800.51 W 89France/64: Telegram
The Ambassador in France ( Herrick ) to the Secretary of State
79. The trend of events in regard to the question of debt settlement has me greatly worried. A speech by M. Marin in the Chamber of Deputies on January 21 is a fairly accurate representation of the views of the man in the street, and a more difficult situation will arise if this opinion be allowed to crystallize. I do not know whether the United States realizes the financial crisis that France is now facing. At the present moment it is almost impossible for the Government to make any concrete effort at debt settlement which would meet American approval. If matter is allowed to rest I fear that opinion here may become general that we are not prepared to make reasonable settlement and that a frame of mind will be built up which not only would intensify French lack of confidence in their finances but would make it impossible for any Government to make further proposals. I have been indirectly informed that Clémentel feels that proposal contained in his memorandum is his last word, and although from our point of view it is unsatisfactory, he is being criticized here for having offered too much; I am reliably informed that the Governor of the Bank of France has said that in his opinion Clémentel had offered more than France could afford.
I feel that M. Herriot’s government has made greater efforts to bring about settlements of pending questions than any preceding one, perhaps greater than may be made by succeeding governments. For this reason it seems to me that an effort must be made to persuade French Government to reopen question by making official communication of some sort which, even if not satisfactory to us, would serve as basis for further negotiations.
Such effort as this, it seems to me, would serve two purposes; first, it would forestall formation of opinion here that the United States is a merciless creditor, and second, it would prevent fixing of American opinion in the idea that France intended to repudiate the debts.
I venture to ask you, therefore, if, in spite of your telegram No. 46, January 15, 4 p.m., it would not be well to endeavor to have the Clémentel proposal renewed in an official form. I have not yet heard (and I have not pressed for a reply) whether Clémentel was willing to adopt suggestions I made and of which I informed Department in my No. 8, January 3, 11 a.m., but I think it possible that he might accept (2) and (3). A communication of this sort, [Page 145] it seems to me, would at least serve to focus American public opinion on financial condition of France and would keep French public opinion from thinking us hard and unjust. I am aware of the thorny aspects of the problem, but if matters are allowed to drift I fear that our moral influence in Europe may be weakened for many years and that our own public opinion may become correspondingly harder.
Please do not think that this telegram is dictated by any desire to give way to public sentiment here. I am expressing an opinion based on conversations with Americans here representing various interests, financial and otherwise, some of whom seem even more alarmed than I am.
I have not in any way sounded any French sources and I do not know whether it will be possible to obtain the official communication to which I have referred from the French Government. If an agreement is reached with Great Britain along lines that have been suggested, our position in Europe will become still more difficult and what is called our rigid attitude will be exploited against us by others. I feel that if only a slightly modified version of the Clémentel memorandum can be obtained officially from the French Government, and even if resulting American opinion be clearly opposed to it, the way is paved for an invitation from the French Government to the World War Foreign Debt Commission to send representatives here to examine financial status of France and in this way be in position to determine for itself kind of settlement which is within capacity of France to make.
- Telegram in three sections.↩