500.CC(PC)/8–1545: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant)
Washington, August 24,
1945—6 p.m.
7252. Preco 40. For the Ambassador and Gerig. Re para. 4 your 8273 (Copre 26)13 Department suggests you may wish to communicate informally to Noel-Baker and other colleagues in your discretion following [Page 1441] considerations supplementing views on desirability of informal agreement among the Five set forth in para. 4, Preco 30 (b), Deptel 6927, August 15, 1945.
- 1.
- It seemed evident at San Francisco that smaller powers agreed to special position of great powers because of the prospect of and need for unanimity among the latter, especially in matters of security. Unanimity of the Five, on which the success of the Organization largely depends, will in our opinion best be achieved by informal consultations.
- 2.
- Other nations desire to see unity among the Five and find the necessity of making a choice between two or more views expressed by a disunited Five most embarrassing and distressing due to the obvious political implications. You may also recall that there was some expression from the smaller powers at San Francisco that they considered the voting procedure of the Security Council as emphasizing need for unanimity rather than the granting of a veto power as such.
Byrnes
- Not printed; in paragraph 4 it was stated that the British Representative on the Preparatory Commission (Noel-Baker) felt that consultations among the Five Great Powers should be held to a minimum (500.CC (PC)/8–1545).↩