Office of the Historian

Pauley Files

No. 729
Text Considered by the Subcommittee on Admission to the United Nations1
[Undated.]

Admission to the United Nations

The three Governments consider that the time has come to terminate the present anomalous position of Italy. Italy was the first of the Axis Powers to break with Germany, to whose defeat she has made a material contribution, and has now joined with the Allies in the struggle against Japan. Italy has freed herself from the Fascist regime and is making good progress towards the re-establishment of a democratic government and institutions. She gives promise of [Page 627] becoming a firm supporter of a policy of peace and resistance to aggression.2

The three Governments have therefore resolved that very early steps should be taken to conclude a peace treaty with Italy and have included the preparation of this among the immediate important tasks to be undertaken by the new Council of Foreign Ministers. The conclusion of such a peace treaty will make it possible for the three Governments to fulfill their desire to support an application from Italy for membership of the United Nations Organization.

As regards the admission of other States, Article IV of the Charter of the United Nations3 declares that:

1.
membership in the United Nations is open to all other peace-loving States who accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgment of the organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations;
2.
the admission of any such State to membership in the United Nations will be effected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.

The three Governments so far as they are concerned will support applications for membership from those States which have remained neutral during the war and which fulfill the qualifications set out above.

The three Governments feel bound however to make it clear that they for their part would not favor any application for membership put forward by the present Spanish Government, which, having been founded on the support of the Axis Powers, does not, in view of its origins, its nature, its record and its close association with the aggressor States, possess the qualifications necessary to justify such membership.4

  1. This paper was discussed at the Seventh Meeting of the Foreign Ministers, July 24. See ante, p. 324.↩
  2. The final sentence of this paragraph has been stricken from the draft. See ante, p. 325.↩
  3. Treaty Series No. 993; 59 Stat. (2) 1031.↩
  4. For a redraft of this paper, dated July 24, see document No. 1424. Concerning a further redraft of July 24, see document No. 1424, footnote 1.↩