Foreign Relations of the United States, 1947, General; The United Nations, Volume I

Lot 71–D 440, Box 19232¹

Memorandum of Telephone Conversation, by Mr. Durward V. Sandifer, Principal Executive Officer of the United States Delegation

secret

[New York,] October 27, 1947.

Mr. Rusk called me this morning during the course of the Delegation meeting to give me Mr. Lovett’s² views, arrived at in consultation with Mr. Rusk and Mr. Bohlen, concerning the joint resolution submitted by Australia, Canada, and France as a substitute for the Russian war-mongering resolution (A/C.1/224, US/A/C.1/446).³ The text of this resolution had been telegraphed to the Department last night.

Mr. Rusk said that Mr. Lovett would like to see three changes in this draft:⁴

1. In paragraph 1 it would be desirable to eliminate the passage “held likely to provoke or encourage any threat to the peace, breach of the peace”. The words “likely to provoke” are undesirable as being too broad, and the whole passage is undesirable as suggesting the possibility of a legitimate reaction by members to verbal threats. It might also have an adverse effect on the right of collective self-defense.

2. There should be added at the end of the introductory clause of paragraph 2 a provision that action should be in accordance with constitutional practices and policies. This point was regarded as very important by the Department.

3. In paragraph 3 the words “with a recommendation that” should be deleted and the words “for consideration of” substituted.

If agreement could not be reached on the inclusion of these changes, a statement of the United States position should be made for the record particularly on points 1 and 2.

With these changes, the Delegation was authorized, if developments in the Committee made it necessary, to vote for the resolution, even if it were impossible to obtain agreement on the changes suggested.

I communicated this information to the Delegation which was still in session. There was a difference of opinion among the Delegates as to the position which should be taken by the Delegation on the resolution. At the conclusion of the consideration of the question the Chairman, Senator Austin, announced that he would proceed in accordance with the instruction from the Department transmitted by Mr. Rusk by telephone, taking account also of certain other suggestions made in the course of the Delegation discussion. It was agreed that this should not be treated as a Delegation decision, Mr. Dulles particularly requesting that the record show that he did not concur in the decision to support the resolution.⁵

I called Mr. Rusk back to report to him the action taken, and the fact that some of the Delegates were opposed to the resolution, particularly Mr. Dulles, Mr. Fahy, and General Hilldring. Mrs. Roosevelt was concerned about its relation to the French substitute resolution on the Yugoslav item in Committee 3. She did not agree with the Department’s instruction that she should support this resolution.

1. Folder “Committee 1, Measures against Propaganda and Inciters of a New War”.
2. Robert A. Lovett, Under Secretary of State.
3. See telegram 1005 from New York, October 26, supra.
4. See Doc. US/A/C.1/446/Rev. 1, infra.
5. The minutes of this Delegation meeting, not printed, are contained in Doc. US/A/M (Chr)/71, October 27, IO Files.