500.CC/11–2744

The Acting Secretary of State to Diplomatic Representatives in the American Republics

Sirs: There is enclosed herewith a copy of a summary which has been prepared regarding a discussion held in the Department of State on November 9 with respect to international organization. A list of the persons present and a copy of the press release issued in connection with this meeting are also enclosed herewith.60 The latter was approved by the Ambassadors at the meeting.

Very truly yours,

E. R. Stettinius, Jr.
[Enclosure]

Meeting in Room 285, State Department on November 9, 3 p.m. Including the Acting Secretary, Chiefs of the Diplomatic Missions of the American Republics Except Argentina and El Salvador, and Certain American Officials (See Attached List61)

The Acting Secretary briefly welcomed the Chiefs of Mission. He mentioned the helpful comments which had been made by various Chiefs of Mission preceding the meeting and expressed the hope that further helpful comments would be forthcoming in this meeting, adding that he understood that various of them had now received instructions from their respective governments. He then said that he understood that some of the Chiefs of Mission who have received comments from their governments wished to present these immediately. He said that of course anyone who wished to read these views in full would be welcome to do so, but he thought that the discussion would perhaps get further if they only read the comments in connection with the several chapters as they were reached. He said that the agenda for today included discussion of the first four chapters of the Dumbarton [Page 942] Oaks proposals,62 and in so far as time might permit the fifth chapter also.

The Acting Secretary then said that a summary had been prepared in the Department of the discussions of the preceding meeting.63 When the Chiefs of Mission expressed interest in this, he ordered copies of the summary to be distributed. He then mentioned that a translator was present to translate the discussions. He next emphasized the importance of discretion regarding the discussions and stated his belief that everyone would feel at liberty to talk more freely if the material did not reach the press. The Acting Secretary mentioned the presence of several of the American group who had been at Dumbarton Oaks and said that with this array of experts he hoped he would be able to answer any questions which the Chiefs of Mission might ask. Finally, he expressed the hope that the Chiefs of Mission would join him at the Blair House for refreshments after the meeting.

Ambassador Blanco of Uruguay then mentioned that he had received an official expression of his Government’s views. He said that a special commission was appointed by the Uruguayan Government to study the matter of post-war organization and emphasized that Uruguay wished constructive work to be undertaken in order to modify and perfect the work which had already been done through the League of Nations.

He stressed the responsibilities of the American republics before the war. He then spoke of the participation of the American nations in the two Hague Peace Conferences. In order to emphasize the desirability of the full participation of the American republics in international organization, he mentioned the occasion on which the American republics had jointly refused to participate in the previous peace conference because certain of them had been excluded.64

The Venezuelan Ambassador then read his government’s comments on the first four chapters of the Dumbarton Oaks proposals.65 This document, although not for publication, is to be distributed among the representatives participating in the discussions.

The Colombian Ambassador said that he expected to receive his instructions in a day or so.

Ambassador Castillo Nájera then made a proposal to simplify and speed up the procedure. He suggested that the Uruguayan and Venezuelan documents, together with any documents which might [Page 943] subsequently be received by the Ambassadors from their respective governments, should be circulated to all the participants in the discussions for their study. In addition, a committee should be appointed to summarize all these views and comments, and to note the differences among them and between them and the several chapters of the Dumbarton Oaks proposals to which they refer. In this way a general agreement in the views of the American republics would be facilitated. The Acting Secretary commented that this seemed to contemplate a united front among the American republics, to which the Mexican Ambassador assented.

The Guatemalan Chargé d’Affaires, while favoring the Mexican Ambassador’s proposal in principle, suggested that the appointment of the committee be postponed until more opinions were available for it to consider.

The Honduran Ambassador66 emphasized that the principal task of the committee should be to make a résumé of the opinions as they were presented. He added that Honduras accepted the principles of the Dumbarton Oaks document, while having certain points it wished to raise with regard to details. He said that a Caribbean or Central American republic should be included on the committee.

Following a further exchange of views the Haitian Ambassador suggested that the committee comprise the five senior Ambassadors and one representative from the Department. The Ecuadoran Ambassador67 then commented that the question of personnel was unimportant, the job to be done was to boil down the several views in order that the group could work effectively. The committee would not discuss; the real discussion would be in the large group.

The Acting Secretary then proposed, and it was agreed, that a committee be appointed consisting of the four senior Ambassadors (Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela and Uruguay) and Mr. Norman Armour. This was approved.

The Chilean Ambassador68 then proposed that the suggestions of the various governments be sent direct to the committee (it was later agreed that the documents should be sent in the first instance to Mr. Armour, who would circulate them to members of the committee). The Honduran Ambassador pointed out that the purpose of the committee should be to coordinate and boil clown. He suggested it be called the Committee of Coordination. This was approved.

The Acting Secretary then asked whether there was any question on the first four chapters of the Dumbarton Oaks proposals. The Colombian Ambassador referred to Article 10 of the League Covenant69 [Page 944] and asked why there was no reference in the Dumbarton Oaks proposals to a guarantee of territorial integrity. Mr. Pasvolsky70 in reply remarked that the question of such a guarantee must be examined in the light of a close study of the first two chapters of the Proposals. He stressed that the emphasis in these is on ways of insuring the security of nations, and said an attempt might then have been made to do this by making a long list of specific guarantees, including one on territorial integrity, but there is danger in such a course as it is hard to make the list complete. If adequate steps were taken to insure security a guarantee of territorial integrity is not necessary. The recognition of the sovereign quality of states and the acceptance of the obligation not to use force and to live up to the principles of the Dumbarton Oaks proposals would be a better guarantee of security and therefore of territorial integrity than any specific mention of the latter could be. The Guatemalan Chargé d’Affaires commented that in other words the document did not represent a retrogression from such past guarantees as Article 10 of the League Covenant. Mr. Pasvolsky emphasized that the guarantees in the Dumbarton Oaks proposals were in his opinion much broader and more effective than those of Article 10.

The Acting Secretary again emphasized the desirability of considering the discussion confidential and requested that the documents regarding the previous meeting which had been stapled together be taken apart, inasmuch as some were marked for the press and others were confidential. He then invited the Chiefs of Mission to adjourn with him to Blair House.

  1. List of persons not printed; for text of press release dated November 9, 1944, see Department of State Bulletin, November 12, 1944, p. 565.
  2. Not printed.
  3. Ante, p. 890.
  4. Meeting of October 26, p. 937.
  5. See Foreign Relations, The Paris Peace Conference, 1919, vol. i, pp. 223235.
  6. For text of the Venezuelan Government’s proposal of October 31, 1944, see Documents of the United Nations Conference on International Organization, San Francisco, 1945, vol. iii: Dumbarton Oaks Proposals, Comments and Proposed Amendments (London and New York, United Nations Information Organizations, 1945), p. 189.
  7. Julian R. Caceres.
  8. Galo Plaza.
  9. Marcial Mora.
  10. Foreign Relations, The Paris Peace Conference, 1919, vol. xiii, pp. 69, 83.
  11. Special Assistant to the Secretary of State, and a member of the U.S. delegation at the Dumbarton Oaks Conversations.