Editorial Note
The Secretary of State released a statement to the press on June 7, commenting on the June 6 publication by the Secretary-General of a report on his trip to Europe and of his 10-point memorandum with accompanying letter. The Secretary said in part:
“… An examination of our record will disclose that the United States has cooperated wholeheartedly in the United Nations in the search for agreement and for progress in these [ten] fields. The United States has always been ready to negotiate with other members of the United Nations on any matter in the appropriate forum. We are willing to consider any possibilities put forward by Mr. Lie or by any other member of the United Nations which are believed to be practical. As I said in my speech at Berkeley last March, ‘our attitude is not inflexible, our opinions are not frozen, our positions are not and will not be obstacles to peace.’
“The United States believes, furthermore, that all the Great Powers have a special responsibility under the Charter to exercise leadership. We intend to exercise this responsibility in the future as we have in the past. We have hope for progress through the United Nations, and we do not doubt its capacity for accomplishment.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“… There is no magic which either Mr. Lie or anybody else can produce with a wave of a wand to remove suddenly the tensions that now exist. As I have said before, the free nations of the world have a hard task ahead of them as long as the Soviet Government continues [Page 390] its present policies. We can’t afford to wait and merely hope that those policies will change. We must carry forward in our own determination to create situations of strength in the free world, because this is the only basis on which lasting agreement with the Soviet Government is possible.”
For text of the complete statement, see Department of State Bulletin, June 26, 1950, pages 1050 and 1051.