500.CC/6–245: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Harriman)
1203. For the Ambassador and Hopkins. The Secretary has asked that the following most important and urgent message be sent you for immediate action.
“We have reached a very serious crisis in the Conference in San Francisco. Gromyko told the meeting of Heads of five principal delegations last night that the Soviet Government would not agree [Page 1118] to permit even ‘consideration and discussion’ of any dispute or threatening situation brought before the proposed Security Council unless formal decision by seven members of the Council including the unanimous vote of the five permanent members was taken. We and the other three Governments have taken the position that veto power should apply the moment the Council begins to take action even if the first step in the action is a decision to investigate or to make a recommendation. We have maintained however that up to the point of such action no individual member of the Council should be in a position to stop the consideration and discussion of a dispute brought before the Council. The Soviet proposal carries the principle of the veto against any action not only through the section providing for enforcement action and recommendations as to peaceful means of settlement of disputes but even to the right of a single nation to prevent any consideration and discussion of a dispute. We feel that this would make a farce of the whole proposed world organization.
I have reported this development to the President and he confirms my own feeling as well as that of the U.S. Delegation that the United States could not possibly accept an organization subject to such a restricted procedure which would be entirely contrary to the spirit of the security organization we have had in mind and have been presenting to the American people. The heads of the three other delegations of the five powers have at a meeting this morning stated their position as exactly similar to ours. Neither is it likely that any other of the nations would accept such an organization, and of course we ourselves could not possibly put them or ourselves in the position of even asking the members of the Conference to join an organization subject to such tight and futile restrictions, I stated our position on freedom of consideration and discussion by the Security Council in a public statement in Mexico City at the close of that Conference early in March and the Acting Secretary in a public statement on March 24 was also explicit in this regard. There has never been any reaction from the Soviet Government which indicated that they had a contrary view until Gromyko’s statement of last night.
With the President’s approval I am bringing this matter to your attention urgently. I know that in the past Marshal Stalin did not know himself of some of the decisions that were being taken and communicated to us. I feel therefore that it would be most helpful if you and Harry could meet with Marshal Stalin as soon as possible and ask him whether he realizes fully what the instructions sent to Gromyko mean and what effect the Soviet proposal would have upon the character of the world organization we are all trying to work out. Please tell him in no uncertain words that this country could not possibly join an organization based on so unreasonable an interpretation of the provision of the great powers in the Security Council. Please tell him that we are just as anxious as he is to build the organization on the foundation of complete unity among the great powers but it must be unity of action in the light of a maximum of free discussion. At no stage in our discussions relative to the creation of the world organization at Dumbarton Oaks or at Yalta or at any other time was a provision ever contemplated which would make impossible freedom of discussion in the council or the assembly. This is a wholly new and impossible interpretation.
[Page 1119]Please let me know when you think you can put this up to Stalin and when you can give me some word as to his reaction since we will have to take the necessary steps to wind up the conference here if we have nothing favorable from you in this regard.”