500.A15A4 General Committee/184: Telegram
The Acting Chairman of the American Delegation (Gibson) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 2—2:45 p.m.]
548. My telegram 546, February 28, noon. The Political Commission adopted by an affirmative vote of 27 with no negatives the draft formula of non-recourse to force prepared by the subcommittee.
An effort had been made by the Persian, Soviet, Chinese and other delegations to insist upon its universal application but it was decided to reserve this question for the present. In an effective speech Titulesco45 pointed out that the second article of the Pact of Paris prohibits recourse to force in providing for settlement of disputes by pacific means. If the new text weakened in any respect the obligations of Article No. 2 of the Pact of Paris he explained he would be obliged to oppose it as it would deprive the Pact of all meaning and weaken rather than enhance its provisions of security. Upon receiving assurances from the rapporteur that this interpretation could not be considered correct he voted in favor of the text.
After the entire debate had closed Sassoon46 speaking for the British delegation expressly reserved the position of his Government concerning the extension of the agreement to non-European countries and recalled that the original British formula applied to Europe alone.
There was obvious reluctance on the part of many delegations to take an active part in the debate, feeling that the new agreement added nothing to the present system of security.