Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, Africa and South Asia, Volume XI, Part 1

751T.00/5–1354

Memorandum of Conversation, by Jerome R. Lavallee, Office of African Affairs

confidential

[Washington,] May 13, 1954.

Participants:

• Mr. John Utter—AF—Chairman
• M. Jean Jurgensen
• Mr. Nicholas Feld—AF
• M. François de Quirielle
• Mr. J. R. Lavallee—AF
• M. Gabriel Van Laethem
• Mr. Robert Baum—DRN

Subject:

• Political Discussion Concerning French Territories in Africa South of the Sahara

M. Jurgensen opened his remarks by referring to 1946 as the year the new French Constitution was established and the French Union was born. He further stated that two important developments had taken place recently which could profoundly affect the evolution of the French Union. These developments were (1) the recent declarations of the Minister of Overseas France, M. Louis Jacquinot, on French Colonial Policy¹ and (2) the Bill which is now before the French Parliament regarding modifications to certain institutions in French Togoland.

The essential points made by M. Jacquinot in this recent speech are as follows:

1. The powers of the Local or Territorial Assemblies should be broadened. In addition to dealing with questions relating to local territorial budgets the Assemblies should be empowered to deal with matters of substance.

2. The establishment of Executive Councils in each territory in order to assist the Governor of the territory. It is possible for instance that one half of the membership of the Council would be elected by the Local Territorial Assembly and one half would be appointed by the Local Governor.

3. The powers of the Assembly of the French Union should be revised. While the National Assembly and the Council of the French Republic must, of course, retain their entire sovereignty, the Assembly of the French Union should be empowered to enact measures in certain defined fields as distinct from its present role of simply giving advice.

4. An Economic Commission dealing with economic matters in the Overseas Territories should be established. The function of this Commission should be one of coordination and should concern itself with such questions as duties, customs, common markets, etc.

With regard to French Togoland, M. Jurgensen stated that the proposed Bill, which he hoped would be acted on by the National Assembly within the next two months, made provisions for the following features:

1. The powers of the Local or Territorial Assembly would be broadened.

2. An Executive or Government Council would be established in the Territory in order to assist the Governor; fifty percent of the membership to this Council would be elected by the Territorial Assembly and the other fifty percent would be appointed by the Governor of Togoland.²

M. Jurgensen stated that the French would like our assistance in support of these proposals during future Trusteeship Council meetings.

He added that the French may find it necessary to request the termination of the Trusteeship Agreement. In this connection he referred to the events now taking place in British Togoland and the indications that this area may very soon be joining the Gold Coast.

M. Jurgensen summarized his remarks on the French Union by stating that the French wished to go in the direction of decentralization and Federation. Unlike the British idea of creating autonomous states, the French scheme might be based on the idea of a Federal Republic.

The following remarks were made by M. Jurgensen, in a personal capacity, in reply to specific questions which were posed by Mr. Utter:

1. The members of the Independents d’Outre-Mer, by banding together and voting in a bloc in the French National Assembly, could be a dangerous thing. This is especially true concerning matters dealing with Metropolitan France. He thought it would be best that these I.O.M. members confine themselves to problems related to Overseas Territories. In this connection, M. Jurgensen in his previous remarks said the French were not happy over the fact that delegates from Overseas Territories had, among other things, a hand in making laws for Metropolitan France itself. This was another reason for favoring a revised Assembly of the French Union which would become the Federal Assembly in the French Federated Republic.

2. The RDA under Houphouet-Boigny was now a respected member of the community since its re-orientation in the fall of 1951. D’Arboussier, and whatever splinter groups may still be in existence, for all practical purposes, no longer exerted much influence.

3. One third the population of French West Africa are Moslems. However, the religion of Islam in Black Africa has become diluted with fetishism and, as a result, is different from that practiced in Arab countries. M. Jurgensen stated that at Bamako, and in another French West African center, the French were teaching the tenets of Islam in French. In this way, or if taught in the vernacular, the Islamic religion is less dangerous than if it comes directly from Cairo or other Arab areas. It is based on charity and other virtues which are closer to Christian ideas than to the fanatical Near Eastern Islamic philosophy. M. Jurgensen concluded by stating that Islam was still in a fluid state in Black Africa.

4. There are no important repercussions from occurrences in the neighboring British Territories. M. Jurgensen believed that this might be due in part to language barriers. In any event, there is more interest in French internal affairs than in events in neighboring areas.

5. Communism in French Tropical Africa is no longer of any significant importance. The CGT is its last remaining important vehicle.

1. The reference here is presumably to the discussion in the French National Assembly, Apr. 6–10, 1954, regarding French governmental policies in the overseas territories and to Minister for Colonies Jacquinot’s response to interpolations on those matters. For a summary account of Jacquinot’s statement, see L’Annee politique, 1954, p. 210.
2. French Togoland and French Cameroons were the subjects of a separate meeting on the afternoon of May 14 of most of the officials attending the meeting recorded in the memorandum printed here. (Memorandum of conversation by Lavallee, May 14, 1954; 751T.00/5–1454)