Liberia, 1954

The delegation of Liberia avails itself of its privilege under the custom which allows delegations, at the beginning of each session of the General Assembly, to express their points of view in what has come to be known as the general debate.

2. In the main, the subjects which seem to have exercised the minds of most of the preceding delegations have been the atomic and hydrogen age in which we find ourselves almost rudely thrust, and the problem of whether the two ways of life confronting each other in the world today can subsist side by side in tranquillity, or whether their incompatibility is so great as to render their peaceful coexistence impossible.

3. As one of the smaller countries without the means or resources to practise modern warfare, we have given serious thought to whether any useful purpose could be served by taking part in discussions of subjects to which we could contribute so little, since whatever we might say might be regarded as but so many words. Despite the all-embracing declarations and charters enunciated in recent years, the rule that “might makes right” is still not without efficacy. Little, if any, heed is paid to mere words. Nevertheless, we are persuaded that smaller nations can and should take a part, even if only to express their points of view since, indeed, their very existence is involved.

4. In the great struggle between the two ways of life, or in any struggle in which the opposing forces may use the latest scientific methods, no nation great or small will go unscathed, and all existence upon our planet may quite possibly be exterminated. Hence, although materially we can do but little, yet, like watchmen on the wall, we can be keen and alert to approaching danger and sound the tocsin whenever there looms a threat to international peace and security.

5. We owe it to ourselves and to our posterity to join in the effort to meet the difficulties and dangers which must be overcome if international peace and security, to which this Organization is solemnly dedicated, are to be realized.

6. The delegation of Liberia therefore welcomes wholeheartedly the proposal for the establishment of an atomic pool, dedicated to the task of exploring the possibilities for developing the uses of atomic energy for peaceful purposes. We regard this proposal as a practical approach to a problem, the solution of which will be a test of international morality, which ought necessarily to be exercised in an atmosphere of sobriety, mutual confidence and good will. The delegation of Liberia will support any proposal before this Assembly which seeks to realize this ideal.

7. The cessation of armed conflict in Korea and Indo-China has been warmly acclaimed by numerous speakers, who have voiced the view that for the first time in many years all is at peace. While it is true that negotiations have brought forth a cease-fire in Indo-China and Korea, thereby considerably easing world tension, we do not know that it can be truthfully said that the world is at peace, since millions of subject peoples in the under-developed continents are still being haunted and harassed, driven from their ancestral hearths, forcibly deprived of their lands and worldly goods, their women left homeless and unprotected and their children fatherless and without instruction or hope for the future.

8. Today the spirit of nationalism surges in every human breast, and every man who does not enjoy this privilege cherishes the hope and the ambition to manage his own affairs. Which one of us will rise and say that this is not an honourable ambition? Indeed, I dare say that in the hearts and in the history of the peoples of every nation represented in this Organization are enshrined their national heroes who, at some time in the near or distant past, symbolized for them liberty and freedom. With this in mind, we who are enamoured of the principles of democracy ought to be most careful in branding as terrorists and savages men who love their country and their ancestral firesides, who love freedom and liberty for themselves and their posterity, men who only want to be left alone to secure and work out their own destiny.

9. We are concerned with the problem posed by these teeming millions of subject peoples and their steady emergence toward self-government and independence. We are dedicated to the principle of the self-determination of peoples: that there can be no substitute for self-government, however altruistic may be the intentions of the governing Power. Today, we too are engaged in a great struggle testing whether a world half slave and half free can long endure!

10. The delegation of Liberia is grateful for this opportunity to record its admiration for Mrs. Pandit who presided over the last session of the General Assembly in a manner which lent honour to her country and won the love and esteem of all who were privileged to work with her.

11. To the President, the delegation of Liberia brings its warmest compliments and wishes for every success in his tenure of office.