Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1944, General, Volume I

Lot 60–D 224, Box 51: ISO 23g (Special)

United States Tentative Proposals for a General International Organization, July 18, 1944 ²¹

July 18, 1944

[Here follows Table of Contents, not printed.]

I

General Character of an International Organization

A. Nature of the Organization

1. The general international organization to establish and to maintain security and peace, as projected in the Four-Nation Declaration, signed at Moscow, October 30, 1943, should be based on the principle of cooperation freely agreed upon among sovereign and peace-loving states. The organization should be open to membership by all such states, large and small, and should be world-wide in character.

2. The United Nations and the nations associated with them, and such other nations as the United Nations may determine, should comprise the initial membership of the organization.

3. The organization should be empowered to make effective the principle that no nation shall be permitted to maintain or use armed force in international relations in any manner inconsistent with the purposes envisaged in the basic instrument of the international organization or to give assistance to any state contrary to preventive or enforcement action undertaken by the international organization.

4. The organization should be so constituted as to make possible the existence of regional organizations or other arrangements or policies not inconsistent with its purposes, and to enable such organizations and arrangements to function on their own initiation or by reference from the general organization on matters of security and peace which are appropriate for regional adjustment. The general organization should at all times be kept informed of the activities in matters of security and peace undertaken by regional organizations or under regional or other arrangements.

5. The organization should comprise arrangements for cooperation in the fields of economic and other specialized activities.

B. Purposes

1. The primary purposes of the organization should be, first, to maintain international security and peace, and second, to foster through international cooperation the creation of conditions of stability and well-being necessary for peaceful and friendly relations among nations and essential to the maintenance of security and peace.

C. Methods

As methods to be used for the maintenance of security and peace, the international organization should:

a. encourage peaceful adjustment of controversies by the parties themselves;

b. initiate cooperative action by member states for the settlement of disputes;

c. encourage the use of local or regional procedures for the settlement of disputes capable of adjustment by such procedures;

d. recommended political or diplomatic action to adjust differences;

e. provide for, and encourage resort to, processes of mediation, conciliation, and arbitration;

f. encourage reference of justiciable matters to the international court of justice;

g. refer to the court justiciable questions pending before the organization;

h. settle disputes referred to it by the parties or over which it assumes jurisdiction on its own initiative;

i. determine the existence of threats to the peace or breaches of the peace;

j. arrange, when necessary, for economic, commercial, financial, and other measures of enforcement not involving use of armed force;

k. provide for the use of armed force, when necessary in support of security and peace, if other methods and arrangements are inadequate.

D. Principal Organs and Agencies

1. The international organization should have as its principal organs:

a. A general assembly;

b. An executive council;

c. An international court of justice; and

d. A general secretariat.

2. The international organization should have additional organs, councils, commissions, or other agencies for cooperation in international economic and social activities, for territorial trusteeship responsibilities, and for such other functions as may be found necessary.

II

A General Assembly

A. Composition

The general assembly should be composed of representatives of the states members of the international organization.

B. Powers

1. It should be empowered to receive and to examine representations addressed to the international organization on matters deemed to be of concern to the organization, and to take action in matters of concern to the international organization which are not allocated to other organs by the basic instrument.

2. The principal powers of the general assembly should be as follows:

a. to make, on its own initiative or on request of a member state, reports on and recommendations for the peaceful adjustment of any situation or controversy the continuation of which it deems likely to impair the general welfare;

b. to assist the executive council, upon its request, in enlisting the cooperation of all states toward giving effect to action under consideration in or decided upon by the council with respect to:

(1) the settlement of a dispute the continuance of which is likely to endanger security or to lead to a breach of the peace;

(2) the maintenance or restoration of peace; and

(3) any other matters within the jurisdiction of the council;

c. to initiate studies and make recommendations for:

(1) the promotion of international cooperation;

(2) the development and revision of rules of international law; and

(3) the promotion of the observance of basic human rights in accordance with principles or undertakings agreed upon by the states members of the international organization;

d. to admit to membership in the organization independent states not initial members of the organization;

e. to elect the members of the executive council not having continuing tenure and the judges of the international court of justice;

f. to approve the budget of the organs and agencies of the organization, to determine a provisional and a continuing basis of apportionment of expenses of the organization among the member states together with the procedure of apportionment, and to review, make recommendations on, and take other action concerning the budgets of specialized agencies brought into relationship with the international organization in accordance with the terms agreed upon between such agencies and the international organization;

g. to receive reports from the executive council and other organs and agencies of the organization and from all specialized bodies or agencies brought into relationship with the international organization;

h. to exercise the powers with respect to economic and social activities and territorial trusteeship stipulated in Sections VIII and IX;

i. to provide for the coordination of the general policies of all organs and agencies of the international organization and organizations and agencies brought into relationship with it;

j. to set up any bodies or agencies it may deem necessary for the performance of its functions; and

k. to propose amendments of the basic instrument, which should come into force when approved by two thirds of the member states through their constitutional processes, including the members having continuing tenure on the executive council.

C. Representation and Voting

1. The delegation of each member state should consist of not more than six representatives.

2. Each member state should have one vote in the general assembly, except as provided for in paragraph 3 below.

3. In taking decisions with respect to the budget of the organs and agencies of the organization, the continuing basis of apportionment of expenses of the organization, and the budgets of specialized agencies brought into relationship with the organization each member state should have voting power in proportion to its contribution to the expenses of the organization.

4. Decisions with respect to the admission to membership in the organization, the election of the members of the executive council, the election of judges of the international court of justice, and the provisional basis of apportionment of expenses, should be taken by a two-thirds vote. Other decisions should be taken by a majority vote.

D. Organization and Sessions

1. The general assembly should meet annually, but it may be convened in special session on the initiative of the executive council or under any procedure the assembly may adopt.

2. It should elect its president, vice-presidents, and other principal officers who should serve for annual terms or until their successors assume office. It should perfect its organization and adopt its own rules of procedure.

3. It should maintain headquarters at the seat of the international organization but may hold its sessions in whatever places would best facilitate the accomplishment of its work.

III

An Executive Council

A. Composition and Representation

1. The executive council should consist of eleven states members of the international organization. These states should be elected annually by the general assembly and should not be immediately eligible for re-election except that the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the Republic of China should have continuing tenure.

2. There should be a provision in the basic instrument that whenever the executive council finds that a government freely chosen by the French people has been established and is in effective control of the territory of the French Republic, France should be added to the list of states members having continuing tenure on the council.

3. Each state member of the executive council should have one representative.

4. Any state member of the organization not having a seat on the executive council should be entitled to attend and to be heard on matters specially affecting that member.

B. Powers

1. The executive council should have primary responsibility for the peaceful settlement of international disputes, for the prevention of threats to the peace and breaches of the peace, and for such other activities as may be necessary for the maintenance of international security and peace. It should in such matters represent, and act on behalf of, all the members of the international organization and should in every case seek a just and equitable settlement of international disputes.

2. The principal powers of the executive council are enumerated below in Section V, Pacific Settlement of Disputes, Section VI, Determination of Threats to the Peace or Breaches of the Peace and Action with Respect Thereto, Section VII, Regulation of Armaments and Armed Forces, and Section X, General Administration and Secretariat.

C. Voting

1. Each state member of the executive council should have one vote.

2. Decisions with respect to the following matters should be taken by a majority vote including the concurring votes of all member states having continuing tenure, except as provided for in paragraphs 4 and 5 below:

a. the assumption on its own initiative or on reference to it of jurisdiction over a dispute;

b. the terms of settlement of disputes;

c. the negotiations for a general agreement on the regulation of armaments and armed forces;

d. the determination of threats to the peace, of breaches of the peace, and of acts obstructing measures for the maintenance of security and peace; and

e. the institution and application of measures of enforcement.

3. Other decisions should be taken by a simple majority vote.

4. In all decisions any state member of the executive council should have the right to abstain from voting, but in such case the abstaining member should be bound by the decision.

5. Provisions will need to be worked out with respect to the voting procedure in the event of a dispute in which one or more of the members of the council having continuing tenure are directly involved.

D. Organization and Sessions

1. The executive council should be in continuous session. Its headquarters should be maintained at the seat of the organization, but its meetings may be held at any places best facilitating its work.

2. It should elect its chairman.

3. It should be empowered (a) to set up any bodies or agencies it may deem necessary for the performance of its functions, (b) to perfect its own organization, and (c) to adopt its own rules of procedure.

IV

An International Court of Justice

1. The Permanent Court of International Justice should be reconstituted in accordance with a revision of its present Statute.

2. The revised Statute should be made a part of the basic instrument of the international organization.

V

Pacific Settlement of Disputes

1. All states, whether members of the international organization or not, should be required (a) to settle disputes by none but peaceful means, and (b) to refrain from the threat or use of force in their international relations in any manner inconsistent with the purposes envisaged in the basic instrument of the international organization.

2. The parties to any dispute the continuance of which is likely to endanger international security or peace should be obligated, first of all, to seek a settlement by negotiation, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, reference to the international court of justice, or other peaceful means of their own choice.

3. Where feasible, regional or other arrangements should be employed to bring about adjustment or settlement of local or regional controversies.

4. If the parties fail to effect a settlement of such a dispute by the means above indicated, they should be obligated to refer it to the executive council.

5. Any member state should have the right to bring to the attention of the general assembly or the executive council any condition, situation, or controversy the continuance of which the member deems likely to endanger international security or peace.

6. The general assembly should refer to the executive council any such condition, situation, or controversy which it deems to require action to prevent an immediate threat to the peace or breach of the peace.

7. The executive council should be empowered to investigate any such condition, situation, or controversy and should recommend appropriate procedures or measures of adjustment. It should be empowered to do this upon its own initiative, or upon reference from the general assembly, or at the instance of a member state.

8. The executive council, when it determines upon its own initiative that there exists between member states a dispute which constitutes a threat to security or peace, and which is not being adequately dealt with by other procedures, should be authorized to assume jurisdiction to effect a settlement.

9. In case of a dispute involving a member and a non-member state, or non-member states only, and which is likely to lead to a breach of the peace, the executive council should be authorized to take jurisdiction either upon its own initiative or at the request of any party.

10. In discharging its responsibilities with respect to pacific settlement the executive council should be authorized to seek the advice and assistance of the general assembly, to appoint commissions of inquiry or conciliation, to refer to the international court of justice justiciable disputes or legal aspects of disputes not wholly justiciable, to employ regional or local procedures, or to take any other appropriate measures to effect a settlement.

11. The executive council should be empowered with respect to any dispute referred to in the preceding paragraphs to encourage and facilitate the execution of the terms of any settlement determined under the authority of the international organization.

VI

Determination of Threats to the Peace or Breaches of the Peace and Action With Respect Thereto

A. Determination of Threats to the Peace or Breaches of the Peace

1. The executive council should be empowered to determine the existence of any threat to the peace or breach of the peace, and to decide upon the action to be recommended or taken to maintain or restore peace. It should be empowered to seek the advice and assistance of the general assembly in any matter in this connection, and of the international court of justice in any matter within the competence of the court.

2. The executive council should be empowered to determine whether any condition, situation, or act involving an alleged threat to the peace or breach of the peace is of sufficient gravity to require action.

Note: The conditions, situations, and acts envisaged above include, for example:

a. employment of military forces by a state within the jurisdiction of another state not authorized by the international organization;

b. failure to comply with a request of the executive council to accept procedures of pacific settlement in any dispute;

c. failure to accept terms of settlement of a dispute as prescribed under the authority of the international organization;

d. failure to comply with a request of the executive council to maintain the existing position or to return to a prior position as determined by the executive council;

e. failure to observe obligations with respect to the regulation of armaments and armed forces and the manufacture of and international traffic in arms; and

f. obstruction of measures for the enforcement of security and peace through failure to comply with a call from the council (1) to carry out agreed undertakings regarding measures of enforcement, and (2) to make available, upon the basis of agreed obligations, forces and facilities for enforcement action.

B. Initiation of Action

1. When the executive council determines that a threat to the peace or breach of the peace exists, it should immediately (a) require the parties to refrain from any action likely to aggravate the situation and (b) decide upon the measures to be recommended or taken.

2. All states, whether members of the international organization or not, should be required to refrain from giving assistance to any state contrary to preventive or enforcement action undertaken by the international organization or with its authorization.

C. Measures not Involving the Use of Armed Force

1. The executive council should be empowered to call upon member states to institute measures not requiring the use of armed force in support of its decisions and to determine, in any instance necessitating such action, what measures should be employed and the extent to which the respective member states should be called upon to apply them.

2. In any case in which such action has been decided upon by the executive council, member states should be obligated:

a. to cooperate with the executive council and the general assembly in obtaining the information necessary for action and in appropriate measures of publicity;

b. to take part in concerted diplomatic measures;

c. to take part in collective economic, commercial, and financial measures; and

d. to join in mutual efforts to afford relief and aid to states assuming undue burdens through participation in such measures instituted by the executive council.

D. Measures Involving the Use of Armed Force

1. In the event that other measures prove to be inadequate, the executive council should be authorized to provide for the use of armed force to assure the maintenance of security and peace.

2. The member states should undertake to furnish forces and facilities when needed for this purpose at the call of the executive council and in accordance with a general agreement governing the number and type of forces and the kind and extent of facilities to be provided. Such an agreement should be concluded among the member states at the earliest possible moment after the organization comes into existence. It should be a duty of the executive council to formulate as rapidly as possible plans and procedure for the negotiation of such agreement. In formulating plans for the agreement and in carrying out operations under the agreement, the council should take account of the geographical position of the member states, their regional or special obligations, their population, and their relative resources. This agreement would be subject to ratification by each country in accordance with its constitutional processes.

3. The general agreement should provide that member states should be obligated to maintain in condition of effective readiness the armaments and armed forces which by the agreement they respectively undertake to make available for international cooperative action.

4. Pending the conclusion of the general agreement, the states parties to the Four-Nation Declaration, signed at Moscow, October 30, 1943, and other states in position to do so should provide, on the basis of their various capacities and of undertakings among themselves, such forces and facilities as may be needed for establishing and maintaining security and peace.

5. The executive council should be empowered to call upon the member states for economic, financial, and commercial and other assistance necessary to support and to supplement international action involving the use of armed force as and when undertaken. Member states should undertake:

a. to afford such assistance, the terms to be determined in consultation between the executive council and member states;

b. to deny economic or other assistance to a state against which enforcement action is undertaken, the nature of such assistance to be defined by the executive council at the time of the action; and

c. to join in mutual efforts to afford relief and aid to states assuming undue burdens through participation in security measures involving the use of armed force instituted by the executive council.

6. The executive council should be empowered to call upon member states to grant rights of passage and to furnish facilities, including bases, necessary to the effective action of forces operating under authority of the council. The conditions of the exercise of these rights and of the furnishing of facilities, including bases, should be determined, in advance or at the time of action, by agreement between the executive council and the member states in whose territories these rights and facilities are required.

7. The executive council, advised and assisted by the permanent security and armaments commission described in part E below, should be responsible for the planning of, and should exercise general supervision over, any use of force determined to be necessary under the provisions of the basic instrument of the international organization.

E. Security and Armaments Commission

1. The executive council should establish a permanent security and armaments commission.

2. The permanent security and armaments commission should provide the executive council with the expert military advice and assistance necessary for the discharge of the responsibilities of the council concerning the employment of force and the regulation of armaments and armed forces, and should perform such duties of study, recommendation, administration, and execution as the council may assign to it.

3. The security and armaments commission should have authority, with the approval of the executive council, to establish subordinate agencies and otherwise perfect its organization.

VII

Regulation of Armaments and Ahmed Forces

1. In order to promote the establishment and maintenance of international security and peace with the least diversion of the world’s human and economic resources for armaments, the executive council should be made responsible for initiating negotiations for the conclusion of a general international agreement, envisaged in the Four-Nation Declaration signed at Moscow, October 30, 1943, for the establishment of a system of regulation of armaments and armed forces and for the regulation of the manufacture of and international traffic in arms.

2. The executive council should be authorized to exercise such powers for the execution of obligations stipulated in the general international agreement as may be assigned to it by the agreement.

3. The armaments and armed forces of the Axis states [to be named later]^21a should be governed by the terms of their surrender and by the authority established thereunder. The executive council should be empowered to take responsibility for assuring the execution of stipulations governing the armaments and armed forces of the Axis states, to the extent that such responsibility may be assigned to it in succession to the authority established under the surrender terms.

VIII

Arrangements for Economic and Social Cooperation

A. Purpose and Relationships

1. With a view to the creation of conditions of stability and well-being which are necessary for peaceful and friendly relations among nations, the general international organization should facilitate and promote solutions of international economic and social problems, including educational and cultural problems. Responsibility for the discharge of this function should be vested in the general assembly, and under the authority of the general assembly, in an economic and social council, established in the basic instrument of the organization.

2. The various specialized economic and social organizations and agencies would have responsibilities in their respective fields as defined in their statutes. Each specialized economic or social organization or agency should be brought into relationship with the general international organization. The terms under which each specialized organization or agency should be related to the general international organization should be determined by agreement between the economic and social council and the appropriate authorities of the specialized organization or agency, subject to approval by the general assembly.

B. Powers

1. The economic and social council should be empowered:

a. to carry out, within the scope of its functions, recommendations of the general assembly in regard to economic or social matters;

b. to make recommendations, on its own initiative, to the various specialized organizations or agencies, to governments, or to the general assembly, with respect to economic or social problems, including those beyond the scope of the specialized organizations, with a view to promoting the fullest and most effective use of the world’s economic resources, to achieving high and stable levels of employment, and in general to advancing the well-being of all peoples;

c. to coordinate the activities of the specialized economic and social organizations or agencies through advisory consultations with, and recommendations to, such organizations;

d. to receive and consider reports of the activities, decisions and recommendations of the specialized organizations or agencies, and to submit annually an analysis of such reports to the general assembly;

e. to examine the administrative budgets of the specialized organizations or agencies with a view to recommending to the organization or agencies concerned, and in appropriate cases to the general assembly, as to the most effective utilization of resources; and

f. to perform such other functions within the general scope of its competence as may be assigned to it by the general assembly, or as may be provided for in future agreements among member states.

C. Composition and Voting

1. The economic and social council should consist of qualified representatives of a specified number [24]^21b of member states. The states designated for this purpose should be selected by the general assembly for terms of three years, and each such state should have one representative.

2. Each representative of a state designated as a member of the economic and social council should have one vote. Decisions of the council should be taken by majority vote.

3. The economic and social council should make suitable arrangements for representatives of the specialized organizations or agencies to participate without vote in its deliberations and in those of the commissions established by it.

D. Organization

1. The economic and social council should establish an economic commission, a social commission, and such other commissions as may be required to facilitate the consideration of problems within the scope of its functions. Such commissions should consist of experts specially qualified in their respective fields, who may be nationals of any member state of the general international organization. The members of the commissions should be appointed for periods of three years.

2. The economic and social council should elect a chairman from among its members. A director and a staff of competent experts should serve as the permanent secretariat of the economic and social council and of the commissions, and should constitute a part of the central administrative staff of the general international organization.

3. The council should adopt its own rules of procedure and otherwise perfect its organization.

IX

Arrangements for Territorial Trusteeships ²²

A. Scope and Purposes

1. Subject to such exceptions as may be made by common agreement in the interests of international peace and security, the international organization should establish a system of international trusteeship by which it would (a) succeed to the rights, titles, and interests of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers under the Treaty of Versailles²³ and the Treaty of Lausanne²⁴ and to the rights and responsibilities of the League of Nations under the Covenant with respect to the non-self-governing territories detached from previous sovereigns in 1919, and (b) acquire authority over certain territories which may be detached from the present enemy states. By action of the general assembly the system might be extended to any territories for which assistance is requested by member states having control over such territories. Italy and Japan should be required by the terms of the peace settlement to relinquish all their rights, titles, and interests in the present mandated territories.

2. The basic objectives of the trusteeship system should be: (a) to promote, in accordance with the provisions of any declaration or code that may be agreed upon, the political, economic, and social advancement of the trust territories and their inhabitants and their progressive development toward self-government;²⁵ (b) to provide non-discriminatory treatment in trust territories for appropriate activities of the nationals of all member states; and (c) to further international peace and security.

B. Structure and Composition

1. The responsibilities of trusteeship should be vested in the general assembly and should be exercised through a trusteeship council and through administering authorities in the trust territories.

2. The trusteeship council should be composed of persons of special competence designated (a) one each by the states administering trust territories as continuing members and (b) one each by an equal number of other states named periodically for that purpose by the general assembly.

3. The administering authority in each trust territory should be a state or a specially constituted international administration. Each territory now administered under a mandate, except those so administered by Japan, should be administered under the trusteeship arrangements by the state which now administers it, unless in a particular case or cases some other disposal is made by the international organization.

4. Each territory should be governed in accordance with a territorial charter, which should constitute the fundamental law of the territory, defining the rights and obligations of the parties concerned. Each charter should be so drawn as to take into account the special circumstances of each territory.

C. Powers

1. The general assembly should be empowered: (a) to call for, receive, and consider the reports, recommendations, and decisions of the trusteeship council; (b) to take action upon the recommendations of the trusteeship council concerning the initial territorial charters, alterations in such charters, designation of administering authorities, removal of such authorities for cause, and the conditions of termination and the act of termination of trusteeship in any territory; (c) to establish advisory commissions of a regional or technical character with respect to trust territories situated in a given region; and (d) to encourage and facilitate cooperation between the administering authorities and the specialized agencies brought into relationship with the international organization.

2. The trusteeship council exercising general supervision over trust territories, should be empowered: (a) to advise the administering authorities; (b) to examine reports from the administering authorities; (c) to interrogate representatives of those authorities; (d) at its discretion, to receive petitions and to hear petitioners in person; (e) to recommend or pass upon economic projects of more than a minor local character and to conduct investigations relevant to such projects; (f) to conduct periodic inspections in the trust territories; and (g) to make recommendations to the general assembly regarding the territorial charters, the administering authorities, and other aspects of the trusteeship system.

D. Procedures

1. The financial position of each trust territory should be reviewed periodically by the trusteeship council. The costs of administration should in general be met from the regular revenues of the trust territory, and the costs of supervision should be provided in the budget of the international organization.

2. The administering authorities should cooperate fully in the application of any international security measures specified by the executive council.

X

General Administration and Secretariat

A. Office of Director-General and the Central Administrative Staff

1. A director-general of the international organization should be elected by the general assembly with the concurrence of the executive council. He should serve for a period of five years and should be eligible for re-election.

2. The director-general should have the responsibilities of the chief administrative officer of the organization. He should serve as the secretary-general of the general assembly, of the executive council, and of such other organs and agencies of the international organization as the assembly or the council may direct. He should also provide for coordination, within the general policies appertaining to administration established by the general assembly, of the administrative procedures and regulations of the specialized agencies brought into relationship with the international organization. He should report to the general assembly on the work of all the organs and agencies of the organization and of commissions, agencies, and other bodies of concern to the international organization.

3. The director-general should appoint such deputies and principal officers of the central administrative staff as may be required, subject to confirmation by the general assembly, and such other personnel of secretariats for which he is responsible. He should recommend for appointment by the general assembly or the executive council respectively the directors of commissions and agencies responsible respectively to these two organs.

4. The director-general and his deputies should not during their terms of office hold any other public office.

5. Officers appointed to the central administrative staff should be selected on the basis of technical or administrative competence and experience, and of the widest practicable distribution among nationalities. These officials should be constituted as a continuing international civil service, and they should upon their appointment pledge themselves to perform the duties entrusted to them in the impartial manner and spirit necessary to advance the interests and purposes of the international organization.

B. Obligations of Member States With Respect to Officials of the Organization

1. Member states should impose no obligations upon their nationals who are officials of the international organization that are inconsistent with the performance of their duties.

2. Member states should grant the customary diplomatic immunities to officials of the international organization when engaged on business of the international organization or when traveling to and from their offices.

XI

Procedure of Establishment and Inauguration

1. The general international organization for the maintenance of peace and security projected in the Four-Nation Declaration signed at Moscow, October 30, 1943, should be established at the earliest practicable date—if feasible, prior to the termination of hostilities.

2. The United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the republic of China, the signatories of the Four-Nation Declaration, should take immediate steps to reach agreement in principle on the fundamental features of a plan of the organization.

3. An agreed statement of the fundamental features of the plan of the organization should then be transmitted to the governments of the other United Nations and the nations associated with them, together with an invitation to communicate comments and suggestions for the purpose of arriving at a substantial consensus of views on the fundamental features of the plan.

4. As soon as practicable, the signatories of the Four-Nation Declaration should convene a conference of the United Nations and the nations associated with them for the formulation and signature of an agreement which would constitute the basic instrument of the organization. The agreement should be submitted to the participating governments for ratification in accordance with their respective constitutional procedures.

5. Provision should be made in the agreement for its coming into force when ratified by fifteen states including the signatories of the Four-Nation Declaration.

6. The signatories of the Four-Nation Declaration should be empowered by the agreement to call the first meeting of the general assembly of the organization under the agreement upon its coming into force.

7. The general assembly should elect at its first meeting the non-continuing members of the executive council, and the council should thereupon immediately come into existence and proceed to organize itself.

21. Handed on July 18 to representatives of the British, Soviet, and Chinese Embassies; the American Embassies in the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China were so informed in telegrams 5735, 1728, and 978 to London, Moscow, and Chungking, respectively.

    Chapter IX, Arrangements for Territorial Trusteeships, printed herein, was included in the July 6 draft submitted to the President on July 12 but was omitted in the original document of July 18; a notation was inserted at this point as follows: “Note: Documents on this subject will be available later.” The omission was made, at the urging of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to avoid international discussions at this period of the war on the question of international trusteeship for dependent territories, and the subject was not brought forward in the Dumbarton Oaks Conversations.

    Each representative of the other three Governments was advised by the Secretary of State that this Government would be glad to have copies in return of any similar draft proposals which each of them might have (memorandum by the Secretary of State of conversation with the Soviet Chargé, July 18, filed under 500.CC/7–1844). For texts of British, Soviet, and Chinese proposals, see pp. 670, 706, and 718, respectively.

22. Brackets appear in the original.
23. Brackets appear in the original.
22. This chapter was omitted in the original document of July 18, and a notation was inserted at this point as follows: “Note: Documents on this subject will be available later.”
23. Signed June 28, 1919; for text, see Foreign Relations, The Paris Peace Conference, 1919, vol. xiii, p. 55.
24. Signed August 6, 1923; for text, see Foreign Relations, 1923, vol. ii, p. 1153.
25. For Secretary Hull’s comments on commitment by the United States and Great Britain to the “progressive development of dependent peoples toward self-government”, in a conversation with the British Minister of State, Richard Law, on July 20, 1944, see vol. iii, p. 50.