840.50/2450½: Telegram
The Ambassador in Chile (Bowers) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 26—2:57 a.m.]
1498. The Embassy has received a note from the Foreign Office dated August 22[20] stating Chilean Government “sympathizes fully with the idea of cooperating within the limits of its possibilities in the praiseworthy work of the aiding and rebuilding of zones of countries devastated by the present conflagration”.
Although in compliance with Department’s SC telegraphic instruction 852 of August 14, 1943, fully clarifying reassurance was given to the Foreign Office with regard to its misgivings concerning the financial commitments that participation in the Relief Administration might entail and also regaining [regarding?] the composition of the Central Committee of the Administration, these objections are again recited in the note which presumably had already been drafted at the time the Counselor had his conversation with Under Secretary recounted my telegram 1417, August 11, 8 p.m.
The note, however, exposes a new objection to the draft agreement in that it recommends that “decisions of the Committee should be adopted by unanimity and not by a majority of the votes”. The note goes on to say that the Foreign Office is aware that this system presents “certain inconveniences as regards arriving at rapid decisions” but it is evident that basis a procedure of unanimity would count with greater sympathies and avoid difficulties and opposition which would be interposed by those nations who saw themselves constrained to execute certain acts or to take measures in virtue of resolutions approved by a majority, at times an occasional majority.
In conversation the Under Secretary was a little apologetic as regards this last objection, asserting that he thought in practice the required unanimity would prove to be equivalent to a majority rule. He said that he realized that the proposed Relief Administration was [Page 988] not a precursor of another League of Nations but he was afraid that the proposed provision for a simple majority decision in matters of relief policy might be used as a precedent in any future international political organization.