Office of the Historian

IO Files: US(P)/A/C.1/165

Memorandum of Conversation, by Mr. G. Hayden Raynor, Adviser, United States Delegation

secret
[Paris,] October 20, 1948.

I asked Mr. Hodgson, Australian Delegation, if his Delegation was satisfied with the resolution which was passed.1 He expressed satisfaction as to its substance, but feels very badly over the fact that the last paragraph was submitted by the Canadians as an amendment to the Australian amendment. He was apparently placed very much on the carpet by his Foreign Minister, and charged with having had the wool pulled over his eyes by the Canadians. Incidentally, the Canadians also came in for some censure from the U.K. because of their failure to inform the U.K. promptly of the new paragraph.

I spoke to Munoz,2 of Argentina, and expressed surprise about the Argentine stand,3 stating that we had always felt they agreed with the majority atomic energy plan. He was at a loss to understand it himself and was inclined to attribute the position to the fact that the Argentine representative in the chair of the committee was not familiar at all with the problem. Mr. Meade,4 of the U.K., states that the real reason for the abstention was fear on the part of the Argentine Foreign Minister that, because he is engaged in conciliation on the Berlin question, the Argentine must not take any action which the Russians would interpret as unfriendly.

  1. At its 165th Meeting, October 20, 10:30 a. m., the First Committee approved the Canadian draft resolution A/C.1/340 by a vote of 41 to 6, with 10 abstentions. The Committee also rejected the Soviet proposal, A/C.1/310, which is printed in footnote 1; p. 445, October 4 (by a vote of 39 to 6, with 7 abstentions), and the Indian proposal, A/C.1/A.III/4/Rev. 2, which is described in editorial note, p. 473 (by a vote of 23 to 6, with 21 abstentions). Certain other proposals and amendments were either defeated or withdrawn. These decisions and the text of the draft resolution adopted (printed p. 495) were recorded in document A/690, the report by the First Committee on item 1 of its agenda to the General Assembly, October 23; for text, see United Nations, Official Records of the General Assembly, Third Session, First Part, Annexes, vol. i, pp. 270–275. For the record of the 165th Meeting, see GA (III/1), First Committee, pp. 203–213.↩
  2. Rudolpho Munoz, Alternate Member of the Argentine Delegation; Counsellor of Embassy, Permanent Argentine Delegation to the United Nations.↩
  3. Argentina abstained in the vote on the Canadian draft resolution.↩
  4. Mr. G. Meade, Adviser, British Delegation.↩