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a suitable date. But if that should be absolutely impossible then it
would be necessary to adjourn the Conference. He emphasized, how-
ever, that the Soviet Delegation thought it would be a mistake to
adjourn the Conference. He stated that at the previous meeting Dr.
Wang had suggested November 11 as the date and that the Soviet and
French Delegations had expressed no objection. He urged that they
attempt to reach an agreement on this point.
  DR. WANG said that at the last meeting no decision had been reached
since the other members desired time to study his suggestion, par-
ticularly in the absence of Mr. Byrnes. He said he wished to point
out that he did not believe that the Council should actually request
postponement but merely suggest that the Secretary General ascer-
tain the views of the members of the United Nations. November 1t
has been forwarded merely as a basis for discussion.
  THE SECRETARY said that he had already attended two or three
meetings to discuss this subject and had expressed the views of the
United States. Through no fault of any of them it has not been
possible for all the Foreign Ministers to be present at any one meeting
on this subject. From the first it had been the United States view
that it was not the business of the Council of Foreign Ministers to
settle this question. The Council had been set up at Potsdam to work
on the question of treaties. The matter of the General Assembly was
for the United Nations to settle. There was, however, no reason why
the countries represented at this table could not in their capacity as
members of the United Nations make known their views. It is true,
he said, that on previous occasions when the Council of Foreign Min-
isters was in session the Secretary General in the United States had
asked their opinion as to the advisability of postponing the General
Assembly and that the Council had stated its opinion. This time the
Secretary General had sent his Assistant to ascertain these views and
he assumed that the others had given them as frankly as he had.
Thus these views were now known and he felt it was now up to the
appropriate officials of the United Nations to decide. He pointed out
he had no written request from the Secretary General. The United
States position remained that the Council had no right to decide this
question. He did not know how many delegations here at the Peace
Conference were for or against the proposal. At the last meeting he
attended he had suggested that Mr. Spaak, as President of the Assem-
bly, might report to Mr. Lie the opinions of the various governments
here or, if preferred, any government here could request an adjourn-
ment. He did not feel, however, that the Council as a body should do
this.
  MR. SPAAK said that since the middle of August, in view of the
progress of the Conference, he had been worried about this question.
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