Circular cablegram D14 LONDON, 8 January 1943, 9.35 p.m.
MOST SECRET IMPORTANT
My immediately preceding telegram. [1] Following is revised text.
Begins- The immediate object of the United Nations is to defeat the present aggression and to render future aggression impossible.
This requires for its successful achievement the establishment of conditions under which security, prosperity and equal opportunity can be assured to all peoples.
2. This then is the aim of those Nations which have, owing to past events, become armed with responsibilities for the future of Colonial peoples. But it is evident that while some peoples are far advanced along this road, the development and resources of others are not yet such as to enable them to achieve security and prosperity by themselves. It is therefore the duty of ‘Parent or Trustee’ States to guide and develop the social, economic and political institutions of the Colonial peoples until they are able, without danger to themselves and others, to discharge the responsibilities of Government.
3. Freedom from fear and want should be the assured possession not of some but of all peoples. It is the clear responsibility of the ‘Parent or Trustee’ States to enter into general defence schemes designed to secure the safety of all peoples. The duty of guidance must be discharged in the general interest of all Nations as well as in the particular interest of the peoples of the territories concerned. In pursuance of this policy the natural resources of Colonial territories should be organised and marketed not for the promotion merely of commercial ends, but rather for the service of the people concerned and of the world as a whole.
4. The ‘Parent or Trustee’ States will remain responsible for the administration of their territories. But the policy embodied in this declaration cannot successfully be pursued without a large measure of co-operation between Nations. We accordingly propose the [establishment] [2] for certain regions, as soon as circumstances permit, of Commissions comprising both the ‘Parent or Trustee’ States concerned in the region and other States which have a major strategic or economic interest there. The machinery of each Commission should be designed to give the people of the territories an opportunity to be associated with its work. These Commissions will provide effective machinery for consultation and collaboration so that the States concerned may work together to promote the advancement of the Colonial peoples and the general welfare of mankind.
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1 Document 95.
2 Corrected from the London copy in PRO:DO 114/119.
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[AA:A989, 43/735/1021]