ment in the Trusteeship Council, three articles gave rise to particular problems. These were the provisions relating to the boundaries of the territory, the question of defense and armed forces, and the question of land and other natural resources.

Inasmuch as the greater part of the boundary between Ethiopia and former Italian Somaliland has been in dispute, some difficulty was encountered in drafting article 1. A satisfactory solution was reached providing that the boundaries shall be those fixed by international agreement and, where they are not already delimited, that they shall be delimited in accordance with the procedure approved by the General Assembly. Pursuant to the resolution on boundaries of the former Italian colonies adopted by the General Assembly at its fourth session, the Interim Committee of the General Assembly and the General Assembly itself considered this question during 1950. A summary of these developments is contained in chapter I of this report. During the Trusteeship Council consideration of the boundaries question, the United Kingdom representative informed the Council of the provisional boundary line which would be established for the transfer of the territory to Italy.

With respect to the question of defense and armed forces in article 6, there was initially a marked divergence between the representatives of the Philippines and Italy during the Council's discussion. The Philippine representative wished to prohibit the establishment of military, naval, or air bases and the stationing or employing of Italian forces in the Territory. He also wished matters relating to defense to be decided by the United Nations. After some discussion the Council decided to insert in article 6 a provision for consultation with the Advisory Council on matters relating to defense. The representative of Italy stated that the Italian Government had no intention of sending a larger metropolitan force to the Territory than the total forces then maintained by the British military administration in the Territory.

Article 14, regarding land and other natural resources, evolved after a long discussion in which the representative of Iraq took a very strong position against any alienation of land or resources. Other members, however, maintained that such a prohibition would seriously retard economic development in the Territory. Agreement was finally reached on the present text, which is much more stringent than that contained in any of the other trusteeship agreements.

When consideration of the draft trusteeship agreement prepared by the Trusteeship Council was undertaken in the Fourth Committee of the General Assembly, the underlying issue was whether the agreement should be approved in the form submitted by the Council or

whether the Assembly should undertake a clause-by-clause examination of the draft with a view to modification and amendment. In view of the fact that the draft trusteeship agreement had been prepared pursuant to the previous decision of the General Assembly, had been unanimously approved by the Trusteeship Council, and had been accepted by Italy as the administering authority, the United States and eight other delegations (Argentina, Colombia, Denmark, India, Iraq, Norway, Pakistan, and the Philippines) presented a resolution recommending, in effect, that the draft agreement be approved without amendment.

The representative of the administering authority made certain declarations in the Fourth Committee, in response to inquiries raised regarding such matters as forced labor, immigration, and budgetary policy, which enabled certain delegations to support the draft agreement without change.

Representatives of the Somali Youth League and the Conferenza. della Somalia were heard by the Fourth Committee during the examination of the draft trusteeship agreement.

The joint draft resolution recommending approval of the agreement was adopted by the Fourth Committee by 44 votes for, 5 against (the Soviet group), and 1 abstention (Liberia). The Delegation of Ethiopia did not participate in the voting. The General Assembly on December 3, 1950, approved the trusteeship agreement by a vote of 44 to 6.

3. Special Trusteeship Problems

(a) FLYING THE UNITED NATIONS FLAG IN

TRUST TERRITORIES

The General Assembly at its fourth session adopted a resolution requesting the Trusteeship Council to recommend to the administering authorities that the flag of the United Nations be flown over all trust territories side by side with the flag of the administering authority concerned and with the territorial flag if there should be one.

The United States supported this resolution as well as the resolution introduced in the sixth session of the Trusteeship Council to implement it. In the Council the flying of the United Nations flag in trust territories was opposed on the grounds that it would cause confusion in the minds of the people of the territories as to where the ultimate

authority in the government of the territories rested. The United States Delegation recognized the possibility of such difficulties in some trust territories and expressed the view that the administering authorities must be given latitude in handling any practical administrative difficulties which might be created. Other members of the Council who supported the resolution argued that the Council had little choice but to pass the resolution since it had been requested to do so by the Assembly. When the resolution was put to a vote in the Council the result, in two consecutive votes, was a tie and, in accordance with the Council's rules of procedure, the resolution was defeated. The question was reopened in the seventh session of the Council with the reintroduction of a resolution similar to that which previously had been defeated. The United States Delegation, after consultation with both administering and nonadministering members of the Council, proposed an amendment to this resolution stating the understanding that the administering authorities would, in carrying out the terms of the resolution, have latitude to handle any practical difficulties of administration which the recommendation might create. In this amended form the resolution was acceptable to a majority of the Council and was adopted.

(b) ADMINISTRATIVE UNIONS AFFECTING

TRUST TERRITORIES

During the past 3 years the problem of administrative unions between trust territories and adjacent territories under the sovereignty of the administering authorities has occasioned considerable controversy in the Trusteeship Council and the General Assembly.

Under the provisions of the trusteeship agreements a number of administrative unions involving trust territories have been established. For example, in Africa the Trust Territory of Tanganyika since January 1, 1948, has been a member of the East Africa Interterritorial Organization, which includes the neighboring British colonies of Kenya and Uganda. In the Pacific area the Trust Territory of New Guinea and the Territory of Papua, both administered by Australia, form an administrative union.

In the Trusteeship Council and the General Assembly fears have been expressed that administrative unions of trust territories and other dependent territories might prevent the Council from effectively performing its functions under the international trusteeship system and might eventually extinguish the political identity of the trust territories concerned. On the other hand the administering authori

ties have contended that the administrative unions are advantageous to the trust territories. They have assured the Council that the separate status and identity of the trust territories will be maintained and that the progress of the inhabitants toward self-government or independence will not be jeopardized by the unions.

The General Assembly at its fourth session considered the work on administrative unions previously undertaken by the Council and recommended that the Council continue and complete its investigation of administrative unions affecting trust territories, paying particular attention to the desirability of five specific points, namely: (1) informing the Council before extending the scope of existing unions or creating new unions; (2) supervision by the Council over a unified administration if the administering authority cannot furnish clear and precise data on the trust territory concerned; (3) establishing separate judicial organizations in each territory; (4) establishing separate legislative bodies in each territory and eliminating outside legislative action; (5) taking into account the fully expressed wishes of the inhabitants before establishing or extending an administrative union. The resolution also asked for a report on the result of the Council's investigation, including its recommendations regarding any safeguards which it might consider necessary, and requested that the Council continue to observe the development of administrative unions. In response to the General Assembly resolution, the Trusteeship Council continued to examine the question during 1950 and drew up a final report and resolution which was unanimously approved by the Council. This resolution evaluates all but one of the existing administrative unions in the light of each of the five factors contained in the General Assembly resolution. British Togoland was excepted because new administrative arrangements for it are under consideration. The Trusteeship Council resolution also calls the attention of the administering authorities to four safeguards which the Council considers necessary to assist it in the discharging of its functions and to avoid the possibility of the operation of any administrative union prejudicing the attainment of the objectives of the trusteeship system. These safeguards are (1) to furnish clear, precise, and separate data on conditions in the trust territories; (2) to facilitate the access of visiting missions to information on administrative unions; (3) to maintain the boundaries, separate status, and identity of the trust territories; and (4) to insure that expenditures on administration, welfare, and development for a given year be not less than the public revenue derived from the trust territory in that year. Finally, the Council decided to establish a Standing Committee on Administrative Unions, composed of six members of the Council, which will regularly

examine the operation of administrative unions and report to the Council at each session.

The report of the Trusteeship Council on administrative unions was presented to the fifth session of the General Assembly. No specific action was required by the Assembly, and it decided to postpone further consideration of the question of administrative unions until the sixth session of the General Assembly in 1951.

The United States Delegations to the Trusteeship Council and the General Assembly have played an active role in the work of these organs on the question of administrative unions. The United States was a member of each of the Trusteeship Council's ad hoc committees on administrative unions and is a member of the Standing Committee on Administrative Unions recently established by the Council.

On the substance of the question, the United States has taken the position that, since administrative unions are authorized by the trusteeship agreements, they cannot be declared illegal as such. In certain cases administrative unions have positive advantages in avoiding fragmentation of colonial areas and in benefiting the inhabitants by making possible a higher level of administrative services. The United States has also taken the position that the essential thing is not to seek a final opinion by the Trusteeship Council or the General Assembly approving or condemning administrative unions but rather for the Trusteeship Council to keep the operation of each administrative union under constant observation in order to insure that it continues to conform with the basic objectives of the trusteeship system and the terms of the trusteeship agreements. In assessing the operation of individual administrative unions, the United States has taken the position, first, that the separate status and identity of the territory be maintained until the inhabitants reach a stage of political advancement which will enable them to determine for themselves the form of their government and political associations, if any, into which they may wish to enter; second, that the political, economic, social, and educational advancement of the trust territory ought not to be subordinated to the interests of any other territory in the Union; and, third, that the operation of the administrative union should not prevent the Council from receiving separate financial, statistical, and other records necessary for the performance of its functions.