'One of the great moments of history.' (signing of United Nations Charter)

Minutes before 11 p.m. on Monday, 25 June 1945, Great Britain's Lord Halifax, presiding over the ninth and penultimate plenary session of the United Nations Conference an International Organization (UNCIO), stepped to the podium on the stage of San Francisco's Opera House, and called for the final vote on a historic document--the Charter of the United Nations. In the orchestra rows before him sat delegations from the 50 participating nations. Guests, conference staff, the press and the public filled the remaining seats and crowded the balconies. Lord Halifax asked delegation heads to rise in their places "to record their vote on an issue that I think is likely to be as important as any of us in our lifetime are ever likely to vote upon".

He requested those in favour of approving the Charter, including the Statute of the International Court of justice, to stand. The vote was recorded. "Thank you", he said. "Are there any against?" No one rose. "The Charter and the other documents are unanimously approved."

A wave of emotion swept the delegates and the audience as they stood and applauded and cheered, shaking hands and embracing. Lord Halifax said: "I think, ladies and gentlemen, we may all feel that we have taken part, as we may hope, in one of the great moments of history."

The signing of the Charter the next morning and the final plenary session for the concluding addresses in the afternoon would end the nine-week effort in San Francisco.

As UNCIO convened at 4:33 p.m. on Wednesday, 25 April 1945, the Second World War was nearing its end. The war ended in Europe on 8 May, and in Asia on 2 September.

Participants in UNCIO knew that little time remained before the beginning of the postwar era. making imperative an agreement on an effective global system to foster peace and security, as well as economic and social development. Planning had begun in December 1939 as war swept across Europe and Asia. Peace, rapidly approaching, now demanded new decisions and commitments.

Invitations to UNCIO issued in Washington on 5 March 1945 by the United States. United Kingdom, USSR and China suggested that proposals crafted at Dumbarton Oaks be used in San Francisco "to prepare a charter for a general international organization for the maintenance of international peace and security".

Comments and amendments to the proposals were invited in advance. These filled nearly 700 pages of Conference documents with substantial amendments and additions, subtle word changes. extensive commentaries and drafts of a statute for the proposed International Court. Clearly, a formidable task was ahead.

A beautiful, secure seeing

The geography and climate of San Francisco, as well as the security it offered in a country far from the zones of war, made that city an ideal site for the Conference. There,the human and physical resources needed for its day-to-day work could be marshalled in one of the world's most beautiful locales.

Headquarters for UNCIO were the Opera House and the Veterans War Memorial, built side by side in the 1920s across from San Francisco's domed City Hall to commemorate the soldiers of the First World War. The Veterans War Memorial Building provided the meeting rooms and the offices of the UNCIO secretariat and the world press. Plenary sessions took place in the Opera House auditorium. Thirteen hotels were commandeered to house delegations and their staffs, as well as secretariat staff and the media. More than 3,000 people had to be accommodated. Six railroad trains were provided to bring many of them across the North American continent.

The UNCIO secretariat included specialists on geography, maps, treaties and archives. An eight-member staff helped with reference and research in a library of 1,500 volumes. The secretariat provided: interpretation and translation: sound recording; document preparation, reproduction and distribution; space planning; and automobiles and buses to move delegates and staff between the Conference headquarters and hotels. The Daily Journal announced meetings, published summaries of proceedings and lists of issued documents, as well as schedules of new Hollywood films shown almost every evening without charge to those with UNCIO credentials.

Writing the Charter

In an opening address to the Conference, President Harry S. Truman of the United States, speaking by radio from Washington, emphasized the importance of the work facing the delegates. "The essence of our problem here", he said, "is to provide sensible machinery for the settlement of disputes among nations." In plenary cessions that followed, heads of delegations underscored that theme. General Carlos P. Romulo, Chairman of the Philippine Commonwealth delegation, said: "We are here to determine whether the human race is going to exist or whether it is to be wiped out in another world holocaust.... This may be our last opportunity to achieve peace. We are here to fight for our lives."

During the first week of UNCIO, the heads of delegations agreed to organize themselves into a steering committee to consider major policy and procedure matters. Four Commissions considered draft proposals from technical committees and recommend action by the Conference. The first Commission dealt with general aspects. including the Preamble, UN membership and the Secretariat. Commission II concentrated on the General Assembly, with technical committees working on economic and social cooperation and a system of trusteeship. The third wrestled with proposals for the Security Council. The fourth body considered legal problems and wrote the Statute of the International Court.

Day after day, delegates and their advisers worked on the Charter in sessions that often lasted long into the night They transformed the Dumbarton Oaks' proposals into the constitution of a universal organization. The distinguished American poet Archibald Macleish, then serving as United States Assistant Secretary of State with the American delegation, assisted in writing the Preamble.

`A great day for history'

On Tuesday morning, 26 June, the Charter, printed in the five official languages of the Conference and bound like a book, was opened for signing in the Veterans Building auditorium. Each delegation, escorted to the circular table on the flag-lined stage, signed the texts. Spectators watched as the ceremony continued until shortly before the final plenary session began at 3:30 p.m. in the Opera House. South Africa's Prime Minister lan Christian Smuts observed: "Our Charter is not a perfect document by any means. It is full of compromises over very difficult and tangled problems. But at least it is a good practical workmanlike plan for peace--a very real and substantial advance on all previous plans for security against war."

President Truman began his address by exclaiming, "Oh, what a great day this can be in history!" He said: "That we now have this Charter at all is a great wonder. It is also a cause for profound thanksgiving to Almighty God. who has brought us so far in our search for peace through world organization."