One of the objects of my recent visit to New York was to report as to the necessity for Canadian representation to the United Nations, and as to the form that such representation might take.

The Charter does not make any provision for states which are not members of the Security Council to be represented at the seat of the Organization, although it does provide that members of the Security Council should be rep­resented "at all times at the seat of the Organization". So far no Department has been established in the United Nations to make suitable arrangements for the reception of Missions from states not members of the Security Council and, in fact, no such Missions have so far been established. Moreover, in the present disorganized and scattered condition of the Secretariat the Organiza­tion has no centre where the Head of such a Mission would have an opportunity to encounter his colleagues. All that the Canadian representative to the United Nations could do in existing circumstances would be to attend the meetings of the Security Council as an observer, to maintain informal contact with the delegations of members of the Security Council and to keep in touch with the United Nations Secretariat. It would, however, be desirable to have a Canadian representative in New York to perform these functions. Such a representative would have the following among his other duties:—(a) He would attend the meetings of the Security Council and report on the proceed­ings. He would supplement his official attendance at the meetings of the Council by maintaining close contact with the British, American and other delegations (although he would have difficulty in maintaining close contact with the Soviet delegation). In this way the Canadian Government should receive full reports of what is going on, not only in the Security Council but behind the scenes. There is obviously an opportunity for an important job of diplomatic reporting to be done in New York. The United Kingdom delega­tion is small and overworked and we do not seem to be getting through the Dominions Office very full reports of what is going on in the background of events in the Security Council. Moreover, questions will arise before the Security Council which affect Canadian interests more or less directly. The work of the Committee of experts on rules of procedure for the Security Council and the Military Staff Committee is a case in point. I was able to bring the Canadian views on certain aspects of these rules of procedure informally to the attention of the United States and United Kingdom delegations. There will be occasions on which more important and direct Canadian interests are affected by the work of the Security Council.

(b) The Canadian representative would maintain contact with the Mem­bers of the Secretariat on specific questions as they arise. For example, when I was in New York I was able to arrange with the Secretariat that the Depart­ment of External Affairs should receive a regular supply of all documents issued by the United Nations. I was surprised to find that the Secretariat took the view that they were under no obligation to supply member Governments of the United Nations with documents except those which the Government in question specifically asked for.

Questions having to do with the employment of the staff of the Organization and the recruitment of Canadian personnel are now much to the fore, and I had a number of discussions concerning these matters with members of the Secretariat in New York.

The Canadian representative in New York would also be in charge of mak­ing adequate arrangements for Canadian delegations to the meetings of the Economic and Social Council and of the Assembly. He would be in a position to make arrangements regarding accommodation, etc., and also to ensure that the Department of External Affairs received full documentation in advance of these meetings.

The desirability of having a Canadian representative, at any rate from time to time, in New York, is much increased by the inadequacy of the existing Secretariat. Indeed, Sir Alexander Cadogan gave it as his view that it would be highly desirable for all the Governments of the Commonwealth to have representatives in New York. He thought this essential if they desired to keep in touch with the work of the Organization and gave as his particular reason the shortcomings of the Secretariat, particularly in the formative months im­mediately ahead before the Organization is properly on its feet.

While for these reasons it would be useful to have a Canadian representa­tive in New York, it would probably be premature to set up a full-fledged Mission to the United Nations at this stage. In the first place the Head of the Mission might find himself in a somewhat embarrassing position. As Canada is not a member of the Security Council, he would be very much on the out­skirts of events during the interval when neither the Assembly nor the Eco­nomic and Social Council are in session. In addition, there would be the difficult problem of finding accommodation for a Mission. The Head of the Mission would either have to live in New York and commute to the tem­porary headquarters, or else follow the example of Sir Alexander Cadogan and take a house on Long Island. On the other hand, it would be useful to have a senior member of the Department of External Affairs permanently in New York, perhaps assisted by a Third Secretary, and installed in modest office space. It is doubtful whether accommodation could be made available in the offices of the Consulate as they are already pressed for space. If such a representative were appointed, it would be essential that he should be inde­pendent of the Consulate. The Consul General has not been concerned in United Nations matters and it would be a mistake, both from his point of view and the point of view of the representative to the United Nations, to involve their very different functions under one jurisdiction. It is my impres­sion from my talks with Mr. Scully' that he would agree with this view.

While it would be desirable to have a Canadian representative permanently in New York, it would not be essential, having in mind the shortage of senior personnel in the Department of External Affairs. The same purpose could perhaps be fairly adequately served by frequent visits, on the part of senior officers of the Department dealing with United Nations questions, to New York. These visits would obviously be timed to coincide with any important development in the affairs before the Security Council in which Canada is interested, but in any event not too long should be allowed to elapse between visits if the Department is to be kept in touch with developments. Such an itinerant Canadian representative could presumably continue to be accommo­dated in the Canadian Consulate.