Please inform the Department by telegraph of the date of the note
which you present pursuant to this instruction.
[Enclosure]
Text of Note To Be Presented to the
Czechoslovak Government
Under instructions from my Government, I have the honor to refer
to certain correspondence exchanged in 1919 between a
representative of the Government of Czechoslovakia and a
representative of the Treasury Department of the United States
regarding the conditions under which the Government of the
United States was prepared to make further advances to the
Government of Czechoslovakia, that is to say, to a letter dated
May 19, 1919, from Mr. Norman H. Davis, Finance Commissioner of
the United States, to Mr. Edouard Beneš, Minister of Foreign
Affairs of Czechoslovakia, and to the reply from Mr. Beneš dated
June 26, 1919.
The letter from Mr. Davis, dated May 19, 1919, was as follows:
“The Government of the United States of America has made
advances to the Government of your country for relief
and reconstruction purposes, and the question of further
advances is under consideration.
“The Secretary of the Treasury desires me to express to
you his opinion that, in view of the circumstances under
which, and the purposes for which, these advances are
made, it is proper that your Government should agree not
to take any action by way of legislation, concessions,
or agreements which might put any of the Allied or
Associated
[Page 123]
Powers or their nationals in a more favorable position
than the United States government or its nationals, or
which will discriminate against the nationals of the
United States.
“I shall be glad to hear from you, so that I may
communicate your reply to the Secretary of the
Treasury.”
The reply from Mr. Beneš, dated June 26, 1919, was as
follows:7
“I beg you to excuse my involuntary delay in replying to
you. I sent your letter to Prague, for the information
of my colleagues of the Cabinet, especially the Minister
of Commerce, and received no immediate reply.
“For my part, I can assure you that our Government wholly
shares your point of view on the question of which you
spoke in your letter of May 19, 1919. The Czechoslovak
Government recognizes with the utmost satisfaction the
great services, both financial and economic, rendered it
by the Government of the United States. It has no
intention whatever of favoring one of our Allies to the
detriment of another or of taking measures vis-à-vis one
which could be unfavorable to another. It intends to
continue the same policy—in the field of economics and
finance—that it practiced during the war, namely, of
having the same general attitude toward all our
allies.
“Please accept, Sir, the expression of my highest
sentiments.”
In view of the understanding set forth in the above
correspondence regarding the treatment to be accorded to the
advances made by the Government of the United States to the
Government of Czechoslovakia, it is with no little surprise that
the Government of the United States has learned that the
Government of Czechoslovakia, although it has made no
corresponding proposal to the Government of the United States,
has agreed to repay to the Governments of Denmark, France, Great
Britain, Holland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland within five
years, with interest at five per cent., the relief indebtedness
of Czechoslovakia to those Governments. My Government is also
informed that the Government of Czechoslovakia has agreed to pay
separately to each of the above-mentioned Governments the amount
of interest, if any, calculated at the rate of six per cent, per
annum and accumulated semi-annually, which on January 1, 1925,
was due and unpaid, and to constitute the payments to be made
pursuant to these arrangements a first charge on receipts
accruing to the Government of Czechoslovakia by way of
compensation, reparation or indemnity from ex-enemy Governments,
other than receipts by way of restitution in kind, and subject
to any charges already created in respect of previous loans.
The Government of the United States has accorded the most
considerate treatment to the Government of Czechoslovakia in
connection with the indebtedness of the latter to the United
States.
[Page 124]
Although as
early as April 25, 1922, I had the honor to inform the
Government of Czechoslovakia of the creation of the World War
Foreign Debt Commission and of the desire of that Commission to
receive any proposals or representations which the Government of
Czechoslovakia might wish to make for the settlement or
refunding of its obligations to the Government of the United
States,8 it was not until May,
1923, that representatives of the Government of Czechoslovakia
commenced negotiations with the World War Foreign Debt
Commission in Washington, and although nearly two years have
elapsed since the visit of the Czechoslovak Debt
Commission,8a no
proposals have been received by the World War Foreign Debt
Commission for either the settlement or the refunding of the
indebtedness of Czechoslovakia to the United States which as of
November 15, 1924, amounted to $91,879,671.03 in principal
amount and $23,648,768.93 in unpaid interest, a total of
$115,528,439.96. With the exception of the sum of $9,376,689.69,
the principal amount of the indebtedness of Czechoslovakia to
the United States was incurred entirely for relief purposes,
including the repatriation of Czechoslovak troops from Siberia,
and among the obligations held by the United States Treasury is
a relief bond, Series “A” 1920, due January 1, 1925, identical
in terms with the relief bonds held by the Governments of
Denmark, France, Great Britain, Holland, Norway, Sweden and
Switzerland, which were the subject of the recent agreement
referred to above.
Under the circumstances, I am therefore instructed to state that
the Government of the United States cannot agree that the
Government of Czechoslovakia should make no payments to the
United States on account of its indebtedness while making
payments to other Governments on account of indebtedness to them
incurred by Czechoslovakia for similar purposes, and that the
Government of the United States will not acquiesce in any
discrimination against the United States in favor of other
creditor governments either through agreements such as those
recently concluded or otherwise. My Government therefore would
be pleased if it could receive from the Government of
Czechoslovakia an appropriate proposal for the payment or
refunding of the obligations of the Czechoslovak Government now
held by the United States Treasury which, except for an
obligation in the principal sum of $1,962,145.37, maturing June
30, 1925, are all payable on demand either in terms or because
over-due.
