Editorial Note
Mr. Dulles opened the meeting of Sub-Committee 1 on December 9 by reporting “that he had held consultations with Mr. Novikov, in an attempt to reach a formula with respect to the question of the ‘States directly concerned’, as had been requested by the Chairman. Since the time limit had passed, he had to report that it had not been possible in the time available to achieve a solution, and that there was no alternative except to continue with the situation as it had been before the consultations took place.” Therefore, Mr. Dulles asked “to re-submit the proposal of his delegation, which provided for approval of the draft agreements at the current session of the General Assembly, without prejudice to future determination of the ‘States directly concerned.’” (GA(I/2), Fourth Committee, Pt. II, page 201)
After some discussion the Sub-Committee adopted the United States proposal, by thirteen votes for, three against, and one abstention, to the effect that the following recommendation be incorporated into the Report of the Rapporteur to the General Assembly:
“Approval of any terms of trusteeship by this session of the General Assembly should be on the following understanding with respect to ‘States directly concerned’:
“All Members of the United Nations have had an opportunity to present their views with reference to the terms of trusteeship now proposed to the General Assembly for approval. There has, however, been no specification by the General Assembly of ‘States directly concerned’ in relation to the proposed Trust Territories. Accordingly, the General Assembly, in approving the terms of trusteeship does not prejudge the question of what States are or are not ‘directly concerned’ within the meaning of Article 79. It recognizes that no State has waived or prejudiced its right hereafter to claim to be such a ‘State directly concerned’ in relation to approval of subsequently proposed trusteeship agreements and any alteration or amendment of those now approved and that the procedure to be followed in the future with reference to such matters may be subject to later determination.” (GA(I/2), Plenary, page 1546)
The United States statement was incorporated into the supplementary report of the Sub-Committee which dealt solely with the question of “States directly concerned” as raised in the preambles of the draft agreements (GA(I/2), Fourth Committee, Pt. I, pages 301–304, annex 22a). The plenary committee on December 11 approved the supplementary report in toto for inclusion in its own Report to the General Assembly (ibid., pages 158 ff., and GA(I/2), Plenary, pages 1540–1557, annex 72).
[Page 709]The General Assembly debated the Report on December 13 (ibid., pages 1264 ff.) and the proposed trusteeship agreements were approved (ibid., pages 1287–1288). Texts of the eight trusteeship agreements (Western Samoa, Tanganyika, Ruanda-Urundi, The Cameroons under British Administration, The Cameroons under French Administration, Togoland under British Administration, Togoland under French Administration, and New Guinea) may be found in United Nations, Official Records of the General Assembly, First Session, Second Part, Supplement No. 5, Text of Agreements for Trust Territories. Text of the resolution on trusteeship agreements, adopted on December 13, is found in United Nations, Official Records of the General Assembly, First Session, Second Part, Resolutions Adopted by the General Assembly during the Second Part of the First Session, 23 October–16 December, pages 122 and 123; text of the resolution adopted by the General Assembly on December 14 regarding the organization of the Trusteeship Council may be found ibid., page 123.
For documentation relating to the elections to membership in the Trusteeship Council, see pages 117 ff.