799.021/8–2654
The Secretary of State to the United States Representative at the United Nations (Lodge)
Dear Cabot: In your letter of August 26, 1954, you stressed the importance which you and Mr. Mason Sears attach to this Government’s carrying out the promises made last summer in the Trusteeship Council to the Marshall Islanders in connection with nuclear tests carried out in their islands. In letters of September 11, 1954, Acting Secretary Smith informed you and Mr. Sears that your letters to me on this matter, along with the Department’s endorsement of the views expressed therein, had been transmitted to the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. I have recently received comments on your letters from each of them.1 It is clear from those comments that there is complete agreement with the views which you and Mr. Sears expressed, namely, that we must prevent any recurrence of the accident which caused injury to Marshall Islanders and others. I am assured that every precaution will be taken to that end.
[Page 1531]With regard to the question of compensating those Marshall Islanders who suffered injuries, damages or losses as a result of the March 1st test, Secretary of Defense Wilson informs me that, after consultation with the Atomic Energy Commission, the Department of Defense has accepted responsibility for settling any legitimate claims submitted by the Marshallese in this connection. It has been determined that the Foreign Claims Act provides the Defense Department with statutory authority for payment of such claims not in excess of $5,000.
Secretary of the Interior McKay informs me that as a result of this decision, he has asked the Government of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands to inform the Marshall Islanders of their right to submit claims and to assist them in the preparation of their claims. Thus, while no claims have been received by the Departments concerned in Washington, the necessary preliminary steps for their submission and settlement at an early date have been taken.
Secretary McKay points out that the situation with regard to the compensation of the people removed from Bikini Atoll is somewhat more complicated. It is inextricably bound to the entire question of the conditions under which land in the Trust Territory is to be reserved and utilized by the military. He indicates that the Interior Department is actively engaged in discussions with the Department of the Navy on this question and that some progress is being made.
The Department has been informed by the Atomic Energy Commission that the Commission, in cooperation with the Navy Department, has undertaken the first of its periodic medical examinations of the Islanders who suffered ill-effects from the nuclear explosion. The Commission is also making plans for a resurvey of the affected atolls and the collection of biological specimens and soil samples. We are informed that this survey will be undertaken in the very near future.
With regard to the problem of assisting the Bikinians in their adjustment to the island of Kili on which they have been resettled, Secretary McKay informs me that a community development project designed to improve the Islanders’ agricultural production and to help them develop other economic enterprises is now under way. Additional measures to improve communication and transportation between Kili and the nearby island of Jaluit are planned.
The Department will keep you informed of further developments on this matter as they arise.2
Sincerely yours,
- Letters not printed. Admiral Strauss’ letter was sent Sept. 30 but has not been found in the files of the Department of State. The letter of the Secretary of Defense was dated Oct. 15, 1954 (799.021/10–1554) and that of the Secretary of the Interior was dated Oct. 20, 1954 (799.021/10–2054).↩
- In a letter of the same date Secretary Dulles transmitted to the U.S. Representative on the Trusteeship Council (Sears) a copy of the instant letter, informing him that “the Department will keep you informed of developments in this matter as they arise.” (799.021/8–2654)↩