840.48/5413: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the United Kingdom ( Winant )
Washington
, May 7,
1942—6 p.m.
1995. Your telegram no. 1223, March 14, and previous. Our consideration of problem of organization for dealing with relief has developed along lines similar to Allied Post-War Requirements Bureau memoranda enclosed with your despatch no. 2954 of February 26 and Soviet memorandum of January 13 summarized in your telegram no. 327 of January 22. We believe we are already in agreement with the essence of the British and Soviet views and have reached following tentative conclusions which you are requested to discuss with Leith-Ross.
[Page 104]- 1.
- Proposed organization should be established since it is essential that provision be made for meeting promptly and effectively needs of areas, whether in Europe or elsewhere, liberated from Axis domination before the end of the war, as well as for meeting postwar needs.
- 2.
- In order to contribute to unity in war effort and deal effectively with the relief problem, both during and after the war, proposed organization should be based on broad international membership.
- 3.
- We propose therefore that a United Nations Relief Council, comparable to the Council proposed by Leith-Ross Bureau, should be established. Members of this Council would be high ranking representatives of all governments which signed United Nations Declaration of January 1,17 thereby signifying their adherence to Atlantic Charter, including, among others, China, India and in addition all governments which approved resolution adopted at Inter-Allied meeting on September 24, 1941, whereby Inter-Allied Post-War Requirements Committee was established. Although Free French authorities have not yet signed United Nations Declaration, they would be invited to participate as full members of proposed Relief Council. Other friendly governments which have not yet adhered to United Nations Declaration would be invited to participate in Council’s work, but after it is established and probably in technical status of observers.
- 4.
- In view of its large membership, the proposed Relief Council would be unwieldy either as a policy-making or as an executive agency; it would be essentially a channel of communication with the member governments and a means whereby their views could be made known and discussed.
- 5.
- In order to provide the necessary centralization of responsibility and authority as regards both the formulation and the execution of policy, we propose that an Executive Committee or Authority should be established at the same time as the Relief Council. The extent of the powers to be conferred upon this body, the principles under which it should function, the area reserved for reference to the governments represented upon it, its relation to other governments, and its relation to any United Nations or other military authority which may be established in any area, obviously require the most careful thought and discussion among the governments concerned. In order to be effective, this Committee would have to be a small group of officials representing their governments on the Relief Council. It is believed that the representatives of the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and China should constitute the Executive Committee; whether other countries should also be represented and if so which ones, would have to be very carefully considered in order to avoid offending susceptibilities of the various other governments. The officers of the Relief Council as suggested by the Leith-Ross Bureau, that is, a President [Page 105] who would be the United States representative and United Kingdom, Soviet and Chinese representatives might constitute the proposed Executive Committee.
- 6.
- Advisory committees, members of which are responsible to their governments, apparently as envisaged by the Leith-Ross Bureau, could be established as needed to assist the Executive Committee in formulating the details of policy regarding such matters as shipping, for example, or finance, or policy problems affecting particular geographic areas; we have in mind that the present Inter-Allied Post-War Requirements Committee in London might be reconstituted as a permanent Advisory Committee on European Relief.
- 7.
- It would not be expected that the proposed Executive Committee would deal with the operational details of policy execution. It would be essential therefore to appoint a Director General of Relief Operations as soon as possible after the Relief Council and Executive Committee are established. As the head of a United Nations Relief Bureau, which would be the actual working organization comparable to the so-called Executive envisaged by the Leith-Ross Bureau, the Director-General would be charged under the Executive Committee with responsibility for carrying out all aspects of relief operations. In the interest of economy and efficiency the Bureau would presumably seek the full cooperation of the Red Cross and other private relief agencies. One of the first problems to be dealt with by the Executive Committee and the Council would be the method of providing the funds for establishing this organization.
- 8.
- Pending appointment of the Director-General and establishment of the Relief Bureau, we would hope that the Leith-Ross organization in London and the other governments concerned would continue the work which they have so effectively initiated. We would of course be glad to cooperate fully but in this connection it is most essential that the studies which have already been made by the Leith-Ross organization be made available to us promptly.
- 9.
- Steps should immediately be taken to obtain the views of the British, Soviet and Chinese Governments. It would be highly desirable if Leith-Ross could come to Washington immediately to participate with us in discussions with representatives of those governments. After agreement with them had been reached the next step would be to call a conference of representatives of all the countries referred to in paragraph 3 above. We should like to have this conference meet in Washington and have the impression that this would be in line with the ideas of Leith-Ross and the British Government.
- 10.
- The organization outlined above would of course be integrated with other United Nations organizations to such extent as might be found desirable.
Hull