745K.021/1–2954
The British Embassy to the Department of State
secret
1510/2/9/54
Aide-Mémoire
togoland
As the United States Government will recall, the General Assembly adopted three resolutions on the Togoland unification question at its Eighth Session. The first of these resolutions invited the Administering Authorities to re-establish the Joint Council for Togoland affairs, its member [sic] being directly elected by universal suffrage and secret ballot.
The Second General Assembly Resolution invited the Administering Authorities to revise the system of electoral qualifications in the Trust Territories to provide for universal adult suffrage.
The Third General Assembly Resolution instructed the Trusteeship Council, at its Thirteenth Session, to embark on a study of the problem of attaining the basic objectives of the International Trusteeship System [Page 1346] (i.e. self-government or independence) in the light of the constitutional and political situation in the Gold Coast.
The issues facing the Administering Authorities at the Thirteenth Session of the Trusteeship Council are, therefore, as follows:
First to report to the Trusteeship Council on the extent to which they have been able to implement the first and second resolutions, and, secondly, the nature and content of the Trusteeship Council’s study of the constitutional future of the two Togolands.
So far as the first of these resolutions is concerned, the United Kingdom Government is examining means whereby the Joint Council may be re-established. But the consultations already conducted in British Togoland during 1953 about the possibility of re-establishment have shown that the population of Northern British Togoland is strongly opposed to the recreation of the Joint Council and that, although in Southern British Togoland the main political parties appear to agree with the principle of the Joint Council, they have made their agreement subject to conditions which cannot fail to give rise to difficult political and administrative problems. Apart from these problems, the United Kingdom Government is not satisfied that the strength of the various opinions in Southern Togoland is accurately known. It is expected, provided a satisfactory agreement is reached between the Gold Coast and United Kingdom Governments in the constitutional discussions now proceeding, that a new constitution will be promulgated for the Gold Coast, in the spring of this year, providing, inter alia, for the creation of an All-African Cabinet. This constitution, once in being, will represent a considerable advance towards complete self-government or independence for the Gold Coast which cannot fail to have a profound effect upon the attitude of the British Togoland public to the question of their political future.
The general election to the Legislative Assembly of the Gold Coast, which will follow this new constitution, is expected to take place in May and will be conducted on the basis of a revised electoral register with full adult suffrage. The results of this election should serve to indicate what the views of the people of British Togoland are, since in Togoland the election will doubtless be fought on the integration versus unification issue. These factors have a potent bearing on consideration of the means whereby the Joint Council can be reestablished and the desirability of allowing them to operate accounts for the short delay which will inevitably occur in implementing the First General Assembly Resolution.
It will be apparent from the foregoing that it is not practically possible for the Joint Council to be re-established, so far as British Togoland is concerned, until the revised electoral registers have been completed (about the end of April) since the re-establishment of the [Page 1347] Council has to be based on elections conducted on universal adult suffrage.
The foregoing indicates the line which the French and United Kingdom Delegations will take at the Thirteenth Session on the question of the re-establishment of the Joint Council.
So far as the Third General Assembly Resolution is concerned, the basic United Kingdom attitude to the question of the future of British Togoland is that the time is rapidly approaching when the implications for the trusteeship status of British Togoland of the constitutional advancement of the Gold Coast (in which British Togoland has shared) must be carefully examined. We, therefore, welcome the Assembly’s direction to the Trusteeship Council that such an examination should take place, and even if the Assembly had not itself ordered such a study, we would have suggested it in the course of 1954. It is clear, however, that on a matter of such importance it is essential that both the Administering Authority and the Trusteeship Council should participate in this study with as clear a knowledge as possible of the state of public opinion in the Trust Territory. As indicated above, the general election, which is expected to be held in the Gold Coast and Togo-land in May and June, 1954, will probably provide such an expression of opinion and enable the Administering Authority and the Trusteeship Council to embark on the study ordered by the General Assembly on the basis of a realistic impression of the strength of the various factions in the Trust Territory. For this reason it is the earnest hope of the United Kingdom that the Trusteeship Council will agree to postpone the study called for in the Third General Assembly Resolution until its Fourteenth Session.
In view of the considerations set forth above, it is the considered opinion of the Governments of the United Kingdom and France that the substantive study of the fundamental issues of the future status of the Trust Territories, and especially of British Togoland, should be deferred from the Thirteenth to the Fourteenth Session of the Trusteeship Council, and we trust that the Government of the United States will recognise the validity of these arguments.
It is the intention of the United Kingdom Government to present to the Fourteenth Session of the Trusteeship Council a memorandum setting forth its views on the content of the Trusteeship Council’s study, with particular reference to the constitutional future of British Togoland.
It is probable that requests will be made by supporters of the integration of British Togoland with the Gold Coast for an oral hearing before the Thirteenth Session of the Trusteeship Council. The United Kingdom Government considers that it might be valuable to the Council to listen to the views of these petitioners so that it may be apprised of the existence of a body of opinion in the Trust Territory, not [Page 1348] hitherto heard at the United Nations, but which is opposed to Togo-land unification.
Her Majesty’s Government understands that the French Government will be making representations to the United States Government similar to those above. If the United States Government wishes to discuss this matter further it is suggested that, since the Trusteeship Council is already in session, this could most appropriately be done by consultation between the United States and United Kingdom Delegations in New York. Her Majesty’s Government sincerely hopes that the United States Government will instruct their Delegate to the Trusteeship Council to support the line taken by the United Kingdom and French Delegations on all the above issues when they come up for discussion in the Council.