Office of the Historian

IO files, US/A/3549

United States Delegation to the General Assembly Plenary Position Paper1

confidential
[New York, December 9, 1952.]

Draft Resolution VI: Factors Which Should by Taken Into Account in Deciding Whether a Territory is or is Not a Territory Whose People Have Not Yet Attained a Full Measure of Self-Government

1. united states position

The United States should vote against the resolution on this subject (Resolution VI) in the form recommended by the Fourth Committee.

This resolution provisionally approves an annexed list of factors to serve as a guide both for the General Assembly and for the Administering Members in deciding whether a territory has or has not attained a full measure of self-government. It also provides for a new Ad Hoc Committee on Factors to carry on a further study.

The United States voted against this resolution in Committee Four because the resolution contained two principles which we could not accept. The first of these is the clear implication in the resolution that the Administering Authority and the General Assembly jointly decide when a territory is no longer non-self-governing. The other is the principle of the indivisibility of autonomy. That is the concept that in order to qualify as self-governing, a territory must have achieved a [Page 1294] full measure of self-government in all fields, i.e., in social, economic, educational and political affairs, including, presumably, responsibility in relation to defense and foreign affairs.

If this resolution is voted paragraph by paragraph, the United States should vote as follows:2

1st preambular paragraph – Yes
2nd ” ” – No
3rd ” ” – Yes,
4th ” ” – Yes
5th ” ” – No
6th ” ” –
1st operative paragraph – No
2nd ” ” – Yes
3rd ” ” – Yes
4th ” ” – No
5th ” ” – Abstain
6th ” ” – Yes
7th ” ” – Abstain
8th ” ” – Yes
9th ” ” – Yes

It will not be necessary for the United States to make a statement on this resolution or to explain its vote.

2. history in committee

This resolution was introduced in connection with the Fourth Committee’s discussion of the report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Factors. After several amendments were accepted and following a paragraph by paragraph vote, the resolution was adopted by a vote of 34–12 (U.S.)–8.

3. possible developments in plenary

It is anticipated that this resolution recommended by the Fourth Committee will be adopted without difficulty and without discussion.

  1. Plenary position papers were always prepared for the instruction of the U.S. Delegation’s voting. They were drafted by the delegation staff in consultation with the delegation members, in light of the situation obtaining after final action had been taken on a given agenda item by the appropriate committee, in this case the Fourth Committee. This documentation ordinarily is found only in the documentation of IO file, lot 71 D 440, “General Assembly Delegations (1946–1965)”↩
  2. With reference to the operative paragraphs listed below, see the nine paragraphs ennumerated in the UN Secretariat’s Press Release GA/T/224, Nov. 18, p. 1290.↩