Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, United Nations and General International Matters, Volume XI

152. Telegram From the Mission at the United Nations to the Department of State¹

New York, November 9, 1955—9 p.m.

Delga 251. For Hoover and Wilcox. Membership. Belaunde (Peru) came in to see Lodge and asked him to forward a letter from him to Secretary Dulles re membership. (Copies pouched to Hoover and Wilcox.)² Briefly letter makes following points:

1. There is a strong pressure for solution of membership problem.

2. Failure to solve membership problem at this session would produce profound crisis because attempts of Good Offices Committee would be at an end and each country would return to its own juridical position regarding admission new members. There is growing conviction that General Assembly should take matter in its own hands, like uniting for peace resolution, and should admit those applicants which receive required majority.

3. Canadian proposal sums up state of general opinion on membership question. It is not a package deal because it takes in all applicants except the divided states. Canadian proposal will be approved by great majority.

4. Security Council would meet under moral weight of assembly action to admit new members. SC could make positive recommendation on new members either with affirmative votes of big powers or abstention of certain big powers on those candidates they could not approve.

5. Veto in SC by a permanent member would go against crystallized opinion in and outside GA and blame would be placed on permanent member who applied veto.

6. While Soviets would be getting in their 5 candidates, we have to take into account that 13 countries being admitted are linked closely with the West.

7. Integration of UN on more universal basis will have enormous moral implications. West would have greater majority both quantitatively and qualitatively.

8. It would take 57 votes to get a two-thirds majority. The quantitative and qualitative improvement in the membership would make it more difficult for ill-conceived resolutions to get adopted.

Belaunde said membership question ought to go first to ad hoc committee. He thought all that was needed was a speech by him and Martin (Canada) and that no debate would be necessary in the GA. There would result, in his view, an overwhelming vote of the GA which he felt would place great moral pressure on the SC.

After telling Belaunde his letter would be forwarded, Lodge said we were opposed to Outer Mongolia. Lodge added his personal view that we should go to the SC first. Lodge added that going to GA first would cause us great difficulties.³

Lodge

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 310.2/11–955. Secret; Priority; Limited Distribution.
2. Not found.
3. In Delga 256 from USUN, November 10, for Hoover, Lodge recommended “that I be authorized to tell Belaunde now that there will be an American membership proposal and that we therefore request him not to go ahead with his own plan. In addition, I think we should give Belaunde an advance copy of our statement. We should also ask him to proceed in the SC in cooperation with us. Because of his previous role as chairman of the Good Offices Committee, he can help us and is entitled to participate in the SC discussion in this way. If we do not do this we risk serious embarrassment.” (Department of State, Central Files, 310.2/11–1055)