501.BB/10–1646
The Ambassador in France (Caffery) to the Secretary of State
No. 6421
The Ambassador has the honor to transmit herewith copies of drafts of trusteeship agreements for French Cameroons and French Togoland, which the French Government will submit to the General Assembly of the United Nations.31 A representative of the Foreign Office stated that these documents, which have not yet been released to the public, contain two noteworthy provisions, namely, (1) that the administering authority may establish military, naval and air bases [Page 651] in the trust territories and may recruit volunteer forces, and (2) that provision has been made for periodic visits of inspection to the trust territories whenever the General Assembly or the Trusteeship Council may deem it necessary. This right of visit was regarded as the greatest departure from the former mandate agreements, and was viewed with certain misgivings. Orally it was explained that the establishment of military bases and the recruiting of volunteer forces would be for the purpose of carrying out France’s obligations toward the Security Council.
- Neither printed. In Washington on October 8 the French Minister (Lacoste) had shown copies to the Director of the Office of Special Political Affairs (Hiss) at the time that this Government’s aide-mémoire of even date was transmitted to the French Embassy (see footnote 10, p. 629). On October 9 the French Embassy officially transmitted copies to the Department. (Memoranda of conversations between Messrs. Hiss and Lacoste, October 8 and 9, not printed; Files Nos. 501.BB/10–846 and 862P.01/10–946 respectively).↩