Office of the Historian

350/6–2854: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Mission at the United Nations

official use only
Washington, June 28, 1954—7:34 p.m.

681. Department approves proposal resolution on following lines:

“Trusteeship Council,

Informed by the United Kingdom of the impending constitutional developments in the Gold Coast which affect the future of the Trust Territory of British Togoland;

Having regard to the terms of the trusteeship agreement, and to the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and of the Trusteeship Council relating to this question;

Noting that it is the intention of the United Kingdom to place on the provisional agenda of the next General Assembly the question of ‘the future of Trust Territory of Togoland under United Kingdom Trusteeship’;

Considering that it is the duty of the Trusteeship Council to assist the General Assembly in its consideration of this question;

Recognizing also that the free and democratic general elections recently held in the Gold Coast and in British Togoland, based on the principle of universal suffrage, have given a significant indication of the wishes as well as the political maturity of the people of British Togoland;

Convinced, however, that before a final determination of the future of this territory can be made it will be necessary, as the Charter provides, and as the Administering Authority recommends, to establish the ‘freely expressed wishes of the peoples concerned’;

Noting that the Administering Authority proposes that the United Nations itself should arrange to ascertain, by whatever means it considers desirable and appropriate, the wishes of the inhabitants of the Trust Territory as to the status to be enjoyed by them when the present arrangements for administering the territory become inoperable;

1.
Expresses the Council’s gratification that the initial step in the process of self-determination has been taken through the general elections for the Legislative Assembly;
2.
Commends the UK for the efforts it has made in cooperation with the peoples of the Gold Coast and British Togoland to chart a course leading to the establishment of arrangements which will accord with the wishes of the people concerned and the principles of the Charter;
3.
Commends also Prime Minister Nkrumah and his government for the statesmanship and wisdom which they exercised in the administration of Togoland, and especially for the manner in which the recent elections were conducted;
4.
Recommends that the forthcoming General Assembly place the proposal of the United Kingdom early on its agenda so that its general [Page 1394] guidance in this important matter can be developed with due deliberation on all the issues involved;
5.
Agrees if the General Assembly so desires, at its Fifteenth and Sixteenth Sessions, to formulate such methods and procedures for ascertaining the wishes of the inhabitants, and for terminating the trusteeship, so that the General Assembly at its Tenth Session can set in motion the approved machinery in the course of 1956.”1

Dulles

  1. This resolution was passed by the Trusteeship Council with several amendments, one of which recommended that the General Assembly consider the item along with the unification problem. At the conclusion of the 14th Session, the Council submitted a special report to the Assembly, “The Togoland Unification Problem” (UN Doc. A/2669, July 23, 1954), which thoroughly described the implementation of Resolutions 750 A, B, and C (VIII) of the Eighth Session of the General Assembly, at the 13th and 14th Regular Sessions of the Trusteeship Council in 1954.

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