Executive Secretariat Files
Briefing Book Paper
Dependent Territories
The Department has tentatively formulated, for use when approved, a Draft Plan for International Trusteeship, a Draft Plan for Regional Advisory Commissions for Dependent Areas, and a Draft Declaration Regarding Administration of Dependent Areas.
No discussion with other governments has as yet occurred regarding these papers. While we were prepared to transmit a proposal on trusteeship prior to the Dumbarton Oaks Conversations, this part of our Tentative Proposals was taken out . . . Accordingly, no formal discussion occurred during those Conversations. However, the British, Soviet, and Chinese representatives informally expressed much interest in the matter, and it was understood that this question would be considered later as one of the questions left open.
Our Draft Plans are being submitted to review, in the light of the Dumbarton Oaks Proposals, by the Secretary’s Staff Committee and by the War and Navy Departments for presentation to the President before communication to other governments. Their essential points are summarized below.
Categories of Dependent Territories.—Dependent areas should be divided, for reasons of status and corresponding difference in degree and directness of international concern, into two categories: (a) trust (or mandated) territories whose special status makes it desirable to place them under the authority of the general international organization as trustee; and (b) other dependent territories whose control by individual states is recognized pending their development toward self-government to the fullest extent of the capacity of the dependent people.
Declaration of Principles.—The authorities responsible for the administration of dependent territories should agree upon a general declaration of principles designed to establish minimum political, economic, and social standards applicable to all non-self-governing territories, whether colonies, protectorates, or trust territories.
These principles should be formulated in accord with two essential assumptions: (1) that the welfare of dependent peoples and the development of the resources of dependent territories should be recognized as of proper concern to the international community at large; and (2) that states responsible for the administration of dependent territories should recognize the principle of some measure of accountability to the international community for such administration.
A Trusteeship Mechanism.—A trusteeship mechanism should be provided by which the international organization would succeed to the rights, titles, and interests of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, and to the rights and responsibilities of the League of Nations with respect to the mandates. It should also be given authority over certain territories which may be detached from the present enemy states, and over any other territories which by agreement may be placed under its control.
[Page 93]Regional Advisory Commissions.—Regional advisory commissions should be established, wherever practicable, in regions in which dependent territories are numerous, to assist the responsible authorities in the discharge of their international accountability for such territories together with their obligation to develop the resources and promote the welfare of these territories and their peoples. The regional advisory commissions should as a general rule have wide membership, including states which hold colonies in a given region, independent states and certain advanced dependent territories in the region, and other states which have major strategic or economic interests in the region. They should be entitled to call on the general organization and on specialized economic or social agencies related to the general international organization for advice and assistance and should make reports available to the general organization and related agencies.