Foreign Relations of the United States, Diplomatic Papers, 1945, General: The United Nations, Volume I

RSC Lot 60–D 224, Box 96: US Cr Min 79

Minutes of the Seventy-Ninth Meeting of the United States Delegation, Held at San Francisco, Saturday, June 23, 1945, 4:15 p.m.

San Francisco, June 23, 1945, 4:15 p.m.

[Informal Notes]

[Here follows list of names of persons (23) present at meeting.]

The Secretary convened the meeting at 4:15 p.m.

Arrangements for Signing the Charter

Secretary Stettinius reported that this special meeting had been called because of certain developments which had arisen that afternoon with respect to the process of signing the Charter. Ambassador Gromyko had asked for a special meeting of the four Presidents of the Conference after the ceremonies at noon honoring the Secretariat, the A.W.V.S.⁴ and the military assistants.

Ambassador Gromyko had asked whether the actual signing of the Charter would be done by merely the chairmen of the delegations or by all the delegates. He had pressed for signature by the chairmen alone. The Secretary reported that he had indicated to Mr. Gromyko his belief that this matter had already been decided in favor of having all the delegates affix their signatures to the Charter. Secretary Stettinius added that he had remarked that in his opinion this procedure would be desirable. Under pressure, Mr. Gromyko had agreed that all the delegates should sign the Charter if the Russians were permitted to sign in their native language.⁵ Lord Halifax had indicated that only two members of the British Delegation were authorized to sign the Charter, Lord Cranborne and himself.

Ambassador Gromyko had next raised the question of the order in which signatures would be affixed to the Charter.⁶ Secretary Stettinius observed that he had told the Russian chairman that it had been his impression that an alphabetical order would be used and he indicated that this had been settled by the Steering Committee.⁷ The Secretary had indicated his support for this procedure and had outlined the advantages which such a procedure involved, its democratic nature and its acceptability to the smaller powers. Ambassador Gromyko however, had urged that the Charter be signed according to the order in which the participating nations had signed the United Nations Declaration.⁸ Secretary Stettinius reported that he had then pointed out to Ambassador Gromyko that the two Russian Republics had never signed this document and Ambassador Gromyko withdrew his suggestion. Mr. Gromyko then urged that the sponsoring governments should sign the Charter first and Secretary Stettinius had opposed this suggestion on the grounds that the Charter itself emphasized the sovereign equality of the participating states. Lord Halifax had supported the Secretary’s position on this matter very strongly. The Secretary declared that he had told Mr. Gromyko that if he were to raise the question at the Steering Committee he would receive five favorable votes, the USSR, the two Russian Republics, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia, and no more. Ambassador Koo had supported Secretary Stettinius in this statement and in his genera] position in opposition to the Russian suggestion. Ambassador Gromyko had not been convinced however and had declared that he wanted to call a meeting of the Executive Committee. The Secretary had replied that he was too busy to attend such a meeting but would not object to Ambassador Gromyko calling a session of the Executive Committee and presiding at that meeting. The Russian delegate had thereupon indicated his intention of attending the Steering Committee and asking for a vote on the suggestion.

Secretary Stettinius declared that shortly after his talk with Ambassador Gromyko he had received a visit from Marshal Smuts and consulted the wise old gentleman on this issue. Secretary Stettinius declared that he was certain that the Russians would accept a solution whereby the sponsoring nations would sign first, followed by France, and the other members in alphabetical order. Mr. Hiss asked whether this would be the order in which the nations would perform the act of signing or whether it would be the order in which their names appeared on the document. The Secretary replied that he was certain that the Russians intended this to mean the order in which the signatures would appear on the Charter. Marshal Smuts, The Secretary declared, had advanced, as his considered opinion, that to allow this question to come up in the Steering Committee and be voted upon would be to conclude the sessions of the Steering Committee with a sour taste. Marshal Smuts had suggested that agreement be reached among the four Presidents that the four sponsoring governments should sign first in alphabetical order with France the fifth signer, followed by the rest of the nations in alphabetical order. The Secretary declared that Lord Halifax had indicated that the British Delegation would be agreeable to this decision. The Secretary advanced the opinion that the Russian intention was to keep Argentina from being the first signatory to the Charter.

Mr. Dulles remarked that Argentina had been first on the sample order of signing which had been distributed on the previous day. Mr. Dulles thought it might be advisable to rearrange the order in the paragraph on original membership in the Organization placing signatories of the United Nations Declaration first in the paragraph, to be followed by the nations which participated in the United Nations Conference.⁹ In this way, the three nations which had been admitted to the United Nations during the course of the Conference¹⁰ could be made to sign the Charter after all the rest. This, Mr. Dulles suggested, might eliminate the Russian objection to the position of the Argentine signature. Commander Stassen declared that there was some justification for establishing the Big Five as a separate category in view of the fact that they were given special consideration with respect to the voting procedures and other matters within the Charter. Mr. Pasvolsky remarked that the French had raised this question originally in the false hope that they might be able to sign the Charter first. Mr. Dulles thought that another way of getting around the difficulty would be to list Argentina as the “Republic of Argentina”, causing the Argentine Delegation to sign among the R’s.

Dean Gildersleeve declared that she would be willing to accept the solution which had been offered, with the four sponsors signing first in alphabetical order. The Secretary observed that the four sponsors would be followed by France and by all the other nations in alphabetical order. Mr. Pasvolsky suggested that no vote be taken on this matter in the Steering Committee meeting. He urged that the Secretary announce that the decision had been made by the four Presidents. The Secretary declared that all that was required would be for him to make two phone calls to Ambassador Gromyko and Ambassador Koo in order for agreement to be reached among the four Presidents. The Delegation agreed that the Secretary should reach agreement among the four Presidents on the solution which had been offered by Marshal Smuts.

. . . . . . .

The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m.

4. American Women’s Volunteer Services.
5. For list of delegation members empowered to sign formal documents of the Conference, see Doc. 1166, ST/C/1, June 23, UNCIO Documents, vol. 5, p. 328; for approval of the members at the ninth plenary session, June 25, 9:30 p.m., see Doc. 1210, P/20, June 27, ibid., vol. 1, p. 613.
6. For UNCIO press release of June 25 listing delegations in order of signing the Charter and the number of delegates signing for each nation, see Department of State Bulletin, July 1, 1945, p. 11. For a romanization of facsimile signatures to the Charter, see 59 Stat. (pt. 2) 1215.
7. For summary of discussion by the Steering Committee of Document 1042, EX/25, June 17, “Suggestions with Respect to Schedule for Concluding Sessions of the Conference”, on June 21, see Doc. 1212, ST/22, June 28, UNCIO Documents, vol. 5, pp. 288–290. For compendium of procedural rules and recommendations, see Doc. 986, EX–SEC/16, June 15, ibid., vol. 2, pp. 583–602.
8. For list of signatories of the United Nations Declaration, January 1, 1942, see Department of State Bulletin, August 12, 1945, p. 238.
9. For list of 46 Nations invited to participate in the Conference, see telegrams 1400 and 1662 to London, February 23, midnight, and March 4, 1 p.m., respectively, pp. 89 and 105; also Journal, April 25, UNCIO Documents, vol. 2, p. 5.
10. For data on the seating at the Conference of Argentina and the Byelorussian and Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republics, see footnote 4, p. 501; see also Doc. 42, P/10, May 1, UNCIO Documents, vol. 1, pp. 343–359. For data on the seating of Denmark at the Conference, see memorandum of June 4 from Mr. Hugh S. Cumming, Jr., to Mr. G. Hayden Raynor, ante, p. 1159; also Doc. 806, EX/17, June 6, and Doc. 858, EX–SEC/12, June 8, UNCIO Documents, vol. 5, p. 460, and ibid., vol. 2, p. 575, respectively.