Foreign Relations of the United States, 1946, General; the United Nations, Volume I

501.AA/4–346

Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of International Organization Affairs (Sandifer) to the Director of the Office of Special Political Affairs (Hiss)

[Washington,] April 3, 1946.

I have received the following informal report from Mr. Taylor,⁴¹ dated April 2, concerning the Albanian membership question:

• “1. As I told you on the phone, we have as yet had no indication of any impending move to place the Albanian problem on the agenda. However, such a move should probably from now on be expected at any time.
• “2. I have just prepared a handy collection of documents on the Council proceedings on this matter and including as well a proposal as to our tactics and a proposed statement for possible use.⁴² After talking a previous draft over with Alger,⁴³ Charles Noyes⁴⁴ and Harding Bancroft⁴⁵ I have drawn it up so as to suggest that we resist any move to place the item on the agenda of any meeting before July. A distinction has emerged from the Committee of Experts’⁴⁶ discussion, between the “Calendar of Business” (a sort of docket of future business without any indication as to the time it will be taken up) and the “Agenda”, which is the order of business of any particular meeting. The Albanian matter would, under the new procedure, be said to be at present on the Calendar of Business, but not on the agenda. Under this suggested plan, we should oppose placing the matter on the agenda on the grounds specified in the position paper that was cleared through the Department. I think we will discuss the matter tomorrow—Noyes and Johnson⁴⁷ will, I hope, have time for it but the latter is extremely busy attending and preparing for the meetings of the Committee of Experts. I shall see that you are informed at the earliest possible moment.
• “3. One suggestion has been that we make concrete proposals for so changing the rules of procedure as to make some special provision for the consideration of membership applications. There is, as you may know, a specific Russian proposal along these lines in the Committee of Experts.⁴⁸ It seems to be the consensus here, so far as I have been able to observe, that no such rules are needed unless possibly for negotiation purposes in connection with the handling of this application. We have made something, in the Council discussions before, of the need for the establishment of general procedures for the handling of the matter. It may possible be that a suggestion to submit all such matters to a committee of the Council would be helpful. I am going to ask the opinions of Mr. Johnson and Mr. Noyes on that matter tomorrow if possible. I do not know yet whether present plans call for any general use of committees by the Council. A referral to committee might possibly offer one means of ascertaining in advance what the Members’ attitudes toward particular applications are and thus provide a way for reducing the chance of sharp surprises and clashes in the open Council.”

[Here follows further detailing of factual information, part of which relates to the substance of footnote 40, page 368.]

41. Paul B. Taylor of the Division of International Organization Affairs, on detail with the United States Delegation to the United Nations in New York.
42. These particular papers have not been identified in the Department’s files.
43. Mr. Hiss.
44. Charles P. Noyes, Special Assistant to Mr. Stettinius, Adviser on Security Council matters.
45. Harding F. Bancroft, Associate Chief of the Division of International Security Affairs.
46. The Committee of Experts was a committee of the Security Council set up by the Council to frame permanent rules of procedure; it was made up of 11 members representative of the membership of the Security Council itself. For documentation regarding the work of the Committee of Experts with reference to the establishment of rules for voting in the Security Council, see pp. 251 ff.
47. Joseph E. Johnson, Chief of the Division of International Security Affairs, at this time detailed to New York and acting as United States delegate on the Committee of Experts.
48. This proposal was submitted to the Committee of Experts at the first meeting of the Committee in the United States on March 20, in connection with other Soviet proposals for rules relating to voting in the Security Council; see p. 251. It was printed first as part of Committee document S/Procedure/17, dated March 22, 1946 and later by itself in Committee document S/Procedure/82, dated May 6, 1946.