332. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in the United Kingdom 0
1949. For Ambassador from Secretary. Southern Rhodesia. This message reflects some further consideration both in New York and here. Appreciate your delivering it to Lord Home and discussing matter with him.
Begin Verbatim Text:
Dear Alec:
The talk with you at lunch on Sunday about the situation in Southern Rhodesia has given us a better insight into your difficulties there. We fully appreciate the prime importance of Sir Edgar Whitehead’s election, and we do not wish to compound your difficulties by offering advice from the sidelines.
We do, however, have a common problem facing us almost immediately in the UN General Assembly where the question of Southern Rhodesia will be considered next week. We, of course, want to support you to the extent that this support can be effective and consistent with our own necessities. I understand Adlai Stevenson has outlined to you the sort of statement he thought would alleviate the pressures for a wholly unacceptable resolution. I hope you can give careful consideration to this or some alternative device for coping with what promises to be a very sticky situation in New York.1
Whether it is possible for the Government in Salisbury to effect an exchange for a removal of the ban on ZAPU in return for a ZAPU pledge of non-violence, or whether the Government can give assurances that the fifteen African members of the legislature would not be overridden by the two-thirds white majority on matters affecting the rights of the Africans are points where your judgment is better than mine.
I am quite sure that there are moderate leaders in Africa who want to avoid chaos and violence and who want to move toward a moderate [Page 522] solution, particularly in view of the good record of Britain in the colonial field. We would be glad to consult with Africans privately to try to get them to understand some of the elements which call for more time, if it seems clear things in Southern Rhodesia are moving in a moderate direction.
Of course, we will vote against any resolution recommending sanctions.2
With warm personal regards,
Sincerely, Dean Rusk.
End Verbatim Text.
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.41/10-562. Secret; Priority. Drafted by Wallner and Mathews; cleared by Little, Swank, and Burdett; and approved by Ball. Repeated to USUN and Salisbury.↩
- Lord Home’s October 18 response to Secretary Rusk’s message noted that any appearance of yielding to U.N. pressure could cost Whitehead and his colleagues the election, and said that the British Government thought it absolutely essential that he win the election. Thus, putting forward the U.S. suggestion about lifting the ban on ZAPU would only arouse resentment. Home noted that the formula suggested by Adlai Stevenson on the question of sovereignty also presented the British with very serious difficulties, since granting independence to Southern Rhodesia could not be a live issue so long as the Federation remained in being. (Letter from Home to Rusk, October 18; ibid., Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204, UK Official Correspondence with Secretary Rusk)↩
- The United States abstained on Resolution 1760 (XVII), “United Nations Request for Suspension of the 1961 Constitution for Southern Rhodesia and the Convening of a Constitutional Conference To Formulate a New Constitution,” which was adopted by the General Assembly on October 31 by a vote of 81 to 2, with 19 abstentions. For text, see American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1962, pp. 982-983.↩