ODA files, lot 62 D 182, “TC—Mason Sears”
Memorandum by the Officer in Charge, French-Iberian Affairs (McBride) to the Director of the Office of United Nations Political and Security Affairs (Wainhouse)
- Subject:
- Mr. Sears’ Statement in the Trusteeship Council.
In addition to the complaint made by Mr. Gabriel van Laethem from the French Embassy in a conversation with you on February 11 about Mr. Sears’ statement on the French Cameroons in the Trusteeship Council, it has come to my attention that Belgian representatives have also expressed their concern at the tenor of Mr. Sears’ remarks at the Trusteeship Council.
The text of Mr. Sears’ statement would not appear to justify the press reports in the New York Times and Tribune of February 11 and 10, but the statement nevertheless did receive unfortunate emphasis in [Page 1365] the press. The implication in the complaints made by the French and Belgians appears to be that Mr. Sears, in delivering his statement, may have departed from the prepared text or given particular emphasis to those portions concerning which they would be most sensitive.
I need hardly mention our desire to avoid friction with the French and Belgians over colonial issues whenever possible, especially with the French during the period when we may be leading up to the EDC ratification debate.1