The resolution was adopted by 40 (N.Z.) to 6, with 1 abstention. The Polish resolution was put to the vote paragraph by paragraph, and after every paragraph had been rejected the Committee decided by a substantial majority that it was not required to vote on the resolution as a whole. 1 When the report of the First Committee was debated in the General Assembly, the arguments which had been advanced in the Committee, in the sub-committee, and again in the Committee were once more developed at length. As in the later Committee discussions the greater part of the speeches was devoted not so much to the subject under discussion as, in the words of the Belgian delegate, to " reciprocal accusations in which certain countries threw upon the shoulders of others the responsibility for the existing crisis in the world." The Soviet Union and Polish resolutions were again rejected, the former by 6 votes in favour, 39 (N.Z.) against, with 6 abstentions, the latter by 6 votes in favour, 33 (N.Z.) against, with 5 abstentions. The Belgian resolution was adopted in the form recommended by the Committee by 43 votes (N.Z.) to 6, with 1 abstention. Appeal to the Great Powers to Compose Their Differences and Establish a Lasting Peace A draft resolution on this subject presented by the delegation of Mexico during the course of the Assembly was referred to the First Committee, which decided to give it priority. The resolution read : " 1. Whereas it is the essential purpose of the United Nations to maintain international peace and security and to that end it must co-ordinate its efforts to bring about by peaceful means the settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace ; "2. Whereas the United Nations should be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of this common end; " 3. Whereas the United Nations cannot fully attain its aims so long as the recent war remains in process of liquidation and so long as all the peace treaties have not been concluded and put into force; " 4. Whereas the Great Allied Powers which bore the heaviest burden in the war and whose common sacrifice and effort were the prime cause of victory have reaffirmed, on many solemn occasions, their determination to maintain and strengthen in the peace that unity of purpose and of action which has made possible the victory of the United Nations ;

1 The New Zealand representative pointed out after the last paragraph had been rejected that, according to Rule 118 of the Rules of Procedure, when parts of a proposal have been voted on separately " the resulting proposal shall be put to a votein its entirety; " since in this case every paragraph had been rejected there was no " resulting proposal " and the Committee could not vote on a non-existent resolution. This point of view was contested by Slav delegations, but was upheld by the Committee.

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