90. Memorandum of Conversation0
SUBJECT
- Belgian Congo
PARTICIPANTS
- Mr. Pierre Wigny, Foreign Minister of Belgium
- Baron Silvercruys, Belgian Ambassador
- Mr. Georges Carlier, Minister, Embassy of Belgium
- Mr. Constant Schuurmans, Chef du Cabinet to the Foreign Minister
- The Secretary
- WE—Mr. Cameron
- WE—Mr. Stabler
Mr. Wigny expressed appreciation for being received by the Secretary and said that Belgium had no real problems with respect to the United States or with respect to the principles of NATO or its membership therein. He said that Belgians had feelings of profound friendship for the United States and that they were very grateful for what the United States had done, not only for Belgium, but also for Europe.
Mr. Wigny said there were two specific points he would like to raise with the Secretary. The first one was with regard to overseas territories. He recalled that Belgium administered the Congo and also held a trusteeship over Ruanda-Urundi. He said that the present Belgian Government had decided last June to define a policy for the future of the Congo. This decision had been taken not only because of internal Belgian reasons but also because of developments in French Africa. Mr. Wigny said that Belgium had never believed that the colonial [Page 252] status of the Congo would be a lasting or definitive solution. Belgium believed that the success which it has had in administering the Congo and in promoting its political and economic development would prove to the Congolese that a continuing association with Belgium would be to their benefit. He said that Government plans called for industrialization of the Congo. He thought that the Congo continued to be satisfied with Belgian efforts and stressed that there was no political agitation. Mr. Wigny stressed that the trend of events in Africa could have most important effects on the balance of power between East and West. It was most important that European governments should retain good relations with the African states. Mr. Wigny said he hoped that the United States would show an understanding towards Belgian policies in the Congo and that we would not prejudge the results.
The Secretary replied that although the US believed in the basic proposition that “governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed,” this did not mean that wholly untrained people could exercise these powers until they were prepared to assume them. We recognized that the process of making people capable of self-government was a slow and difficult one. He said that today many of the new independent countries which had been basically unprepared for their independence had become targets for international Communism and that this often led to a dictatorship of the proletariat. We believed that the governing elements should be educated, moral and self-disciplined and that much time is required to achieve this degree of preparation. He recalled that the United States had spent 50 years preparing the Philippines for independence and there were times we believed that that had perhaps not been long enough. The Secretary said that there was no pressure by the United States to turn colonies into independent states until they were ready for their independence. He thought that recent French policy with respect to its African colonies had been drastic. The independence of Guinea could only be described as “premature.” He said that the admission of these newly independent, but unprepared nations into the UN with the same vote as older and greater powers debased the concept of independent nations exercising self-responsibility in international affairs.
Mr. Wigny referred to the fact that today a new united Europe was being created where, although the states were independent, they recognized the necessity for interdependence. The Belgian Government hoped to prove to the Congo the advantages of continuing interdependence between Belgium and the Congo at the time the Congo gained its independence. The Secretary agreed with this concept and referred to his speech in Boston on September 27 when he had said: “It is coming more and more to be realized that independence, [Page 253] which each of our nations rightly cherishes, can only be preserved by the practice of interdependence.”1
Mr. Wigny expressed the view that it was necessary to create a larger framework of EurAfrica and to forge a link between Africa and the Common Market. The Secretary said he agreed and thought that the future greatness of Europe depended on the greater unity of continental Europe and on the greater unity between continental Europe and Africa. Africa was the hinterland of Europe.