ODA files, lot 62 D 225, “Trusteeship Council”
Memorandum by an Adviser of the United States Delegation to the Thirteenth Regular Session of the Trusteeship Council (Gerig), to the Deputy Director of the Office of Dependent Area Affairs (Robbins)1
- Subject:
- Meeting of Administering Authorities
Ambassador Munro called a meeting of the Administering Members of the Trusteeship Council today to consider three questions of special interest: (1) the Togoland question; (2) the request of Mr. Frazao, of Brazil, to have the status of Observer at the Trusteeship Council; and (3) the question of supplying a Vice-Chairman to replace Dr. Urquia when he leaves for Caracas about February 15.
Togoland Question
On the Togoland question, the French and British Members supplied the information which was contained in the Aide-Mémoire which Mr. Campbell and Miss Salt of the British Embassy had left with Assistant Secretary Key. Sir Alan Burns, for the U.K., explained that since there will be elections in May in British Togoland which will undoubtedly reflect the opinion of the inhabitants as to unification or integration, it is impossible before then for the British to present a clear picture of the desires of the Togoland inhabitants. Moreover, the Administering Authority is engaged in drawing up a revised electoral [Page 1349] list for the Territory which cannot be completed before the end of April. For these reasons, the British propose postponement of the Togoland item until the Fourteenth Session of the Trusteeship Council in June, at which time they will be able to give a complete answer in the light of the intervening elections and thus enable the Trusteeship Council to prepare its reply to the next General Assembly as regards Resolution 750 C (VIII).
M. Pignon, for the French Delegation, completely supported the British explanation and in addition pointed out that it would take them somewhat longer to complete their electoral lists in French Togoland. Moreover, they would wish to see what happens in the British elections but would also be in a better position in June than they are now to deal with the problems arising out of the Assembly resolution.
All the Administering Members of this group agreed that the only practical way of dealing with this question was to postpone it until June for the very substantial reasons given. It was believed that all the Members of the Trusteeship Council would see the necessity for this postponement and that there would be no difficulty, since this would enable the Trusteeship Council to make a report in ample time for the next General Assembly with all the necessary data at hand.
[Mr. Sears and I therefore hope that the Department will respond in the same way to the British Embassy.]2
[Here follows discussion of the two other matters mentioned in the first paragraph.]
Request of Mr. Frazao, of Brazil
Mr. Frazao, of Brazil, has written to the Secretary General suggesting that he might be given a seat, perhaps alongside the Specialized Agencies, with a nameplate as “Official Observer”. It was not known whether this was at his own request or at the request of his government, but presumably the former. It was pointed out that Article 33 and Article 89 of the Charter provide respectively for such participation in the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council but that no such provision was made in the Charter for the Trusteeship Council and no provision was made in the Rules of Procedure. It was felt that if a precedent were established in favor of Mr. Frazao, who would probably not have used the privilege, it was at the present stage not a good idea to set this precedent, since members of the Soviet group would almost certainly take advantage of it to spread more of their propaganda. It was left that Ambassader Munro would point out some of these constitutional and practical difficulties to Mr. Frazao in the hope that he would not press the point at this time.
[Page 1350]Vice-Chairmanship
Ambassador Munro called attention to the situation which would exist in the month of February when he is President of both the Security Council and the Trusteeship Council if the Vice-Chairman, Ambassador Urquia, is to be absent, as planned, to attend the Caracas Conference. After some discussion it was suggested that perhaps on: the days that the Security Council meets in the afternoon, the Trusteeship Council could meet in the morning. Also, the Chairman said he would speak to Dr. Urquia to see whether he could not postpone his departure from New York until the end of February. If, nevertheless, a conflict should arise, it was felt that consideration would need to be given to the election of a second Vice-Chairman.