October 19, 2025 • 43 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Golden Judge by Nathaniel Gordon, United Nations, New York,
June sixteenth, nineteen eighty one, a p in one of
the most impressive ceremonies ever held in the United Nations building.
The world celebrated today the twenty fifth anniversary of the
discovery of the Golden Judge. General Terence P. O'Reilly, USA, retired,
(00:26):
the man responsible for the discovery, was the principal guest
of honor. Obviously moved by the acclaim from virtually every
member nation, General O'Reilly made a brief speech recapturing for
a moment the accidental circumstances of twenty five years ago
that so drastically reduced world tensions. It was stifling hot
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in Jerusalem in the afternoon of June sixteenth, nineteen fifty six,
and Major General Terence Patrick O'Reilly, United States Army was
rather more bored than usual. His army career had gone
well two stars already at forty five, until the mysterious
workings of the Pentagon had given him perhaps the most
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frustrating posting a soldier could have. He was chairman of
the Mixed United Nations Armistice Commission, trying to keep the
uneasy peace between Israel and her Arab neighbors. For months,
he had presided over unending investigations of border incidents, some petty,
some not so petty. He had signed reports reprimanding and
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recommending and approving, but nothing ever came of them, and
he no longer expected anything ever would. Today's hearing was different,
and not strictly in his field. But because he was
an engineer, and because both Arabs and Israelis trusted him,
he had agreed to listen to their opposing arguments on
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using the waters of the River Jordan. Too. Many years ago,
the United States had offered to provide most of the
funds for a little tva on the river, benefiting both
Israel and Jordan alike. At first, both had refused outright
to have anything to do with the other. But over
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the years, skillful negotiating by Eric Johnston, the American President's
personal envoy, had brought Israel and Jordan closer and closer together,
until now they agreed on the disposal of ninety percent
of the water, but farther than this they would not go.
For months years they balked on the remaining ten percent,
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and the dams remained only blueprints. Terence O'Reilly was sick
unto death of the arguments, and thought everyone else was too.
He had heard them over and over, He knew them
by heart. He knew they were evenly balanced, with justice
on both sides. Knew both nations longed for a settlement,
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but he knew neither would back down for reasons of face.
Worst of all, he knew that any decision of his
was meaningless. It was purely advisory, and he knew all
too well what advisory opinions counted for out here. Yet
he tried to look interested as the delegates from Jordan
wearily produced an argument that every man in the conference
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room could recite word for word in a brief low,
General O'Reilly groaned, why don't they toss a coin for it?
It was not as such a vochie as he meant.
The Arab delegate stared at him. I beg your pardon. Flushing,
General O'Reilly apologized, but the Arab was already talking excitedly
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to his fellow delegates. Puzzled, O'Reilly heard a confused babble
of Arabic, then sudden silence. The Arab delegate had a
glint in his eye. As he asked for the floor
in the name of my country, he said, proudly, we agree.
The word agree had not been heard in this chamber
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for many months, and General O'Reilly wondered if he had
heard aright agree. He stared, agree to what to toss
a coin for it? As the chairman has proposed? The
Arab said, that is, if the Israeli delegation has the
courage the sportsmanship to agree. He looked tauntingly to his rifles.
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Across the room. The Israeli leader sprang to his feet, indignant,
I protest, mister Chairman, to this frivolous treatment of a
serious matter which will affect the future of He fell silent,
aware of the contemptuous smiles on the faces of the Arabs.
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General O'Reilly kept his countenance. He said, mildly, of course,
if you're not willing to risk the luck of we
are afraid of nothing, Sir yours Israeli snapped, we are
as sporting as anyone else. But one of his fellow
delegates whispered something to him. Then the whole Israeli delegation
talked in low voices. Finally the leader rose again, will
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you permit me to telephone my minister. Gravely, the General
recessed the meeting for thirty minutes. In his own room,
he stared at himself in the mirror, still dazed. My God,
he breathed, He can't be taking it seriously. But why
not if the arguments were so evenly balanced that not
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even Solomon could have chosen. If they really wanted a settlement,
if they could never get in without losing face, why
what better method than to trust it to the fall
of a coin. Still, things just didn't happen in that way.
When the thirty minute recess ended, the Israeli delegate arose.
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He glared across the room and announced, defiantly, my government
also agrees. Let the coin decide. The conference room broke
into clamor. But General O'Reilly had long since learned the
value of prudence in Jerusalem. The chairman agrees. He said
judicially that in the circumstances, this is perhaps an excellent solution,
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perhaps the only solution. But this has been, to say
the least, somewhat impulsive. Let me suggest both sides return
to their governments and consider this. Well, then, if you
are both still willing, let us meet here one week
from today in this room, and the coin will decide.
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He had expected second thoughts, and he was not disappointed.
Extremists on both sides of the Jordan screen with indignation.
Yet oddly, most people seemed strangely excited, even pleased, by
the sporting proposition. They began to lay bets on the outcome,
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and both governments held firm. Probably the General speculated because
they both wanted a solution and there was no other
solution in sight. Also, each hated to be the first
to back down from a fair bet. It became a
matter of honor. On the weekend, General O'Reilly flew to
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Cairo to meet some friends passing through on a world tour.
Like all tourists, they went to the Muski, Cairo's great Bazaarre,
and it was there in the street of the goldsmiths,
that the General got his idea. It cost him a
chalk of bunny out of his own pocket, but like
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most irishmen, he was a sporting man himself. After all,
he grinned to himself, I started the whole business, and
I might as well do it up in style. He
had decided that no ordinary coin would do for such
an historic occasion, so he had a goldsmith make him
a heavy, solid gold medallion, almost twice as big as
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a twenty dollars gold piece. He was not very much
pleased with the design he sketched out hastily, but on
the spur of the moment, he could think of nothing better.
The head's side of a great coin bore a front
view of the blind Goddess of Justice with her scales.
The taal's side had a rear view of the same lady.
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It was rather crudely done, but time was short. It'll
have to do, the general chuckled as the plane bore
him back to Jerusalem. When the appointed day came, the
United Nations conference room in Jerusalem was jammed with Israeli
and Arab officials and with a pack of correspondents who
had matched. General O'Reilly had decided against asking each side
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to put its agreement into writing. A true gentleman's agreement
shouldn't be written, he concluded. He merely asked the leaders
for each side if they agreed to abide by the
fall of the coin solemnly. Both assented courteously. The Israelis
had allowed the Arabs to call while the coin was
still in the air, there was silence as General O'Reilly
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flipped it high up toward the ceiling. Tales, cried the
Arab leader. The spinning coin glittered, falling onto the green
baize table. The General looked at it. The goddess had
her back turned. It is tales, he announced, and the
Arab delegation broke into happy shouts. And astonishingly, that was that.
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The leading Tel Aviv newspaper summed up Israeli feeling when
it wrote in an editorial, certainly there were many heavy
hearts in our country when the coin fell against us,
But let us show the world that we are true sportsmen.
We risked and we lost. Let this be the end
of it. Work began on the dams at last, without
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interference of protest. Not a word was ever written on paper,
but it was the only agreement between the two countries
that was scrupulously kept by both sides. It was, of
course a wonderful story. The name of Terence O'Reilly swam
suddenly into the headlines, and his wife began keeping a
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scrapbook of all the clippings. One among them was destined
to be more potent in world affairs than all the rest.
It was a profile of General O'Reilly published in a
great American magazine and was notable for two things. To
begin with, it was the author of this profile who
first gave the coin the name by which it soon
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became so famous, the Golden Judge. But it also contained
a casual, seemingly insignificant remark by General O'Reilly. When the
interviewer had asked how he happened to think of the
coin tossing idea. The general had grinned, why not, he said,
aren't the Irish the gamblingest people on earth? And it
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was this innocent sentence, hardly noticed at the time, that
started the Golden Judge on its fantastic career and kept
it from being a mere nine day wonder. For a
Chinese communist diplomat in Baarn, Switzerland, happened to see it,
and one night at a dinner party, he said, mockingly,
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this stupid American general in Jerusalem is obviously ignorant of
the world. Otherwise he would recognize that no nation on
earth loves gambling so much as the Chinese. Anyone who
knows the Orient will tell tell you this. This made
good cocktail party talk a thing desperately needed in burn
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and eventually reached the ears of an Associated Press correspondent.
He filed a paragraph on it for a box story, and,
in the inevitable way of the press, a reporter in
Jerusalem asked General O'Reilly for his comment. Well, he said,
I've heard the Chinese are great gamblers, indeed, although whether
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more so than the Irish I beg leave to doubt.
Then his eyes twinkled. Why don't they prove it? Why
don't they toss a coin, say for Kimoa and Matsu.
The dang little places aren't worth a nickel either side,
And well they both know it, but they'll neither of
them back down a hair for losing face. I say,
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if they think they're the greatest gamblers on earth, let
them prove it. This sped into print, causing a worldwide stir,
and brought General O'Reilly a sizzling reper man from the
Department of the Army. He was not repeat not to
express opinions about the value of Allied territory. He read
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the reprimand ruefully reminded himself that another great Irish failing
was too much taught, and said goodbye to any hopes
for a third star. But This was before the black
headlines from Formosa with popping eyes. General O'Reilly read that
the Chinese Nationalist Foreign Minister had taken up the challenge.
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He offered to toss a coin with the Chinese Communists
for Kimoi and Matsu. I'll be jiggered, the general breed.
They'll fight about everything else, but damned ifill admit the
Irish are bigger gamblers in the Chinese. Now, let's see
what the Kamis say. Picking was silent for two weeks,
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then in a broadcast from Radio Picking, Joe and Lai
made his reply. He agreed, but with conditions. He insisted
on a new commission to supervise the toss half Communist members,
half non communists. World observers, weary of neutral commissions that
never achieved anything, interpreted this as a delaying tactic. Had
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agreed the whole thing would fall through. This is further
proof the nationalist Foreign Minister commented with icy scorn that
the Communists are no longer real Chinese, for any Chinese
worthy of the name would not be afraid to risk
the fall of the coin. But Marx had not quite
liquidated the gambling fever that runs strong in the blood
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of any Chinese be he ever, so Communists stun Joe
and Lai retorted, we agree, let the coin decide. It
was agreed that Prime Minister Nehru of India, as a neutral,
should supervise the matter, and that New Deli would be
the scene of the actual tossing, and Neru thought it
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fitting to invite General O'Reilly, as the father of the
whole thing, to bring the same golden judge to India
to be used again. The General came gladly, but declined
to make the toss himself. My country is too closely
involved in this matter, he explained, and there might be
talk if an American made the toss. He suggested Nehru
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himself do it, and the Prime Minister agreed. The actual
tossing was done in the Great Governmental Palace Communist China
Ion Chankai Check's delegate bowed impassively and said coolly that
his government yielded without question to the Goddess of chance.
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That night, the Indian Prime Minister was host to a
glittering official banquet to celebrate the ending of the offshore
island crisis. And we must lift our glasses, he said eloquently,
after dinner to the man who discovered this eminently sane
method of settling quarrels, a method so sensible, so fair,
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that it is difficult to believe that in all the
world's long search for peace, it has not been discovered before.
I give you, General O'Reilly. The General rose to loud applause.
He expressed his thanks modestly and disclaimed any merit except
that of pure luck. Then he held up the Golden
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Judge itself with a gleam in his eye. I hope,
he said, that this coin will still have more work
to do. Surely there are still disputed places in the
world where justice lies on both sides, where only face
saving prevents a settlement. And surely it is better to
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resort to this coin than to force and war and
bitter arguments that drag on year after year. Here hear
Nehru cried, leading the clause. General O'Reilly stood smiling until
it died away. Places like Kashmir, he said clearly. There
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was a gasp of laughter, quickly hushed. Neyru's face was
pale with anger. He was famous for his temper, and
everyone knew how India and Pakistan had quarreled for years
over Kashmir, and that all the efforts of the United
Nations had come to nothing so far. I was delighted
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to hear Prime Minister Nehru say. General O'Reilly went on, calmly,
how much he approved this method of settling old disputes,
and I should be very glad to help with this. Smiling,
he tossed the Golden Judge in the air and caught
it again. Neyru could keep silent no longer, like a
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skilled Oriental debater, he struck back indirectly. We thanked General O'Reilly,
he said, acidly, for his offer, But perhaps it should
be first used by his own people, the Irish, of
whose gambling prowess he is so proud. Surely no bitterness
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has lasted longer than that between the Republic of Ireland
and the six lost counties of Northern Ireland. Let the
Irish use the Golden Judge themselves before they counsel it
for others. But General O'Reilly was unruffled. I'm an American myself,
he said, smiling, although proud indeed of my Irish blood,
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and the Irish will have to speak for themselves. Although
I venture to say you'll find them a sporting people indeed.
But that's not quite the point. Is it. Twas you yourself, sir,
who praised the Golden Judge so highly, and you've seen
today what fine sportsmen the Chinese are. The point is,
are the Indians a sporting people? Of course, we're a
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sporting people that I take it you'd be willing assuming
Pakistan agrees, of course, But I'm told they're are very
sporting people. Also. The General tossed the coin again, absent mindedly.
All right, Nehru grated. If they agree, so do we.
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It took a month before Pakistan could agree and all
the arrangements be made for the toss on Kashmir, But
in that month the world had other things to think about.
Shan Kaishek accepted his gambling loss without a murmur and
removed his troops from Kamoy and Matsu. The American seventh Fleet,
helping the Communists, not interfering. All civilians on the islands
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who wished to go to Formosa were taken there. Washington
said little officially, but in the corridors of the Pentagon
Congress and the White House, the size of relief reached
gaale four. General O'Reilly received a confidential and personal message
from the Army Chief of Staff that made him pink
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with pleasure. May get that third star after all, he
told his wife that night. And not too long to
wait maybe, But above all, the month was filled with
clamor from Ireland. Her Majesty's government in Whitehall had immediately
issued a communicay which took a glacial view of the
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puerile proposal to toss for Northern Ireland. It was the
timing of this communicay, rather than its contents, that proved
the tactical error. It had come too quickly, and Irishmen
both north and south presented it as a Belfast newspaper
wrote tartly, Irishmen on both sides of the line are
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quite able to decide such matters for themselves without the
motherly interference of London breed in principle to toss. But
the wrangling over conditions and exceptions boiled up into the
greatest inter Irish quarreling of twenty years. It was still
raging when General O'Reilly flew into the veil of Kashmir
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with a broad smile and the Golden Judge again. The
Great Coin glittered high in the air, while none other
than Nehru himself called out tensely. Heads it fell tails,
so be it, Neru said, calmly, shaking hands with the
Governor General of Pakistan. Well, General Neru said, turning to
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O'Reilly with a smile. Are you satisfied now? I think
we've proved we're a sporting people. So had the Chinese
and the Jews and the Arabs. But what about your
own fault? The Irish? From what I read, their sporting
qualities seemed to be highly overrated. I'd say they'd never gambled,
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But on a sure thing. The General's face went red
at the insult, and so a day later did the
collective face of all irishmen, north and south. For a
while there was aghast silence from the Emerald Isle, a
silence sullen and embarrassed, and then a great rumbling roar
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of indignation. Mister speaker cried a member of the Dale
in Dublin. Are the Irish people who honored great gamblers
only a little less than great poets to be outdone
by dark skinned heathen mister speaker, I say no. The
following morning, the government of ire formerly offered to toss
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for the six lost counties, and if the coin fell
contrary to say no more about them forever. Belfast agreed
that same afternoon, and the whole island went wild with excitement.
Hardly any Irishman failed to place some kind of side
bet on the outcome, and stakes were laid that day
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that would be spoken of with prideful awe for generations
to come. The remark of a Limerick Draymond was widely quoted.
There's not a man of us here, he commented, in
the course of a game of darts at the sword
and Shamrock, But would toss a coin for his grandmother's head?
And well, ye know it, So, after all the blatherin
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and yourin, why not have a go for the six
counties and let the coin decide it now and forever,
once and for all, win or lose. The British government
surrendered with grace and offered to play host to the
toss in London as a neutral place, they soon learned
with burning ears. But the last place on earth any
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Irishman considered neutral was London. As a matter of course,
General O'Reilly was invited to preside, using the Golden Judge.
Like most Irishmen in America, he had long sung of
and sighed for the old sod, while carefully avoiding going
there even for a visit. He now realized his error.
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He was received as one of Ireland's most glorious sons.
He was set upon by thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands
of proud O'Reillys. There were O'Reillys from the bogs, and
O'Reillys from the great houses, O'Reilly's in top hats, and
O'Reillys in tam O'Shanter. He was assured and came near
believing it that in both looks and wisdom, he was
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the spitting image of the great O'Reilly, one of the
many last rightful kings of Ireland. A minstrel composed a
lay about him, the Golden Judge of Ireland. He was
smothered in shamrock and could have swum in the gifts
of Poteene. Secretly, he much preferred Scotch whiskey to Irish,
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but the swarming O'Reillys made the disposal of the potting
no very great problem. The actual toss took place in
a small railroad station hastily cleaned up on the railway
line between Dublin and Belfast impartial surveyors had certified it
as being exactly astraddle the frontier. Amid a deathlike hush.
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With a high sense of history in his heart, General
O'Reilly flipped the golden judge high in the air. Higher
one the six counties were no longer lost, and there
was little enough work done in Ireland for a fortnight.
Higher instantly and magnanimously granted to her new North all
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the points that had been fought over so bitterly for
so many years. For the Northerners, to their surprise, life
went on exactly as before, except for the different postage
stamps and a changed heading on their income tax returns,
which were considerably lower. For the first time in many years,
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there were no brick bats thrown. If a man felt
the need on a summer night to sing God Save
the Queen. General O'Reilly flew away from Ireland with a
mist in his eyes and a great glow in his heart.
In a shaven second, he had achieved the thing for
which long and gallant generations of earlier O'Reilly's had fought
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bloodily and in vain. For a fleeting moment, he wondered
if his nervous right hand that day had shown any
subconscious partisanship, but rejected the thing as impossible. If the
toss for the six Counties was in a way the
crowning peak of General O'Reilly's career, it was by no
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means the end of it. Both he and his coin
were fast becoming settled tradition. He continued his normal military career,
but with the tacit understanding, he would have a few
days leave of absence whenever the Golden Judge was needed.
He took it to Stockholm for the toss that settled
the old and bitter fishing controversy between Britain and Iceland.
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Britain one he took it to Cairo, where Britain and
Greece tossed for Cyprus. Greece won and at once offered
Britain all the bases she wanted there and granted special
extra territorial status to all British chrome colonels, knights, widows
and former governors of the Punjab living in retirement on
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the island. He got his third star just before he
flew down to Rio de Janio for the toss that
finally settled the nagging quarrel between Britain and Argentina as
to who owned the Falkland Islands Britain one. He took
it to the Hague in Holland for the toss about
the Sar. The Tsar had remained a European sore point
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despite a series of five Franco German settlements which never
seemed to settle anything. Germany won the toss, and immediately
of her own free will, granted the French equal commercial rights.
The Saar Toss had two odd results. The first was
purely personal for General O'Reilly, but he never forgot it.
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One day, driving through the Hague, his official car passed
a huge, dignified building, which his chauffeur explained was the
World Court. With a strange feeling, the General noticed a solemn,
old man in black staring bleakly out the window. He
realized suddenly it was probably a judge, and that the
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golden coin in his pocket had turned this costly mechanism
into an anachronism. Nobody used the World Court anymore now.
The other result of the Saar Toss was, from the
viewpoint of world jurisprudence, far more important, transformed the golden
judge from a mere tradition into an established legal institution.
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In this manner, France and Germany had been unable to
agree whether the Tsar was really tossable, a term that
suit entered dictionaries, and had appealed to the United Nations
to decide. A temporary or ad hoc United Nations Commission
had been named to settle this point, and after due deliberation,
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had pronounced the Tsar tossable. Technically, this TSAR Commission should
have then dissolved itself. Instead, in the way of parliamentary institutions,
it lingered on and soon became the accepted body to
decide on tossibility and illogically it was forever afterwards still
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called the SAR Commission. Whenever anywhere in the world some
international dispute reached stalemate, it became commonplace for some delegate
to rise and set Mister Chairman I moved the question
be referred to the TSAR Commission. In due course, the
t SAR Commission would then give its solemn judgment as
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to whether or not the dispute should be put to
the arbitrament of the Golden Judge. If so, General O'Reilly
would board a plane and be off Once the Tsar
Commission had its say, no nation ever dared refuse to
put a dispute to the hazard of the coin. Whereas
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nations yawned at being called warmongers or imperialists, or aggressors
or international bandits, none could stand being called bad sportsmen
or poor losers. So many nations had accepted the verdict
of the Golden Judge that it became increasingly more difficult,
not to say impossible, for a given nation to admit
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it was less supporting than the others. However, not all
disputes were held tossible, to the disappointment of some people
who had too quickly believed the Golden Judge would bring
immediate utopia, the end of all quarreling forever. Gradually, the
Tsar Commission involved certain criteria. A dispute was not tossible
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if it might give great populations and great nations over
into systems of government they abhorred. It was tossable only
if the population involved had no very great bias one
way or the other. A tossible dispute was one in
which justice lay on both sides evenly balanced. Tossing was
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clearly indicated where both sides ardently wished a settlement but
where neither side was willing to cede an inch for
fear of losing face. Thus, the Tsar Commission pronounced untossable
the proposal by the Soviet Union to have the Golden
Judge decide whether or not America should a band in
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all her overseas basis. It also turned down the suggestion
of an American senator that Russia and the United States
should toss for Soviet withdrawal from all Eastern Europe. It
denied the appeal of an idealistic Dane who wanted a
toss to decide whether Germany should be all Communists or
all Western It likewise rejected a Swiss proposal that Shang
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Kai Shek and Chaw and Lai should toss again, this
time for Formosa itself. In passing. It is of interest
to note that only once did Soviet Russia agree to talk.
It was in the matter of her old dispute with
Persia over caviar fishing rights in the Caspian Sea. Persia won,
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but to the consternation of the world, Russia refused to
abide by the outcome. It was the first and only
time that the decision of the Golden Judge was not obeyed,
and it had start repercussions all over the world. Fellow
travelers abandoned the Soviet cause. They had been able to
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find some excuses, however, tortuous for Russian purges, forced confessions,
concentration camps, and aggressions. But they turned away, shocked and
saddened from a nation that openly welshed on a bet.
There were strong reactions within Russia itself, although the convulsions
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were largely screened from Western eyes. However, an unprecedented number
of Russians fled across the Iron Curtain seeking asylum in
the West. They said gloomily they could no longer support
a regime that reneged on its fair gambling losses and
protested fiercely. This was not the true soul of Russia.
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In a gallant effort to recoup faith for Russian sportsmanship,
many of those refugees grimley began playing almost no no
stop games of Russian Roulette, which gives the player a
five to one chance of living. Some extreme chauvinus proudly
reduced the odds to three to one by inserting two bullets,
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and a former Red Army major named Tolbunan even used
three his tour de force was widely admired, although not repeated,
and Tolbunan himself was given a magnificent funeral. Yet, except
for the Caspian Caviar toss, the Golden Judge was obeyed
as unquestioningly as the Voice from Sinai, and perhaps more so.
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And if it could be used only in what some
called minor disputes, it was surprising to see, once these
were settled, how really few major ones remained. It is
impossible here, of course, to list more than a few
of General O'Reilly's tosses. But he flew to nearly every
spot on earth, a beloved world figure. He flew to
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Ethiopia and caught malaria there to settle an old quarrel
between that country and the Sudan over a one square
mile Sudanese enclave called Gambella, well inside Ethiopia. A relic
of the times when Britain controlled the Sudan, Gambela had
long been a thorn in the side of the conquering
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Lion of Judah. Although the Nagus lost, he accepted the
verdict as uncomplainingly as earlier disputants some three thousand years before,
and once accepted the awards of his putative ancestor, King Solomon.
General O'Reilly ended a tiny but poisonous quarrel of many
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years standing as to whether British Honduras should become part
of the Republic of Honduras. Britain I in an epic
tour in nineteen seventy three that left the world gasping
with admiration. General O'Reilly spread lasting ball on many sores.
In the Middle East. The Golden Judge settled in favor
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of Pakistan her friction with Afghanistan over the long disputed
Pathion territory. Saudi Arabia won from Britain two small and
completely worthless oases on the undefined border between Saudi Arabia
and Trucial Oman. These cases had over the years produced
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many hot and vain notes and desultory shooting, but the
Lord of Saudi Arabia was subsequently much disappointed that they
never produced oil. He was further dismayed when the Golden
Judge awarded to Iraq a neutral zone between the two
countries on which they had never been able to agree,
and this zone did in fact produce tremendous amounts of oil. However,
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he complained only to Allah. Syria and Turkkey resorted to
the toss to decide about the Sanjak of alexandretta Iskanderun,
which Turkey had been given by France back in the
thirties when France ran Syria, Turkey won. Damascus sighed but
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smiled and reopened diplomatic relations with Akara that had been
severed for more than twenty years. But on a golden
January day in nineteen seventy five in Malaga, Spain, General
O'Reilly's aide de camp noticed that his chief seemed strangely preoccupied.
The occasion was a toss between Sweden and Finland as
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to the possession of four large rocks lying in the
sea at the head of the Gulf of Bothnia, just
off the Finno Swedish frontier. These rocks, just south of
the Arctic Circle, contained no population other than seagulls, but
had been warmly claimed by both nations for years, and
since the weather in Scandinavia in January is miserable, the
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Finns and Swedes had sagely decided to hold the toss
in Malaga, which was as far south as they could
go and still be in Europe. In public, General O'Reilly
was himself charming, dependable, cheerful. He carried out the toss
as gracefully as he had all the others, and he
made a winning speech at the banquet given by the
(38:24):
Finns that night to celebrate their acquisition of the four
sub Arctic bocks. But the ad C was not deluded,
and later on the flight back to Washington, he observed
that General O'Reilly was unusually abstracted and pensive, lost in thought.
But since a major does not ask a lieutenant general
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about such matters, he kept silent. The fact was that
the general had now reached sixty five and in the
American Army, sixty five as retirement age. As the ocean
fled away under the racing plain, he was remembering a
scene the week before in the office of the Army
Chief of Staff. It's up to you, Terry, the chief
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of staff had said, you know perfectly well that the
President is willing, even eager, to keep you on past
the retirement age. You're a big man in the world. Now.
You can stay on the active list as long as
you want. If necessary, he'll ask a special law, and
there won't be one vote against it. Then the general
remembered his wife, You've done enough, darling. It's time we
(39:31):
had a real permanent home for once in our lives.
That garden for me, those Aberdeen angus for you. Remember,
you've traveled too much. You've never really gotten over that malaria. Darling.
You need to rest. You've earned it. The general gazed
out the plane window, trying to make up his mind.
Then suddenly he chuckled. The ADC saw him pull a
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leather case out of his pocket and watched puzzled as
a golden coin spun briefly in the air. The general
caught it on the back of his left hand, covering
with his right. Then he removed the right, looked at it.
He chuckled again. When General O'Reilly retired the following week,
the President asked Congress for a fourth Star for him,
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and in a special message, listed in glowing terms the
services he had rendered to America and the world. The
bill passed without a murmur, and Terence Patrick O'Reilly became
at last a full general. Messages poured in from nearly
every country in the world, from dozens of presidents and premiers,
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and the handful of remaining kings. Along with them came
hundreds of gifts. They included a carved elephant tusk from Nepal,
a royal Copenhagen dinner service for twenty four from the
Kingdom of Denmark, a one rupee note from a ten
year old girl in Bombay, and a gesture that excited
much speculation case of caviar from the Kremlin. The Department
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of Defense announced that General O'Reilly had become the most
decorated soldier ever to wear American uniform. In every toss,
each of the rival sides had awarded him some kind
of decoration. When he wore full dress uniform, the ribbons
solidly covered both sides of his tunic, and he was
(41:24):
nearly strangled with various stars and orders that dangled from
ribbons around his neck. He retired just in time. His
wife told her daughter in law one day at tea,
there's not another square inch left for another ribbon. General
O'Reilly presented the Golden Judge to the United Nations, and
the King of Saudi Arabia proved his sportsmanship by having
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a theft proof case made for it of solid crystal
so that it could be on public display. It was
soon as visited and cherished as the Magna Carta and
the Liberty bell a night and day guard stood watch
over it. Yet it was far from a useless relic.
Often the crystal case was empty, and this meant it
(42:08):
was seeing service somewhere in the world, in the hands
of a Swedish general who had finally been chosen by
the United Nations to succeed Terence O'Reilly. In his final
press interview, General O'Reilly unburdened himself of some thoughts which
refined have passed into international jurisprudence under the name of
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O'Reilly's law. For thousands of years, the general said, thoughtfully,
mankind has been making all kinds of commandments and laws
and prohibitions, and contracts and treaties, and broken them all
when the mood suited them. Perhaps just a sad thing
to say, but so far nothing's ever been invented that
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men will really live up to more than the terms
of a bet. With very very few exceptions, a man
or a nation will respect a bet when he won't
respect any other damned thing on earth. The end End
of the Golden Judge by Nathaniel Gordon
The Golden Judge by Nathaniel Gordon, United Nations, New York,
June sixteenth, nineteen eighty one, a p in one of
the most impressive ceremonies ever held in the United Nations building.
The world celebrated today the twenty fifth anniversary of the
discovery of the Golden Judge. General Terence P. O'Reilly, USA, retired,
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the man responsible for the discovery, was the principal guest
of honor. Obviously moved by the acclaim from virtually every
member nation, General O'Reilly made a brief speech recapturing for
a moment the accidental circumstances of twenty five years ago
that so drastically reduced world tensions. It was stifling hot
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in Jerusalem in the afternoon of June sixteenth, nineteen fifty six,
and Major General Terence Patrick O'Reilly, United States Army was
rather more bored than usual. His army career had gone
well two stars already at forty five, until the mysterious
workings of the Pentagon had given him perhaps the most
(01:12):
frustrating posting a soldier could have. He was chairman of
the Mixed United Nations Armistice Commission, trying to keep the
uneasy peace between Israel and her Arab neighbors. For months,
he had presided over unending investigations of border incidents, some petty,
some not so petty. He had signed reports reprimanding and
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recommending and approving, but nothing ever came of them, and
he no longer expected anything ever would. Today's hearing was different,
and not strictly in his field. But because he was
an engineer, and because both Arabs and Israelis trusted him,
he had agreed to listen to their opposing arguments on
(01:56):
using the waters of the River Jordan. Too. Many years ago,
the United States had offered to provide most of the
funds for a little tva on the river, benefiting both
Israel and Jordan alike. At first, both had refused outright
to have anything to do with the other. But over
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the years, skillful negotiating by Eric Johnston, the American President's
personal envoy, had brought Israel and Jordan closer and closer together,
until now they agreed on the disposal of ninety percent
of the water, but farther than this they would not go.
For months years they balked on the remaining ten percent,
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and the dams remained only blueprints. Terence O'Reilly was sick
unto death of the arguments, and thought everyone else was too.
He had heard them over and over, He knew them
by heart. He knew they were evenly balanced, with justice
on both sides. Knew both nations longed for a settlement,
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but he knew neither would back down for reasons of face.
Worst of all, he knew that any decision of his
was meaningless. It was purely advisory, and he knew all
too well what advisory opinions counted for out here. Yet
he tried to look interested as the delegates from Jordan
wearily produced an argument that every man in the conference
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room could recite word for word in a brief low,
General O'Reilly groaned, why don't they toss a coin for it?
It was not as such a vochie as he meant.
The Arab delegate stared at him. I beg your pardon. Flushing,
General O'Reilly apologized, but the Arab was already talking excitedly
(03:50):
to his fellow delegates. Puzzled, O'Reilly heard a confused babble
of Arabic, then sudden silence. The Arab delegate had a
glint in his eye. As he asked for the floor
in the name of my country, he said, proudly, we agree.
The word agree had not been heard in this chamber
(04:12):
for many months, and General O'Reilly wondered if he had
heard aright agree. He stared, agree to what to toss
a coin for it? As the chairman has proposed? The
Arab said, that is, if the Israeli delegation has the
courage the sportsmanship to agree. He looked tauntingly to his rifles.
(04:36):
Across the room. The Israeli leader sprang to his feet, indignant,
I protest, mister Chairman, to this frivolous treatment of a
serious matter which will affect the future of He fell silent,
aware of the contemptuous smiles on the faces of the Arabs.
(04:57):
General O'Reilly kept his countenance. He said, mildly, of course,
if you're not willing to risk the luck of we
are afraid of nothing, Sir yours Israeli snapped, we are
as sporting as anyone else. But one of his fellow
delegates whispered something to him. Then the whole Israeli delegation
talked in low voices. Finally the leader rose again, will
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you permit me to telephone my minister. Gravely, the General
recessed the meeting for thirty minutes. In his own room,
he stared at himself in the mirror, still dazed. My God,
he breathed, He can't be taking it seriously. But why
not if the arguments were so evenly balanced that not
(05:44):
even Solomon could have chosen. If they really wanted a settlement,
if they could never get in without losing face, why
what better method than to trust it to the fall
of a coin. Still, things just didn't happen in that way.
When the thirty minute recess ended, the Israeli delegate arose.
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He glared across the room and announced, defiantly, my government
also agrees. Let the coin decide. The conference room broke
into clamor. But General O'Reilly had long since learned the
value of prudence in Jerusalem. The chairman agrees. He said
judicially that in the circumstances, this is perhaps an excellent solution,
(06:30):
perhaps the only solution. But this has been, to say
the least, somewhat impulsive. Let me suggest both sides return
to their governments and consider this. Well, then, if you
are both still willing, let us meet here one week
from today in this room, and the coin will decide.
(06:52):
He had expected second thoughts, and he was not disappointed.
Extremists on both sides of the Jordan screen with indignation.
Yet oddly, most people seemed strangely excited, even pleased, by
the sporting proposition. They began to lay bets on the outcome,
(07:12):
and both governments held firm. Probably the General speculated because
they both wanted a solution and there was no other
solution in sight. Also, each hated to be the first
to back down from a fair bet. It became a
matter of honor. On the weekend, General O'Reilly flew to
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Cairo to meet some friends passing through on a world tour.
Like all tourists, they went to the Muski, Cairo's great Bazaarre,
and it was there in the street of the goldsmiths,
that the General got his idea. It cost him a
chalk of bunny out of his own pocket, but like
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most irishmen, he was a sporting man himself. After all,
he grinned to himself, I started the whole business, and
I might as well do it up in style. He
had decided that no ordinary coin would do for such
an historic occasion, so he had a goldsmith make him
a heavy, solid gold medallion, almost twice as big as
(08:16):
a twenty dollars gold piece. He was not very much
pleased with the design he sketched out hastily, but on
the spur of the moment, he could think of nothing better.
The head's side of a great coin bore a front
view of the blind Goddess of Justice with her scales.
The taal's side had a rear view of the same lady.
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It was rather crudely done, but time was short. It'll
have to do, the general chuckled as the plane bore
him back to Jerusalem. When the appointed day came, the
United Nations conference room in Jerusalem was jammed with Israeli
and Arab officials and with a pack of correspondents who
had matched. General O'Reilly had decided against asking each side
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to put its agreement into writing. A true gentleman's agreement
shouldn't be written, he concluded. He merely asked the leaders
for each side if they agreed to abide by the
fall of the coin solemnly. Both assented courteously. The Israelis
had allowed the Arabs to call while the coin was
still in the air, there was silence as General O'Reilly
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flipped it high up toward the ceiling. Tales, cried the
Arab leader. The spinning coin glittered, falling onto the green
baize table. The General looked at it. The goddess had
her back turned. It is tales, he announced, and the
Arab delegation broke into happy shouts. And astonishingly, that was that.
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The leading Tel Aviv newspaper summed up Israeli feeling when
it wrote in an editorial, certainly there were many heavy
hearts in our country when the coin fell against us,
But let us show the world that we are true sportsmen.
We risked and we lost. Let this be the end
of it. Work began on the dams at last, without
(10:15):
interference of protest. Not a word was ever written on paper,
but it was the only agreement between the two countries
that was scrupulously kept by both sides. It was, of
course a wonderful story. The name of Terence O'Reilly swam
suddenly into the headlines, and his wife began keeping a
(10:36):
scrapbook of all the clippings. One among them was destined
to be more potent in world affairs than all the rest.
It was a profile of General O'Reilly published in a
great American magazine and was notable for two things. To
begin with, it was the author of this profile who
first gave the coin the name by which it soon
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became so famous, the Golden Judge. But it also contained
a casual, seemingly insignificant remark by General O'Reilly. When the
interviewer had asked how he happened to think of the
coin tossing idea. The general had grinned, why not, he said,
aren't the Irish the gamblingest people on earth? And it
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was this innocent sentence, hardly noticed at the time, that
started the Golden Judge on its fantastic career and kept
it from being a mere nine day wonder. For a
Chinese communist diplomat in Baarn, Switzerland, happened to see it,
and one night at a dinner party, he said, mockingly,
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this stupid American general in Jerusalem is obviously ignorant of
the world. Otherwise he would recognize that no nation on
earth loves gambling so much as the Chinese. Anyone who
knows the Orient will tell tell you this. This made
good cocktail party talk a thing desperately needed in burn
(12:06):
and eventually reached the ears of an Associated Press correspondent.
He filed a paragraph on it for a box story, and,
in the inevitable way of the press, a reporter in
Jerusalem asked General O'Reilly for his comment. Well, he said,
I've heard the Chinese are great gamblers, indeed, although whether
(12:27):
more so than the Irish I beg leave to doubt.
Then his eyes twinkled. Why don't they prove it? Why
don't they toss a coin, say for Kimoa and Matsu.
The dang little places aren't worth a nickel either side,
And well they both know it, but they'll neither of
them back down a hair for losing face. I say,
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if they think they're the greatest gamblers on earth, let
them prove it. This sped into print, causing a worldwide stir,
and brought General O'Reilly a sizzling reper man from the
Department of the Army. He was not repeat not to
express opinions about the value of Allied territory. He read
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the reprimand ruefully reminded himself that another great Irish failing
was too much taught, and said goodbye to any hopes
for a third star. But This was before the black
headlines from Formosa with popping eyes. General O'Reilly read that
the Chinese Nationalist Foreign Minister had taken up the challenge.
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He offered to toss a coin with the Chinese Communists
for Kimoi and Matsu. I'll be jiggered, the general breed.
They'll fight about everything else, but damned ifill admit the
Irish are bigger gamblers in the Chinese. Now, let's see
what the Kamis say. Picking was silent for two weeks,
(13:50):
then in a broadcast from Radio Picking, Joe and Lai
made his reply. He agreed, but with conditions. He insisted
on a new commission to supervise the toss half Communist members,
half non communists. World observers, weary of neutral commissions that
never achieved anything, interpreted this as a delaying tactic. Had
(14:13):
agreed the whole thing would fall through. This is further
proof the nationalist Foreign Minister commented with icy scorn that
the Communists are no longer real Chinese, for any Chinese
worthy of the name would not be afraid to risk
the fall of the coin. But Marx had not quite
liquidated the gambling fever that runs strong in the blood
(14:36):
of any Chinese be he ever, so Communists stun Joe
and Lai retorted, we agree, let the coin decide. It
was agreed that Prime Minister Nehru of India, as a neutral,
should supervise the matter, and that New Deli would be
the scene of the actual tossing, and Neru thought it
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fitting to invite General O'Reilly, as the father of the
whole thing, to bring the same golden judge to India
to be used again. The General came gladly, but declined
to make the toss himself. My country is too closely
involved in this matter, he explained, and there might be
talk if an American made the toss. He suggested Nehru
(15:22):
himself do it, and the Prime Minister agreed. The actual
tossing was done in the Great Governmental Palace Communist China
Ion Chankai Check's delegate bowed impassively and said coolly that
his government yielded without question to the Goddess of chance.
(15:43):
That night, the Indian Prime Minister was host to a
glittering official banquet to celebrate the ending of the offshore
island crisis. And we must lift our glasses, he said eloquently,
after dinner to the man who discovered this eminently sane
method of settling quarrels, a method so sensible, so fair,
(16:06):
that it is difficult to believe that in all the
world's long search for peace, it has not been discovered before.
I give you, General O'Reilly. The General rose to loud applause.
He expressed his thanks modestly and disclaimed any merit except
that of pure luck. Then he held up the Golden
(16:28):
Judge itself with a gleam in his eye. I hope,
he said, that this coin will still have more work
to do. Surely there are still disputed places in the
world where justice lies on both sides, where only face
saving prevents a settlement. And surely it is better to
(16:49):
resort to this coin than to force and war and
bitter arguments that drag on year after year. Here hear
Nehru cried, leading the clause. General O'Reilly stood smiling until
it died away. Places like Kashmir, he said clearly. There
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was a gasp of laughter, quickly hushed. Neyru's face was
pale with anger. He was famous for his temper, and
everyone knew how India and Pakistan had quarreled for years
over Kashmir, and that all the efforts of the United
Nations had come to nothing so far. I was delighted
(17:30):
to hear Prime Minister Nehru say. General O'Reilly went on, calmly,
how much he approved this method of settling old disputes,
and I should be very glad to help with this. Smiling,
he tossed the Golden Judge in the air and caught
it again. Neyru could keep silent no longer, like a
(17:51):
skilled Oriental debater, he struck back indirectly. We thanked General O'Reilly,
he said, acidly, for his offer, But perhaps it should
be first used by his own people, the Irish, of
whose gambling prowess he is so proud. Surely no bitterness
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has lasted longer than that between the Republic of Ireland
and the six lost counties of Northern Ireland. Let the
Irish use the Golden Judge themselves before they counsel it
for others. But General O'Reilly was unruffled. I'm an American myself,
he said, smiling, although proud indeed of my Irish blood,
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and the Irish will have to speak for themselves. Although
I venture to say you'll find them a sporting people indeed.
But that's not quite the point. Is it. Twas you yourself, sir,
who praised the Golden Judge so highly, and you've seen
today what fine sportsmen the Chinese are. The point is,
are the Indians a sporting people? Of course, we're a
(18:57):
sporting people that I take it you'd be willing assuming
Pakistan agrees, of course, But I'm told they're are very
sporting people. Also. The General tossed the coin again, absent mindedly.
All right, Nehru grated. If they agree, so do we.
(19:20):
It took a month before Pakistan could agree and all
the arrangements be made for the toss on Kashmir, But
in that month the world had other things to think about.
Shan Kaishek accepted his gambling loss without a murmur and
removed his troops from Kamoy and Matsu. The American seventh Fleet,
helping the Communists, not interfering. All civilians on the islands
(19:45):
who wished to go to Formosa were taken there. Washington
said little officially, but in the corridors of the Pentagon
Congress and the White House, the size of relief reached
gaale four. General O'Reilly received a confidential and personal message
from the Army Chief of Staff that made him pink
(20:08):
with pleasure. May get that third star after all, he
told his wife that night. And not too long to
wait maybe, But above all, the month was filled with
clamor from Ireland. Her Majesty's government in Whitehall had immediately
issued a communicay which took a glacial view of the
(20:29):
puerile proposal to toss for Northern Ireland. It was the
timing of this communicay, rather than its contents, that proved
the tactical error. It had come too quickly, and Irishmen
both north and south presented it as a Belfast newspaper
wrote tartly, Irishmen on both sides of the line are
(20:51):
quite able to decide such matters for themselves without the
motherly interference of London breed in principle to toss. But
the wrangling over conditions and exceptions boiled up into the
greatest inter Irish quarreling of twenty years. It was still
raging when General O'Reilly flew into the veil of Kashmir
(21:15):
with a broad smile and the Golden Judge again. The
Great Coin glittered high in the air, while none other
than Nehru himself called out tensely. Heads it fell tails,
so be it, Neru said, calmly, shaking hands with the
Governor General of Pakistan. Well, General Neru said, turning to
(21:39):
O'Reilly with a smile. Are you satisfied now? I think
we've proved we're a sporting people. So had the Chinese
and the Jews and the Arabs. But what about your
own fault? The Irish? From what I read, their sporting
qualities seemed to be highly overrated. I'd say they'd never gambled,
(21:59):
But on a sure thing. The General's face went red
at the insult, and so a day later did the
collective face of all irishmen, north and south. For a
while there was aghast silence from the Emerald Isle, a
silence sullen and embarrassed, and then a great rumbling roar
(22:20):
of indignation. Mister speaker cried a member of the Dale
in Dublin. Are the Irish people who honored great gamblers
only a little less than great poets to be outdone
by dark skinned heathen mister speaker, I say no. The
following morning, the government of ire formerly offered to toss
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for the six lost counties, and if the coin fell
contrary to say no more about them forever. Belfast agreed
that same afternoon, and the whole island went wild with excitement.
Hardly any Irishman failed to place some kind of side
bet on the outcome, and stakes were laid that day
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that would be spoken of with prideful awe for generations
to come. The remark of a Limerick Draymond was widely quoted.
There's not a man of us here, he commented, in
the course of a game of darts at the sword
and Shamrock, But would toss a coin for his grandmother's head?
And well, ye know it, So, after all the blatherin
(23:26):
and yourin, why not have a go for the six
counties and let the coin decide it now and forever,
once and for all, win or lose. The British government
surrendered with grace and offered to play host to the
toss in London as a neutral place, they soon learned
with burning ears. But the last place on earth any
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Irishman considered neutral was London. As a matter of course,
General O'Reilly was invited to preside, using the Golden Judge.
Like most Irishmen in America, he had long sung of
and sighed for the old sod, while carefully avoiding going
there even for a visit. He now realized his error.
(24:12):
He was received as one of Ireland's most glorious sons.
He was set upon by thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands
of proud O'Reillys. There were O'Reillys from the bogs, and
O'Reillys from the great houses, O'Reilly's in top hats, and
O'Reillys in tam O'Shanter. He was assured and came near
believing it that in both looks and wisdom, he was
(24:35):
the spitting image of the great O'Reilly, one of the
many last rightful kings of Ireland. A minstrel composed a
lay about him, the Golden Judge of Ireland. He was
smothered in shamrock and could have swum in the gifts
of Poteene. Secretly, he much preferred Scotch whiskey to Irish,
(24:57):
but the swarming O'Reillys made the disposal of the potting
no very great problem. The actual toss took place in
a small railroad station hastily cleaned up on the railway
line between Dublin and Belfast impartial surveyors had certified it
as being exactly astraddle the frontier. Amid a deathlike hush.
(25:22):
With a high sense of history in his heart, General
O'Reilly flipped the golden judge high in the air. Higher
one the six counties were no longer lost, and there
was little enough work done in Ireland for a fortnight.
Higher instantly and magnanimously granted to her new North all
(25:43):
the points that had been fought over so bitterly for
so many years. For the Northerners, to their surprise, life
went on exactly as before, except for the different postage
stamps and a changed heading on their income tax returns,
which were considerably lower. For the first time in many years,
(26:04):
there were no brick bats thrown. If a man felt
the need on a summer night to sing God Save
the Queen. General O'Reilly flew away from Ireland with a
mist in his eyes and a great glow in his heart.
In a shaven second, he had achieved the thing for
which long and gallant generations of earlier O'Reilly's had fought
(26:26):
bloodily and in vain. For a fleeting moment, he wondered
if his nervous right hand that day had shown any
subconscious partisanship, but rejected the thing as impossible. If the
toss for the six Counties was in a way the
crowning peak of General O'Reilly's career, it was by no
(26:48):
means the end of it. Both he and his coin
were fast becoming settled tradition. He continued his normal military career,
but with the tacit understanding, he would have a few
days leave of absence whenever the Golden Judge was needed.
He took it to Stockholm for the toss that settled
the old and bitter fishing controversy between Britain and Iceland.
(27:12):
Britain one he took it to Cairo, where Britain and
Greece tossed for Cyprus. Greece won and at once offered
Britain all the bases she wanted there and granted special
extra territorial status to all British chrome colonels, knights, widows
and former governors of the Punjab living in retirement on
(27:35):
the island. He got his third star just before he
flew down to Rio de Janio for the toss that
finally settled the nagging quarrel between Britain and Argentina as
to who owned the Falkland Islands Britain one. He took
it to the Hague in Holland for the toss about
the Sar. The Tsar had remained a European sore point
(27:58):
despite a series of five Franco German settlements which never
seemed to settle anything. Germany won the toss, and immediately
of her own free will, granted the French equal commercial rights.
The Saar Toss had two odd results. The first was
purely personal for General O'Reilly, but he never forgot it.
(28:21):
One day, driving through the Hague, his official car passed
a huge, dignified building, which his chauffeur explained was the
World Court. With a strange feeling, the General noticed a solemn,
old man in black staring bleakly out the window. He
realized suddenly it was probably a judge, and that the
(28:41):
golden coin in his pocket had turned this costly mechanism
into an anachronism. Nobody used the World Court anymore now.
The other result of the Saar Toss was, from the
viewpoint of world jurisprudence, far more important, transformed the golden
judge from a mere tradition into an established legal institution.
(29:06):
In this manner, France and Germany had been unable to
agree whether the Tsar was really tossable, a term that
suit entered dictionaries, and had appealed to the United Nations
to decide. A temporary or ad hoc United Nations Commission
had been named to settle this point, and after due deliberation,
(29:28):
had pronounced the Tsar tossable. Technically, this TSAR Commission should
have then dissolved itself. Instead, in the way of parliamentary institutions,
it lingered on and soon became the accepted body to
decide on tossibility and illogically it was forever afterwards still
(29:48):
called the SAR Commission. Whenever anywhere in the world some
international dispute reached stalemate, it became commonplace for some delegate
to rise and set Mister Chairman I moved the question
be referred to the TSAR Commission. In due course, the
t SAR Commission would then give its solemn judgment as
(30:11):
to whether or not the dispute should be put to
the arbitrament of the Golden Judge. If so, General O'Reilly
would board a plane and be off Once the Tsar
Commission had its say, no nation ever dared refuse to
put a dispute to the hazard of the coin. Whereas
(30:32):
nations yawned at being called warmongers or imperialists, or aggressors
or international bandits, none could stand being called bad sportsmen
or poor losers. So many nations had accepted the verdict
of the Golden Judge that it became increasingly more difficult,
not to say impossible, for a given nation to admit
(30:54):
it was less supporting than the others. However, not all
disputes were held tossible, to the disappointment of some people
who had too quickly believed the Golden Judge would bring
immediate utopia, the end of all quarreling forever. Gradually, the
Tsar Commission involved certain criteria. A dispute was not tossible
(31:16):
if it might give great populations and great nations over
into systems of government they abhorred. It was tossable only
if the population involved had no very great bias one
way or the other. A tossible dispute was one in
which justice lay on both sides evenly balanced. Tossing was
(31:38):
clearly indicated where both sides ardently wished a settlement but
where neither side was willing to cede an inch for
fear of losing face. Thus, the Tsar Commission pronounced untossable
the proposal by the Soviet Union to have the Golden
Judge decide whether or not America should a band in
(32:00):
all her overseas basis. It also turned down the suggestion
of an American senator that Russia and the United States
should toss for Soviet withdrawal from all Eastern Europe. It
denied the appeal of an idealistic Dane who wanted a
toss to decide whether Germany should be all Communists or
all Western It likewise rejected a Swiss proposal that Shang
(32:24):
Kai Shek and Chaw and Lai should toss again, this
time for Formosa itself. In passing. It is of interest
to note that only once did Soviet Russia agree to talk.
It was in the matter of her old dispute with
Persia over caviar fishing rights in the Caspian Sea. Persia won,
(32:46):
but to the consternation of the world, Russia refused to
abide by the outcome. It was the first and only
time that the decision of the Golden Judge was not obeyed,
and it had start repercussions all over the world. Fellow
travelers abandoned the Soviet cause. They had been able to
(33:08):
find some excuses, however, tortuous for Russian purges, forced confessions,
concentration camps, and aggressions. But they turned away, shocked and
saddened from a nation that openly welshed on a bet.
There were strong reactions within Russia itself, although the convulsions
(33:29):
were largely screened from Western eyes. However, an unprecedented number
of Russians fled across the Iron Curtain seeking asylum in
the West. They said gloomily they could no longer support
a regime that reneged on its fair gambling losses and
protested fiercely. This was not the true soul of Russia.
(33:52):
In a gallant effort to recoup faith for Russian sportsmanship,
many of those refugees grimley began playing almost no no
stop games of Russian Roulette, which gives the player a
five to one chance of living. Some extreme chauvinus proudly
reduced the odds to three to one by inserting two bullets,
(34:13):
and a former Red Army major named Tolbunan even used
three his tour de force was widely admired, although not repeated,
and Tolbunan himself was given a magnificent funeral. Yet, except
for the Caspian Caviar toss, the Golden Judge was obeyed
as unquestioningly as the Voice from Sinai, and perhaps more so.
(34:38):
And if it could be used only in what some
called minor disputes, it was surprising to see, once these
were settled, how really few major ones remained. It is
impossible here, of course, to list more than a few
of General O'Reilly's tosses. But he flew to nearly every
spot on earth, a beloved world figure. He flew to
(35:01):
Ethiopia and caught malaria there to settle an old quarrel
between that country and the Sudan over a one square
mile Sudanese enclave called Gambella, well inside Ethiopia. A relic
of the times when Britain controlled the Sudan, Gambela had
long been a thorn in the side of the conquering
(35:23):
Lion of Judah. Although the Nagus lost, he accepted the
verdict as uncomplainingly as earlier disputants some three thousand years before,
and once accepted the awards of his putative ancestor, King Solomon.
General O'Reilly ended a tiny but poisonous quarrel of many
(35:45):
years standing as to whether British Honduras should become part
of the Republic of Honduras. Britain I in an epic
tour in nineteen seventy three that left the world gasping
with admiration. General O'Reilly spread lasting ball on many sores.
In the Middle East. The Golden Judge settled in favor
(36:08):
of Pakistan her friction with Afghanistan over the long disputed
Pathion territory. Saudi Arabia won from Britain two small and
completely worthless oases on the undefined border between Saudi Arabia
and Trucial Oman. These cases had over the years produced
(36:29):
many hot and vain notes and desultory shooting, but the
Lord of Saudi Arabia was subsequently much disappointed that they
never produced oil. He was further dismayed when the Golden
Judge awarded to Iraq a neutral zone between the two
countries on which they had never been able to agree,
and this zone did in fact produce tremendous amounts of oil. However,
(36:55):
he complained only to Allah. Syria and Turkkey resorted to
the toss to decide about the Sanjak of alexandretta Iskanderun,
which Turkey had been given by France back in the
thirties when France ran Syria, Turkey won. Damascus sighed but
(37:15):
smiled and reopened diplomatic relations with Akara that had been
severed for more than twenty years. But on a golden
January day in nineteen seventy five in Malaga, Spain, General
O'Reilly's aide de camp noticed that his chief seemed strangely preoccupied.
The occasion was a toss between Sweden and Finland as
(37:39):
to the possession of four large rocks lying in the
sea at the head of the Gulf of Bothnia, just
off the Finno Swedish frontier. These rocks, just south of
the Arctic Circle, contained no population other than seagulls, but
had been warmly claimed by both nations for years, and
since the weather in Scandinavia in January is miserable, the
(38:03):
Finns and Swedes had sagely decided to hold the toss
in Malaga, which was as far south as they could
go and still be in Europe. In public, General O'Reilly
was himself charming, dependable, cheerful. He carried out the toss
as gracefully as he had all the others, and he
made a winning speech at the banquet given by the
(38:24):
Finns that night to celebrate their acquisition of the four
sub Arctic bocks. But the ad C was not deluded,
and later on the flight back to Washington, he observed
that General O'Reilly was unusually abstracted and pensive, lost in thought.
But since a major does not ask a lieutenant general
(38:46):
about such matters, he kept silent. The fact was that
the general had now reached sixty five and in the
American Army, sixty five as retirement age. As the ocean
fled away under the racing plain, he was remembering a
scene the week before in the office of the Army
Chief of Staff. It's up to you, Terry, the chief
(39:08):
of staff had said, you know perfectly well that the
President is willing, even eager, to keep you on past
the retirement age. You're a big man in the world. Now.
You can stay on the active list as long as
you want. If necessary, he'll ask a special law, and
there won't be one vote against it. Then the general
remembered his wife, You've done enough, darling. It's time we
(39:31):
had a real permanent home for once in our lives.
That garden for me, those Aberdeen angus for you. Remember,
you've traveled too much. You've never really gotten over that malaria. Darling.
You need to rest. You've earned it. The general gazed
out the plane window, trying to make up his mind.
Then suddenly he chuckled. The ADC saw him pull a
(39:55):
leather case out of his pocket and watched puzzled as
a golden coin spun briefly in the air. The general
caught it on the back of his left hand, covering
with his right. Then he removed the right, looked at it.
He chuckled again. When General O'Reilly retired the following week,
the President asked Congress for a fourth Star for him,
(40:18):
and in a special message, listed in glowing terms the
services he had rendered to America and the world. The
bill passed without a murmur, and Terence Patrick O'Reilly became
at last a full general. Messages poured in from nearly
every country in the world, from dozens of presidents and premiers,
(40:38):
and the handful of remaining kings. Along with them came
hundreds of gifts. They included a carved elephant tusk from Nepal,
a royal Copenhagen dinner service for twenty four from the
Kingdom of Denmark, a one rupee note from a ten
year old girl in Bombay, and a gesture that excited
much speculation case of caviar from the Kremlin. The Department
(41:03):
of Defense announced that General O'Reilly had become the most
decorated soldier ever to wear American uniform. In every toss,
each of the rival sides had awarded him some kind
of decoration. When he wore full dress uniform, the ribbons
solidly covered both sides of his tunic, and he was
(41:24):
nearly strangled with various stars and orders that dangled from
ribbons around his neck. He retired just in time. His
wife told her daughter in law one day at tea,
there's not another square inch left for another ribbon. General
O'Reilly presented the Golden Judge to the United Nations, and
the King of Saudi Arabia proved his sportsmanship by having
(41:47):
a theft proof case made for it of solid crystal
so that it could be on public display. It was
soon as visited and cherished as the Magna Carta and
the Liberty bell a night and day guard stood watch
over it. Yet it was far from a useless relic.
Often the crystal case was empty, and this meant it
(42:08):
was seeing service somewhere in the world, in the hands
of a Swedish general who had finally been chosen by
the United Nations to succeed Terence O'Reilly. In his final
press interview, General O'Reilly unburdened himself of some thoughts which
refined have passed into international jurisprudence under the name of
(42:28):
O'Reilly's law. For thousands of years, the general said, thoughtfully,
mankind has been making all kinds of commandments and laws
and prohibitions, and contracts and treaties, and broken them all
when the mood suited them. Perhaps just a sad thing
to say, but so far nothing's ever been invented that
(42:49):
men will really live up to more than the terms
of a bet. With very very few exceptions, a man
or a nation will respect a bet when he won't
respect any other damned thing on earth. The end End
of the Golden Judge by Nathaniel Gordon
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