471. Memorandum of a Telephone Conversation Between the Secretary of State and the Representative at the United Nations (Lodge), December 7, 1959, 10:30 a.m.1
Ambassador Lodge telephoned with regard to the composition of the Outer Space Committee. Lodge said he wanted to be sure that the Secretary and others in the Department were aware of two important factors in this problem, i.e. that we don’t have a veto power, and there is a big chance the Assembly will take this over and make a decision against us. Lodge said he thinks in the Department it is felt quite logically that because we have given in on Hungary and 2–1–1, that in the U.N., therefore, they should sympathize with us, but Lodge said as a matter of fact they don’t. Lodge said he saw Kuznetsov yesterday and they are very close.2Lodge said the tendency will be to take it out of our hands, and he thinks we would be better off agreeing to 12–7–5. Lodge said with this ratio we would keep our list intact because we will always have 13 votes.
The Secretary said what bothers him about the 12–7–5 is that they have their entire Bloc, with the exception of Byelo-Russia and the Ukraine which are phoney, and the neutrals have comparatively little as does the free world. The Secretary said this gives the Soviets a great preponderance and, from their point of view, they have everything.
Amb. Lodge asked if the Secretary had seen his telegram of last night on this, outlining what the Soviets feel they have given on this.3 Lodge said the Secretary’s argument was quite valid but another argument can also be made. Lodge said as far as the public opinion is concerned, we can argue that we can’t be outvoted under 12–7–5, and Lodge thinks the 12–7–5 is so close to 12–6–6 that it wouldn’t be worth the risk of having Sweden take it out of our hands. On the 5, [Page 909] Lodge said we would have India, Sweden, UAR, Austria and either Finland or Indonesia, [9 words not declassified] Lodge said if we handle it right with the public by listing the countries alphabetically, and giving a press backgrounder to the press putting this in its proper context, he thinks it would be all right.
The Secretary agreed to think the 12–7–5 ratio over and let Lodge know.
- Source: Department of State, Secretary’s Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 64 D 199. Confidential.↩
- Lodge reported on his December 6 meeting with Kuznetsov in Delga 639, December 6. (Ibid., Central Files, 320.5701/12–659) The telegram indicated that neither side had changed its position on the composition of the committee.↩
- Presumably another reference to Delga 639.↩