890.0146/10–2446
The Acting Secretary of State to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget (Webb)
My Dear Mr. Webb: In your letter of October 24, 1946, you requested an expression of my views on H.R. 6605, a bill “to provide for the government and administration of certain islands in the Pacific Ocean by the Department of the Interior”, in the light of observations made thereon by the War, Navy and Interior Departments in the enclosures which accompanied your letter.72
As stated in Secretary Byrnes’ letter of July 26 to Congressman Bell,73 this Department is thoroughly in sympathy with the objective of placing United States administered islands with native populations under civilian administration.
In so far as H.R. 6605 relates to former Japanese controlled islands the Department of State is in agreement with the Secretary of War and the Secretary of Navy that it would be premature for action to be taken by this Government with respect to the determination of the form of administration which should be applied to such of these islands as we assume responsibility for as a result of the Second World War. However, the Department of State perceives no objection from the point of view of our foreign relations to consideration of the type of administration which should apply to Guam and American Samoa. [Page 696] Legislation providing for civilian administration of Guam and American Samoa would be in keeping with American traditions and with the declaration regarding non-self-governing territories set forth in Chapter XI of the Charter of the United Nations. Furthermore, it is recalled that the United States has yet to fulfill, with respect to Guam, the obligation set forth in Article IX of the Treaty of Paris of 1898, as follows: “The civil rights and political status of the native inhabitants of the territories hereby ceded to the United States shall be determined by the Congress”. Legislation providing for the form of government on Guam would contribute to the fulfillment of this treaty obligation.
In expressing this view the Department of State is not attempting to pass upon the effect of such a decision upon the security interests of the United States or upon the administrative and budgetary questions raised by the Secretary of Navy in his proposed report to Congressman Bell.
Sincerely yours,
- None printed. For more than a year there had been a continuing discussion within the Executive Branch, which in due course had repercussions in the Legislative Branch, as to the type of government and administration of certain islands in the Pacific Ocean area in the possession of or controlled by the United States. Opposing views were held by the Department of the Interior on the one hand and the Departments of War and the Navy on the other. Documentation on this subject in the central indexed files of the Department of State may be found in File No. 890.0146.↩
- Not printed. Representative C. Jasper Bell was Chairman of the Committee on Insular Affairs, House of Representatives.↩