Editorial Note

The first portion of the meeting was devoted to a long and complex procedural discussion which the United States Delegation Journal summarized as follows:

“The Chairman (M. Bidault) raised the question whether he, having held the Chair since the opening of the Conference, should continue for three more days as Chairman or should turn it over to Mr. Byrnes [Page 163] as the next Chairman in order of rotation. It was decided that, in view of the Rule of Procedure just adopted whereby the representative of the host Government should first hold the Chairmanship for three days, M. Bidault should remain as Chairman.

M. Vyshinsky (USSR) raised the question of the preparation of the agenda of each Plenary Meeting and urged that an orderly procedure be established to deal with this question. After a lengthy discussion on the manner in which the agenda of the present meeting had been prepared, M. Kosanović (Yugoslavia) proposed that the agenda of each meeting be prepared by the Acting Chairman in agreement with the other Chairmen, with technical arrangements being dealt with by the Secretariat. It was decided to discuss the Yugoslav proposal later.” (CFM Files, USDel (PC) (Journal) 11)

The meeting then approved the annex to the Draft Rules of Procedure submitted by the Commission on Procedure, C.P. (Plen) Doc. 1 (volume IV, page 796). The annex became Annex I of the Rules of Procedure of the Conference as finally approved.

Exact procedure for hearing ex-enemy states was considered next. Mr. Vyshinsky (U.S.S.R.) proposed that Italy only be heard on the following day, that the time allowed for speeches by ex-enemy states not be limited, that the order of the hearings be as specified in the Rules of Procedure, and that the Secretariat rather than a special committee make the arrangements for hearings. The United States delegation expressed substantial agreement with these proposals. Mr. Masaryk (Czechoslovakia), supported by Mr. Kosanović (Yugoslavia) objected to the ex-enemy states being given unlimited time to present their observations, but the President (Mr. Bidault, France) ruled that the Secretariat would consult with the ex-enemy states and draft the schedule for the hearings. The meeting then approved the resolution governing invitations to ex-enemy states as Annex II to the Rules of Procedure. The resolution had been paragraph 3 of article III of the rules proposed by the Commission on Procedure volume IV, page 797).