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J. 333305-MONO-State
Galley 116
UNCORRECTED GALLEY PROOF
tion could be drawn between discussions in the Council and formal
action involved in voting, and that, perhaps, the situation could be
taken care of by some provision under which any matter, whether or
not it involves the great powers, could be freely discussed in the
Council, while still providing that no decisions of the Council would
be valid without the unanimous vote of the great powers.
I said that this was an extremely interesting idea, but that if we
go as far as that, why not go one step further and combine it with
the kind of voting rule that we proposed. I again emphasized the
point that there is no way to prevent, even under their formula, the
registering of a disagreement among the great powers, whereas our
formula would have a great psychological and, therefore, political
importance and would certainly make for better relations and greater
confidence. He said that, while he still thought that we are exaggerat-
ing this point, the point itself had not occured to him before and he
would like to give it further consideration.
As I had promised him at our earlier meeting, I gave the Ambassador
a copy of our translation of excerpts from the Mexican memorandum
and a summary of the principal points which had emerged in our
discussions with the other American Republics. He was greatly
interested in the two documents 1 and asked me if it would be pos-
1
Not printed. Regarding discussions with the American Republics, see Post-
war Foreign Policy Preparation, pp. 399-401.
sible for him to have the full English text of the Mexican memorandum
and also the full texts of such other memoranda as we felt we could
properly place at his disposal. I promised to look into the possi-
bility of our doing so.
He then went on to suggest that it would be a very useful thing for
us to exchange such comments as might come our way in order to
keep each other better prepared for the eventual conference.
We
are doing that sort of thing in connection with peace feelers, and this
is a comparable case. I said that I was sure that it would be a use-
ful procedure and we ought to talk about it at greater length
on
another occasion. I said we might also think about the advisability
of setting up some informal machinery for that purpose. Such
machinery might well be in the form of some sort of preliminary
preparatory group for the conference. He was very much interested
in the idea, and we agreed that the question might be taken up again
after the meeting of the Big Three and after we know more definitely
as to when the conference will take place.
He asked me whether we have given any further thought to the
question of the representation of the sixteen Soviet Republics. Most
of them, he said, are much more important than, say, Liberia or
Guatemala. They have their own constitutions and deal independ-
ently with their own foreign affairs. I asked him whether he really
thought that they are independent countries as we commonly under-
stand the term. He said that, of course, they are, even though they
are also very intimately connected as members of a federation. I said
that that was obviously a question which would have to be discussed
at the meeting of the Big Three. He readily agreed, but repeated
that from their point of view it was an extremely important matter.
He then went back to the question of voting, which was apparently
very much on his mind. He asked whether we had heard from the
British and recalled that at Dumbarton Oaks Cadogan personally
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"ocrText": "J. 333305-MONO-State\nGalley 116\nUNCORRECTED GALLEY PROOF\ntion could be drawn between discussions in the Council and formal\naction involved in voting, and that, perhaps, the situation could be\ntaken care of by some provision under which any matter, whether or\nnot it involves the great powers, could be freely discussed in the\nCouncil, while still providing that no decisions of the Council would\nbe valid without the unanimous vote of the great powers.\nI said that this was an extremely interesting idea, but that if we\ngo as far as that, why not go one step further and combine it with\nthe kind of voting rule that we proposed. I again emphasized the\npoint that there is no way to prevent, even under their formula, the\nregistering of a disagreement among the great powers, whereas our\nformula would have a great psychological and, therefore, political\nimportance and would certainly make for better relations and greater\nconfidence. He said that, while he still thought that we are exaggerat-\ning this point, the point itself had not occured to him before and he\nwould like to give it further consideration.\nAs I had promised him at our earlier meeting, I gave the Ambassador\na copy of our translation of excerpts from the Mexican memorandum\nand a summary of the principal points which had emerged in our\ndiscussions with the other American Republics. He was greatly\ninterested in the two documents 1 and asked me if it would be pos-\n1\nNot printed. Regarding discussions with the American Republics, see Post-\nwar Foreign Policy Preparation, pp. 399-401.\nsible for him to have the full English text of the Mexican memorandum\nand also the full texts of such other memoranda as we felt we could\nproperly place at his disposal. I promised to look into the possi-\nbility of our doing so.\nHe then went on to suggest that it would be a very useful thing for\nus to exchange such comments as might come our way in order to\nkeep each other better prepared for the eventual conference.\nWe\nare doing that sort of thing in connection with peace feelers, and this\nis a comparable case. I said that I was sure that it would be a use-\nful procedure and we ought to talk about it at greater length\non\nanother occasion. I said we might also think about the advisability\nof setting up some informal machinery for that purpose. Such\nmachinery might well be in the form of some sort of preliminary\npreparatory group for the conference. He was very much interested\nin the idea, and we agreed that the question might be taken up again\nafter the meeting of the Big Three and after we know more definitely\nas to when the conference will take place.\nHe asked me whether we have given any further thought to the\nquestion of the representation of the sixteen Soviet Republics. Most\nof them, he said, are much more important than, say, Liberia or\nGuatemala. They have their own constitutions and deal independ-\nently with their own foreign affairs. I asked him whether he really\nthought that they are independent countries as we commonly under-\nstand the term. He said that, of course, they are, even though they\nare also very intimately connected as members of a federation. I said\nthat that was obviously a question which would have to be discussed\nat the meeting of the Big Three. He readily agreed, but repeated\nthat from their point of view it was an extremely important matter.\nHe then went back to the question of voting, which was apparently\nvery much on his mind. He asked whether we had heard from the\nBritish and recalled that at Dumbarton Oaks Cadogan personally"
}