800.51W89 France/777
The Secretary of the Treasury (Mills) to the Secretary of State
Dear Mr. Secretary: I want to give you a brief report as to the events of the evening of December 13th. Shortly before eight o’clock M. Monick, the French Financial Attaché, called me up and told me that he had just talked to Paris by ’phone; that things were going very badly in the French Chamber of Deputies, and that in all probability the Herriot Government would be overthrown and the Chamber [Page 748] would vote not to pay the December 15th installment. He thought that some further statement by you along the lines of your note of December 8th, if given to M. Claudel and telephoned to Paris, might possibly save the situation. I then called on M. Monick, ascertained the exact kind of statement which he had in mind, and telephoned to you, reading the proposed draft over the telephone.
Having received your approval, I submitted the proposed statement to the President and received his approval. I then saw Ambassador Claudel and explained the situation to him.
M. Monick transmitted the message over the transatlantic ’phone to M. Herriot through M. Bizot, of the French Treasury Department. M. Bizot expressed his appreciation of our efforts to help, but I have no information as to whether M. Herriot found occasion to make use of the statement.
I enclose herewith a copy of the latter.
Faithfully yours,