Show free ree On conformation formation Lif lifeline efine of f 1011 na world council will stand or fall on public opinion 4 by news nd commentator washington here are some more notes from a reporters notebook of course reporters dont really carry notebooks they write on whatever is handy this is a menu at the united nations some of the people who are reading this column attended sessions ot of the united nations I 1 think I 1 recognized some of you it was hard to get in because so many nations felt elt this session was so important that they brought much larger staffs than ever before these extra workers sit in the seats reserved tor for delegates nor the news peoples so they were given seats ordinarily handed out to the public for those of you who bo stayed home and listened to the radio or read the reports in the paper well what impression did you get your impression Is highly important as ill try to point out later there was and is this danger which trygve lie secretary general of the united N nations a ill 0 n a pointed out in a s speech p e e c h which stirred all the delegates who heard it and you too I 1 imagine if you were listening when he summarized it afterward over the ABC network lie said the peoples of the world and many governments baukhage as well are shocked frightened and discouraged cou raged to find that those same nations which created the united nations so openly disagree he called for a rebirth of the san francisco spirit the spirit which we all felt in those hopeful days when the united nations was born A colleague of mine a most restrained tt and thoughtful commenia com menta tor pauline frederick with considerable sid erable experience here and abroad told me something which is worth repeating she was interview ing eleanor roosevelt at a luncheon at hyde park whatever you may think thank of mrs Roosevel ts domestic politics you must know in what high regard she is held as a member ol of the american delegation to the united nations my aly colleague asked her if her heart heavy over the world situation today I 1 her exact words here but mrs roosevelt replied in the negative she said we had bad expected too much too soon from the united nations and then she went on to point out what so many of the delegates have said namely that faulty and ineffective Is as the united nations may be it is tar far better than nothing now flow many times have I 1 heard that from even the most cynical of the reporters and observers here As the new york times remarked in a recent editorial it cannot be stressed too often that the struggle brought to a head in m this session of the general a assembly Is not against the soviet union but FOR the united nations the most striking thing the editorial added is the determination of the united nations that means the member nations to survive one strange phenomenon chich appears to persons not too well acquainted with the uny u ny of such gatherings is ii the friendly and entirely normal manner in in which the delegates to me llie united no na lions aho attack each other on the rostrum consort in the corridors and lounges provided in the two buildings which nou temporarily house the executive council and the general assembly respectively that thaes s nothing new ne w to people peaple uhn have covered congress dispersing dispensing of news 9 Is vital to U N the longer I 1 serve covering these meetings the more I 1 realize that the most important of all the groups not excluding the delegates themselves are those which serve to dispense the news and information concerning the united nations it would be impossible ot of course tor for enough people to visit the sessions to affect public opinion greatly but many ot at the people who do come go back bach with a message which stirs great interest la in the organization in their communities proof of this interest was contained in the report of the he secretary general lie when he said that information had bad been sent out ind other steps taken in cooperation with a thousand meetings in the past year but more important th than an anything else are the actual reports of press and radio direct from one or the other of the two headquarters or as a result of the many interviews with members of the permanent secretariat here Is what done with radio alone during th the general assembly the radio division of the department of public information will broadcast for 12 hours a day while visiting radio commentators using facilities leased by the united nations will cover 0 the debates for listeners in ID 16 countries the french spanish chinese and russian sections of the radio division also are preparing to bro broadcast adrast adaptations of one ot of theu the U N programs which will be offered in transcription to stations unable to relay the original broadcast st the two services most w widely ely relayed because of the high quality of reception are those in spanish to latin america and in chinese the programs all carry the latest news on work of the assembly and other united nations bodies interviews with delegates background talks recorded excerpts from speeches speech ps in debate and short features As the bickering and obstructionism increased at the current session and it became clear that confidence in the united nations was being undermined the importance of the work of the agencies distributing information concerning the topics discussed by the general assembly became more and more evident the reason was this it became clear f TRYGVE LIE san francisco spirit that under the present structure of the united nations where a unanimous agreement on the part of the major powers before major steps could be taken Is required the only force behind the whole idea Is the force of public opinion As this is being written the question of the report of a committee on communications telecommunications tele is being discussed the plans envisioned by the men on the united nations who realize the importance of strengthening the opinion forming force of the organization are not too grandiose to be practical hut but they do involve expenses which make their completion uncertain nations of the world are all feeling the pinch of poverty and there is a strong move to cut expenses A part of the tele eions plan was IL a radio network which would dispense objective world news for all the world to show you how well the meagre efforts along those lines already have succeeded I 1 was told by the radio liaison division that even the russian reporters who aho as you know work for newspapers aich are under a strict cens censorship worship which permit no news which suit their needs have begun to ask tor for items issued by the united nations because they are so fair so objective that no one could accuse them of containing propaganda for or any one nation the men on the staff of the united nations are not all perfect there are a number of weak sisters but on the whole it is surprising to see how the majority of them has been able to develop a worldwide world wide viewpoint an attitude whose whole policy is based on world understanding and the perpetuation of peace |