IO Files: US/A/C.5/52
Memorandum of Conversation, by Mr. William Hall of the United States Delegation Staff of Advisers
Subject: Contributions Scale
| Participants: | Mr. Martinez-Cabanas (Mexico) |
| Mr. D. Pitblado (United Kingdom) | |
| Mr. André Ganem (France) | |
| Mr. Nicolai V. Orlov (USSR) | |
| Mr. William Hall, Executive Officer, Committee 5 |
Mr. Martinez asked us to meet at the Mexican Delegation office for the purpose of developing an alternative scale to that discussed at an earlier meeting.
Mr. Martinez inquired at the opening of the meeting whether I had had an opportunity to discuss informally with my Delegation the United States contribution of 39.89 per cent with the United States assumption of new countries’ contributions during 1946. I replied that I had discussed it some with my Delegation and I found there was little enthusiasm for any scale which called for a United States contribution in excess of 37-½ per cent; that I found particularly strong opposition to a proposal which would bring the United States contribution for either 1946 or 1947 up to 40 per cent.
Mr. Pitblado then said he had discussed the question in his Delegation and found that most of their people felt that the United States should contribute 42 per cent at least for the year 1946. I said I thought that I would personally be prepared to discuss further a scale which fixed the United States contribution at 39 per cent for 1947 and for the Working Capital Fund, with the understanding that the increase required because of the absence of new members during 1946 might be spread mathematically across the entire scale.
I said that it might be very useful to consider again the possibility of comparing the suggested index of the Contributions Committee with the scale which was now in force for contributions to the General Assembly, and that the Subcommittee might like to consider the possibility of making the new scale apply only to the 1947 budget, [Page 492] leaving the provisional scale in effect for 1946 and the Working Capital Fund.
As usual, this was violently opposed by everyone present at the meeting. It was agreed that Mr. Martinez would prepare for presentation a scale based on a United States contribution of 37.5 per cent, a United States contribution of 42 per cent, and a United States contribution of 39 per cent. We then proceeded to develop the attached scale which is based on the Committee scale reduced mathematically to a United States contribution of 39 per cent, which spreads certain other downward adjustments and the difference between 39 and 39.89 per cent for the United States.
It was agreed that the members of the Committee, other than the United States, would discuss the scale with the several representatives on Committee 5 to obtain their reactions.
During the discussion of the scale it became apparent that the Soviets were unwilling to accept their fair share of the increase. I pressed Mr. Orlov until the increase for the Soviet Union and the two Republics equaled .5, which was Mr. Geraschenko’s earlier commitment to me on the total Soviet increase. At that point Mr. Orlov refused to discuss the matter further and we left the Soviet figure at 6.43 per cent.
I am sure that the United Kingdom and other Delegations will insist on a reappraisal of the Soviet contribution in the Subcommittee. This is particularly true because of the sizeable increases assumed by several of the countries and the very small difference (.33) between the French and the Soviet Union contributions.
Mr. Ganem of the French Delegation was very helpful in agreeing to assume additional burdens. It seems to me that the French (at 6.12) have assumed more than a fair share of their cost of the Organization.
The United Kingdom contribution might, it seems to me, be increased to 12 per cent, but I doubt if they would be willing to agree to any such increase unless the Soviet contribution is also raised.