747.47H/11–2044

The Secretary of State to the Chargé in the United Kingdom ( Gallman )

No. 4783

The Secretary of State has received the text of the statement made on November 7, 1944 by the Prime Minister of New Zealand upon the conclusion of the second Anzac Conference held at Wellington. Mr. Fraser’s statement includes the following reference to postwar colonial policy which was considered by the conference:

“The Conference also gave consideration to the means of achieving the objective of Colonial Welfare set out in Clauses 28 and 31 of the Australian and New Zealand Agreement in which it is declared that ‘In applying the principles of the Atlantic Charter to the Pacific the doctrine of trusteeship (already applicable in the case of the mandated territories of which the two Governments are Mandatory Powers) is applicable in broad principle to all colonial territories in the Pacific and elsewhere and the main purpose of the trust is the welfare of the native peoples and their social economic and political development.’

“We feel that there should be set up as part of the general International Organization an international body analogous to the permanent mandates commission to which Colonial Powers should undertake to make reports on the administration of their Colonial Territories. This body should be empowered to visit dependent territories and to publish reports of its deliberations. We believe that this is a natural implication of the spirit of—‘trusteeship’ for dependent peoples and for our part we are willing to subscribe to a general undertaking to that effect. As regards both Colonies and Mandated Territories in accepting the principle of ‘trusteeship’ we wish to make it quite clear that we regard the purpose of the trust as the welfare and advancement of the native peoples. Quite apart from this system of international supervision of colonial administration which we believe should be binding on trustee states whatever arrangements they might make for regional collaboration with other trustee states we are anxious to promote a regional commission as a means by which the governments and administrations of the South Seas area may pool their experience and collaborate in joint schemes with a view to furthering the welfare of the dependent peoples and their social economic and political development.

“It is part of our proposal that representatives of the dependent peoples should be associated wherever possible with the regional body, its secretariat and with any of the welfare and research agencies which might be brought within its framework. The establishment of a South Seas Regional Commission is one of the specific objectives of the Australian–New Zealand agreement which we have endeavoured to further by our discussions.

“In the Australian–New Zealand Agreement we proposed that in addition to representatives of Australia and New Zealand there might be on the commission, representatives of the Governments of the United Kingdom and the United States of America and of France. We are ready for our part to enter into early consultation with the [Page 201] other Governments concerned and to exchange views upon the form of the Commission.”

The Embassy is requested to keep the Department advised of any reactions in the United Kingdom to this declaration, which seems rather advanced in comparison to British colonial policy. The reactions of the Colonial Office would be of particular interest.