Office of the Historian

890.0146/8–2946: Telegram

The Acting Secretary of State to the Chargé in Australia (Minter)

secret
Washington, August 29, 1946—9 a.m.

169. Australian Government in aide-mémoire transmitting draft trusteeship agreement for New Guinea requested Dept authorize you to discuss agreement with them. Comments on Australian draft and covering note on procedures for submission to GA being airmailed via London because of length.94 No comment has yet been made on Article 7 of Australian draft agreement relating to defense and security matters. This Article, and its relations to US Govt’s proposal March 14, 1946 concerning desire of US to obtain joint rights with Australia in certain installations in Admiralty Islands, are still under consideration. Our views on this matter will be cabled in near future.

Following are general instructions for use when you receive airmailed document.

[Here follows a four-page exposition of the U.S. position regarding the question of states directly concerned, the procedure for submitting trusteeship agreements to the General Assembly, and U.S. desiderata (briefly) in respect of terms of the trusteeship agreement along the lines of the Tanganyika draft.

There was also included an instruction that should the question of the Japanese Mandated Islands arise reference should be made to the statements made by President Truman on January 15, 1946 (see p. 551) and by Acting Secretary Acheson on January 22 (bracketed note, p. 561). “You may state it is your personal assumption that US Govt intends to place these islands under trusteeship. You should further inform Australians that, re Japanese Mandated Islands and any other Japanese territories which US may administer under trusteeship, we prefer the ‘states directly concerned’ be kept to absolute minimum. In fact, we would prefer to submit draft agreements to General Assembly or Security Council as sole ‘state directly concerned’ after consultation with all interested states.”]

  1. Text of U.S. revisions in Department of State Files (890.0146/8–2946); instruction not printed (890.0146/8–2946). Draft terms together with text of note to be handed to the Government of Australia at Canberra transmitted to the Australian Embassy in Washington under cover of an aide-mémoire of August 29, none printed (890.0146/8–2946).↩