CFM Files
United States Delegation Journal
USDel (PC) (Journal) 7
The Brazilian, Netherlands and New Zealand Delegations supported the proposal that recommendations of the Conference to the Council of Foreign Ministers might be made by simple majority vote. They defended this procedure as in accord with democratic principle and as allowing greater voice in the peace making to the nations which were not members of the Council of Foreign Ministers. The Yugoslav, Polish and Czechoslovakian Delegations supported the suggestion of the Council of Foreign Ministers that recommendations be made only by a two-thirds majority vote. The U.K. Delegation presented an amendment to the effect that there could be two kinds of recommendations, those which received a simple majority and those which received a two-thirds majority; both types of recommendations would be transmitted to the Council of Foreign Ministers for its consideration. Mr. Byrnes supported the U.K. amendment. He said that he would support in the Council of Foreign Ministers recommendations which obtained a two-thirds majority, and that those which obtained a simple majority should also be forwarded to the Council. The Chinese Delegation also supported the U.K. amendment. [Page 124] Mr. Byrnes took the opportunity also to say that he agreed with the proposal made by Mr. Mackenzie King (Canada) that the Council of Foreign Ministers should meet during the Conference in order to consider the latters recommendations.42
- Mackenzie King’s proposal was contained in his remarks at the 5th Plenary Meeting, August 2; the Verbatim Record of that meeting is printed on p. 86. For text of Byrnes’ remarks, see Paris Peace Conference, 1946: Selected Documents, Department of State publication No. 2868 (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1947), p. 40.↩