Cablegram 969 WASHINGTON, 15 July 1946, 4.07 p.m.
IMMEDIATE SECRET
Your telegram 1051 and 1052. [1] Trusteeship Agreement.
I regret to say that my specific instructions on Draft Trusteeship Agreement have not been carried into effect. The draft now submitted is far too long and detailed and unnecessarily raises a remote issue. It takes no account whatever of the principles of the short draft which I prepared and sent with Forsyth’s assistance [2]. I intended Bailey and Eggleston to consider my draft. But long argumentative and embarrassing matters now appear which reproduce the grave defects of the New Zealand draft.
There is no occasion for long recitals or reference to the slave trade and other remote matters. All that is required is a short reference to the Charter itself having in mind that the Charter defined the many obligations.
New Zealand has deliberately introduced political matter of local significance in Samoa where there is an active native political group. New Guinea is in an entirely different position. This is especially important as the agreement must be placed before Parliament where, in my view, it is essential, in accordance with my clear declaration, to emphasise the continuation of complete Australian control and authority over the territory subject only to the clauses contained in the Charter.
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1 Dispatched 13 July, cablegram 1052 conveyed a revised draft trusteeship agreement for New Guinea prepared by Bailey and Eggleston. See also Volume IX, Document 317 and note 2 thereto.
2 ‘Short draft’ presumably refers to Evatt’s revision of the draft prepared in the External Affairs Dept in April-May.
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[AA:A1067, 1c46/101/1]