740.00119 EW/11–2945: Telegram
The Ambassador in France (Caffery) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 29—4:55 p.m.]
6885. From Angell No. 95. Netherlands proposal re Committee of Six in IARA (Inter-Allied Reparations Agency) (mytels 65 and 6685 and Deptel 5487 of November 24) has been thoroughly discussed [Page 1432] with Waley and Rueff, within US Delegation, and with Dutch and Belgian delegates. Numerous solutions explored for handling items appealed from majority vote of assembly. Basic difficulties arise from attempts to blend notion of arbitration by disinterested persons and notion of participation in committee (whether of 5, 6 or 7 members) of all interested claimants. These difficulties include:
- (a)
- Techniques for implementing principle that no claimant should sit as judge in own case, or alternatively that all claimants should participate thereby necessitating selection among interested small power claimants if number exceeds available positions;
- (b)
- Elimination of big power domination of committee without at same time giving small powers preponderance and authority to decide disputes concerning only Big Three.
- (c)
- Techniques for selected non-claimant small powers to sit on committee and for affording reasonable opportunities to all small powers to participate in committee decision.
There is widespread inclination to favor arbitration of appeals of claimants from majority decisions of assembly if practical solution along these lines can be found. Arbitration would have advantage of simplicity and speed if simple technique were adopted for selection of arbitrator and if arbitrator selected already had necessary background information for making allocation of items among claimants.
With these considerations in mind, Waley, Rueff and I have informally and tentatively agreed on following arbitration provision: Delegates of govts claiming item appealed from Assembly shall select an arbitrator from among delegates of non-claimant govts. If failure to agree on selection US delegate would either act as arbitrator or appoint delegate of non-claimant govt as arbitrator. In event US is claimant president of IARA would appoint as arbitrator delegate of non-claimant govt. Arbitrator would have authority to make final allocation to one of claimants or to send item back to secretariat for resubmission to Assembly as element in another program.
Request Dept comments by Monday. [Angell.]