Office of the Historian

501.BC Greece/9–947: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the United States Representative at the United Nations (Austin)

confidential
Washington, September 9, 1947—noon.

392. Our object in Greek case is to free GA to make recommendations. If at same time SC Subsidiary Group could be continued, this would be desirable. Accordingly, prior to Sept 16 you might propose or support resolution in SC under Art 12 requesting GA to make recommendations in Greek case and place all records and documents of case at disposal of GA.

If it appears from prior consultation with other representatives that there is considerable support for view that this is procedural, you might support this view in Council. This is in line with Art 8 and 13 of proposals on voting procedure already made by U.S. in Council. If Soviets veto this resolution as well as decision that this is procedural matter you should propose or support resolution similar to Spanish case (SC Official Records No. 21 p. 493) to effect that Greek case be taken off list of matters of which Council is seized and that all records [Page 886] and documents of the case be put at disposal of GA. This we consider clearly procedural.

Latter resolution in our view would constitute decision terminating existence of Subsidiary Group and Balkan Commission.1

Marshall
  1. Ambassador Johnson, on September 15, placed a draft resolution before the Security Council which called on the Council to request the General Assembly to consider the Greek question and to make appropriate recommendations. Despite the 9 to 2 vote in favor of the resolution, it failed of adoption because of the negative vote of the Soviet Union. Ambassador Johnson, thereupon, introduced another resolution calling for removal of the Greek question from the list of matters of which the Council was seized. The Council voted affirmatively by the same 9 to 2 vote. The resolution was deemed approved, however, as dealing with a procedural rather than a substantive matter (SC, 2nd yr., No. 89, pp. 2369–2405 passim).

    The Department, on September 20 in telegram 104, informed Arthur W. Parsons, alternate United States Delegate on the Subsidiary Group, at Salonika, that the Council’s action in disseizing itself of the Greek case automatically ended the Subsidiary Group. Mr. Parsons was directed not to attempt to hold the group together, even to complete its report (501.BC Greece/9–2048).

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