much longer time and greater effort than had been foreseen.”

Despite the fact that the Ninth International Conference of American States was overshadowed in press and popular mind by the dramatic explosion that rocked the conference city of Bogota in April, there can be little doubt that the outstanding achievement of the conference was not the largely sterile anti-Communist resolution, but rather the new Charter of the Americas. With their signature to this Charter the delegates of the twenty-oneindependent republics have completed a reorganization of the inter-American framework which was begun at least fifteen years ago

The articles of the United Nations Charter providing for the establishment of a Military Staff Committee and looking forward to provision for armed forces, assistance and facilities by Members introduced for many states new and perplexing problems in their relations to international organization. While it is true that military considerations are normally one of the factors influencing the formulation of the foreign policy of every state, never before has there existed one central international organization to which it was expected that all major political problems would be submitted, regardless of origin and regardless of the geographical area concerned. Coordination of military policy with political representation under these circumstances becomes, therefore, not a matter of the occasional conference at a given moment of international tension, but, instead, requires a day-to-day ìntegration in order to achieve both consistency and effectiveness.

In accordance with a Security Council resolution of April 1, 1948, which called for the convening of a special session of the General Assembly “to consider further the question of the future government of Palestine,” the second special session of the General Assembly was held at Lake Success from April 16 to May 15, 1948. Following the election of Dr. José Arce (Argentina) as president, the Assembly referred the question of Palestine to its political and security committee. A second agenda item proposed by China and Siam, the admission of Burma to membership in the United Nations, was considered directly by the Assembly and Burmese admission was voted unanimously on April 19.

During the period under review, the India-Pakistan question was before the Security Council during six sessions. On May 5 and 6, 1948, India and Pakistan respectively replied to the Security Council resolution of April 21, 1948. Mr. Nehru, Prime Minister and Minister of External Affairs, stated that the Government of India regretted that it was “not possible for them to implement those parts of the Resolution against which their objections were clearly stated by their delegation” but that if the Council should still decide to send out the Commission, the Indian Government “would be glad to confer with it.” Sir Mohamed Zafrullah Khan, for Pakistan, pointing out the differences between the resolution of April 21 and Pakistan's original proposals, stated that the Security Council action was “not acceptable,” but “under protest and without prejudice” designated Argentina as Pakistan's nominee for the Commission.

The seventh session of the Economic and Social Council convened at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, on July 19, 1948. Included on its provisional agenda of 50 items were reports on the activities of ECOSOC's functional and regional economic commissions and of the specialized agencies as well as reports on special matters of particular importance. Among the latter group were those dealing with the conferences on freedom of information and on trade and employment, the progress made in repatriation and resettlement of refugees and displaced persons, the achievements of the International Children's Emergency Fund and the United Nations Appeal for Children, and the problems of relations with and coordination of programs of the specialized agencies. The Council received further reports from its ad hoc committees on the proposed Economic Commission for the Middle East and on the draft pact on genocide. Procedural matters on ECOSOC's agenda included the election of one-third of the members of the functional commissions and confirmation of their membership, revision of the Council's rules of procedure, and the preparation of its report for submission to the third regular session of the General Assembly.

Protection of the City of Jerusalem: The third part of the second session of the Trusteeship Council met from April 21 to May 4, 1948, to consider measures for the protection of the City of Jerusalem and its inhabitants. The USSR sent a representative (Tsarapkin) to the Council for the first time. On March 10, 1948, the Council had passed a resolution stating that the Statute for the City of Jerusalem was in satisfactory form and that the question of its formal approval should be considered by the Council not later than one week before April 29, 1948. In view of the action taken by the General Assembly and the Security Council, the Trusteeship Council, on April 21, carried the proposal of the representative of the United States (Gerig) that the Statute be transmitted to the General Assembly, together with the resolution of March 10, for such further instructions as the Assembly might see fit to give. On April 26, the General Assembly requested the Council to study and report on suitable measures for the protection of Jerusalem and its inhabitants. In consultation with the Mandatory Power and representatives of the Jewish Agency for Palestine and the Arab Higher Committee, the Council considered several proposals. The French delegate' (Garreau) proposed sending a United Nations official to Jerusalem with powers to recruit and organize an international force of 1,000 police, the United States proposed placing Jerusalem under temporary trusteeship, and Australia and the Jewish Agency favored the adoption of the draft Statute of Jerusalem.

Staff Rules: Pursuant to a General Assembly resolution of November 20, 1947, the Secretary-General (Lie), on May 13, 1948, reported on codification of staff rules for members of the staff of United Nations Secretariat. Specifically, there were provisions relating to duties and responsibilities, salaries and allowances, appointment and probation, promotions, leave, separations, travel, disciplinary measures, staff welfare, and permanent and temporary personnel. The rules became effective on July 1, 1948 and superseded all other provisions in force before that date.

Advisory Opinion on Conditions of Admission of a State to Membership in the United Nations: A General Assembly resolution of November 17,1947, requested the International Court of Justice to give an advisory opinion on the following question: “Is a Member of the United Nations which is called upon, in virtue of Article 4 of the Charter, to pronounce itself by its vote, either in the Security Council or in the General Assembly, on the admission of a State to membership in the United Nations, juridically entitled to make its consent to theadmission dependent on conditions not expressly provided by paragraph 1 of the said Article? In particular, can such a Member, while it recognizes the conditions set forth in that provision to be fulfilled by the State concerned, subject its affirmative vote to the additional condition that other States be admitted to membership in the United Nations together with that State?”

The second session of the Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization, which met in April 1948, reached the conclusion that the problem of increasing production of food supplies was still the crucial one in the world food situation. In a report submitted to the seventh session of the Economic and Social Council it was pointed out that conferences at the regional and national levels were needed to define shortages which had impeded increased agricultural production. Following the Council's decision, consultations were continued with the regional economic commissions of ECOSOC and several specialized agencies, including ILO, WHO, UNESCO, the International Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. In February, a representative of FAO brought the subject of increased food production to the attention of the WHO Interim Commission. The commission recommended that a mass attack on malaria in selected areas of major food-producing countries should be carried out as soon as possible. It was proposed that further discussions be held between FAO and UNESCO on promoting, through UNESCO's mass media and information services, awareness for the need of increased food production. Representatives of the International Bank stated that they were keenly aware of the need for greater production and hat the Bank was prepared to give consideration to requests from its member countries for loans designed to increase food production.

The Convention and Regulations adopted at the International Conference on Safety-of-Life at Sea, held in London in April 1948, established responsibility I in that field for the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization. The Conference, called by the United Kingdom, revised the International Convention for Safety-of-Life at Sea which had been drawn up in 1929. IMCO was recognized as the central bureau for the handling of maritime safety measures. It was also to receive from contracting governments copies of relevant documents = and reports as to marine casualties, suspensions of the convention, exemptions, I equivalents and interventions by governments arising from the control provij sions. Except in specified circumstances, the organization would be the agency for the study, circulation and development of amendments to the Convention and Regulations, and for recommending such amendments to governments.

On May 25,1948, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development announced that arrangements had been completed for the sale of an issue of 2½ per cent Swiss franc serial bonds, maturing in 1953 and 1954, with a total value of 17 million Swiss francs (approximately $4,000,000). The entire issue was purchased by the Bank for International Settlements, the proceeds to be made available to the Netherlands Government for the purposes of the loan granted it in August 1947. According to the Bank's announcement of the issue, the original loan agreement with the Netherlands would be adjusted to provide for repayment in Swiss francs in the amounts and on the dates corresponding to the maturities of the issue; the principal purpose of the sale was “to make currencies other than dollars available to the Bank for use in its lending operations.” As the first sale of Bank securities outside the United States, the Swiss franc issue was considered by Bank officials as a pilot issue foreshadowing future sales in order to replenish the Bank's reserves of foreign currencies.

Although devoting its attention primarily to preparatory work for the Second Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization, the ICAO Council during its third session also approved the first sets of International Standards and Recommended Practices designed to produce uniform operation of international air transport. The standards, which were the results of studies conducted by the organization since its inception in 1944, dealt with personnel licensing, rules of the air, meteorological codes, aeronautical charts, and dimensional units to be used in air-ground communications. The Council asked that all member states incorporate the Standards into their national legislation as nearly as possible in the exact terminology used by ICAO, giving the closest possible approach to absolute uniformity.

The thirty-first session of the ILO Conference opened on June 17, 1948, in San Francisco. Six new members — Burma, Ceylon, El Salvador, Syria, Pakistan, and the Philippines — attended the session; Yugoslavia sent no representative after having given notice of pending withdrawal. The agenda of the conference included: 1) a report by Edward Phelan, Director-General of the International Labor Office; 2) the organization's 1949 budget; 3) reports on the application of conventions; 4) employment service organization, including the consideration of the adoption of a convention providing for national employment services; 5) vocational guidance; 6) payment of fair wages on government contracts and establishment of measures to protect wages; 7) freedom of association and protection of the right to organize; 8) industrial relations, including methods of guaranteeing the right to organize, collective bargaining, conciliation and arbitration, and cooperation between governments and management and labor organizations; 9) revision of a convention regulating night work of women; 10) revision of a convention regulating night work of young persons; and 11) privileges and immunities of ILO.

In June 1948 the International Monetary Fund reported that its activities during the preceding nine months had been focused on offering temporary financial assistance to its members for monetary stabilization operations and on consultation on exchange problems. The Fund had prepared several special studies for member nations and had sent missions of technical advice and expert assistance to a number of countries.

In accordance with a resolution adopted by the General Assembly November 17, 1947, and a resolution of the Economic and Social Council of March 1, 1948, the Secretary-General of the United Nations (Lie) requested Carl J. Hambro (Norway) and Pierce Williams (United States) to prepare a report on the progress and prospect of repatriation, resettlement and immigration of displaced per- sons and refugees, for submission to the seventh session of ECOSOC. In describing the work of the Preparatory Commission of the International Refugee Organization in the field of repatriation and resettlement, the report pointed to the difficulty which the commission faced in making policy decisions since its constitution had not been ratified by the necessary number of governments to enable the permanent organization to come into existence.

The sixth meeting of the International Telegraph Consultative Committee was held in Brussels from May 10 to 27, 1948, the first meeting of the committee since 1936. C. Caenepenne, head of the Belgian delegation, was elected chairman of the conference, and E. C. Smith, head of the South African delegation, was elected vice-chairman. Committee reports presented to the conference included studies of the quality of transmission, standardization of telegraphic devices, relays, and general telegraphic and telephonic problems. Organizational matters for the interim period between meetings of the committee were discussed and a budget accepted. The seventh meeting of the Consultative Committee was scheduled for 1951 in the Netherlands.

The second session of the Executive Committee of the Interim Commission for the International Trade Organization was convened in Geneva on August 25, 1948. Among the items discussed were 1) a report of the work of the secretariat and its information activities, 2) relations with the United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, and the International Court of Justice, 3) financial and staff regulations for the permanent Organization, 4) a report by the secretariat on the Havana resolution relating to economic development and reconstruction, and 5) representation of the Interim Commission on the Interim Coordinating Committee for International Commodity Agreements. Consultations were held with the Secretariat of the United Nations and Registry of the International Court of Justice in connection with the preparation of agreements bringing the ITO into relationship with these two organizations.

Education: A report prepared for submission to the seventh session of the Economic and Social Council showed that seventy-five percent of funds available to UNESCO in the first three months of 1948 were allocated for the emergency purchase and distribution of books, educational material, scientific and technical equipment. In the fundamental education program for 1948, the two main elements were: 1) the establishment of a clearing-house of information through which techniques and methpds of education would be collected, analyzed and disseminated to member states; and 2) the giving of aid to member states in conducting pilot projects in Haiti, China, British East Africa and Peru, which aimed at abolishing illiteracy. From April 26 to May 1, experts on fundamental education met in Paris to discuss plans for future action.

The annual report of the International Bureau of the Universal Postal Union for 1947, made public in April 1948, showed that the resumption of postal relations had continued so that with few exceptions international postaFservice could be considered as reestablished in all the countries of the Union. It was estimated that the total figures of area and population which was currently being served were roughly the same as before the war: 131.7 million square kilometers and 2,079 million inhabitants. The Bureau, which had established direct mail connections with all the Administrations of the Union, also published a listing of postage stamps of all sorts. A new edition of the List of Addresses of Postal Administrations was produced and the Directory of Postal Offices begun in 1945 was continued. No communications concerning past or present disputes under Article 11 of the convention had been received. The total expenditures of the International Bureau for 1947, less receipts, were 701,932.35 Swiss francs.