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  4. Document 44

44. Memorandum of a Conversation, Department of State, Washington, January 3, 19571

Washington, January 3, 1957

SUBJECT

  • Togoland

PARTICIPANTS

  • Mr. Hervé Alphand, French Ambassador
  • Mr. J. Vimont, Minister, French Embassy
  • Mr. Robert Murphy—G
  • Mr. William R. Tyler—WE

The French Ambassador told Mr. Murphy that the French have decided not to press for termination of the Trusteeship. They hope that a resolution will be introduced which will commend the progress achieved by France in Togoland, specifically with regard to the Referendum of October 1956 and the Statute for Togoland. The Ambassador also said that neither France nor the Togolese Government could accept the idea of sending a UN fact-finding mission to Togoland, and he asked for U.S. assistance in defeating any such proposal.2

Mr. Murphy said that he was glad to hear that the French had abandoned the idea of asking that the Trusteeship be terminated, and that he thought that this decision laid the basis for a cooperative effort between ourselves and the French to agree on a suitable resolution. He pointed out that we had suggested the idea of a UN mission as a possible alternative to the initial French idea of requesting termination of the Trusteeship at this time, in order to postpone the issue.

The Ambassador said he hoped our UN Delegation would be sent appropriate instructions, and that time was short since the matter was coming up before the Fourth Committee of the UN on Friday, January 4.3

  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 645K.51T3/1–357. Confidential. Drafted by Tyler. Alphand met with Murphy because Dulles was not available.↩
  2. In a conversation on January 4, however, Deferre informed the U.S. Mission at the United Nations that the Togolese would receive a factfinding mission if the President of the General Assembly requested it. (Memorandum of conversation, January 4; ibid., IO/ODA Files: Lot 62 D 225, Togoland (French))↩
  3. On January 14, the Fourth Committee, by a vote of 52 (France, United States) to 10, with 14 abstentions, adopted a resolution which took note of the substantial referendum vote in favor of the Statute and expressed satisfaction that the Statute represented a significant step foward the realization of the objectives of the Trusteeship Agreement and Article 76. A study commission to look into the situation “resulting from the practical application of the Statute and the conditions under which it is being applied” was called for. For text of Resolution 1046 (XI), approved by the General Assembly on January 23, see U.N. doc. A/C.4/L.452 and Rev.1. Deferre informed Dillon on January 22 that the French were pleased with the result. (Telegram 3483 from Paris, January 22; Department of State, Central Files, 751T.00/1–1857)↩