The Acting Secretary of State to the Chargé in China ( MacMurray)
The Department yesterday gave to the press the following statement concerning the formation of a group of banks to undertake loans to China:
China declared war against Germany very largely because of the action of the United States. Therefore this Government has felt a special interest in the desire of China to so equip herself as to be of more specific assistance in the war against the Central powers. Until the present time the engagements of the United States in preparing to exert effectively its strength in the European theater of war has operated to prevent specific constructive steps to help China realize her desires. Recently, however, this Government felt that, because of the approach to Chinese territory of the scenes of disorder, a special effort should be made to place proper means at the disposal of China. Consequently, a number of American bankers, who had been interested in the past in making loans to China and who had had experience in the Orient, were called to Washington and asked to become interested in the matter. The bankers responded very promptly and an agreement has been reached between them and the Department of State which has the following salient features:
- 1.
- The formation of a group of American bankers to make a loan or loans and to consist of representatives from different parts of the country;
- 2.
- An assurance on the part of the bankers that they will cooperate with the Government and follow the policies outlined by the Department of State;
- 3.
- Submission of the names of the banks who will compose the group for the approval of the Department of State;
- 4.
- Submission of the terms and conditions of any loan or loans for the approval of the Department of State;
- 5.
- Assurances that if the terms and conditions of the loan are accepted by this Government and by the Government to which the loan is made, in order to encourage and facilitate the free intercourse between American citizens and foreign states which is mutually advantageous, the Government will be willing to aid in every way possible and to make prompt and vigorous representations, and to take every possible step to insure the execution of equitable contracts made in good faith by its citizens in foreign lands.
It is hoped that the American group will be associated with bankers of Great Britain, Japan and France. Negotiations are now in progress between the Government of the United States and those Governments which it is hoped will result in their cooperation and in the participation by the bankers of those countries in equal parts in any loan which may be made.
Besides the warlike conditions which confront China on her northern and western borders, there is a further incentive to cooperate with all these Governments, because the war has created a community of interest between them and their citizens and those of other Governments and has broken down barriers which once have existed and has made easier the intercourse between them. It is hoped that if the project succeeds it will serve as an agency through which this community of interest and the consequent expansion of our mutual interests abroad may be adequately and properly expressed.