UNA Files
The Acting Secretary of State (Stettinius) to the President 1
Memorandum to the President
Subject: Further Steps with Respect to Items Left Open at the Dumbarton Oaks Meeting
There are two items left open at the Dumbarton Oaks meeting on which agreement is necessary between the Governments of the United States, the Soviet Union and Great Britain before a Conference of the United Nations can be called to draft a Charter of The United Nations Organization. The Government of China will undoubtedly go along with any agreement thus reached. The two items are:
- 1.
- Voting procedure in the Security Council
- 2.
- Invitations to the Conference and initial membership
The following alternative steps for seeking agreement on these items appear to be open to us:
- 1.
- The most promising method of handling the matter would be at a meeting of the three heads of government.
- 2.
- If such a meeting cannot be arranged soon, perhaps it would be possible to arrange a meeting of the three Foreign Ministers—preferably in London, but, if necessary, in Moscow. In the event that the Secretary found it impossible to attend, the United States could be represented by the Under Secretary.
- 3.
- If the Russians or the British or both object to a formal meeting of Foreign Ministers, the next best thing might be for the Undersecretary to go to London, and then go to Moscow together with Eden or Cadogan.
- 4.
- If none of these procedures appears to be feasible, Ambassador Winant and Ambassador Harriman might be instructed to discuss the matter simultaneously in London and Moscow and attempt to reach agreement.
- 5.
- Finally—and this would appear to be the least promising alternative—we might attempt to handle the matter by correspondence, starting with a new statement of our position, made in the light of what has transpired since the Dumbarton Oaks meeting and communicated by cable to the other two governments.
- Printed from an unsigned copy typed in the Department of State; authorship not indicated.↩