863.51 Relief Credits/12
The Austrian Minister (Prochnik) to the Secretary of State
Excellency: Pursuing my previous notes and verbal discussions in matters relating to the intended Austrian investment-loan and its chief rerequisite [sic] i. e. deferment of lien held by various States for relief credits, I have the honor to notify Your Excellency that the Reparations Commission as well as all the other creditor countries (with the exception of the United States) have, as I just was advised by my Government, deferred their lien for a period of 30 years beginning from the issue of the new loan.
[Page 861]At the same time negotiations are pending for the settlement (funding) of the relief credits on a proposed scale which I have communicated to the economic adviser of the State Department, Mr. Young, for further consideration by Your Excellency’s Government.
Negotiations for the loan could now proceed without further obstruction, if the Government of the United States, with authorization by Congress, would likewise defer their lien for a period of 30 years beginning from the issue of the said loan.
I just received a cable from my Government instructing me to petition Your Excellency’s Government to recommend to Congress with a least possible delay a bill authorizing the above mentioned deferment.
Your Excellency will readily see that a debt settlement by itself is a matter requiring considerable time for its finalization and being apt to meet with various causes of delay, the more so if, like in our case, an agreement on one and the same base is to be reached with a number of different countries.
My Government would, therefore, appreciate a technically separated treatment of these two questions (deferment of lien and debt settlement), although materially there may exist some relations between them.
Another difficulty in obtaining a timely solution in the case of deferment of lien by the United States lies in the necessity of parliamentary action. The failure of securing such an act by Congress before its adjournment would spell doom for the investment loan intended by the Austrian Federal Government to be used for a general improvement of the whole economic conditions of the Country.
Submitting the aforementioned request of my Government to Your Excellency’s favorable consideration I have the honor to ask for a notification at the earliest possible convenience as to Your Government’s intentions in regard to the same.
Accept [etc.]