S/PV.252 Security Council

In view of the lateness of the hour, 1 would propose to the Council that, as there aretwo more speakers on the list, we should postpone the interpretation of the speech which has just been made until our next meeting. would propose to the Council that, in view of the urgency of the problem with which we are seized, our next meeting should be at 10.30 tomorrow morning. , Mr. TARASBNKO (Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic) (translated from 'Russian): 1 have no objection to the French interpretation being held ovèr un:ti1 tomorrow or some other time, but think it would be better to hear the English interpretationtoday; otherwise the position would not he quite fair.

The Security Council wm meet at 10.30 a.m. tomorrow. The meeting rose at 6.55 p.m. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY- SECOND MEETING Held at Lake Success, New York, on Satui'dày, 21 February 1948, at 10.30 a.m. President: General McNAUGHTON (Canada). Prese';i: Therepiesentatives .of the following couutries: Argentina, Belgium, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Syria, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, United Kingdom, United States of America. 31. Provisional agenda (document SjAgenda 252) L Adoption of the agenda. 2. The Indonesian question: (a) First interim report to the Security Council of the Committee of Good Offices on the Indonesian Question (document S/649).1 32. Adoption of the agenda : Yet there are disquieting signs with whi,ch 1 feel imp~lled to acquaint. the Security Council. As the members of the Security Council know, the Linggadjati Agreement 1 between the Indonesian Republic and the Netherlands did not endure because of the different int~rpretation put on it by the two sides. History seems to be repeating ilself.. Newspaper reports from Holland indicate that the Second Chamber of the Netherlands Parliament, as well as the Minister of Overseas Territories, are proceeding to interpret in their own way the Renville political principles. Herein lies danger. If the Netherlands Parliament and the Netherlands GovemIIient bind themselves to their own interpretation of these principles, such actiQil is going to cause a stalemate in the forth- coming negotiations. There is another· matter which 1 must bring ta the attention of the Security Council. ln spite· of Republican protests, the Netherlands is con- tinuing With its plans to create a new State in West Java fr<~m the territories of the Republic. The area in qùestion is a disputed one. Two Netherlands-sponsored conferences have aIready been held regarding this territory of the Republic, and a third is scheduled for 23 February.'It is pertinent to add that large segments ofthe popula- tion have also joined their protests to those of the Republic, and these protests have been sub- mitted to the Committee of Good Offices. The population continues to protest against the crea- tion of a new State in West Java, without benefit of a plébiscite. Appendix VITI of the fust interim report to the Security Council of the Committee of Good Offices [document S/6491 says in paragraph 4: .. Withiri a period of not less than six months or more than one year from the signing of this agreement, a plebi;;cite will be held ..." But, as 1 pointed out at the 248th meeting, such a plebiscite must be preceded by certain conditions yet to be fulfiUed: freedom from coercion and intimidation, freedom of the Presst of speech, of assembly and N 1 See The Political Events i1l the ReplIblic of Indonesia, etherlands Information Bureau, New York, page 34. . It is with encouragement and pleasure that'my delegation has listened to the weighty w'ords spoken [251st meeting], by the representative of the United States of America who has made unmistakably c1ear his country's stand in tbis .question. 1 am pleased that his viewpoint is the same as mine on the conditions preceding plebiscite. Now and always, my Government has been guided in aIl its actions by the desire to seek the solution of conflicts through peaceful means; by "peaceful means" my Government envisages discussion at.the conference table. By the same token, the desire to impose the will of one party on another is opposed to a solution by peaceful means. It is my earnest hope that my statements regard- ing West Java will be viewed by thë members of the Security Council in juxtaposition to the clear and forthright speech of the United States representative. Once again, 1 shouldlike to make clear to the Security Council the stand of my Government, namely, that the Republic of Indonesia has under- taken' to carry out the agreement in the spirit which permeates the resolutions of the Security Council. However, what my delegation asks of thè Security Council is those guarantees wbich will enable my Government to carry out its undertakings with the utmost speed. For this purpose we hope that, as stressed by the represen- tative of the United States, there will be nô delay in both sides getting together and working out a political settlement. .My delegation expresses its heartfelt thanks to therepresentative of the Republic of China for the most 'constructive suggestions he put forward ,yesterday in the course of bis address to the SecurityCouncil [251st meeting]. His remarks about the creation of new States without recourse to plebiscite, bis fears that different interpretations may arise over.the eighteen principles, and his request to strengthen' the powers of the Com- mittee of Good Offices-all of these echo our very thoughts; and bis request that the Committee be empowered to arbitrate'in cases where the inter- pretations ofthe eighteen principles are at variance, is. a demand that is inescapably .logical and reasonable. We thank the representative of China and sincerely hope that the Security COUDcil will help bring peace and justice in Indonesia by agreeing to the suggestions he has put forward. We wish to state our support in general terms of the Canadian draft resolution [document 8/678] as,. to date, it is the only draft resolutjon put rorward. However, it does not satisfy aIl our requirements. As we have asked from the start, we would like the Committee of Good Offices to be invested .with thepowers of arbitration. If that is not possible, we would.like to see the suggestions of the representative of China put When the time comes for the'negotiation of a political settlement, both sides should be able to meet in an atmosphere, free from distrust, in which sound statesmanship will produce happy results. Therefore, it is wrong for either party to, attempt to forestall the results of a fair ple- biscite. West Java is one instance of this kind. The so-called plebiscite in Madura is another. Atbird is the attempt made in Surabaya to set up il State of East Java. The last attempt was made within a week of the signing of the Renville Agreement. The Netherlands representative ~as asked that bygones be bygones, llnd he said tha-t colonialism is dead and that his Government seeks co-opera- tion. We, too, seek co-operation. As previously stated, more than 20,000 troops have been evacuated from the "pockets" by our Govern- ment, in accordance with the truce agreement. Furthermore, our Prime Minister, Mr. Mohammad Hatta, has announced in his letter addressed to Mt. van Mook, completely in the spirit of the eighteen principles, that the Republic of Indonesia is prepared to participate in an interim govern- ment. But the attempts to create States in Madura, East Java and West Java; which is a unilateral , interpretation by the Netherlands of th~ Renville principles, raise fearsin our minds. Such astate of mind is not good for the success of the forth- coming negotiations, and we shall be grateful indeed if the Security Council will allay our fears by furnishing us the requisite guarantees. Finally, 1 should like in particular to express our appreciation to the representatives of China and India, who represent Asia's two largest countries. Having experience.d the striving for freedom, they showed in their statements a natural understanding 'and sympathy for our struggle, which is an indication that Asia knows how to form a united front when it comes to matters of vital importance. Mr. L6PEZ (Colombia): 1 agree with the repre- sentative of France when he says that enough has been saidabout the work of the Committee of Good Offices and what the CoJD.llÙttee of Good Offices has accomplisheg so far. Perhaps it would not be out of place to add that, in a sense, enough bas, also been said in praise of the Committee of Good Offices as weIl as, on the other hand, in criti,cism ofthe way it actedin this matter. 1would not say that the representatives of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [249th meeting] or the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic [251st meeting] have been niggardly in'their criticism Je qu'on de qu'ici. d'ajouter dit offices cette représentants list~s blique socialiste soviétique d'Ukraine se 1 did not intend to speak on this matter until 1 heard the 'various statements ma8è Witlfregard toOOs case, and pàrticularly, when 1 read the President's remarks at the 249thmeetingin support ,of hispropoSal. He said: "1 should like to draw the Security Council's attention particularly to the last paragraph of OOs draft resoluti3it, by which continuous control is maintained by the Secririty Counci1. In ibis paragraph, we 'request both parties and.the Committee ,of Goàd Offices,to keep the Security Council. c;lirectly informed about the progress ,of the political settlement in Indonesia'." ' . May.1 ask ifwe have been real1y infonned ofthe progress'of the work of the Committee'of Good Offices ,until now? M~y 1 ask ifit was the original idea of the Security Council that the Committee of'Good Offices. should not inform the SecUrity Council of the progress of its workuntil it could come before the Council with a settlement -a settlement which has aIready bèen considered as an accomplished .fact, acconiplished largely. by means ofarros.and, 1 take it, against the wishes of the Security Council and, if 1 may say .SG~ against the, principles of the. Charter?.The faet is that.for several monthswehavenot known what the Committee of Good Offices was doing, how it was going about its work, what, obstacles it was fin4ing in its \Vay, and what was the opinion orthe feeling of the .security Counci1 asto the dift'erent, situations that had arisen. . What is the Committee? Is the Committee.an agent or an organ of the Security Couneil? As an organ or an agent of the Security Couneil, is the Connnittee,expected to, keep the Security Coundl duly informedofwhat it is doing, or is ii not? . This is very important beca,use wehave. to know whetb,er wé ar~ gaing to authorize the Committee to enterupon the sècond stage of its work in similar circumstances, or whether it shouldact otherwise. What ismuch more important, 1believe, ifwe stoP to consider it, is that we are establishing a veryImportant-and, whynot say so?-'a very dangerous precedent. 1 do not have time to, look through a11 the reCords' of theease,but theSecUrity Council's resolutiotl creatingthe Committee [document 8/525 l1]readsas follows: " Thé' 8ecurity,Couizcil "Resolves to tender it~ good offices to the parties in'order to assist in the paeific settlement oftheir dispute in accordance with paragraph (b)of the resolution of the Council of 1 Augu~t 1947 [docum~nt 8/4591. The Council expresses its readiness, if the parties so request, toassist in the settlement ,througha:committeeof the CoÙDcil consisting of three membersof the Couneil, eacl( ~xtremely important question. . We hear a greàtdeal oftalk and we read a great deal in· the Press-without much approval, as far as 1 can understand-of by-passing the Security Council or by-passingthe United Nations. 1do not kn()W whether, when anything occurs like th~ situation thât 1 am presently commenting upon, it would be proper to say that the Security Council fe.els it has been by-passed or not, or whether it would .be proper to use.that word, or whether it would .be more proper to say that the Security Council has been side-tracked, side-stepped, over- locked, forgotten or disregarded.. 1 do not know t1).e English language weIl enough to state exactly what would be the most appropriateexpression, but,at any rate, 1 do feel that it is a rather regrettable development, and one that does not enhance the prestige of the Organization· and which.cannot, byany criteria, be considered satis- factory, particularly to the non-permanent mem- bers of theSecurity Colincil. ·'We. know that the non-permanent members of the Security Couneil have no experience in du colonial màtters, nor do they have experience in des power politics, nor do they understand the affairs expérience thathave been 'settled over aIl the corners of the ne comprennent pas Ie.saffaires qui wodd. We are not herebecause we are acquainted dans with those factsor because we cau offer· any ici, ce c.o~stmctive suggestioD,s as. to how those mfairs . de should be handled. Noue of us ispresumptuous suggestions concrètes eqough to think thatperhaps·we have .the ability ces or the information to discuss those afi'airs intel- somptueux lîgently. la poutdisC'llterces ligente.· droit au amen du nisation, qu'on vilège durée de tout ,peut-être ici nouvel pleinement celui membres se nouvel créer, membres conditiQns, qui, des pas Perhaps the only reason for which we haveany right to demand or request that we be kept fully informed is the fact that we havébeen led to believe .that, as members of the SecurityCouncil oras Members ofthe Organization, weare placed onan. equal footing; and that such Member States .as are privileged to beeleded to sit in the Security Council for two or three years· are given the.opportunity tospeak on .behalf of the whole Organization and noton behalf of their own countries. It may also he that we can speak here because the Charter itself envisages a new world arder. Although the Charter takes fully into account the old-what we call "the established"- arder, the non-p~rman(mtmembers Qfthe Security Cauncil very closely approach the conditions ofthe new world order that the Chartyr is seeking ta.establish because, in many cases, .the non- pe~manent members do not have any of those c9nditions or situations or discriminations which ~~e Jcilown to give rise to .most of the armed di~putes and conflicts in the world. On that ground, even though we do notknow very' much about whathappens, for instance, In the present mstance, we heard nothing of what the Committeeof Good Offices was doing unûl wc were actually told that there was an agreement;and1 suppose, ofcourse, that we might have been given the alternative of being informed that the Committee'had failed, without, in either case, theSecwity Council having had the oppor- tunityto saya wordinthematter. Isthatinthe best intetests of the Organization? 1 very respectfully submit that it is not. ,About six menths ago, a resoluûon was passed 1?Y the Securïty Couneil. May1remind the Security Couneil 'of thisresolution [document S/459]1 It reads as follows: Il Noting withconcem the hostilitiès in progress between the,armed forces of the ,Netherlands and the. Republic of Indonesia, ... Cal1s upon the parties . « (a)To· cease·hosûlities forthwith, and Il (b) To settle their disputes by arbitration or byother peaceful means and keep the Security Couileil informed about the progress of the settlem.ent." About a m()nth later the Security .Couneil adopted som~ additional resolutions. May 1 alse I~d the Securïty Council ,as to how they I~d? One of them [oocwnent S/525 1] begins as follows:, . . ' , " Whereas the SècurityCouneilon 1August 1947 called upon the Netherlands and the Republic of Indonesia. tocease, hosûlities forthwith; , " And., whereas communications have been receïved from the Governments ofthe Netherlands and" of the Republic of Indonesia advising that orders have been given for the cessation of h',);Stilitiess " ,n :,And'whereas: it is desirable that steps· shou:Id he taken'toavoid disputes and friction relating to thcobservanceofthe ceas~fireorders, and to creatè.conditions "wirlch will facilit1.te agreement lietweén,the parties ..:l " It is.very .satiSfactory to .know that hostilitiès have:fiilaIlycome to an end, and 1 believe that weshou:Id aIlrejoicein that facto However, the wâymwmch' the fighting has come to an end, thetàct thât thecease-fite instruction was not obserYeduntil sevèral':inonths badpassed, and'the reason fdI that~.iepresent a different· matter. lremember that, in the early stages 'ofourdiscus- sion of tbisquestion, weill feltextremely·happy becaus~ we thoqght that titis was a test case, and when'the pàtties tèlegraphed ,.'" uS to say that theywere <acting ,in accordance with the jnstrue- tfo~sof t4eSecurity COWlci1;~We aIl believedthat hostilities had conie to an end;We congratulated ourse1v.es upon. the faet thatwe. eou:Id announce to: the world that~· for once, the· oiders of the Security Councilhadbeen' compliw with. When this Organimtion was being set up 1 understand that the idea was very muct. the same. We have heard a great deal about the General Assembly being a kind of town meeting of the world, but here we are being told that it is much better to say as-little as possible on these negotiations. Intimation is given that to grant the request of the Committee of Good Offices to pubIish its reconimen~tions would be to tend towards the spectacular. Ibelieve that if we are ta have. a t< one world" Organization an.d a jurisprudence for that Organjzation with the participation of the world at Ja:ge. we shall have ta bring the world into our confidence, allowing it to. participate in our discussi~ns and to bring the weight ofits opinions to bea.t' in our decisions. These, as 1 said at the beginning, are. only marginal remarks on this debate. 1 regret very much to have engaged the attention ofthe Security Council' for such a-long time with so many things that probably might as weIl have been left unsaid, aceording to this.criterion which has. been ex- pressed. But there is one more reason why 1 fèlt prompted to participate in this discussi~>n. 1 have before.me what purports' tobe an. amendn:1ent to the Canadian draIt resolution a,gI\~d to. bythe Australian and Indonesian deleg..~tions, which "prQbably will be.proposed by the Colombian delegation". It reads: ." Requests theCommittee of Good Offices, as such, to continue its assistance to the parties and onits.own responsibility to make and publish suggestions to the parties where it.is of opinion that by so doing it will furtherassist the parties to settte t:b.eir dispute by peacefulmeans." We have been discussing among ourselves in the Colombian delegation whether or not we should propose an amendment· to the President's draft resolution, but we haye Bot actually discussed With anybody what the likely terms.ofthat amend- mentmight be. Weha.ve not disçussed this !iDJ.endment, we have notbeen consulted about It, and we have not·in any way authorized it to be Cll'culated as something that would· proba1>ly be 4( Requests the ComDÛttee of Good Offices, as such, to continue its assistance to the parties and onits own responsibility to make and publish suggestions to the parties where it is of opinion that by so doing it will further assist the parties ta settle their dispute by peaceful means." 1 do not know if 1 sm becoming unneceo;sarily or extravagantly meticulous. but this draft would seem to indieate a tendency to diseonnect the Committee from the Security Council, with wbich tendency 1 beg to disagree. We do not only disagree with this tendency to have the committees of the Security Couneil act on their own respon- sibility, but we beli~ve that once tbey are appointed as organs of the Security Council, they should act on the responsibility of the Security Council. ï think we might just as weIl have that clearly understood. We believe this is disrupting our ()rganization-tbis tendency to individual action, the .tendeney to take matters into .individual hands instead·of leaVing them in the hands of the Organization as a whole. 1·feel free to make these remarks, although very hesitantly, because 1 also feel tbat somehow or other that is what people want: to have tbis Organization work, as it was intended to work, for the benefit of the whole wotld and not in the interests of any particular nation or group of nations, and not in disregard of the pritt'ciples and purposes of the Charter which, we are convinced, have met. the full endorsement of not only tbe small nations, but of nations big and small. The important thing, and the tbing·we want to· stress, is that we should act in· the nainê of the Organization, for the benefit or.the Organization, in· accordance· with the principles and purposes of the Organization, and not otherwis,e. In this case, the way in wbich the Indonesian people have come to us and placed. their faith in our hands is, 1 tbink, very striking and very remarkable. That is the kind of faith which should like tosee deposited in the Organization by everyone, and very particularly by the so~cal1ed weak peoples or weak nations. But, of course, tbis calls for a correlative attitude on the part of the Security COUDcil. We have to be worthy of that trust. We have to do everything in our power to show such peoples tlSCome to usand place their faitb in our hands that· they are not misguided; that they·are not mistaken; that it does work to their ·benefit to look .to the Sepurity Council, not only for peaceand security, but for justice. And justice is such a controv~rsial matter that it has longbeen agreed tbat one of th~ means of acbieving justice is by the pressure of public Wit~out reference to the Security Council. Now thaf the Committee has submitted a report, which th~ Security Council is considering, 1 raise the point of whether, in the future, it should feel that it can act in the same manner, or whether, âs,f believe, it should act as a tommittee 'ap- pointed by the Security Council,keeping uS regu- l'avenir~ la doit Mée. lièrement D'autre de faut la appliquer s'agit aussi de savoir si, maintenant que nous nous trouvons parties par responsabilités attitude amendement le d'avoir rité que l~~ly informed of the progress of its work. How- ever, the other point is whether, after the Commit- tee·:of Good Offices has achieved certain results and it is necessary to implement the agreements, the: competence of th~ Security .Council in the mlltter of the implementation is still in question; /lnd whether, once we hav?moved to anew situa- t~()~ and the parties have takennew positions and tJt.e Security COUDcil itself thereby· assumes new responsibilities, we are required to remain in as r~~trictive a position as in the beginning. . \<M~ delegation had planned to submitan amend- ~en~ to the draft resolution put: forward by the rresldent,· but·we shall wait to hear· the opinions 'Of:themembers of the Security Council regarding the points that 1 haveraised before formally sub;, mitting it.·' , Mr. FORSYTH (Australia): 1 appreciate very m\lch being given the opportunity of speaking again on the Indonesian question. As the members of the Security Council know, my statement during the 248th meeting was made rather early in the debate and before the discussion had hegun to crystallize around the draft resolution of the President. 1 should like, with the President's permission, toexamine the draft resolution in the light of the debate as it has developed so far. With this object, 1 shall state what appears to me to be some of the important points which have obtained appreciable support among tb.ose who have participated in the discussion. ln the tirst place, the majority of the speakers have expressed their gratification that the cease- tire order has been put into eirect with the signing of the truce Agreement [document S/649, appen- tjix Xl] and tbat agreement has been reached on the lines along which a pulitica1 settlement may he approa~hed. The majority of the speakers have aIso .said how greatly they appreciate the work of the·Committee of Good Offices without which, itis fair to say, these results would not have been possible. The draft resolution expresses these .vi~ws. In the second place, most of those who have spoken have been quite clear that a number of .<Jifficulties remain, .and that they are of such a -character as could lead to a breakdown in the negotiations. It is ·for this reason that· the work ·of the Committee has continued, and that the parties andtheCommitteearerequested,inthedraft :resolution, to keep the Security Council directly informedonthe progress ofthe political settlement. The third featrire' of the' debate is the fairly general feeling that the funetions ofthe Committee could· usefully be extended. 1 think no one has opposed and several speakers have endorsed, the suggestion made at the 247th meeting by Mr. Jus- tice·iKirby that the Committee should take the initiativèin making positive sugge.stions to the parties without necessarily waiting for theii' irivitations, and tbat, at its discretion, it should be ableto publish those suggestions. Sorne ofthose , who havespoken''wÏsh to see provision made in the draft resolution tO" tms eirect; others feel that that is not necessary because the Committee can . assume the funetion and. make suggestions in future formally as·it has already done informally. • ~'t~ "".~~-'; "It seems to me that the only thing for us to do is to leave the Committee absolutely free to go on determining its own methods of work. If it should in future consider that it ought to follow a method other than the one it bas followed hitherto, the Australian member of the Com- iïit'tt..~ will be able to propose it and the Com- mittee -~ considerit." That was the point of view of the representative of Francl\, For two reasons 1 consider that the suggestion should be incorporated j.n the draft resolution, or "in some other way it should he made clear beyond doubt that the Security Council agrees that the Committee should be able to exercise this function. First of all, the suggestion was made by a member of the Committee. The Com- mittee knows the situation in all its aspects, and particularly the psychology of the parties, which is an extremely i~portant aspect. 'I understand that the suggestion is acceptable in principle to aIl three members of the Committee. 1 think that the Security Council should take very seriously any suggestion coming from members or a member of the Committee. The Security Counci1 has not gone, and hardly could go exhaustively, into aIl the details of this very complicated situation. The Security· Council must, therefore, tmst the Committee, and the majority of repre- sentatives have shown that they feel that the Committee is to be trusted. They·have approved in very large measure thé work the Committee has done, and have shown their confidence in it. If the Security Council is not itself to àct on all issùes, it must trust the Committee· -and give great weight to a request for an extension of functions, so long as that request does not change the nature of the Committee of Good Offices. proposition. l'Accord difficultés République ce matin. à pouvoir ficultés empêchent politiques des semble-t-il. causent peut-être le de selon blique Pays-Bas partie se M. déclaration annulée. That is the first reasan for which 1 think that this suggestion ought to be accepted by the Security Council. The second reason is that difficulties in the carrying out of the Agreement already appear to be arising in Indonesia. Some of those diffi- culties have been mentioned this morning by the representative of the Indonesian Republic. 1 fêel that the Committee should be in a position to anticipate the difficulties so that it can act at an early stage before &fferences and difficulties ~ssume proportions that might prevent successful IDlplementation of the political principles and of the truce. 1 say that difficulties appear to be arising already. For instance, 1 understand that certain matters are causing difficulty at this present moment. The Security Counc~ inay· have noticedpi'ess reports of 15 February to the effect that the Premier of the Republic had asked thé ~ether1ands.authorities formally for ·the cancella- tion of the conference conçerning West Java scheduled for 23 February-that is, for the day a~ertomorrow. Mr. SastroaQÙdjojo's statement this morning indicated that that:conferenœ. had not'in factbeen'cancelled~ ;m"'" .'" prir..ciples~ and one in which the Committee and the Security Council are interested. Ifdifficulty or deadIock were to oceur in matters of tlrls kind falling within the scope of the terms of the Renville Agreement, it would seem MOSt usefulthat the Committee should, with proper discretion, be able ta make suggestions without waiting tobe callèd upon by the parties to do so. . At.the 248th meeting, the representative of the Republic mentioned. the blockade. The whole question of the arrangements that have to be made about uade bristles with difliculties. It has been one of the principal causes of delay and !»reakdown hithertoand,.there.again, if the Com- mittee cOuld take the initiative, at its' discretion, aridmake suggestions to resolve difliculties before they reached. the stage of breakdown, it would be a greatfactor in lielping to bring about a just and lasting settlement. 'I .mention these matters to illustrate the fact that thèdifliculties wbièhhavebeen foreseen I!lay even now be.arising. They \\'ill tax to the utmost the. Ù!ge~~ty and patien,ce ,of the Committee' an4 its ,abilityto bring about a settlement. The Commi~ has achieved a notablesuccess. It !J.a&reèe~~d the appro.val of the. majority of the s.~~ty. C~uncil. However, it needs a more: eireètive procedure. It should not be handicapped in.its further work. Without changing its nature, it co\lldact IDorepositivelyand more r.xpeditiously. ne S~uritYCouncilclearly desires thespeediest s!'ttlementcompàtiblewithjustice andperm~nence. and it should give its Comniittee the means 'to b~g that about. .' . .ï think' thê dralt resolution' should contain a.paragraph along the lines ofthe suggestionmade oyMt.Justice Kirby. If Australia was still meinller of the ~ecurity Couneil, its representative wo,uJ~ 'mak~ a.proposai of that kind. It .seems to me;quitedear that it is the opinion of th~Security Couricil tbat it is a matter for. the Coinmittee of Good Offices- itsel(to .determine whether that Comnûttee iri the future should ptake and~ at its..'discretion~ publi~h suggestions to the parties to hèlp tliemdn;;reaching a politicalsettlement~ \Vithout. necessarilywaiting for .th.e partiesto request the Committee to do so'., The suggestion wehaveheard just. now from the representative ofColomQia seems to sum up the matter very weIl. : In passing Imay say thatthek:has:.,apparentlY been SOme misunderstanding conceming a text

In a matter of such importance as the functions and the powers of the Committee of Good Offices in the conduct of the direct negotiations between the Governments of the Netherlands and of the Indonesian Republie, wbich are shortly to be resumed, and to which reference has been made by the representatives ôf Australia, Colombia, and others, 1 believe that the Security Council should be given the opportunity of expressing itself on a specific proposaI. In'this connexion 1 wish to point out that while several members have referred to possible amendments to the draft resolution before'us, so far the Security Council has no specific text of an amendment upon which it could vote. Mr. ARCE (Argentina) (translatedfrom Spanish): We have before us a draft resolution with which Ifully agree because, among other reasons, 1 should be inclined to agree with any similar draft resolution to th~ effect that the negotiations which have made such a good beginning should be con- ~ueduntil a pacifie settlement is reached between the Netherlands and the Republicof Indonesia. Aspecificextension ofpowershas beenrequested. 1 do not consider this necessary. On that point I.agree with the representative of France; but at the same time 1 do not object to the Committee's being given the widest possible powers. Ithink that a committee, commission or agent of'good offices has all the powers necessary for th~,fulfiIment of its mission, and we know what the mission .of a committee of this nature 1s, acommittee which offers its good offices to two parties when difficulties have arisen. It is my understanding therefore that the ,Committee of Good Offices has all the powers necessary' for llceomplishing its task 'and that there is no need tO'specify these powers in a resolution; but at the same time 1 do not oppose having them set down Ù,lc-writing. "li:Ms been said that one ofthe parties has made ~ore concessions than the other in order to Iellc~this settlement, and the'impression could be ~~~~red that this might give rise to controversy, qll,1te,possibly leading to further differenees and W~ renewal of the struggle. 1 feel that when an agreement has been reached it is best.to let bygones ~e;bygones and to look only to the future. Perhaps It IS true thatone of the parties has made more concessions than the other and that the balance atpresent is in favour of the Indonesian Republic; ~stWish\,'.to point out, however, not only to the }clirity Couneil, but particularly to the repre- ~,~p:tative of the people of'Indonesia, that the ~d~pendence of his country is on his side of the ~ala~ce and that this advantage alone, when'all IS êOnsidered, carries more.weight than ali the concessions, that may have been made. It is Therefore, 1 believe that if the independence sought by the people of Indonesla is achieved through this agreement, it should be favoured and supported in every way by the Security Council without too much concern as to which party made the greater number of concessions in order to reach agreement. The essential' thing is that the agreement has been reached and that peace has ~nachieved: that the peoples of Indonesia are to be free. TheGovetnmentofThe Hague, through the representative of the sovereignty of the Netherlands, the Queen herself,Ms declared that If colonialism nis dead; that ithas ended. 1 do not know if tbis will be true throughout the entire world, but what 1 do know, what 1 am concemed with, is that if the political settlement which is sought in this agreement is reached, colonialism will have died in the Netherlands East Indi(;;~ and, as a result, the Indonesian. people will have acquired what it desires and what we must aIl desire in accordance with the Charter: the selfdetermination of peoples who are able to govern themselves and to decide their own fate in the march of history. . Further, in connexion with the Indonesian representative's request for guarantees that the agreement will he fu1fi11ed, he mayrest assured that he will obtain them, not only because the Government of The Hague is.publicly committed to snch ân understanding-and 1 cannat believé that its representatives would go against the intentions expressedby the Government of the Netherlands-but aIso because, by virtue of the resolution ID force and the one now beirig drafted, events in the Netherlands East Indies will henceforward be under.the vigilant and attentive eye ofthe Security Counci1 in· order to ensui'e that these guarantees are not disregarded. It is in these terms that 1 justify my vote for the draft resolution that has been. submitted by the President. 1 again urge therepresentative of Indonesia.,ifhis country has reached an agreement with the Netllerlands Government, to pursue the negotiations still further, for the final goal sought along the lengthy road that they have been following is that of political independence; and all the rest, .once politiC!l1 indepenâence has been achieved, as the Bible says, If shall be added unto you n. 1 hope that these words will reassure thè representative of Indonesia regarding the guarantees which he has requested, since the Committee of Good Offices will not lack means of implemen,.. tation. In my opinion it is by the good o..ffices themselyesclwhiçJ!~· tbis Coll1D1Îttçe. provige~ thaJ it posSesses all the. powers which it needs. . ~pportunitythis moming to sayat this stage what it wanted to say, that opportunity should not be Withhêld from the Netherlands. 1 shall be brief. and 1 wish to abide by my dec1ared intention not to go deeper into matters in the course oftms debate than 1 absolutely must, for 1 certainly iwant to do nothing which would spoil that atmosphere of conciliation and goodwill which has had such a difficult, though fortunately. successful, birth. This, of course, should nothe taken to mean that 1 agree with everything that has been said around this table. In the case ~f the representatives of the Union of Soviet Socialist. Republics and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic l believe that there was hardly -one· word or phrase in their long and bitter ind1ctments With which 1 could agree. So far as the other speakers are' concemed, and without necessarily agreeing with everything they said, therè is only one point-a.point in the remarks made by the representative of India-which 1 œnnot let go entirely unnoticed. At the 251st meeting the representative of India said something from which it·could, appear that he thinks that1had in some measure aecepted Mt. Justice Kirby's suggestion that the Committee <of Good Offices' should have the right to make proposaIs which the Committee could then publish. I fear that the representative of Indla labours lInder a, misapprehension there. An 1 did with regard to Mr. Jllstice Kirby's suggestion, as :appears c1early in therecotd of the 247th meeting, 'Was to remind the leamed Judge that the Committee can' do anything a committe.J of good -offices can do, .but nothing more. and' that, in particular, it cannot alter its own nature. That was :aU and there 1 stop. But, after the remarks of the Indian representative, 1must go one step further. What Mt. Justice K#by said coIisistedof two parts: the-Committee should fust make, and secondly; ifit sees fit, publish its suggestions to the parties without waiting necessarily' for both parties to invite it to do so. . ,A,stherepresentatives ofFrance and the United KingdOIll rightly said, there· seems ta me no a priori objection to the Committee of Good OffiCéS or, for that matter, any committee of good offices, making suggestions )Vithin its terms of reference to the parties without waiting for both parties toinvite it to do so. That is a matter of expediel1cy, ',of good sense and good diplomatic tact, the àimalways being, as·,''ÏS naturàlfora cOmmïttee of good' .offices, voluntary.;..:..and 1 al~ays he sought; andthatis eitherby agreement with ,the parties or by sending a report to the Security Council,which the Council, according to its current practice" would then 'l1lake public. But incidental. publicity by a committee of good offices, without the previous consent ofthe parties, see~sto me contrary tO its essentialnature. The çommittee of GoodOffices' cannot, by its very nature, impose anything on the parties;' and it ther~fore'should scrupulously abstaiJl, it seems to me.. frOID anYthing' tha! would bè,'in effect, an àttempt 'to impose som~thing. This, 1 believe, is not omy good logic, but also good international law and practice. . There have' be,en members who spoke abolit the desirability of the, Coinmittee of. Good Offices ba$g certain powers' of arbitration~ 1 submit that, if the Committee of Good Offices received powers of arbitration, it would take away the fragrance and, what is far worse, the fertility, of the precioùs fiower of voluntary agreement. Imposed solutionsseem to me to be of litt1e value because they would lead only to future tension, for instance, or \Vorsè; and, 1 would ask th~ SecuriDi' Couneil most earhestlytiot to enter intO that role. 1 should,like topoin~ out thatarbitration,and a committ~ ofgoodoffices deserving ofthat name, are notionswhich are mutually exclusive. In other words, the Committee of Good Offices having arbitralpowers ceases to b~ a com.nri.ttee of good offices;. and 1 think.1 shouldmake it· abundantly clear .that weare opposed to the, Committee, which has worked so succes~fu11y with the powers thatit has, losing its p~esent char.lj.cter, andthis in the interests ofthat yoluntary agreement which we should likèto lieerea,ched.' - .l ,wish to refer brietly to the remarks made earlier today 'by the' representativè of Indonesia. Mr. SastroamidJoJo said -that the NetheJ,'lands iS"continuing to maké plans to create a- Statein We ieave these people completely free because we want freedom of expression in those areas now and forever more.,I believe that is true democracy. As 1 stated at the 247th meeting we do not want eiiher to fomept or, on t~e other 'side, to stifle, any such popular movement. That is oW'position. 1 wish to thank the members of the Security Council for having given me this opportunity to make my remarks. Mr. L6PEZ (Colombia): When 1 spoke earlier today I announced that we were, ready to move an amendment to the draft, resolution of the President, and that we would be glad to' have the opportunity to listen, to the remarks, that any member of the SecurityCouncil might wish to make before formally submitting our amendment. 1read substantially what my delegation intended to propose. As it has now been stated that there is no draft resolution other than the onesubmitted by the Canadiàn delegation, I should like to ask the President if we have to wait or if 1 can now ask the Security Council formally to consider our amendnient. 'This' amendment is to be inc1uded before the last paragraph of the draft resolution submittèd by therepresentative of Canada. The amendment [document S/682] reads as follows: " "Invites the parties: "(a) To direct their efforts, with the assistance of the Committee of Good Offices, toward the early and full implementation of the bases for a political settlement, arready agreed upon; and . "(b) To avail themselves of the Committee's serviçes 'for th~ solùtion of any differences that may arise between them in respect of the interp~etation .and application of such principles; . "ReqUims the Committee of Good, Offices: ,'" (a)To coIitmue,' bythe means that they ~onsider most appropriate, to assist the· parties ln their endèavours t6 àttain the' ends set forth ilbclVe." The last 'paragraph of the Canadian draft res~luti(jnwhich would follow at this point, reac1s as follows: ' , ,'1 Requests both parties a~d the Committee of GoodOffices to keep the Councildirectlyïnformed about the progress of the political settlement in Indonesia." Mr. LôPBZ (Colombia): Yes, 1 should like to submit that proposai as an amendment to the draft ~esolution submitted by the President because, among other reasons, 1 should not like to abstain from voting on the draft resolution as it stands.

The proposai has been made that we should vote now. Mt. FORn"TB (Australia): 1 understand that the representative of a country which is not a member of the Securïty Councll but has been invited to participate in the discussion, is in position to propose an amelldmet't or draft resolution formally, but that it would not be voted on unless this was desired by one of the members of the Security Councll. If that is the position, 1 should lilee formally to propose the following amendment: that after the words, " by peaceful means ", in the third paragraph of the Canadian draft resolution the following paragraph be inserted: <t Considers that it is a matter for the Committee of Good Offices itsclf as to whether that Committee in the future should make and, at its discretion, publish suggestions to the parties to help t~em .iL. reaching a politica1 settlement, without necessarily waiting for the parties to request them to do so." . MI. HSIA(China): Ishould like to go back to the President's original proposai of adjourning the meeting until the morning of 26 February. In view of the two amendments put forward at the last minute; it seems unwise to rush the matter through like this. Personally,l do liot think it is wise. May 1 therefore suggest that we adjoum.

May 1 remind the members of the Security Councll that, on·a motion for adjoumment, remarks other than those directed to a1journment will be out of order. Mr. LOFEZ (Colombia): 1 wish ta support the position.takenby the Chint.,se representative, the more so as the President has a1ready indicated that he intends to adjourn the meet1~1, with the idea of discuss;Iig··on~oFebi.mry tht; question of the powers of the Committee. The·President, in bis discretion, .could aUow anyone to· speak, and consequently he allowed the Netherlands representative to speak as he did. But now, 1 submit that it would be advisable for tbe ~.x:urity Council to have an opportu~tyto discuss tbis mattèr on 26 February. Mr•.. GROMYKO (Union of. Soviet Socialist Republics): 1 shall aIso wish briefly to discuss the substance of the matter. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY.. THIRD :MEETING Held at Lake Success, New York, on Tuesday, 24 Fehruary 1948 at 10.30 a.m. President: General McNAUGHTON (Canada). Argentine, France, d'Ukraine, soviétiques,Royaume-Uni,États-Unisd'Amérique. Present: The representatives of the foliowing countries: Argentina, Belgium, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Syria, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, United Kingdom, United States of America. 34. Provisional agenda (document SIAgenda 253) 34. 1. Adoption of the agenda. 2. The Palestine question: (a) First monthly progress report to the Security Council of the Unitèd Nations Palestine Commission (document S/663). 1. 2. (h) First special report to the Security Couneil: The Problem of Security in Palestine; submitted by the United Nations Palestine t::ommission (document S/676). 35. Adoption of the agenda 36. 36. Consi~eration of applications to par- ticipate in the discussion of the Palestine question le points convient dure. renseignements pense Président pour desquelles nous exammerons les rapports préparés par. cette

Before the Sccurity Council commences discussion with regard to the item on the agenda, there are certain matters of procedure which,.1 suggest, should fust be settled. In order that the Security Council May take advantage of the fullest information, 1 believe the Security Council would wish to extend to the Chait-man of the United Nations Palestine Commission an invitation to attend those meetings of the Security Council at which the Palestine Commission's reports to the Security Council aie .under consideration. . In addition, applications have been received by the Secretary..General from the Governments ofEgypt [document 8/617] and Lebanon [document 8/618] .to participate in the disoussions of the Security Couneil at .the time that the question of Palestine is under consideration. There is aIso an application from the Jewish ment ont vue de la l'Agence juive qui tous question examin.e statue des Conseil. suivrons d'indiquer. Age~cy for Palestine [document 8/619] to be admitted and tobe heardin any discussion with regard to the Palestine question which may take place in the Security Council. 1 would suggest, therefore, that the Security ~ouncil should consider these questions' indi- Vldually and.should decide upon thern before.any ofthese parties to whom1 havê referred are invited to take their places at the Security Council table~ lherefore:,> ifthe Security Council coneurs, we s~a1l ollow this procedure~