the Covenant, the people in the Northern Marianas will be
given an opportunity to draw up their own Constitution."

(In 1976 Congress authorized the peoples of the Virgin
Islands and Guam to adopt their own Constitutions, P.L. 94-
584, October 21, 1976.) In light of the foregoing, the
conclusion is inescapable that in the American scheme of
things the term "commonwealth" has no constitutional or
legal meaning.

WHAT IS THE TRUST TERRITORY?
A. The Trust Territory is the former Japanese Mandated
Islands which have been administered by the United States
since 1947 pursuant to a Trusteeship Agreement entered
into by the United States with the Security Council of the
United Nations on April 2, 1947 and approved by the United
States on July 18, 1947. As administering authority of the
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, usually referred to as
"Micronesia", the United States, in accordance with the
Trusteeship Agreement and the Charter of the United
Nations, is obligated to promote the development of the
Micronesians towards self-government or independence as
may be appropriate to the particular circumstances of the
Trust Territory and its peoples as freely expressed through
democratic processes.

In 1967 the Congress of Micronesia, which represented the
entire Trust Territory, established a "Future Political Status
Commission." The Micronesians commenced negotiations
with the United States in 1969. They sought a loose type of
relationship with the United States which would guarantee
them an adequate level of financial support and the right to
unilaterally terminate such relationship. According to the
Micronesian proposal, the United States security (military)
and foreign relations needs would be guaranteed.
However, the United States negotiators pressed for a
permanent relationship under which Micronesia would
achieve commonwealth status as a territory of the United
States.

After failing to persuade the negotiators of the entire Trust
Territory, the United States in 1972 reversed its
longstanding policy which held that Micronesia should be
treated as a single entity as envisioned in the 1947
Trusteeship Agreement. The United States, thereupon,
acquiesced to the request which had been made by the


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