Editorial Note
On October 24, 1950, the fifth anniversary of the coming into force of the United Nations Charter, President Truman addressed the General Assembly. The portion of the President’s remarks devoted to regulation of armaments and international control of atomic energy listed three basic principles upon which a successful plan for disarmament would have to rest: (1) the plan must include all kinds of weapons; (2) it must be based on unanimous agreement; (3) it must contain adequate safeguards.
The President’s address also included the following statement:
“Much valuable work has already been done by the two disarmament commissions on the difficult technical problems confronting them. I believe it would be useful to explore ways in which the work of these commissions could now be more closely brought together. One possibility to be considered is whether their work might be revitalized if carried forward in the future through a new and consolidated disarmament commission.”
For the full text of the address, see GA(V), Plenary, volume I, pages 245-247, or Department of State Bulletin, November 6, 1950, pages 719-722.