Foreign Relations of the United States, 1951, The United Nations; The Western Hemisphere, Volume II

IO Files

Memorandum of Conversation, by Mr. J. Jefferson Jones, III, Adviser, United States Delegation to the Trusteeship Council

confidential
US/T/132

[New York,] July 10, 1951.

Subject: Anglo-French Memorandum on the Ewe Question

Participants:	Mr. Awni Khalidy, Representative of Iraq to the Trusteeship Council
	Ambassador Francis B. Sayre, Representative of the United States in the Trusteeship Council
	Mr. J. Jefferson Jones, III, Adviser, United States Delegation to the Trusteeship Council

Ambassador Sayre opened the conversation with the statement that he thought it might be mutually helpful if he and Mr. Khalidy could exchange views, informally and personally, with respect to the Anglo French memorandum on the Ewe question which the two administering authorities had submitted to the Trusteeship Council. Mr. Khalidy said that his first reaction to the memorandum was that it was “at least a beginning” and “better than nothing”. He summarized his views on the memorandum with the remark that it was “worse than he had hoped for and better than he had expected”.

Mr. Khalidy said that in his opinion the Ewe question could be analyzed from two points of view—either as a local problem of the Ewe people or as a broader question intricately related with the future of all West Africa. If the problem was considered to be purely the question of satisfying the Ewe desire for unification under one administering authority, the Anglo-French memorandum did not contribute to its solution. If, however, the problem was considered in the broader West African context, it would be necessary to take into consideration the recent political developments in the Gold Coast. As the results of the acquisition of a substantial degree of self-government by the Gold Coast people, there was a tendency on the part of the inhabitants of British Togoland to look towards the Gold Coast rather than to continue their efforts to obtain unification with the French Togoland Ewes. On the other hand, in the opinion of Mr. Khalidy, the Ewe unification movement was as strong as it had ever been among the French Togoland Ewes.

When Ambassador Sayre asked Mr. Khalidy if he had any specific suggestions to make with respect to the Anglo-French memorandum, Mr. Khalidy replied that he thought that the only action which the Council could take with respect to the memorandum was to attempt to strengthen the powers of the “Commission” or “Council” described in the memorandum. His two concrete suggestions were that the Commission might be empowered to advise the two administering authorities with respect to political questions and educational questions. In this connection, he said that the Consultative Commission had been able to go into political questions and he saw no reason why the powers of the new Commission should be more restricted than those possesssed by the Consultative Commission. According to Mr. Khalidy, there were two methods by which a joint group from French and British Togoland might be permitted to advise the two administering authorities on political questions. In the first place, the Commission itself might advise the administering authorities on political as well as economic, social, and educational problems. Then, an alternative possibility might be the establishment of a separate body to advise the two governments on political questions. This body might be composed of some of the members of the French Togoland Representative Assembly and the Togoland members of the Gold Coast Legislative Assembly.

Ambassador Sayre informed Mr. Khalidy that while the Department’s position with respect to the Anglo-French memorandum had not been established, it was his personal view that several of the proposals contained in the memorandum were worthy of careful consideration. In the first place, it was his belief that, as stated in the memorandum, the Consultative Commission had served its purpose and should be discontinued. Moreover, he thought that the establishment of some sort of joint organization composed of representatives from the Togoland peoples might be a constructive step.

Mr. Khalidy said that he had strong doubts that the Ewe unification group headed by Sylvanus Olympio would agree to participate in the Commission described in the Anglo-French memorandum. In reply to a question from Ambassador Sayre, he expressed doubt that the Olympio group of Ewes would participate in the Commission even if it was strengthened in accordance with the suggestions which he had made. Ambassador Sayre asked, if it was true that the Ewe would not participate even in a strengthened position, what purpose would be served in attempting to increase the scope of responsibility of the Commission. Mr. Khalidy replied that he believed that the only action which would satisfy the pro-unification Ewes would be agreement on the part of the British and French to the adjustment of political boundaries so that all Ewes would be included within one political unit. Such a solution, however, was clearly impossible in view of the present attitude of the French and he, therefore, considered that the only action which the Council could take in the light of these circumstances was to urge the enlargement of the field of activities of the Commission. Moreover, if the Council did take action to strengthen the Commission, there would undoubtedly be a more favorable reaction in the Fourth Committee of the General Assembly when the question was considered by that body.

Mr. Khalidy reiterated that the movement for Ewe unification continued to be as strong as it ever was in French Togoland and added that he had received information to this effect from the leaders of the Ewe unification groups in the territory. He was highly critical of the tactics followed by the French in Togoland under French administration in dealing with the Ewe problem, and of their policy of suppressing the growth of political consciousness in the territory. He said that it was likely that the Council would receive within the next few days a petition from Mr. Augustino de Souza complaining about the action of the French authorities in breaking into his home in French Togoland. It is this sort of action by the French authorities which in Mr. Khalidy’s opinion is so unwise.

At the conclusion of the conversation, it was agreed that Ambassador Sayre and Mr. Khalidy would meet again in the near future to discuss the problem.