I see that remarks I made about U.N.E.S.C.O. salaries have
evoked some comment in the correspondence columns of the Spectator. In particular, the point—a quite arguable one— is made that since the headquarters of the United Nations are in America all salaries both of the central organisation itself and of subsidiary organs like U.N.E.S.C.O. (whose headquarters is in Paris) or the Food and Agriculture Organisation (headquarters Rome) should be paid on the spacious American scale, which, when all allowance is made for variations in the cost of living, is far higher than that enjoyed by civil servants in most countries members of the U.N. I should like, for example, to see a com- parison between the salaries of the U.N.E.S.C.O. staff in Paris and of French civil servants, or of the Health Organisation at Geneva and of Swiss civil servants. I grudge no man anything, but it is rather a serious matter to accept the conclusion that everyone connected with the United Nations in any country of the world should be paid on the United States scale—and that all salaries should be free of tax.
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