501.BB Summaries/11–1946: Telegram
Senator Austin to the Secretary of State
[via Courier]
827. [Here follows brief discussion of several items relating to the current General Assembly.]
Subcommittee on Contributions (1st Meeting)4
Senator Vandenberg declared that the U.S. position on contributions was designed to save the UN, not to save money, as he warned the Subcommittee on Contributions on November 19 of the adverse effect on U.S. public opinion of the 49.89 per cent quota. He called for consideration of more than the major “capacity to pay” factor in order to reach an equitable solution which would take into account the principle of sovereign equality.
The U.S. was prepared to accept a 37½ per cent quota for the purposes of the Subcommittee discussions, although it was not rigidly committed to this figure, Vandenberg said.
[Page 482]Vandenberg urged the Subcommittee to accept the statistics of the Contributions Committee Report and to proceed immediately to a decision on the major policy questions. The problem before the Subcommittee, he pointed out, was political rather than one of relative statistics. The U.S., Vandenberg asserted, had no intention of raising the question of the validity of the statistics involved, and considered the Committee’s report as good a job as could be accomplished under difficult circumstances.
Expressing the hope that the U.S. would continue to have a good opinion of the UN, Vandenberg asserted that it was not only morally dangerous to the UN but damaging in terms of U.S. public opinion for any one nation to pay almost fifty per cent of the costs.
Urging the Subcommittee to transfer its discussions from percentages to dollars, Vandenberg pointed out that there was a difference of only two million dollars in actual cash between the proposed 49.89 per cent and the tentative U.S. figure of 37½ per cent. He called upon the small nations to absorb this difference in order to defend the principle of sovereign equality and to prevent prejudicing public reaction in the U.S. The 37½ per cent figure was acceptable to the U.S., he added, even though it was the present view that the normal contribution of any one nation should not exceed 33⅓ per cent.
The U.S., Vandenberg said, would not involve itself in the ensuing discussions, but would leave the decisions in the hands of the other members on the Subcommittee. He wished to make it clear that there was no threat, no pressure by the U.S., and therefore he would withdraw from Subcommittee deliberations. A U.S. representative would remain to provide information and answer questions. Vandenberg assured the Subcommittee that he was prepared to return at any time and discuss the problem with the Subcommittee if it so requested.
Vandenberg said that he was exploring with the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury the possibility of making special arrangements under which dollar exchange could be made available to those countries whose contributions to the UN were made difficult by lack of U.S. currency.
Martinez-Cabanas (Mexico) who had been elected Chairman, supported Vandenberg’s statement and said the Subcommittee would avoid the study of statistics and would restrict itself to actions necessary to achieve agreement on questions of policy. The main decision facing the Subcommittee, he pointed out, related to the political question of a possible floor and ceiling on contributions. The Advisory Committee of Experts, he asserted, would have to settle the questions raised by the entry of new members and the claims of several countries [Page 483] that the “capacity to pay” index unfairly represented their present capabilities.
Younger (U. K.) replied to Vandenberg in a conciliatory statement in which he noted U. K. agreement on the question of statistics and expressed appreciation for Vandenberg’s clear statement on the difficulties presented by adverse U. S. public opinion. He was particularly interested, he asserted, in Vandenberg’s remarks on the “special arrangements for dollar exchange.” Such arrangements would solve most of the serious problems which confronted several contributors to the UN, Younger declared. He expressed some doubt, however, of the possibility of achieving any satisfactory solution.
Dzung5 (China) supported the U. S. views and asserted that the task facing the Subcommittee related to questions of policy and practical politics rather than to mere statistics. He urged consideration of other factors than “capacity to pay” and exploration of all other available criteria in order to reach an equitable solution.
[Here follow other items of the summary.]