868.151/21
The Greek Minister (Simopoulos) to the Secretary of State
Mr. Secretary of State: I have the honor to inform you that the Hellenic Government has concluded a contract with Ulen and Company, an American organization, for the construction of a waterworks system for the cities of Athens and The Piraeus.
For the execution of this contract, Ulen and Company must float for the Greek Government a loan of $10,000,000.
The Hellenic Government proposes to offer as security for the service of this loan the money which will be paid by the inhabitants of Athens and The Piraeus for the water which is to be furnished them and also a mortgage on the works which are to be constructed. Although these rights constitute sufficient security for the service of this loan, the Hellenic Government is prepared to offer as subsidiary security for the same purpose, the surplus of the revenues affected to the service of the public debt which are under the control of the International Financial Commission.
In view, therefore, of the stipulation in Article 4 of the financial convention signed at Paris in February 1918,1 that “No additional security may be assigned for the service of a foreign loan without the assent of the Governments of the United States, France, and Great Britain,” I have the honor to ask you to grant this assent in order that the Hellenic Government may proceed as soon as possible to the settlement of this question which is of a vital interest for the two largest cities of Greece.
Please accept [etc.]
- Printed in Greek Debt Settlement: Hearings before the Committee on Ways and Means, House of Representatives, 70th Cong., 1st sess., on H. R. 10760 (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1928), p. 51.↩