767.68119/159: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Special Mission at Lausanne
9. Under the Treaty of Versailles (article 258) and the Treaty of St. Germain (article 209) Germany and Austria are deprived of seats on the Council for the Administration of the Ottoman Public Debt. Great Britain, France and Italy are left in control. Article 246 of the Sevres Treaty is evidence that those three powers desire to keep undivided authority.
In view of the wide powers of the debt council, its exclusive control by Great Britain, France, and Italy might work to the disadvantage of American commercial interests.
The Government of the United States itself will not, of course, engage in making loans, but it is possible that a situation will develop in which the private financial interests of this country would wish to undertake a loan although the Department has as yet no intimation of such a design. Under those circumstances it might become necessary to consider whether the American credits should be consolidated with the older Turkish debts and whether a seat on the debt council might not be assigned to the United States.
It is not yet desirable that the position of this Government be defined, but any change in the course of affairs and an expression of your own views should be communicated to the Department. The Department’s policy toward a possible American representation on the debt council could be formulated only after a consideration of specific developments, and it would be affected, naturally, by the degree of concern shown among trading and banking circles in [Page 904] this country. But in the opinion of the Department it would be unfortunate if the three powers were to so regulate the Ottoman debt to the advantage of their own nationals in Turkey as to injure the interests of the United States.