Letters to the Editor

Peace Conference Needed Before End of Century

I hope the author of the article "UN Tries New Tack At Summit on Cities," June 3, turns out to be wrong when she says Habitat II "is the last big UN conference of this century."

It is the last approved by the General Assembly at this moment, and undoubtedly there is resistance, based largely on financial grounds, to having any more such conferences.

Nevertheless, the public should know that efforts are being made at the United Nations to schedule a Third Hague Peace Conference in 1999, the 100th anniversary of the First Hague Peace Conference and the final year of the UN's Decade of International Law. It will be sad if opposition to international conferences in general stands in the way of holding a conference on the very central global issue of peace through the advancement of international law.

The cost of such a conference is minimal compared with what national governments are spending to get ready to fight wars. The people should tell their governments, "Spend your money on promoting peace, not war." Let us have the peace conference in 1999.

Ronald J. Glossop

Jennings, Mo.

Professor and Coordinator of Peace Studies

Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville