Memorandum from Secretary of State Dean Acheson to President Harry S. Truman

SECRET SECURITY INFORMATION DECLASSIFIED E.O. 12065, Sec. 3-402 State Dept. Guidelines, March 6, 1982 DEPARTMENT OF STATE DEB NLT, Date 10-22-95 WASHINGTON By April 9, 1952 MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT Subject: Your Conversation with Mrs. Roosevelt on Tunisia Mrs. Roosevelt may raise the subject of Tunisia with you when she sees you at noon, April 10. Should she do so, she will very probably argue that our decision to abstain in the impending Security Council vote on the question of inscribing the Tunisian item on the Council's agenda is a grave mistake. She may refer to the strong position which you took in the speech I read for you on April 8 in favor of political freedom for the peoples of Asia and Africa. If this subject is raised, it would be most helpful if you could explain to Mrs. Roosevelt the objective we have in mind in our Security Council tactics on Tunisia. Our purpose is to foster agreement through negotiations between the French and Tunisians, leading to the attainment of Tunisian self-government. This is what the Tunisians say they desire, and it is an objective fully in keeping with the philosophy underlying your speech of April 8. To facilitate negotiations it has seemed best to us to avoid Security Council consideration while the parties are seeking to start discussions. Security Council consideration at this stage would inflame emotions on both sides and harden their extreme positions. The United Nations Charter (Article 33) recognizes that the parties to a dispute should seek a settlement by direct negotiations before they bring the matter to the Security Council. In abstaining on the motion to put the Tunisian matter on the Security Council agenda, we shall make it clear that we are not departing from our general willingness to consider in the United Nations problems which cause serious international friction. We HARRY S. TRUMAN shall STEPARY SECRET SECURITY INFORMATION