IO Files: US/A/M (Chr.)/13
Minutes of the Thirteenth Meeting of the United States Delegation, Held at New York, Hotel Pennsylvania, November 1, 1946, 9:00 a.m.
[Here follow list of names of persons (32) present and discussion of other items on the agenda.]
Headquarters Problem
Mr. Ross reported that on the preceding afternoon the Secretary had sent a message expressing his view that in opening the site question consideration should be limited to the Metropolitan New York area and the San Francisco Bay area.
Senator Austin noted that the press had been begging for a position statement by the United States Delegation. He stated that he proposed to give them a statement that would point out the grief involved in removing people from their home. Emphasizing this, he would urge the expansion of the Committee’s authority and an enlargement of the Commission’s personnel so that examination could be made of other locations around New York. Specifically to be mentioned should be the Flushing and San Francisco sites. He would further advocate that the sites to be considered should be modest in cost. He asked for the Delegation’s views on this proposed statement.
Senator Vandenberg inquired whether it was intended to postpone the decision beyond this session of the Assembly.
Mr. Stokes replied that Senator Austin’s statement should emphasize the importance of speed.
Mr. Bloom said that he thought the press statement should make clear that sites could be examined within one hundred miles of New York City because in that area were a number of parks which would provide free land.
Senator Austin said he thought it perfectly possible to include these areas and had no intention of doing otherwise.
[Page 106]Mr. Ross agreed that this was the ease and said that there were a number of parks within fifty or one hundred miles of New York which should be examined.
Senator Vandenberg pointed out that in the opening of the proposed statement mention was made only of the New York area.
Senator Austin agreed that it would be desirable to leave out the word “metropolitan”, and this was agreed to by the Delegation.
Mr. Dulles stated that he understood the essence of the position was that the United States was going to take an active part in the Headquarters Commission’s [Committers] work and join the Headquarters Commission. Mr. Stokes pointed out that the United States suggestion would be submitted as an amendment under Article [item] 15.
Senator Austin polled the Delegation on supporting the enlargement of the agenda item in the sense of his above statement and it was unanimously agreed that this should be done.55
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In a United States Delegation press release (#62) on November 1 Senator Austin announced that the United States Government now planned to “take an active part in assisting the United Nations to reach a final decision on its permanent home at this session of the General Assembly”, “in response to what we find to be the desire of other member nations. …” With the Report of the Headquarters Commission (United Nations document A/69) in the hands of the Permanent Headquarters Committee on October 31, the U.S. Delegation on November 2 submitted a request to the General Committee that the General Committee recommend to the General Assembly that the item on the agenda of the General Assembly dealing with the selection of a site for the permanent headquarters (item 15) be amended as follows: “Item 15 of the agenda, ‘Report of the Headquarters Commission and Appointment of a Planning Commission of Experts (Resolution of 14 February 1946)’, is hereby amended to read, ‘Report of the Headquarters Commission and consideration of possible alternative sites for permanent headquarters in the New York area and in the San Francisco Bay area which may be available without cost or at reasonable cost; and appointment of a Planning Commission of Experts (Resolution of 14 February 1946)’”.
In support of this proposal Senator Austin said in part before the General Committee on November 5, “… that, though the United States delegation had formerly believed it should maintain a neutral position on the question, the development of complications and difficulties in the acquisition of a site, and the fact that Congress would probably have to intervene in order to obtain a site, made it impossible for his delegation to stand by as simple observers.
“The report of the Headquarters Commission had been limited to two counties in the State of New York. However, the offer of the City of New York to donate the site used at present for the General Assembly also deserved serious consideration, as did the City of San Francisco’s offer of a site, up to three square miles in size in the San Francisco Bay area. Those offers accounted for the phrase ‘without cost or at reasonable cost’ in the amendment.” (GA(I/2), General Committee, p. 84)
For the debate in the General Committee on this U.S. proposal, see ibid., pp. 84–86.
A decision was made on November 7 in a meeting of the executive and political officers of the U.S. delegation that this proposal should be vigorously pushed in the General Assembly plenary debate (IO Files, document US/A/M/8).
The General Assembly adopted the proposal on November 9 with a United Kingdom amendment that widened the area under consideration to include “other parts of the United States of America” besides the New York and San Francisco areas, the United States being in stated opposition to the United Kingdom amendment (GA(I/2), Plenary, pp. 944–952).
Concurrently, the United States (Senator Austin) had on November 7 proposed in the Headquarters Committee the establishment of a sub-committee which would, first, consider the Report of the Headquarters Commission, and, secondly, after appropriate action by the General Assembly, then proceed to a consideration of alternative sites in the New York and San Francisco Bay areas (United Nations, Official Records of the General Assembly, First Session, Second Part, Permanent Headquarters Committee, p. 107; hereafter cited as GA(I/2), Headquarters Committee). After debate on November 7, 11, 13 and 14 the Committee on November 14 adopted the U.S. resolution as amended by a United Kingdom proposal to include specifically the Boston and Philadelphia areas in the sites to be investigated (GA(I/2), Headquarters Committee, pp. 107–119); for text of the amended resolution, see ibid., pp. 170 and 171, annex 5.
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