Harry G. Tarrington, Civil Aeronautics Administration, Department of A. A. Vollmecke, Civil Aeronautics Administration, Department of Com merce Press Relations Officer John C. Pool, Foreign Service Officer, Department of State Special Assistants William J. Primm, Assistant Clerk, Committee on Commerce, United States Robert V. Shirley, Clerk, Committee on Foreign Relations, United States URUGUAY Delegates Captain Carlos Carbajal, Uruguayan Navy; Chairman Colonel Medardo R. Farias, Military Attaché for Air, Uruguayan Embassy, Secretary Captain Juan Carlos Jorge, Assistant Military Attaché for Air, Uruguayan Delegates VENEZUELA Colonel Juan de Dios Celis Paredes, Ex-Minister of War and Navy; Chair- Francisco J. Sucre, Director of Communications, Ministry of Public Works; Julio Blanco Ustáriz, Legal Adviser Counselors in Aeronautics Major Jorge Marcano, Inspector General of Aviation Major Josué López-Henríquez, Air Attaché, Venezuelan Embassy, Washington Civil Counselor J. A. Calca ño-Calcaño, Head of the Minister's Cabinet, Ministry of Foreign Relations Secretaries Victor Jugo (absent) Francisco Alvarez-Chacín, Second Secretary, Venezuelan Embassy, Washington Delegates YUGOSLAVIA Vladimir M. Vukmirović, Consul General, Chicago; Chairman Squadron Leader (Captain First Class) Nenad Dj. Mirosavljević, Chief, Flight Lieutenant Predrag Sopalović THE DANISH MINISTER Henrik de Kauffmann, Minister to the United States Advisers R. Baumann, Consul General, Chicago Erling E. Kristiansen, Official, Ministry of Labor THE THAI MINISTER Mom Rajawongse Seni Pramoj, Minister to the United States VERBATIM MINUTES OF OPENING PLENARY Document 32 SESSION, NOVEMBER 1 SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE CONFERENCE (Dr. Kelchner): The International Civil Aviation Conference is hereby convened. It is the generally accepted practice for the Chief of State of the host government to designate the Temporary President of an international conference. Accordingly, President Roosevelt has designated the Honorable Adolf A. Berle, Jr., Assistant Secretary of State, as the Temporary President of this Conference. MR. BERLE: The International Conference on Civil Aviation is declared opened. I have the honor to read a message from the President of the United States: "On behalf of the United States, I offer a hearty welcome to the delegations of the fifty-one nations represented at this International Conference on Civil Aviation. You are called to undertake a task of the highest importance. I am very sure that you will succeed. "The progress of the armies, navies, and air forces of the United Nations has already opened great areas to peaceful intercourse which had been closed for more than four black years. We can soberly hope that all Europe will be reclaimed for civilization before many months have passed. "Steadily the great areas of the Pacific are likewise being freed from Japanese occupation. In due time, the Continent of Asia will be opened again to friendly intercourse with the world. "The rebuilding of peace means reopening the lines of communication and peaceful relationship. Air transport will be the first available means by which we can start to heal the wounds of war, and put the world once more on a peacetime basis. "You will recall that after the First World War, a conference was held and a convention adopted designed to open Europe to air traffic; but under the arrangements then made, years of discussion were needed before the routes could actually be flown. At that time, however, air commerce was in its infancy. Now it has reached maturity and is a pressing necessity. "I do not believe that the world of today can afford to wait several years for its air communications. There is no reason why it should. "Increasingly, the airplanes will be in existence. When either the German or the Japanese enemy is defeated, transport planes should be available for release from military work in numbers sufficient to make a beginning. When both enemies have been defeated, they should be available in quantity. Every country has its airports and trained pilots; and practically every country knows how to organize air lines. "It would be a reflection on the common sense of nations if they were not able to make arrangements, at least on a provisional basis, making possible the opening of the much needed air routes. I hope, when your Conference adjourns, that these arrangements will have been made. Then, all that will be needed will be to start using the air as a great peaceful medium, instead of a battle area. "You are fortunate in having before you one of the great lessons of history. Some centuries ago, an attempt was made to build great empires based on domination of great sea areas. The lords of these areas tried to close these seas to some, and to offer access to others, and thereby to enrich themselves and extend their power. This led directly to a number of wars both in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. We do not need to make that mistake again. I hope you will not dally with the thought of creating great blocs of closed air, thereby tracing in the sky the conditions of future wars. I know you will see to it that the air which God gave to everyone shall not become the means of domination over anyone. "As we begin to write a new chapter in the fundamental law of the air, let us all remember that we are engaged in a great attempt to build enduring institutions of peace. These peace settlements cannot be endangered by petty considerations, or weakened by groundless fears. Rather, with full recognition of the sovereignty and juridical equality of all nations, let us work together so that the air may be used by humanity, to serve humanity. "FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT." And let me add on my own behalf and in the name of the United States-let me extend a cordial welcome to the delegations from the countries who are assembled here today. We are met in a high resolve that ways and means may be found, and rules may be evolved, which shall permit the healing processes of peace to begin their work as rapidly as the interruptions resulting from aggressive war can be cleared away. Few of our countries have escaped grief and agony, and many are sore with honorable wounds in a common struggle. All of us know that the pain can be alleviated and the wounds healed only by common action in reestablishing peaceful life. There are many tasks which our countries have to do together, but in none have they a clearer and plainer common interest than in the work of making the air serviceable to mankind. For the air was given to all; every nation in the world has access to it. To each nation there is now available a means of friendly intercourse with all the world, provided a working basis for that intercourse can be found and maintained. It is our task to find this working basis and thereby to open the highways of friendship, of commerce, and of thought. The United States counts it a high privilege to be host to a conference called for that purpose. The world has learned to take seriously the scientific developments which enlarge the scope of national and international life. True, the lesson was long in the learning. At the close of the Napoleonic wars, there was convened, as you recall, the Congress of Vienna, famous in diplomatic history. But while it met, obscure men, or men then obscure, were working in shops to develop the use of steam, and today, more than a century later, who will say that Watt and his disciples in Scotland, Trevithick and his disciples in England, Woolf in Cornwall, Fulton in the United States, following Cugnot and his disciples in France, and their later followers-who will say that they did not do more to change the face of the world with their steamships and railroads than did all the diplomats and ministers at Vienna in 1815? Even as late as 1919 it was the opinion of the powers assembled at Paris-the United States among them-that aerial navigation was not a subject pertaining to the peace conference. This time we shall not make that mistake. The air has been used as an instrument of terrible aggression. It is now being made a highway of liberation. It is our opportunity hereafter to make it a servant of peoples. In bidding you welcome, let me express as the hope and certainty that our labors be lighted by vision, and made fruitful by insight. The Chairman will recognize the Chairman of the Delegation from Belgium. VISCOUNT DU PARC: Mr. Chairman, and Gentlemen: It is a great privilege for me to express the appreciation of the nations represented at this meeting for the welcome extended to us. We are deeply touched by the message conveyed to us by the President of the United States. We particularly appreciate the words of encouragement which have thus been expressed on behalf of the great American Democracy. We are very thankful to you, Mr. Chairman, for the clear and precise terms in which you have so ably defined the basis of our deliberations. This will prove of the greatest help for our coming work. I am sure that I am voicing the feelings of all the delegations gathered here today in saying how grateful we are for the initiative taken by the Government of the United States in convening the International Civil Aviation Conference. This gathering is among the most important in which we have been called upon to participate with a view to solving post-war problems. Aviation is pre-eminently the means of communications of the future. All countries, be they great or small, feel that these problems are of vital importance. Allow me to illustrate this by an example, taken from my country. I had the joy of receiving yesterday a copy of a newspaper issued in Brussels on October 18. It was the first Belgian paper printed since the liberation of my country which fell into my hands. Once again, as before the war, our press can express itself freely. I turned to the editorial and saw that it was dedicated to the Conference opening here today. It stressed the importance of this meeting for our country and for the world as a whole. I feel that we are confronted with a great responsibility. You can be assured, Mr. Chairman, of our determination to devote all our energies to the task that lies before us and to do all in our power to make this Conference a success. Aviation has played a major part in winning the war. It must play a major part in winning the peace. MR. BERLE: Our hearts are warmed by the fact that not only do we hear the voice of Belgium but that the flag of Belgium flies once more over Brussels. There is recognized the Chairman of the Delegation from China, Dr. Chang. DR. CHANG: Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: It is a great honor and privilege for me to express, on behalf of the Chinese Delegation, my profound appreciation of the effort made by the United States in calling this Conference and in providing all of us with this generous hospitality. In the last one and one half years there have been many international conferences held under the inspiring leadership of the United States. And now in this great city another conference has been called, representative of most of the nations of the world, and inspired by that same cooperative spirit which has animated the former international gatherings, a spirit which will, I am sure, guarantee the success of this one. As the Chairman, Mr. Berle, has just said, the air has been used as a medium of aggression, and it is our purpose hereafter to make it a highway serving all peoples of the earth. Fortunately aviation is still a young art and therefore more subject to the influence of forethought in shaping the course of its development and its role in human affairs. Whereas in the horse and buggy days a village or a county was a big place, not to say a state or a province, the introduction of railroads and automobiles has changed conceptions of distances, making it as easy to reach the frontiers of a country as it was to reach the borders of a province in days of yore. These developments greatly stimulated the national consciousness of the people but at the same time created many new problems that could be solved only on a national scale. Added to this was the expansion of ocean transportation, which further revised our conception of distance, a conception which is now being radically altered by the remarkable development of aviation. Technological progress during the past fifteen years, and the recent accomplishments of the air forces, for example, the American Air Transport Command, have totally changed the art of air transportation. Hereafter, national boundaries will be no more significant than the dividing lines between provinces. It is inevitable, therefore, that the peoples of the earth will grow more and more world-conscious. The world has finally become a real geographical unit. But, just as new problems of national importance have grown out of the development of railroads, steamships, and automobiles, there will be more and more problems emerging from this era of air transportation that will require international cooperative efforts for their solution. Upon the success of these efforts will depend the development of civil aviation among the nations represented here, a development which will, I believe, be a most effective means for promoting human welfare and world peace. MR. BERLE: We are obliged for the kindly words from a very distinguished servant of China and of air transportation in China, and of a people which was the first to fight as it is the longest to resist the forces of international aggression. |