800.51W89 Italy/283: Telegram
The Ambassador in Italy (Long) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 14—8:55 a.m.]
80. My No. 66, March 2, 7 p.m. In conversation with Suvich he said the financial authorities were considering this business very seriously but that he had not yet had an opportunity to discuss it in detail with them. In my mind there is no doubt that they are considering favorably the possibilities of it and that they would like to make some arrangement. During the conversation Suvich said he understood that we had made an arrangement with Greece to settle at 35 cents on the dollar. I told him I had no information about it and had not heard of any recent discussion on war debts by the United States with any of the debtor nations. He said the Greek arrangement might not have been entirely analogous to the Italian obligation. While I understand there is a small obligation on the part of Greece to the American Government I believe the loan was made after the war and for refugee resettlement purposes.46 However, his mention of this matter would appear to indicate that they might be considering making a suggestion for settlement on that basis. As I have no information about the Greek arrangement I will be glad to be advised for background purposes and will gladly receive any suggestion you may have for my guidance in connection therewith.