800.51 W 89Rumania/52: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Rumania (Jay)
13. Please present textually the following note:
“In my note of October 21, 1924,56 I had the honor to state that I had been instructed by my Government to refer to the assurances given by Mr. Bratiano on behalf of the Rumanian Government in his letter of May 17, 1919,57 to a representative of the United States Treasury, [Page 168] and to point out that in the light of these assurances, the Government of the United States was at a loss to understand the reports which it had received regarding the payment by Rumania of substantial sums to other governments on account of relief or reconstruction loans similar to those extended to Rumania by the United States, no corresponding payments having been made to the United States.
I have now been instructed to communicate to you the surprise and regret of my government that the Government of Rumania has not seen fit to furnish an adequate explanation of this apparent discrimination, although nearly five months have elapsed since the matter was officially brought to its attention. In the meantime, moreover, it appears that the Government of Rumania had made a proposal, dated December 24, 1924, to the Governments of Australia, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland for the repayment within twenty years with interest at 5 percent of the relief indebtedness of Rumania to those Governments. According to the terms of this proposal, which, my Government is informed,58 was accepted on January 19, 1925, by the several creditor governments named above, the principal and interest of the bonds to be issued by the Government of Rumania in exchange for the relief bonds heretofore held by the creditor governments in question are a charge upon all the assets and revenues of Rumania, and Rumania undertakes not only that the necessary sums will be included in the annual budget law for each year but also that the payment of the bonds shall be a first charge on receipts accruing to Rumania by way of compensation, reparation or indemnity, other than receipts by way of restitution in kind, from ex-enemy governments or any of them, subject to any charges already created in respect of previous loans.
As of November 15, 1924, the principal amount of the indebtedness of the Government of Rumania to the Government of the United States was $36,128,494.94. Unpaid interest on that date aggregated $9,476,953.85, making the total indebtedness of Rumania to the United States on November 15, 1924, $45,605,448.79. The obligations of the Government of Rumania which are held by the Treasury of the United States are all overdue or payable on demand.
I am instructed to state that the Government of the United States cannot agree that Rumania should make no payments to the United States on account of this indebtedness while making payments to other governments on account of indebtedness to them incurred by Rumania for similar purposes. Consequently, it will not acquiesce in any discrimination against the United States in favor of other creditor governments either through agreements such as those recently concluded or otherwise. My Government, therefore, expects promptly to receive from the Government of Rumania an appropriate proposal for the refunding of its indebtedness to the United States.”
Please reinforce note with vigorous oral representations.
Mail text of note to Amlegation, Belgrade for latter’s strictly confidential information.
- See Department’s telegram No. 44, Oct. 15, 1924, 6 p.m., Foreign Relations, 1924, vol. ii, p. 634.↩
- Not printed; see Roumanie, Ministère des Finances, Annexes: Documents Concernant la Question des Réparations et des Dettes Interalliées de la Roumanie (Bucarest, Imprimerie de l’Etat, 1925), annexe 20, p. 68.↩
- By despatch No. 1013, Jan. 21, 1925, from the Ambassador in Great Britain; not printed.↩