Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, United Nations Affairs, Volume III

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

Minutes of Meeting of the Working Group on Colonial Problems, Department of State, August 19, 1952, 10:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

secret
CPM–9

Washington, September 24, 1952.

• Present: Mr. Benjamin Gerig, UND, Chairman
• Miss Louise McNutt, FE
• Messrs. Ward Allen, EUR
• Willard DePree, RNA
• E.L. Eberhardt, ARA
• Nicholas Feld, NEA
• James Fowler, UND
• Louis J. Halle, S/P
• William L. Hamilton, BNA
• L.H. Pollak, S/A
• Leonard H. Price, S/MSA
• Douglas B. Smith, ED
• Eric Stein, UNP
• E. M. Christensen, S/S–S, Secretary

Preparations for UN General Assembly

1. The Chairman, Mr. Gerig, said that he had been following the work of CP and expressed his appreciation for the contributions the members had made.¹ He said that CP should begin work on a statement, perhaps several pages in length, which the Chairman of the U.S. Delegation of the UN could make to the GA on colonial problems in view of their increasing importance in the UN. Our representative in Committee IV could then elaborate on this at the beginning of the debate there and present our position in a clear and straight-forward manner. He noted that CP had concluded that the U.S. should take a middle of the road position with respect to colonial problems. Such a position will be difficult to present in a “glamorous” form. Nevertheless, the U.S. should take a more positive approach and the Delegation should “preach what we practice” in the case of Puerto Rico.

2. Mr. Allen expressed agreement that a statement of the type suggested by Mr. Gerig should be made but he warned that it would be a difficult one to prepare. He recommended that the British and French be advised of our intentions and if the statement prepared is a good one, it should be shown to them before it is presented in the UN.

[Here follows discussion of certain papers (Docs. CP D–10 and CP D–10/1, dated August 4 and August 7, 1952, respectively, “Participation of Dependent Areas in the Work of UN Organs”).]

Further Consideration of U.S. Policy Toward Colonial Areas (CP D–3, CP D–7 and CP D–8)²

9. Action: It was agreed that papers relating to specific dilemmas in the colonial field should be prepared in order to provide a more realistic basis for future consideration for overall U.S. policy toward colonial areas. The assignments were as follows: UNP (Mr. Stein)—Tunisia and Morocco; FE (Miss McNutt)—Indonesia and Indo-China; NEA (Mr. Feld) Eritrea and Libya; and UND (Mr. Fowler)—South West Africa and Somaliland.

10. Discussion: The Chairman called attention to the three papers previously distributed and indicated that they might serve as a basis for preparing a new statement of U.S. policy toward colonial areas. Mr. Halle asked whether it had been agreed to use the 1950 paper as a point of departure. The Chairman said that this paper had almost completely cleared in 1950. He indicated that it had recently been reviewed in UND and most of it still seemed applicable. If the other areas agree that this is the case, then the paper might be used as the basis for preparing a new over-all statement. He noted that in the past few years a number of general principles seemed to have been accepted, e.g., the right to independence where suitable, the right of self-determination, etc. Such principles are in keeping with the historical traditions of the U.S., but they are, of course, tempered by present day considerations.

11. Mr. Halle said that he would suggest that many of the “objectives” set forth in CP D–3 are actually courses of action. Mr. Gerig said that they might better be described as political attitudes. Mr. Halle asked whether there were any conflicts with respect to these objectives. The Chairman replied that there were no essential conflicts since nearly everyone agrees on the basic goals. The essential difference is on the time factors involved.

12. Mr. Allen suggested that in addition to working on the three documents under consideration that an attempt be made to set forth an explanation of the conflicts that exist. This in turn could be used as background material in explaining, principally to the U.S. public, our position on colonial problems. Mr. Halle suggested that a listing of the main dilemmas in the colonial field might be the proper point of departure. The basic problems would then be set forth and the group could go on to a statement of overall objectives. The Chairman expressed the view that this might be a very practical way to approach the problem. With the approval of the committee assignments of action for the preparation of papers on the various dilemmas in the colonial areas were made with the understanding that these papers would be used as a point of departure in discussing over-all U.S. colonial policy.

1. Gerig had been attending the eleventh session of the Trusteeship Council in New York, as Acting U.S. Representative.
2. Doc. CP D–8 was the 1950 paper entitled “United States Policy Toward Dependent Territories”; see p. 1077. Doc. CP D–3, June 26, 1952, was an outline summary of the 1950 paper, not printed. Doc. CP D–7, July 25, 1952, “Statements by the United States on the Colonial Question (1942–52),” not printed. (The documents which are not printed are in lot 54 D 5.)