Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1914, Supplement, The World War

File No. 763.72111/484a

The Secretary of State to J. P. Morgan and Company

Department of State,
Washington, August 15, 1914.

[Telegram]

Inquiry having been made as to the attitude of this Government in case American bankers are asked to make loans to foreign governments during the war in Europe, the following announcement is made:

There is no reason why loans should not be made to the governments of neutral nations, but in the judgment of this Government, loans by American bankers to any foreign nation which is at war are inconsistent with the true spirit of neutrality.

W. J. Bryan