800.51W89 Belgium/183
Memorandum by the Under Secretary of State (Castle) of a Conversation With the Belgian Ambassador (May)
The Ambassador really had very little to say, but wanted to discuss the subject of war debts. I let him do the talking to a large extent. What he is fearful of is that the very intransigent attitude of Congress may make it impossible for Congress ever to back down from its stand, no matter what the situation may be in the future. I told him that this certainly was nothing to worry about, inasmuch [Page 589] as this country would always of necessity be not only willing but compelled to take cognizance of the condition of some individual nation which might find itself momentarily unable to fulfill its obligation. I said that it was quite true that there was a strong nationalistic feeling here, that people did not propose to be saddled with the entire debt for the war, that there must be a sharing of sacrifice, but obviously any nation who literally was unable to pay would in that case be dealt with in the broad-minded and friendly way in which America always deals with such cases.