Speaking on behalf of the American delegation to the United Nations Conference on International Organization, Commander Harold E. Stassen told a press conference today that the delegation has pledged itself to work to aske the development and safeguarding of human rights, without regard to race, or religion, one of the basic purposes of the international organization which will be established here.
Provisions for international implementation of that purpose will also be recommended by the U.S. delegation, Commander Stassen said, emphasizing that this piedge will be one of the amendments to the Dumbarton Oaks proposals which the delegation will submit to the conference.
The decision of the U.S. delegation to embody the demand for safeguarding of human rights among its amendments to Dumbarton Oaks was taken last night, and came as a result of a petition signed by 25 of the civic organizations who are consultants to the delegation, including the American Jewish Conference and the American Jewish Committee.
Led by Prof. James Shotwell and Judge Joseph M. Proskauer, president of the American Jewish Committee, these consultants insisted, in an interview with the U.S. delegates, that a Commission on Human Rights must be established as part of the proposed international organization and that the U. S. delegation must take the lead in demanding the establishment of such a commission.
Not all members of the U.S. delegation were at first agreeable to this demand, it is understood, but after the consultants met late in the afternoon with Secretary of State Stettinius, he promised that he would place the petition before the American delegation and use his influence to have the principles it outlined included in the Dumbarton Oaks amendments.
STASSEN SAYS PALESTINE MANDATE “WILL REMAIN WHERE IT IS”
Commander Stassen, who has been designated by the American delegation to deed with the trusteeship question in behalf of the United States Government, today told this correspondent in an exclusive interview that “the Palestine Mandate will remain where it is” and that no changes are contemplated now.
He explained that the committee dealing with the trusteeship system will first attempt to secure the agreement of all members of the United Nations in its report which will not refer to any specific territory. He indicated that a recommandation with regard to the Palestine Mandate will have to come from Britain as holder of the mandate some time after the machinery for dealing with mandated areas is established.
Meanwhile, leaders of the American Jewish Conference have approached members of the committee on trusteeships, requesting that the Jewish Agency be consulted before the committee adopts a formula on the trusteeship plan.
The member of the New Zealand delegation who will be named chairman of the committee is known to have pro-Zionist sentiments. The British delegation announced that its representative on the committee will be Lord Cranborne, former Colonial Secretary, assisted by A. H. Poynton of the Colonial Office. The other delegations have not yet announced the names of their members.
Georges Bidault, French Foreign Minister, addressing a press conference yesterday, said that France has not been consulted on the Palestine question by any of the Allied powers. He expressed the hope that those dealing with the Palestine problem will solve it successfully.
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