800.51W89 Czechoslovakia/218
Memorandum by the Acting Secretary of State
The Czechoslovak Minister took up with me this morning the suggestion which I had made to him some days ago through his Counsellor that we would like to take up the subject of debts owing to the United States by his Government on or about August 11. The Minister said that his Government, and particularly Dr. Beneš, were very reluctant to agree to this date because of the fact that they would be the first of the debtor countries to begin negotiations. It seemed to them that whatever they agreed to would be criticized by the French and British and that they would be creating a precedent, which might be exceedingly embarrassing to them in their relations with other debtor countries. Finally, the Minister made the suggestion that he could come to Washington on the tenth or eleventh, as suggested, listen to the views expressed by us, and carry them back to Prague, as he was [Page 857] sailing from New York on the fifteenth of August. He could then consult with his Government and continue the conversations on his return to Washington early in September. I replied that this seemed to be a good idea. I then turned him over to Mr. Moley, who will continue in charge of the debt conversations.