Cablegram PC14 PARIS, 16 August 1946, 9.40 p.m.
IMMEDIATE SECRET
Report 10.
The Soviet continued the fight regarding voting procedures when recommendations of the Commission on Procedures were submitted to the plenary session of the conference. Principally because of the excellent extempore speech by the Minister in spite of the Commission’s recommendation proceedings were little delayed by the Soviet move and the recommendation of the Commission was adopted by 15 votes to 4.
2. Australia, together with Brazil, China and Yugoslavia were elected as members of the secretariat.
3. During the past few days, two plenary sessions of the conference have been held daily. At these sessions statements have been made by each of the five ex-enemy states and at the end of each statement discussion has been invited. The Soviet Union and satellite states have been the only members of the conference eager to take advantage of these invitations to any extent and have used them to expound the Soviet attitude to regimes in each country concerned. Statements by ex-enemy states and discussion upon them will be concluded by the end of the week.
4. It is expected that the Commissions will start work in earnest next week. To date only the Political and Economic Commission on the Italian treaty have met, each of these commissions having held inaugural meeting and elected officers. South Africa and India were elected chairmen of the Political and Economic Commissions respectively and Ukraine and Yugoslavia chairmen.’
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1 A sign here indicates ‘as received’. The final sentence doubtless was intended to indicate that Ukrainian and Yugoslav delegates had been elected chairmen of commissions dealing with Romania and Hungary respectively.
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[AA:A1067, E46/38/14]