882.51/1908: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Chargé in Liberia (Clark)
35. Your 44, November 28, 9 a.m. The Department has informed the Finance Corporation of President King’s declination to accept the 25 year proviso in Article XV as transmitted in the Department’s [Page 573] 34, November 24, 4 p.m., and of his statement that it would be impossible to secure approval of legislature for the period of 25 years.
The Finance Corporation have now notified the Department that after careful consideration of President King’s statement mentioned above, it is willing to modify the refunding period from 25 to 20 years. Article XV would therefore stand as transmitted in the Department’s 34, except that the words “twenty-five” would be changed to “twenty”.
The Finance Corporation has requested that this proposal be transmitted to President King through the American Legation at Monrovia, and in transmitting the foregoing to President King you may express the hope that this present proposal on the part of the Finance Corporation will make it possible to bring the negotiations to a prompt conclusion satisfactory alike to the Liberian Government and the Finance Corporation.
The Department understands that the Finance Corporation will not raise the question of Article XII at this time.