840.50/2137
The Netherlands Ambassador (London) to the Secretary of State
Sir: 1. The Netherlands Government wholeheartedly welcomes the initiative taken by the United States Government to proceed with the creation of a United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. It is sincerely convinced that measures for the populations who now suffer under enemy occupation require speedy and intensive preparations if they are to relieve the great suffering of hundreds of millions.
The draft which was annexed to Your Excellency’s note of June 9, 1943 gives rise to the following observations, it being understood that the Netherlands Government desires to limit its remarks as much as possible in the interest of an early establishment of the proposed organization.
2. In the opinion of the Netherlands Government, the composition of the Central Committee is too exclusive and too restricted. The only members are the United States, the United Kingdom, China and the U.S.S.R. The Netherlands, however friendly and cordial their relations with both China and the U.S.S.R., differ from either so widely in such pertinent matters as national economy and general ways of life, that they have some doubt as to whether their interests would be fully understood by these States. And in so far as the [Page 916] United States and United Kingdom are concerned, the Netherlands, having no special ties with either of the nature of those existing between the United States and the Philippine Commonwealth, or between the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Colonies, are not even indirectly represented in the Central Committee.
In this connection it seems worth mentioning that there is a striking disparity between the situation in the Far East (where all the United Nations having territories in that region are represented on the Committee with the sole exception of the Kingdom of the Netherlands), and in Europe (where not one of the continental United Nations is represented with the sole exception of the U.S.S.R.).
Moreover it should be remembered that the organization to be established is one in which (a) occupied countries in need of relief and rehabilitation and (b) purveyor countries are the chief elements. Neither the United States nor the United Kingdom are occupied countries, and it is certain that the population of the Netherlands Kingdom, both in Europe and in Asia, will seriously doubt whether their needs, hopes and wishes will find full understanding in the Central Committee as planned in the draft. As the liberation of countries now occupied proceeds, this consideration will make itself felt increasingly: their inhabitants will then more than ever want to be able to voice their interests by adequate means. On the supply-side it should be remembered that, great as the quantities of relief-material may be which are to come from the United States and the British Empire for which the United Kingdom can act as a spokesman, much will no doubt be derived from other countries.
The Netherlands Government feels that in the interest of the successful operation of the scheme these considerations cannot be disregarded to the extent to which this is done in the draft under discussion without offering excellent propaganda material to the Axis nations, who will at once start a campaign saying to the smaller countries in all parts of the world that a United Nations victory would mean that the notorious “chez vous, sur vous, sans vous”-principle of the Peace of Utrecht is being revived by the four greatest among them.
Furthermore, it can hardly be gainsaid that the composition of the Central Committee as suggested in the draft is not in accordance with democratic principles. It would not satisfy the Netherlands people to know that they may expect to be invited if and when their interests are at stake. Between them the nations who according to the draft would not be members of the Central Committee, number a great many millions of people whose interests, being involved all the time, would seem to require more adequate protection than is laid down in the draft. The Netherlands Government alone speaks for 70,000,000 people.
[Page 917]Finally, the Netherlands Government takes exception to the present proposal as a precedent. If this precedent were to be followed in organizations of the United Nations in other fields, it would mean the end of democratic development in the international community. It may be argued that the proposal as it stands was arrived at with some difficulty. But it is represented that it was arrived at without the foreknowledge of the Netherlands Government who can hardly be expected to accept it because this is a question of some difficulty. Everyone is agreed that the democratic way is rarely the easy way, but the Netherlands Government feels very strongly that this is no reason for abandoning it.
It should perhaps be made quite clear that the Netherlands Government, although prepared to serve on the Committee, is not asking to be a member thereof. What it is anxious to see is that the smaller nations, both occupied countries and purveyor countries, should be adequately represented. This could be done, for instance, by giving two or three of these countries a seat on the Central Committee, to serve for a limited time under a system of rotation. It should not be too difficult to devise such a system, the rotation to be determined by the Council or even by the Central Committee itself, and each nation serving for one year as apart from the four largest countries who would have a permanent seat. The Netherlands Government would even go so far as to accept that decisions be taken in the Committee by a majority vote if, once the more proper representation of all nations having been admitted, this were preferred to unanimous decisions.
3. The Netherlands Government has noted with satisfaction the last sentence of Article III, paragraph 3, of the Draft Agreement. It should like to see an addition inserted, to the effect that this sentence means that any representative invited shall take part in the deliberations and vote on the same basis as the other members of the Central Committee. If this would seem to be self-evident, an assurance to that effect would of course suffice.
4. In paragraph 2a of Article I of the Draft Agreement, it is stated:
“The form of activities of the Administration within the territory of a member government wherein that government exercises administrative authority and the responsibility to be assumed by the member government for carrying out measures planned by the Administration therein shall be determined after consultation with and with the consent of the member government.”
It would seem to the Netherlands Government that, as a matter of course, in all cases where there is a government which exercises executive authority over its own territory, such government should always be responsible for the execution of relief measures in so far as the continuance of military operations does not require other arrangements, [Page 918] and that therefore the words underlined above62 should be deleted.
5. In Article III, paragraph 4, it is proposed that the Committee on Supplies of the Council shall consist of the members of the Council representing those governments likely to be principal suppliers of relief and rehabilitation. In this way the consumer is not represented on this body. This unilateral composition of the Council on Supplies is not in harmony with recent and highly desirable trends in the field of necessary collaboration between producers and consumers as evidenced, for instance, at the Food Conference recently held at Hot Springs, and the Netherlands Government considers that provision should be made for the inclusion of representatives of consumer countries.
6. In case it is proposed to subject the Draft to textual revision, the Netherlands Government has a few suggestions to offer in the interest of clarification which are set forth in the annex to this note.
7. The Netherlands Government expresses the hope that the various suggestions made in the preceding paragraphs will receive favorable consideration on the part of the government of the United States of America and the other governments concerned. These suggestions have been inspired solely by the desire to give a healthy basis to the planned organization, in accordance with democratic principles and with what the Netherlands Government considers to be sound conceptions in the field of international collaboration.
Please accept [etc.]
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