Foreign Relations of the United States, 1949, National Security Affairs, Foreign Economic Policy, Volume I

Department of State Atomic Energy Files¹

Memorandum of Conversation, by the Deputy United States Representative to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission (Osborn)

confidential

[New York,] February 16, 1949.

Reported to Senator Austin the action planned for the meeting on Thursday² with the proposed Canadian resolution for the preparation of a working paper.

I advised Senator Austin that Sir Terence Shone had shown me a cable from the Foreign Office suggesting that the British Delegation propose that the idea of ownership by the international agency should be given up in the hope that by offering this compromise to the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union would be inclined to offer a compromise on their part.

I told Senator Austin that General McNaughton of Canada was anxious to discuss quotas in the Commission, and that the British went along with him on this, feeling that Vishinsky³ had shown that this was a matter of particular interest to the Soviet. I told him that McNaughton was against any discussion of stages as being too dangerous to get into, but that some of the members of the Commission would still like to discuss stages. I then expressed the feeling that the important thing for us to have in mind was to keep the plan now approved by all nations except the Soviet group in such shape that if at any time the Soviet Union were seriously interested in negotiations we could start such negotiations on a proper basis. That I was very afraid that the discussion of such proposals as those of the U.K., and even the quota suggestion of Canada, would indicate to the Soviet a split between the majority nations which the Soviet could exploit propaganda-wise. Further, that if the Soviet were willing to enter into serious negotiations, such a split would diminish our bargaining power to a dangerous point.

I therefore proposed that I should try to talk at least the U.K. delegates out of their proposal, to prevent its going before the Commission.

The Senator said that the matter was in my hands, and I must make my decisions, but that he himself would rather be inclined to allow the fullest possible discussion of all such proposals in the Commission itself.⁴

1. Lot 57D688, a consolidated lot file in the Department of State containing documentation on atomic energy policy, 1944–1962.
2. February 17.
3. Andrey Yanuaryevich Vyshinsky, Permanent Soviet Representative at the United Nations; Representative to the Security Council; Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union from March 4.
4. The fallowing marginal notation by Osborn appears at the top of the source text: “Showed this to Don Leith today (16th) and he stated specifically that State Dept position was that such dangerous matters should not be discussed in the Commission itself.”