Office of the Historian

Department of State Committee files, lot 54 D 5, “Working Group on Colonial Problems”

Memorandum on Colonial Problems for Consideration of the Working Group1

secret
[Washington, June 26, 1952.]

Immediate Problems

1.
Problems relating to the application of Chapter XI of the Charter:
a)
UN consideration of the “factors to be taken into account in determining whether a territory is or is not a territory whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government”
b)
The competence of the General Assembly in relation to changes in the constitutional position and stature of territories as a result of which information is no longer transmitted under Article 73(c) of the Charter
c)
Future position of Surinam and the Netherlands Antilles in relation to Chapter XI
d)
Future position of Puerto Rico in relation to Chapter XI
2.
Future of the General Assembly Committee on Information from Non-Self-Governing Territories
3.
Discussion by the General Assembly of political information relating to non-self-governing territories
4.
Economic and Technical Assistance for colonial areas: scope of the United States Program
5.
Tunisia
6.
The issue of Self-Determination in the Seventh General Assembly
7.
Participation of Indigenous Inhabitants of Trust Territories in the work of the Trusteeship Council and of non-self-governing territories in the work of the Committee on Information from Non-Self-Governing Territories
8.
South West Africa
9.
Morocco
10.
The Ewe question
11.
Economic Commission for Africa
12.
Future of Eritrea
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Longer Range Problems

1.
Future policy toward Italian Somaliland having regard to the decision to make it independent in 1960
2.
Future of the trusteeship for British Togoland in view of the rapid development of self-government in the Gold Coast
3.
Problem of Netherlands New Guinea and its relation to Australian New Guinea and Papua
4.
Measures to counteract Soviet propaganda and tactics in the colonial field
5.
Increasing the use of Technical Assistance programs in relation to colonial areas
6.
Problem of anti-American propaganda in colonial areas based on the racial issue
7.
The problem of maintaining the orientation of dependent and emergent peoples toward the West: Assessment of United States policies in the political, economic, educational and propaganda fields
8.
U.S. policy toward North Africa (over the next 5 to 10 years)

Other Problems

1.
The Cyprus question
2.
The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan question
3.
Analysis of developments in the 4th Committee at the 5th and 6th GAs.
a)
Factors influencing attitudes of administering and non-administering states;
b)
general nature of the resolutions adopted.
4.
Coordination of our attitudes toward problems in Committees 2 and 4 and effect of discussions in Committee 1 on Committees 2 and 4
5.
Effect of absence of any definition of non-self-governing territories on the effective scope of Chapter XI of the Charter.
6.
Principle of international concern for developments in all dependent areas.
7.
Self-determination issues before UN bodies.
8.
Discharge by the UN and the Union of South Africa of their obligations regarding the mandated territory of South West Africa.
9.
Meaning of “a full measure of self-government” for the purposes of Article 73 of the Charter, including the method of determining the territories to which Article 73 applies.
10.
Continuance of the Special Committee.
11.
Self-determination as a legal right.
12.
Methods for associating a non-member state in the work of the Trusteeship Council.
13.
Colonial clause in multilateral conventions.
14.
Administrative Unions.
15.
Creation of an International Development Authority.
16.
Relation with Arab world in connection with the establishment of a Middle East Command.
17.
General attitude of American Republics on colonial matters.
18.
Alignment of underdeveloped areas of world with colonies.
19.
Implementation of established U.S. policy in relation to colonies and other underdeveloped territories.
  1. Circulated to the Working Group under cover of Doc. CP D–1, June 26, 1952.↩