Summary Report of First Meeting of the Executive Committee, April 301

Doc. 41, April 30, May 12 and 17

II. Question of Inviting Representatives of the White Russian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic to the Conference

Mr. Evatt (Australia) moved that the Executive Committee recommend to the Steering Committee that the White Russian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic be invited to take their seats at this Conference immediately.

Mr. Masaryk (Czechoslovakia) seconded the motion.

Mr. Padilla (Mexico) called the attention of the Committee to the great importance attached by Mexico and the other Latin American countries to the solidarity of the Western Hemisphere countries and to having an invitation extended to the Argentine to join the Conference. He stated that the questions of the admission of the two Soviet Republics and of the Argentine were similar in two basic respects: (1) that each state was at war with the Axis, and (2) that each state would have one vote in the Assembly. He appealed to the Committee to deal with the question of inviting the three countries in one motion.

In support of this suggestion, Mr. Padilla said that the association of the peoples of the American continent in a regional group was of fundamental importance to the Latin American countries, and that the recognition of regional groups was also one of the objectives of this world conference. Mr. Padilla also stated that at the Mexico City Conference the 20 American republics had laid down their conditions for readmission of the Argentine to the community of the American nations, namely: declaration of war against the Axis, the signature of the Act of Chapultepec, and the acceptance of its principles. Since Argentina had complied with these requirements, a moral responsibility rested on the American republics, which were now called upon to discharge it.

Mr. Evatt suggested that the Committee should proceed in an orderly fashion, and that to inject the question of the invitation to the Argentine at this moment was out of order because it was not related to the action of the Committee regarding the invitation to the Ukrainian and the White Russian Soviet Socialist Republics.

Mr. Molotov said the Soviet Union did not object to considering the proposal with regard to the Argentine, but reminded the Committee that the question of the two Soviet Republics had been referred to it for action by the Steering Committee, while the question regarding

'Omission of strictly procedural material throughout this section has not been indicated.

the Argentine had not been referred by the Executive Committee for consideration by the Steering Committee.

a. Action by the Committee

The Secretary-General then read the motion of Mr. Evatt as follows:

The Executive Committee recommends to the Steering Committee that, the Conference having decided that the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and the White Russian Soviet Socialist Republic be invited to be initial members of the proposed International Organization, their representatives be permitted to take their seats at the Conference immediately as they have requested through the representative of the Soviet Union.

The Committee approved this motion unanimously.

In response to a question of Mr. Evatt, the Chairman made it clear that this action would be reported to the Steering Committee under item 2 of its proposed agenda for April 30.

III. Nationality of Representatives of Intergovernmental

Organizations

Mr. Molotov asked Ambassador Gromyko to speak on this question. Ambassador Gromyko said there were two methods of dealing with the question of the nationality of representatives of the intergovernmental organizations who were attending the Conference as unofficial observers:

(1) to invite as representatives of these organizations only persons who were citizens of the United Nations, and

(2) to invite representatives of these organizations irrespective of their own nationality.

Ambassador Gromyko referred to communications exchanged between the Governments of the United States and the Soviet Union on the question of inviting representatives of the intergovernmental organizations to attend the Conference. He said that the substance of the Soviet proposal consisted in the exclusion from the Conference, as observers from intergovernmental international organizations, of such persons as are not nationals of the countries participating in the Conference.

Mr. Eden (United Kingdom) pointed out that the nationality of individuals acting, not in behalf of their own countries, but as representatives of international organizations, was not an extremely important matter. Having already extended invitations without raising this question it would be best to allow matters to rest as they were. Mr. Molotov stated that the Soviet Delegation would confine itself to the statement made by Ambassador Gromyko and would not insist on voting on this question, but that it maintained its opinion.

After further discussion by the Committee, the Chairman ruled that since no motion had been made to amend the invitations already issued to the intergovernmental organizations, the matter was not formally before the Committee.

The Chairman asked whether any member wished to propose a motion to amend the invitations and, hearing none, passed to the next item on the agenda.

IV. Question of Whether an Invitation Should Be Extended to the Government of Argentina To Attend the Conference

Mr. Molotov raised the point of order that this was not the next item on the agenda since he had proposed two other items to precede it, and the Chairman asked the Secretary-General to review the status of the Committee's agenda.

After reviewing the order in which motions had been introduced into the meeting, the Secretary-General stated that the Committee was operating without fixed agenda. Mr. Molotov took notice of the statement of the Secretary-General, and the consideration of the Argentine question was continued.

Mr. Fernández (Chile) stated that he was fully in accord with Mr. Padilla's speech and asked that the same good-will be extended in considering the question of the admission of Argentina as had been shown toward the admission of the White Russian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.

Mr. Padilla then put the question of the invitation to the Argentine, as phrased in the agenda, in the form of a motion.

Mr. Molotov said that it was inappropriate to compare the question of the invitation of the Argentine and that of the invitation of the two Soviet Republics because of the heroic fight of these two Republics against the common enemy and the support given to that enemy throughout the course of the war by the Argentine. He said that it would be incomprehensible to many countries if the Argentine were to be invited to the Conference while Poland was not invited.

Mr. Molotov said that if this matter were put to a vote the Soviet Delegation would vote against extending the invitation to the Argentine; he wished the Committee to consider that this would be the first case in which an invitation to a country to participate in the Conference was not issued with the concurrence of the four sponsoring gov

ernments.

Mr. Evatt moved, as an amendment to Mr. Padilla's motion, that this question be postponed until the next meeting of the Executive Committee. If, in the meanwhile, Argentina should make formal application for admission to the Conference, the Conference might consider the matter. Mr. Evatt said that in no event should an invitation be issued by the Conference.

Mr. Evatt said that if this question stood alone, Australia would not be in favor of admitting Argentina to the Conference, on account of its past record in this war. However, he felt that it would be impossible permanently to deny to Argentina readmission to the community of states, especially in view of the attitude of the Latin American countries and the United States.

The Chairman asked permission to make the following declaration as Chairman of the Delegation of the United States:

At the recent Mexico City Conference the American republics unanimously passed a resolution urging Argentina to declare war against the Axis powers and to align her policy to coincide with that of her sister republics in the prosecution of the war against the Axis and to sign the acts agreed to at the Conference, many of which related to the prosecution of the war. The American republics feel that Argentina has complied with this resolution and earnestly desire to have Argentina associated with them at this Conference in San Francisco. The United States is in entire accord with the desire of her sister republics in this hemisphere as expressed this morning by Dr. Padilla and our other colleagues.

Mr. Molotov stated that the Soviet Union had not been informed of these resolutions relative to Argentina. The Chairman stated that the resolutions which were contained in the Act of Chapultepec had been widely published and that the American representatives at the Mexico City Conference had kept the Soviet Ambassador in Mexico fully informed as to the progress of that Conference.

Mr. Padilla thanked Mr. Stettinius as Chairman of the United States Delegation for his statement both in behalf of Mexico and in behalf of other countries of the Western Hemisphere, and said that it was an expression of continental unity in its most vigorous form.

Mr. Padilla referred to Mr. Molotov's statements concerning Poland and recalled that it had been the unanimous sentiment of the Steering Committee that this was a question for the four sponsoring governments to decide.

He would not defend the past record but would confine himself to the present position of the Argentine and its future participation in world affairs. The people of the Argentine, he declared, were fundamentally democratic but circumstances had made it possible for the Government of Argentina to act in a manner contrary to the convictions of the people. The effort of the 20 American republics was directed to persuading the Argentine Government to take action in accordance with what they knew to be the true sentiments of the Argentine people. The Argentine Government had complied with the requirements laid down at the Mexico City Conference for its reinstatement in the American community of nations and had associated itself with the ideals of this Conference and of the United Nations.

A. Motion by Mr. Molotov

Mr. Molotov moved that the question of inviting the Argentine should be referred to the four sponsoring governments for preliminary consideration by them. This motion was seconded by Mr. Masaryk (Czechoslovakia) and Mr. Subasić (Yugoslavia). After comments by various members, the Chairman ruled that Mr. Evatt's motion to amend Mr. Padilla's motion was the business before the Committee. After further discussion, Mr. Evatt said that he felt that the rest of the Committee was favorable to immediate decision on Mr. Padilla's motion. He had made Australia's position clear and he would agree to the withdrawal of the amendment.

The Chairman then said that it had been moved by Mr. Padilla and seconded by Mr. Fernández that the Argentine be given permission to join the San Francisco Conference as requested through the committee of the three Latin American republics.

Mr. Molotov repeated his own motion for reference of the Argentine question to the four sponsoring governments for preliminary discussion.

The Chairman ruled that Mr. Padilla's motion should be acted on first. The motion was put and the Committee voted ayes, 9, and noes, 3, with 2 abstentions.

The Chairman then put Mr. Molotov's motion to a vote and the Committee voted ayes, 3, and noes, 8, with 3 abstentions.

Mr. Molotov asked that the question of the invitation to the Ukrainian and White Russian Republics be included in the agenda of the plenary session. The Chairman indicated that the action of the Executive Committee would be reported to the Steering Committee by