File No. 493.11/513.
The Secretary of State to Chargé MacMurray.
Washington, August 20, 1914.
This Department does not appear to have authority affirmatively to sanction the postponement of indemnity payments or the alteration of the schedule, but if the postponement of the payment of deficiencies is unavoidable, and a majority of the powers interested agree to wait until the end of the war, it is extremely unlikely that any demand for immediate payment would be made by this Government under present circumstances, and this Government is willing to use its good offices to that end with other powers if requested. The Department trusts that the deficit will not be so large as to interfere with the support of the Chinghua College.