IO Files
Memorandum of Conversation, by Mr. Donald Vernon McKay, Adviser, United States Delegation to the Eighth Session of the Trusteeship Council 1
US/T/94
Subject: Question of Italian Voting in the Trusteeship Council
| Participants: | Mr. Luciano Mascia, Italian Observer |
| Ambassador Francis B. Sayre, U.S. Delegation | |
| Mr. Vernon McKay, U.S. Delegation |
Mr. Mascia called on Ambassador Sayre this morning to inquire further about United States views regarding Italian participation in the Trusteeship Council. Mr. Mascia opened the conversation by stating that his instructions from Count Sforza2 remain unchanged. He said that for reasons of internal politics the Italian Government wanted to be able to show the Italian people that the Trusteeship Council was doing everything possible to satisfy Italy’s desire for full membership in the Council, including the right to vote. Mr. Mascia wondered what the United States would think of having the Trusteeship Council appoint a small committee to look into the problem and report back in six months at the next session of the Council. Mr. Sayre replied that he felt the Trusteeship Council was not the proper forum in which to raise or discuss this question. He thought that if the question were to be raised, the assembly would be the appropriate forum. Mr. Mascia responded that he did not quite agree. In his view, the Trusteeship Council might very properly call the Assembly’s attention to the problem since it was a practical situation which now confronted the Council for the first time. The Italian Government, he said, recognized fully the Charter bar on Italian voting in the Council but was looking for a face saving device for the home front. He believed that the appointment of a committee would suffice for this purpose, even though the committee might be expected to come up with a report stating that nothing could be done to satisfy Italy’s request for voting privileges.
Mr. Sayre expressed his doubts regarding the practicability of such a procedure but informed Mr. Mascia that he would talk informally with other members of the Council to get their reactions, and would confer again with Mr. Mascia.