94 



Mr. Fascell. Mr. Gross ? 



Mr. Gross. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Is it proposed to continue 

 this hearing until we have questioned the witnesses, or is it to be ad- 

 journed for tlie festive occasion at the White House ? 



Mr. Fascell. Well, Mr. Gross, I plan to stay, if that is what you are 

 inquiring about ; anybody else who would like to go — ^- 



Mr. Gross. I would like to reserve my time, and yield to the gentle- 

 man from New Jersey since I am not going to the ^Vliite House. 



Mr. Fascell. Mr. Frelinghuysen ? 



Mr. Frelinghuysex. I thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Mr. Gross 

 also, because I do hope to get down to the White House to witness the 

 signing of this treaty. I suppose this ceremony could be described as 

 festivities at least as far as ]\Ir. Eichelberger is concerned. 



I would like to get back to the question of urgency, and put myself 

 momentarily in the shoes of a sponsor of this resolution. I am not one 

 and I don't intend to introduce such legislation. 



I believe Mr. Gross is the only member of this subcommittee who has 

 done so. 



I would suppose that one of the reasons why this legislation has been 

 introduced is because of the fear that some action may be taken at this 

 session of the General Assembly which may deprive this country of 

 something. The sponsors may feel we should not take any such step 

 until we look carefully at what is bein^ proposed. 



Mr. Eichelberger mentioned the importance of an international 

 agency to prevent fantastic claims from being made, and ]\ir. Danzig 

 just now talked about the fact that there will always be some wild 

 claims from some small country. 



Well, I would propose that the proposal by Malta m.ay be interpreted 

 as a claim by a small country on behalf of a lot of undeveloped 

 countries, to deprive the developed countries with the technical know- 

 how to handle this exploitation of their legitimate expectations. 



My question is whether these small nations might try to issue a 

 proclamation along the lines that Mr. Danzig is advocating. Might 

 not a resolution be approved saying that from now on all this area is 

 going to appertain, I think the word is, to the United Nations, and 

 any deep sea resources henceforth are to be available only for the less 

 developed countries. 



Might not the little countries see this as a source of funds comparable 

 to what the so-called rich countries already have, which they might 

 take over as their exclusive preserve under U.N. auspices? I think 

 someone called the Malta resolution the "last straw," that led them to 

 make an effort to prevent any favorable reaction on our part to such 

 a proposal. 



Do any of you think that such a development might come about? 

 Might not the little countries say that now is the time for us to prevent 

 any ganging up on the part of the exploiting powers of these resources ? 

 IMight they not feel the thing to do is to take action now before the 

 bigger powers develop that pattern ? 



Isn't that a possibility, an early possibility at the U.N. ? Might they 

 not seek such a protection against exploitation or colonialism by these 

 big countries ? 



Mr. Danzig has said there will be no interference in any way with 

 the rights of those countries who are able to exploit, but it is con- 



