Cablegram Precom 30 LONDON, 13 October 1945, 8.15 p.m.
SECRET
1. Committee 3 yesterday adopted its report on the Economic and Social Council for submission to the Executive Committee.
2. Most of the report was drafted by the Australian representative and retains our essential points. The title ‘Economic and Employment Commission’ with a subordinate ‘Employment Committee’ was retained by a majority vote and the American alternative proposal was defeated. Terms of reference of the Commission include ‘Promotion of world wide full employment’ as well as co- ordination of full employment.
3. The report states that the Commissions are the minimum requirements for immediate establishment by the Council at its first session and that it has been assumed that there will be specialised agencies dealing with specific fields such as monetary policy and trade policy. We raised no objection to the acceptance of this assumption, as the alternative would have been a proposal by the United States and United Kingdom for a Trade Policy Commission with functions which would probably have weakened the overall authority of the Economic and Employment Commission [1] within the Council structure. If a trade agency should not be set up next year, the proposal for a Commission will be revised but by then the Economic and Employment Commission will be well established.
4. We did not succeed in having the term of office of the President made shorter than one year.
5. The Social Commission is to be a temporary Commission to review the organizational requirements in the social field and to deal with urgent problems pending the mapping out of a more permanent structure. In view of the decision to limit recommendations to minimum requirements and because of the limited time of this Committee, we did not press for a Housing and Town Planning Commission, but there will be appointment at the Preparatory Commission. The final report as adopted by the Executive Committee might be referred to Departments such as Health for their comments on prospects for specific subjects.
The Provisional agenda for the Council provides for discussion of urgent economic and social problems and invites the Preparatory Commission to add specific items. The Australian Delegation at the Preparatory Commission should be instructed on this point.
The Executive Committee is expected to discuss the report on Tuesday.
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1 A sign here indicates ‘portion indecipherable’. Remainder of text has been added from a correcting unnumbered-cablegram, dispatched 15 October, on file AA : A1066, H45/771/4.
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[AA : A1066, H45/771/4]