United States Policy Regarding the Law of the Sea1

1. Continued from Foreign Relations, 1952–1954, vol. I, Part 2, pp. 1656 ff.


267. Memorandum by the Representative to the Council of the Organization of American States (Dreier)

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 720.022/1–355. Confidential. Transmitted to four officers in IO by Dreier under cover of a memorandum of January 3, 1955.


268. Memorandum Prepared in the Department of State

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 320.31/1–3155. Sent to USUN in A–249, January 31, for transmittal to the United Nations. The note verbale sent to the United Nations was dated February 3.


269. Memorandum From the Assistant Legal Adviser for European Affairs (Yingling) to the Legal Adviser (Phleger)

Source: Department of State, L/SFP Files: Lot 68 D 47, Box 1594. Confidential.


271. Memorandum by the Special Assistant for Fisheries and Wildlife (Herrington)

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 398.245 RO/4–1355. Official Use Only. Dictated by Herrington before his departure for the Rome conference, with a request that it be sent to Meeker.


272. Current Economic Developments

Source: Department of State, Current Economic Developments: Lot 70 D 467. Secret.


274. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Greece

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 700.022/6–1655. Confidential; Niact. Also sent to Taipei and repeated to Geneva.


275. Letter From the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations (Kirlin) to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget (Hughes)

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 711.022/9–2155. Limited Official Use. Drafted by Yingling and Joseph M. Sweeney.


277. Memorandum Prepared by an Interdepartmental Working Group

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 397.022 IA/1–2356. Confidential. Approved by Murphy on January 30. A covering memorandum attached to the source text from Holland to Murphy, January 23, indicates that the paper was prepared by an informal working group established to carry out preparations for the conference. The group was composed of representatives of the Departments of State, Navy, Interior, and USIA.

A letter from Phleger to J. Lee Rankin, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, dated January 31, transmitted a copy of the paper to the Department of Justice for clearance. (Ibid., 397.022 IA/1–3156) Rankin, in a letter to Phleger, dated February 3, reported that Justice saw no objection to the paper. (Ibid., 397.022 IA/ 2–356)

Another copy of the source text in Department of State files was attached as Tab B to a memorandum from Kissick to Wilcox, dated February 17. Tab A was a report on the agenda for the conference; Tab C, a memorandum from Holland to the Secretary of State, February 10, and an attachment that Holland proposed as a supplement to the source text. Holland’s memorandum stated that irresponsible action disregarding the U.S. position, such as the resolution passed at Mexico City, undermined the usefulness of the OAS. He proposed that the United States make Latin American countries aware “that any repetition of the Mexico City performance at Ciudad Trujillo will inevitably impair our ability to implement the generous and constructive policies of economic cooperation which we have been pursuing with them… . We must be prepared to risk the consequences of making good on our warning regarding economic assistance if the Conference at Ciudad Trujillo does not produce an acceptable resolution.” (Ibid., 397.022 IA/2–1756)


278. Letter From the Acting Secretary of State to Secretary-General of the United Nations Hammarskjöld

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 320.31/3–956.


279. Memorandum From the Special Assistant for Fisheries and Wildlife (Herrington) to the Legal Adviser (Phleger)

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 720.022/3–956. Confidential.


280. Instruction From the Secretary of State to All Diplomatic Missions in the American Republics

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 397.022–IA/4–2056. Confidential.


281. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Finland

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 399.731/10–2056. Official Use Only. Repeated to Athens, Djakarta, Tehran, Monrovia, Stockholm, Bangkok, Manila, and Copenhagen.


282. Memorandum Prepared in the Department of the Navy

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 700.022/10–2456. Confidential. Copy obtained from the Department of the Navy on October 25, 1956, by Marjorie M. Whiteman, Assistant Legal Adviser for Inter-American Affairs.


283. Circular Telegram From the Department of State to Certain Diplomatic Missions

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 700.022/10–2656. Confidential; Niact. Sent to Manila, Bangkok, Taipei, Copenhagen, Rome, Oslo, Lisbon, Dublin, Stockholm, Baghdad, Ankara, Tehran, Addis Ababa, Jidda, Athens, Rabat, Monrovia, New Delhi, Karachi, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, La Paz, Bogota, Santiago, San José, Ciudad Trujillo, San Salvador, Guatemala, Quito, Port-au-Prince, Tegucigalpa, Panama, Lima, Mexico, Asunción, Managua, Montevideo, and Caracas, and to USRO at Paris for information. The message contains a notation that it was not to be distributed outside the Department.


284. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Israel

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 320.31/11–956. Official Use Only.


285. Memorandum From the Assistant Legal Adviser for Inter-American Affairs (Whiteman) to the Legal Adviser (Becker)

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 700.022/8–2657.


286. Instruction From the Secretary of State to All Diplomatic Missions

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 399.731/5–2957. Confidential. Drafted by William Sanders, Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State. On June 5, Sanders was simultaneously designated Coordinator of Preparations for the Conference of the Law of the Sea. (Department of State Circular No. 262, June 5; ibid., 399.731/6-557)


287. Memorandum From the Under Secretary of State’s Special Assistant (Sanders) to the Under Secretary of State (Herter)

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 399.731/9–2757. Official Use Only.


288. Memorandum From the Under Secretary of State’s Special Assistant (Sanders) to the Under Secretary of State (Herter)

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 399.731/10-2157. Confidential.


289. Memorandum From the Under Secretary of State’s Special Assistant (Sanders) to Robert L. Burns of the Executive Secretariat

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 399.731/11–157. Confidential.


290. Instruction From the Acting Secretary to All Diplomatic Missions

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 399.731/11–857. Official Use Only. Cleared by several officers of the Department and in draft by the Interdepartmental Committee. The committee, an informal group, normally consisted of representatives of the Departments of State, the Treasury, Defense, Interior, Commerce, and Justice and the Federal Communications Commission. The message was repeated to Bucharest, Budapest, Moscow, Prague, and Warsaw. Two earlier drafts of the message, dated August 29 and October 2, were transmitted by Sanders to various officers of the Department for comment in memoranda of September 11 and October 3, respectively. (Ibid., 399.731/9–1157 and /10–357)


291. Instruction From the Department of State to Certain Diplomatic Missions

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 399.731/11–1357. Confidential. Sent to 36 posts; repeated to 47 others. Cleared by several officers of the Department and by the Departments of the Treasury, Interior, Navy, and Justice and the Maritime Administration and the Federal Communications Commission.


292. Instruction From the Department of State to All Diplomatic Missions

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 399.731/11–1557. Official Use Only. Cleared by several officers of the Department and by the Department of Defense. The message was repeated to Belgrade, Bucharest, Budapest, Cairo, Damascus, Kabul, Katmandu, Moscow, Prague, and Warsaw.


293. Instruction From the Department of State to Certain Diplomatic Missions

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 399.731/12–257. Confidential. Sent to Asunción, Bern, Florence, Kabul, Katmandu, La Paz, Luxembourg, Rome, Vienna, and Vientiane. Repeated to Budapest and Prague.


294. Despatch From the Embassy in the Soviet Union to the Department of State

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 399.731/12–1757. Confidential.


295. Instruction From the Department of State to All Diplomatic Missions

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 399.731/12–3157. Confidential.