Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, National Security Affairs, Volume II, Part 2

330.13/4–154

Memorandum by the Deputy Under Secretary of State (Murphy) to the Secretary of State¹

secret

[Washington,] April 1, 1954.

• Subject:
• UK Proposal for Immediate Meeting of United Nations Disarmament Commission.

Discussion

1. Minister R. H. Scott of the British Embassy spoke to me this morning² on instructions from London, to request U.S. assent to meetings of the United Nations Disarmament Commission commencing next week.³ The UK has spoken similarly to the French. Mr. Eden must respond on Monday, April 5 to Parliamentary inquiries why discussions on disarmament have not been held, and believes it vital to explain that the Disarmament Commission is about to meet on these matters.

2. The British propose that the Commission should set up the subcommittee, suggested in the General Assembly resolution of November 28, 1953, to carry on private discussions on disarmament.⁴ The subcommittee should probably be limited to the United States, United Kingdom, France and USSR, although their instructions are not firm on composition. This accords with the Four Power Agreement reached at Berlin on February 18, 1954 to exchange views on disarmament.⁵ Discussion in the subcommittee should be concentrated on the basic principles of disarmament, with pressure on the Soviets to clarify their views on the general principles set out in the resolution establishing the Disarmament Commission. Any discussion on atomic energy matters should be excluded on the basis that these issues are to be discussed in the private U.S.–USSR talks on the President’s December 8th proposals and the Soviet response.

3. This UK proposal coincides with certain views in the Department on the tactics which we should employ in this field. I have also spoken to Cabot Lodge, who agrees with this course of action; and is inclined to think we should join the UK in requesting the Commission meetings. He wants a top-flight adviser if these meetings are brief but believes he needs a full-time Deputy for this if the discussions are extensive.

4. I believe we should agree with this course of action, since it will help to provide time to carry out the basic review of disarmament policy now under way while concentrating fire on Soviet deficiencies. It will obviously be of great help to the British Government.

Recommendations

That we support this British proposal and inform the UK Embassy in time for Mr. Eden’s Parliamentary statement on Monday that we will join them in this request for Disarmament Commission meetings.⁶

1. Drafted by Meyers of UNA.
2. A copy of the memorandum of conversation is in file 330.13/4–154.
3. A notation in the source text at this point reads: “Aide-Mémoire attached.” A copy of this aide-mémoire is in file 330.13/4–154.
4. On Mar. 25 Meyers of UNA had drafted a memorandum of conversation concerning talks he had previously held with James George of the Canadian Delegation to the United Nations during the Conference on World Disarmament and Development at New York, Mar. 25–26. At that time, George had said that, in Meyers’ words: “The Canadians believe that the private US-USSR discussions do not constitute the ‘subcommittee consisting of representatives of the Powers principally involved, which should seek in private an acceptable solution’ according to operative paragraph 6 of the General Assembly’s November 28, 1953 resolution. Consequently, they believe that, in the light of this resolution and the Four Power statement at Berlin agreeing to an exchange of views on disarmament in accord with paragraph 6 of the November 28 resolution, there should be a meeting of the Disarmament Commission to consider whether to establish this kind of subcommittee to carry out these stated functions.” (330.13/3–2554.)
5. See the editorial note, p. 1355.
6. A handwritten notation on the source text reads: “Approved April 2, 1954, JFD.” Murphy had telephoned Lodge on Apr. 1 to tell him of the British request, to which the Ambassador had given his immediate assent, later telephoning Murphy that UN members and the “USUN saw no objection to” the Disarmament Commission meeting being held the following week. (Memorandum of conversation, by Murphy, Apr. 1, 1954, 330.13/4–154) Dulles informed the USUN in priority telegram 459, Apr. 2, that he had approved the British request for the meetings to commence the week of Apr. 5, and requested the USUN to coordinate its actions with the British and French Delegations. (330.13/4–254) Also on Apr. 2, Australian Counselor of Embassy F. J. Blakeney informed Raynor of BNA that Australian Minister for External Affairs R. G. Casey had made a statement on Mar. 31 calling for a UN Disarmament Commission meeting “on a stated and early date.” (330.13/4–254) On the same day, Murphy telephoned Scott at the British Embassy to inform him that “the U.S. would go along with” the British proposal. Scott later requested approval of the British inclination for a tripartite rather than a bilateral proposal. Lodge reported to the Department in telegram 599, Apr. 8, that British Ambassador to the United Nations Sir Pierson Dixon had explained to Vyshinsky that it was the British view “that the business of the Disarmament Committee” on the following day should be “limited to setting up a subcommittee” to “consist of the four powers and Canada”, to which Vyshinsky replied that it would be “difficult to deal with disarmament without China.” Dixon added that he intended to introduce a short resolution establishing a subcommittee to meet hopefully by Apr. 14. (330.13/4–854) On Apr. 9, in telegram 605 to the Department, Lodge proposed a brief statement of three paragraphs to be used if the proposal was to include the People’s Republic of China, asserting that the United States was opposed to the inclusion of that country in the subcommittee for the same reasons it was opposed to its admission to the United Nations. (330.13/4–954) In telegram 606 of the same date, Lodge sent the Secretary the text of a draft resolution establishing the subcommittee, which Dixon had agreed to that afternoon and referred on to London. (330.13/4–954) Meanwhile Wainhouse contacted British Embassy First Secretary Barbara Salt and informed her that Dulles “would take up with Mr. Eden,” when he saw him, “the question of where the Subcommittee of the Disarmament Commission should meet”. She agreed that “this was a very desirable method of solving the problem.” (Memorandum of conversation, by Wainhouse, Apr. 9, 330.13/4–954) Dulles and Eden met in London, Apr. 12. (Memorandum of conversation, by Merchant, Apr. 12, Conference files, lot 60 D 627, CF 287)