320/10–2852: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Mission at the United Nations 1
Gadel 25. Personal for Hall. No distribution USUN. Dept authorizes Del consult with SYG with view drafting appropriate and mutually acceptable amendments to staff regulations to grant SYG greater discretionary authority to deal with problems of US Communists in Secretariat with special ref Administrative Tribunal obstacle. Final draft proposal to be submitted Dept for approval.
FYI, Dept considered including ref this authorization in press release today but deleted on assumption Del might prefer NY release. Statement released here as fol:
Verbatim Text
“The Charter of the United Nations provides that the staff shall be appointed by the Secretary General under regulations established by the General Assembly. It also provides that the Secretary General shall not seek or receive instructions from any government, and enjoins Member Nations to respect the exclusively international character of his responsibilities. Accordingly, the United States Government does not attempt to instruct the Secretary General as to whom he may employ or may not employ; it neither recommends United States citizens for employment nor gives loyalty or security clearance to those employed.
“At the same time, the Department of State has made known to the Secretary General its view that the employment of United States citizens who are Communists is not in the best interest of the United Nations, and the Department has long had assurance of the Secretary General’s agreement to this principle. Under a confidential arrangement with the Secretary General the Department of State, drawing upon its access to information held by the security agencies of the United States Government, has for some time been of assistance to the Secretary General in identifying United States citizens, employed or contemplated for employment, who would appear to be Communists.”
- Drafted by the Director of the Office of International Administration and Conferences (Ingram). Cleared with the Assistant Secretary for UN Affairs (Hickerson), the Deputy Assistant Secretary (Sandifer), the Deputy Legal Adviser (Tate) and Everard K. Meade, Jr., Special Assistant to the Deputy Under Secretary for Administration (Humelsine).↩