Jerusalem may be the most dramatic problem facing the United Nations Trusteeship Council, but it is certainly not the only one. The non-self-governing parts of the world, especially Africa, have been a constant dilemma since the establishment of the Council.

The problem of trusteeship was chopped in two parts in the UN Charter. Chapter XI of that document deals with dependent areas already being administered by individual nations, while Chapters XII and XIII provide machinery for the General Assembly to assume or delegate administrative powers over certain regions.

Most of the trouble arising from Chapter XI has centered on the question of reports which governing powers are required to submit yearly to the U.N. on the social, economic, and technical conditions in dependent territories. South Africa has refused to transmit reports on South-West Africa, which it received under a League of Nations mandate in 1922. Three resolutions passed by the General Assembly have censured the South Africans for this policy, and ten days ago the U.N. voted to send the whole matter to the World Court.

More serious has been the opposition of the colonial powers to continuance of the 16-member committee which analyzes the social and economic data from dependent areas. The life of the group was recently extended three years by a vote of 41 to 4, with Britain, France, Belgium, and South Africa in the minority. Britain complained that information was being used by Russia for propaganda purposes, and that the committee had been given an "illegal" assignment to study political questions. The British also felt that reports should be made on all backward areas, self-governing as well as dependent.

There are three kinds of territories which are eligible for U.N. trusteeship, under Chapters XII and XIII: areas previously under League of Nations mandates, territories taken from enemy nations in World War II, and regions which may be voluntarily placed under U.N. administration.

The Italian colonies in Africa, coming under the second category, have been the focus of argument at this session of the General Assembly. The peace treaty with Italy provided that if the Big Four disagreed on the disposition of her colonies, the dispute should go to the U.N. Russia wanted U.N. trusteeship for Libya, Eritrea, and Somaliland; the Western Allies wanted them administered by a single nation. The whole problem went to the General Assembly.

As in the case of Jerusalem, the result in the General Assembly was a grandiose deal. The Latin American bloc, favorable to Italy, voted to put Somaliland under Italian control for ten years, with independence promised at that time. To appease the Arabs, Libya was promised freedom by 1952, with a U.N. commission to supervise the establishment of an independent government. Eritrea will be polled by a five-nation committee next year to see if it wishes to join Ethiopia.

Many delegates to the General Assembly have expressed dissatisfaction with the "solution" of the Italian colonial problem. Britain wants a plebiscite in Libya to determine whether they want a unified or split nation. Moslems have demanded a voice in the running of Somaliland. The Italian Colonies are a typical trusteeship case: plenty of complications and vested interests.