The Relief of the Enslaved
An important and essential step towards the restoration of occupied Europe has been taken in the creation of a new body destined to be known as U.N.R.R.A.—the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. The draft plan for this organisa- tion, prepared after discussion between the American, British, Dominion, Soviet and Chinese Governments, provides for a Council on which all the United Nations will be represented, a small Central Committee consisting of representatives of Britain, the United
States, Russia and China, a Committee on Supplies whose chair- _
man will frequently sit on the Central Committee, and Committees for Europe and the Far East. The main directive power will be in the hands of the Director-General and the Central Committee over which he will preside. If there should be any criticism of the proposal that membership of the Central Committee is confined to the four great Powers, the reply is clear enough. What is created is a relief organisation charged with immediate, temporary functions —that of following up the great liberating armies with supplies that can be released here and now. In practice, at this moment, none but the major Powers control the supplies or can facilitate their flow to the points where they are needed. What is required is a practical scheme of relief. It will demand all the organising energy of this new joint Administration to accumulate the food, clothing, medical stores and implements for lack of which the people of Europe and many parts of China are perishing, to transport them to the right centres, and undertake the considerable task of distri- buting them. The time available is not too long. If the war goes well haste indeed will be essential. The first step is to bring the new organisation formally into being, presumably through a United Nations conference, which is likely to be held in the United States.
