the desirability of having an over-all review of the organization of the Secretariat, Noting the work of the Administrative Management Unit established in 1958 in the Office of the Controller, 1. Requests the Secretary-General to appoint a committee of experts, composed of six persons with broad and practical experience in the various aspects of administration and chosen with due regard to geographical distribution in consultation with the respective Governments, to work together with the Secretary-General in reviewing the activities and organization of the Secretariat of the United Nations with a view to effecting or proposing further measures designed to ensure maximum economy and efficiency in the Secretariat; 2. Requests the Secretary-General to consult with the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions on the arrangements to be made under paragraph 1 above; 3. Requests the Secretary-General, having considered a report of the committee of experts, to present to the General Assembly at its fifteenth session provisional recommendations thereon together with the committee's report, bearing in mind that the Secretary-General's final recommendations together with further reports of the committee shall be presented to the General Assembly at its sixteenth session; 4. Requests the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budg etary Questions to submit its observations on the review and on the reports of the Secretary-General. 5 As expressed in pars. 39-48 of the Report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (U.N. doc. A/4170). 21. QUESTION OF THE CONSISTENT APPLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLE OF EQUITABLE GEOGRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION IN THE ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY: Draft Resolution Approved by the Special Political Committee, December 4, 1959, Defeated by a Vote Taken in the U.N. General Assembly, December 10, 19591 The General Assembly, In view of the spirit of the United Nations Charter and of the provisions of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly pertaining to the President of the General Assembly, Recognizing the importance of ensuring that the President of the General Assembly possesses the highest personal qualifications for the performance of his duties, and of taking into account in his election the principle of equitable geographical representation, Recommends that in the election of the President of the General Assembly due regard be specially paid to the qualifications that the President of the General Assembly must possess in order to perform the important duties of his office and to the principle of equitable geographical representation. 1U.N. doc. A/4340. The draft resolution approved by the Special Political Committee by a vote of 36 to 32 (including the U.S.), with 8 abstentions, taken Dec. 4, 1959, represented several modifications of the original draft resolution submitted by the representatives of Czechoslovakia and Rumania (text printed as a note appended to doc. 10, ante). These modifications were contained in U.N. docs. A/SPC/L. 40 and A/SPC/L. 42/Rev. 1. In explaining his negative vote in the Special Political Committee, the U.S. representative (Hancher) said, in part: ". . . We are frankly concerned about the principle which is being established here. As we read the present text, and as we believe future Assemblies would read it, geography is placed on exactly the same level as the personal qualifications of the candidate. We believe the majority of this Committee shares our view that personal qualifications must be the primary consideration in electing the president of this Assembly. In our view, this resolution does not reflect that consideration. We also share the views expressed here . . . on the undesirability of a resolution upon this subject. We therefore voted against the resolution and hope that members will carefully reflect on the implications of its text before it is considered by the Plenary." (U.S.-U.N. press release 3336.) The resolution failed of adoption in the U.N. General Assembly by a vote of 36 to 40 (including the U.S.), with 6 abstentions, taken Dec. 10, 1959. 22. QUESTION OF THE COMPOSITION OF THE UNITED NATIONS TRUSTEESHIP COUNCIL: Draft Resolutions Submitted by the Soviet and Tunisian Representatives (Sobolev and Slim) in the U.N. General Assembly, Defeated by Votes Taken December 12, 1959 1 The General Assembly, 1 (a) Soviet Draft Resolution 2 4 Guided by the provisions of Article 86 of the Charter of the United Nations,' Considering that, with the attainment on 27 April 1960 of independence by the Trust Territory of Togoland under French administration, France will cease to be a member State administering Trust Territories, and that pursuant to Article 86, paragraph 1 c, of the Charter the composition of the Trusteeship Council should be changed accordingly, 1. Decides to elect two members of the Trusteeship Council at the present session, in accordance with Article 86 of the Charter; 2. Resolves to resume, on 28 April 1960, its fourteenth session with a view to taking a decision on the change in the composition of the Trusteeship Council in accordance with Article 86, paragraph 1 c, of the Charter, in connexion with the reduction in the number of Members of the United Nations administering Trust Territories. (b) Tunisian Draft and Revised Draft Resolution The General Assembly, Guided by the provisions of Article 86 of the Charter of the United Nations, Considering, first, that on 27 April 1960, with the attainment of independence by the Trust Territory of Togoland under French administration, France will cease to be a Member State administering Trust Territories and that, in accordance with Article 86, paragraph 1 c, of the Charter, the composition of the Trusteeship Council [should be modified accordingly] will have to be modified in consequence and, secondly, that on 1 July 1960, with the attainment of independence by the Trust Territory of Somaliland under Italian administration," Italy will cease to be a Member State administering Trust Territories and that, in accordance with Article 86, paragraph 1 c, of the Charter, the composition of the Trusteeship Council [should be modified accordingly,] will have to be modified in consequence, Considering [that a study should be made of] the desirability of studying the situation which [will] would result both from the [imminent impossibility of observing the principle of parity at the same time as that] fact that it will soon be impossible to observe simultaneously the principles of parity and of the inclusion of the permanent members of the Security Council in the [composition] membership of the Trusteeship Council, and from the [impending disappearance of] fact that the category of elected members [who play a very 1U.N. General Assembly Official Records, Fourteenth Session, Annexes, agenda item 17. 'U.N. doc. A/L.274, submitted Dec. 8, 1959. This resolution failed of adoption by a vote of 29 to 26 (including the U.S.), with 26 abstentions, taken Dec. 12, 1959. 3 For the text of the U.N. Charter, see American Foreign Policy, 1950–1955: Basic Documents, pp. 134–161. 4 See American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1958, p. 1108. U.N. doc. A/L.275 and Rev. 1, submitted Dec. 10 and 12, 1959. Both the original draft and the revised draft resolution failed of adoption by a vote of 45 (including the U.S.) to 26, with 8 abstentions, taken Dec. 12, 1959. The bracketed insertions in the text printed here indicate the phraseology of the original draft. As provided in U.N. General Assembly Res. 289 A (IV) of Nov. 21, 1949; text in A Decade of American Foreign Policy: Basic Documents, 1941-1949, pp. 471-475. 6 important part] whose role in the work of the Trusteeship Council' had proved important will be eliminated in the very near future, 1. Decides: (a) To elect two members of the Trusteeship Council at the present session, in accordance with Article 86 of the Charter; (b) That on the date upon which France ceases to be an administering member of the Trusteeship Council and becomes a member under Article 86, paragraph 1 b, [and upon which two of the members elected under subparagraph c of the same Article cease to be members of the Trusteeship Council, the Council shall proceed, by drawing lots, to designate two countries, which shall not, however, belong to the same region of the world] two of the members elected under sub-paragraph c of that Article shall cease to members of the Trusteeship Council; (c) That on the date upon which Italy ceases to be an administering member and leaves the [Trusteeship] Council [and upon which], one of the members elected under Article 86, paragraph 1 c [ceases] shall cease to be a member of the Trusteeship Council [, the Council shall proceed, by drawing lots, to designate one country]; 2. Decides [to include the question of the composition of the Trusteeship Council in the provisional agenda of the General Assembly at its fifteenth session.] that, in the absence of voluntary resignations, the Trusteeship Council shall proceed, by drawing lots, on 27 April 1960 and 1 July 1960 respectively, to designate the elected countries which shall cease to be members of the Trusteeship Council; 3. Recommends that consideration should be given to equitable geographical distribution among the remaining elected members, namely, that the two main groups at present represented by the elected members should continue to be so represented; 4. Decides to resume consideration of the whole question of the membership of the Trusteeship Council at its next session. (c) Second Soviet Draft Resolution' The General Assembly 1. Decides, in accordance with rule 7 of the rules of procedure," to convene on 28 April 1960 a special session of the General Assembly for deciding the question of changing the composition of the Trusteeship Council in accordance with paragraph 1 c of Article 86 of the Charter of the United Nations; 2. Decides to elect at the fourteenth session two members of the Trusteeship Council in accordance with paragraph 1 c of Article 86 of the Charter. *In the original draft resolution a comma appeared after the word "Council," terminating the second "Considering” clause. 'U.N. doc. A/L.277, submitted Dec. 12, 1959. This resolution failed of adoption by a vote of 26 to 32 (including the U.S.), with 20 abstentions, taken Dec. 12, 1959. The rules of procedure in effect as of the date of the Soviet draft resolution are contained in U.N. doc. A/4700. C. The United Nations Budget 23. UNITED STATES OBSERVATIONS ON THE UNITED NATIONS BUDGET FOR 1959: Statement Made by the U.S. Representative (Hickenlooper) in Committee V of the U.N. General Assembly, October 14, 1958 1 Once again this year we are indebted to the Secretary-General and to the chairman of the Advisory Committee for their general statements on the budget of the organization for 1959.2 These statements, I am certain, have been helpful to all members of this committee in our approach to the budgetary problems which face us for the coming year. Mr. Chairman, I would like to comment briefly on the present level of the budget and the increase forecast by the Secretary-General for the 1959 budget. We all consider that the budget level is high, but frankly, Mr. Chairman, we do not believe that it is too high when we view the responsibilities which governments have placed upon the organization in recent years. By the same token, while we are concerned at the size of the increase for 1959 forecast by the SecretaryGeneral, we cannot say that the increase is excessive in view of the activities which we expect the organization to carry on in the coming year. Having said this, Mr. Chairman, I must caution that the present budget level and the rate of increase has become such that the Secretary-General, the Advisory Committee, and the Fifth Committee must exercise the greatest care to assure that no unwise or unnecessary expenditures are incurred. Before discussing any of the specific problems involved, I would like to indicate the general approach of the United States delegation to a consideration of the estimates. First of all, we have full confidence in the Secretary-General and the Controller, and we consider that any budget estimates which they present to us have been most carefully prepared with a view to the greatest possible economy consistent with the efficient operation of the organization. However, the General Assembly has created the mechanism of the Advisory Committee a committee of administrative and financial experts-to examine in detail the estimates prepared by the Secretary-General and to bring a competent and objective judgment to bear upon those estimates. As we all know, that committee spends many months in examining the estimates, and it provides us with its recommendations with respect to them. It is obvious that the Fifth Committee cannot repeat the detailed examination carried out by the Advisory Committee, and it would seem equally obvious that we should not spend our time in a detailed discussion of all budget sections when we have on our agenda so many matters of principle requiring decisions. How 1U.S.-U.N. press release 3020 (text as printed in the Department of State Bulletin, Nov. 10, 1958, pp. 755–758). U.N. docs. A/C.5/748 and A/C.5/749, respectively. |