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

501.BB/7–2446

Memorandum by the Deputy Director of the Office of Special Political Affairs (Ross) to the Under Secretary of State (Acheson)

[Washington,] July 24, 1946.

I should appreciate your help in getting clearance from the Secretary before he leaves⁵⁴ on the following General Assembly matters⁵⁵ which I should like to discuss briefly with you before you take them up with the Secretary:

1. Committee Assignments of Delegates and Alternates⁵⁶ We have worked out the following assignments (copy of agenda giving breakdown of work by committees is attached):

Committee	Delegate	Alternate
General	Byrnes
	Austin
Political and Security	Byrnes	(Stevenson)
	Austin
	Connally
Economic and Financial	Vandenberg	Douglas
Social and Humanitarian	Roosevelt	Eaton
Trusteeship	(Bloom)	Dulles
Legal	(Charles Fahy)
Administrative & Budgetary	Bloom	Stevenson
League of Nations		Eaton
Headquarters	Austin (assisted by Fahy)

2. Size and Composition of Delegation. We have very carefully worked out estimated minimum needs bearing fully in mind the Secretary’s feeling that the Delegation to the London Assembly meeting was too large. Our estimate is based on the following principles:

(a) Representatives of other agencies will not be listed. The principal other agencies concerned are already represented as advisers to Mr. Winant with regard to the work of the Economic and Social Council with which they are primarily concerned. The Economic and Social Council will be meeting at the same time as the Assembly.

(b) United States representatives on the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council or other United Nations agencies will not be listed. These people will be in New York for their regular assignments and available for consultation. No need is seen, therefore, to list them as members of the Assembly Delegation.

(c) We will rely to the fullest possible extent on existing facilities of the mission in New York. Our estimate of minimum needs includes:

Delegates and Alternates	10
Advisers	24
Political Liaison Officers	8
Secretary of Delegation and Delegation Assistants	8
	50

Taking into account secretarial and other supporting stall required we estimate a total of 100–120 which is very substantially less than the 172 we had in London. If the Secretary approves this general approach, we will work out the details with Mr. Russell’s staff.⁵⁷

3. Pennsylvania Hotel. The administrative staff in New York proposes that arrangements be made with the Pennsylvania Hotel to provide in that hotel all living and office accommodations required by the entire United States Delegation. If the Secretary would signify his willingness to make his headquarters in the Pennsylvania we could then authorize our staff in New York to negotiate the necessary arrangements with the management. Given the present very difficult situation in New York, it is essential that these negotiations be initiated without delay.

54. Mr. Byrnes’ departure to attend the Paris Peace Conference was imminent, as the conference was scheduled to convene on July 29 (see volumes iii and iv).
55. Department of State preparation for the second part of the first session of the General Assembly was in full swing by the end of May. For information on the Department’s preparation of slates for election by the General Assembly, and the preparation of background books and position papers, see footnote 61, p. 37, and pp. 117 ff., respectively.

56. The composition of the United States Delegation to the General Assembly, nominations to which were approved by the Senate on July 25, was as follows: Representatives, Senator Warren R. Austin, Senator Tom Connally, Senator Arthur H. Vandenburg, Mrs. Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, and Representative Sol Bloom; Alternate Representatives, Congressman Charles A. Eaton, Congress-woman Helen Gahagan Douglas, Mr. John Foster Dulles, and Mr. Adlai E. Stevenson.

    Departmental consideration of the composition of the United States Delegation began in early June, the situation being complicated by the absence of Secretary Byrnes from Washington. (He was in Paris attending a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers.) Relevant documentation in the Department’s central indexed files relating to this phase of preparation is as follows: (1) memorandum, the Deputy Director of the Office of Special Political Affairs (Ross) to the Under (Acting) Secretary of State (Acheson), June 11 (501.BB/6–1146); (2) memorandum, Mr. Ross to the Counselor of the Department (Cohen), June 11 (501.BB/6–1146); (3) telegram 3099, Secdel 349, June 26, the Acting Secretary to Mr. Cohen at Paris, June 26 (740.00119 Council/6–2646); (4) telegram 3184, Delsec 640, Secretary Byrnes at Paris to Acting Secretary Acheson, June 28 (740.00119 Council/6–2846); and (5) telegram 3390, Secdel 462, the Acting Secretary to the Secretary at Paris, July 11 (740.00119 Council/7–1146).

    The Secretary of State gave “tentative” approval to this committee setup before leaving for Paris for the peace conference. For the committee assignments finally settled upon, see p. 213.

57. For information on the composition and functioning of the Delegation and its staff, see pp. 37–42.