NEWS OF THE WEEK
THE Security Council deserves to be congratulated on its handling of the Persian appeal against the Soviet Union. From a situation which was capable of causing acute embarrass- ment to the newborn organisation, the Security Council has emerged with increased authority and prestige, and may make a valuable contribution towards solving the problems which have been so awkwardly brought before it. At worst, it has avoided the mistake, which would have harmed it irreparably, of postponing consideration of the dispute on the ground that it did not come within the terms of the Charter. -M. Vyshinsky's address to the Council on Tuesday was a powerful juridical argument for post- poning consideration of the dispute ; his argument was based on the claim that, since Russia and Persia had already been in negotia- tion and were now both willing to reopen negotiations, the Council was not competent to act. He proposed, therefore, that it should restrict itself to the procedural problem of disposing of the appeal. Even if this is an accurate interpretation of the letter of the Charter, it does not express its spirit ; and in this case certainly the letter killeth but the spirit giveth life.
