Friday, October 24, 1958
THE SALEMITE
Page Three
Hammerskjold Explains U. N. Purposes
United Nations Day is October
24, the anniversary of the signing
of the charter. It is a day of re
dedication throughout the world to
the following words of the pre
amble: “And for these ends to
practice tolerance and live together
in peace with one another as good
neighbors.”
As each day goes by we can
feel the increasing importance of
the role played by the United Na
tions. Through a better under
standing of the U. N., its objectives
and structure, we can better under
stand the positions which they take
and the role which they play in
the maelstrom of world politioe
today.
Dag Hammerskjold, Secretary-
General of the U. N. answers some
the malestrom of world politics
purpose and function of the United
Nations.
Critics of the U. N. say that the
U. ,N. cannot keep the peace; that
whenever there is a crisis, it must
be resolved elsewhere. Do you
agree ?
Let us first be clear about what
the United Nations is. The United
Nations is not in any respect a
superstate, able to act outside the
framework of decisions by its mem'
ber governments. It is an instru
ment for negotiation among, and
to some esiltent, for governments
It is also an instrument for con
certing action by governments in
support of the Charter. Thus the
United Nations can serve, but not
substitute itself for, the efforts of
its member governments to stop
wars, and to prevent them.
Understood in this way, I believe
a review of the record will show
that the United Nations has played
a major role in most of the efforts
to keep the peace and resolve the
crises that have occurred in inter
national life since it was established.
In general, I believe that the
United Nations, if properly used,
has proved itself to be the best
instrument available to the member
governments for the peaceful re
solution of those international con
flicts which are not solvable by
more traditional means of diplo
macy.
Are you hopeful that world peace
will be eventually achieved?
I believe it is possible to develop
a peaceful world order in which
war is effectively outlawed. The
U. N. as it is today represents the
beginning of such a development.
Of course, there is the ever-present
danger of slipping backward again.
And even if we succeed in building
well during the next decades on
the modest advances so far made
in the institutions, laws, and cus
toms needed to maintain world
peace, each succeeding generation
will doubtless be called upon to pre
serve, strengthen and perhaps re
new the structure to meet new
challenges. This is as true in in
ternational life as it is in national
life.
What steps in your opinion are
the most vital in bringing about
such a peace?
One important step is to maintain
and strengthen support for the
United Nations, with full under
standing both of its limitations and
at the present time. In a divided
of the purposes it can best serve
world the U. N. cannot be a police
man enforcing the law upon na
tions great and small. But because
its world-wide membership tran
scends regional interests and meets
on the - common ground of the
Charter, the U. N. can serve a
policy of reconciliation.
The unremitting pursuits of ef
forts to achieve the peaceful reso
lution of conflicts that threaten
peace is the greatest need today.
Despite the inevitable setbacks and
disappointments, the diplomatic
processes of the United Nations
tend to wear away differences and
to bring us in the long run to
solutions in the common interest.
The critics say that the small
powers carry too much weight in
the Assembly. Do you agree?
Some critics say this. There ark
others, especially in the less power
ful countries, who say that the
great powers exert too much weight
in the General Assembly. Both
criticisms, I think, tend to exag
gerate the problem. No system of
weighted voting, based either on
power or population, seems politi
cally conceivable at this time.
The charge is made that the
U. N. is too much of a propaganda
forum. What is your answer to
that ?
One of the functions of the Uni
ted Nations is to serve as a forum
where nations in all parts of the
world may be freely expressed.
Surely this is a useful function and
an extension of democratic ideals
to the society of nations. To at
tempt to use the United Nations
for mere propaganda advantage and
voting victories is to divert the
organization from its main purposes
—the winning of consent to the
peaceful and just settlement of
questions in dispute and the win
ning of agreement to programs of
action that will support the pur
poses of the Charter.
If there were no U. N., what
would, in your opinion, be the state
of the world today?
The world would be in a state
where everybody would agree that
such an organization had to be
created!
-USNSA
Rachele Facio Comments On
U. S. Life, Boys, Churches
Salem’s newest foreign student is
Signorina Rachele Facio, who
comes from Catania, Sicily. This
5’ il” blond, 20-year-old girl is a
dentist’s daughter. She has one
brother, fourteen years old. Rach
ele plans to be a teacher in Sicily
some day.
She arrived at Salem to take up
her studies just as the American
novel class was wading through
Moby Dick. Poor Rachele was
initiated into Salem’s classes in a
whirl of whales, wdialing ships, har
poons, and blu1)ber. Her other
courses include Fngl'sh literature,
American liistory, and psychology.
This is Rachele’s third year of
college—she has attended the Uni
versity of Catania.
Rachele feels that American girls
are kinder and more natural than
Italian girls, who (she says) are
always thinking of boys—they can’t
do without them for a minute!
But Italian girls ahvays wear heels
to class, whether they go to
girls’ school or not.
In Italy, one never single-dates
things are always done in large
groups of boys and girls. Dating
one per'on frequently is frowned
upon, and likely to ruin a girls
reputation quickly. When a girl
and boy become engaged, the other
young people all know about it, but
the paren'.,- are ahvays kept in the
dark. The boys cannot marry until
they are around 28 or 29 years old
and have saved up enough money
(this is difficult to do because no--
body in Italy likes to work at all).
Engagements are announced when
the couple is finally ready to get
married.
Rachele w-ent to her first football
game last weekend. She thinks
American boys are very kind—they
are always opening doors for the
girls. However, she thinks Italian
boys are more exciting!
One contact Rachele had with
Americans before this fall was dur
ing World War II. When the war
rvas over, her father, who had been
a dentist in the Italian Army, be
came friends with American soldiers
in Sicily. Food was scarce, and
Rachele remembers getting cheese
and candy from the American
soldiers: this was the first time she
had ever had any chocolate.
She commented that churches in
America are very different from
those she is used to at home. Our
churches are like movie theaters
in their arrangement, she says, and
they do not have paintings and
sculpture as do the Italian'churches.
Rachele is interested in art, being
an artist herself. She likes ^ to
draw, paint, and do oil portraits.
Rachele thinks life at Salem is
well-organized, and the girls have
a good sense of responsibility. She
thinks the rules are good and
give us a lot of individual freedom.
At this point, we concluded the
interview as Rachele had to get
back to reading “Huckleberry Finn”.
Jane Leighton Bailey
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