File No. 763.72/7646
The Secretary of State to the Belgian Minister ( De Cartier)
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of November 5, 1917,2 in which you were so good as to give the text of a resolution drawn up by a group of Belgian and French manufacturers, [Page 322] embodying a proposal that the demand be made upon Germany for the restoration in kind to Belgium of the material and machinery which has been damaged or removed from Belgium by German forces and which will be needed to enable Belgian industry to resume its activities. In bringing the matter to my attention you express the hope on behalf of the King’s Government that the Government of the United States will join with the Governments of the Entente countries in proclaiming that the blockade of the Central powers will not be raised until the Belgian and French mills in the invaded region shall have been put in possession of the equivalent in material and machinery to that taken away by German forces.
In reply I have the honor to inform you that, while the Government of the United States is deeply interested in this matter to which it has given its attentive consideration, I regret to state that it is not prepared at the present time to join with the Allied Governments in such a proposal.
Accept [etc.]
- Not printed.↩