800.51W89 Finland/99
Memorandum by the Under Secretary of State (Phillips)
The Finnish Minister called upon me this morning, at my request, with reference to the Finnish debt agreement; I told him that I was now in a position to explain to him the President’s position; that, as he knew, the President was entirely satisfied with the arrangement which has been made and had been looking for an opportunity of presenting it to Congress; the President was satisfied, however, that conditions were not favorable for presenting it to Congress at this session; the President felt that, in view of general conditions in Congress with regard to debts, it would not be opportune to send up this special agreement with Finland; that if he did so it would be presenting a revised schedule of payments greatly in the interests of Finland and that, while no one presumably would question the desirability of the agreement in itself, it might open up a discussion with respect to the debt arrangements with other countries; for instance, the question might be raised as to whether other debtors, such as Great Britain, would or would not be accorded the same treatment and thus the whole debt structure might be thrown into a debate which would prolong the present session of Congress. I reminded the Minister, also, that elections were to be held in the autumn and that presumably all the members of Congress preferred to go back to their constituents without having had to commit themselves one way or another to any change in the debt structure. I emphasized the fact that the President’s reluctance to make a special case for Finland at this session must not be regarded as in any way weakening on the position which he had already taken in the agreement and I personally felt that he would send it to Congress as soon as he could safely do so.
[Page 565]The Minister expressed the greatest regret; he said the President’s decision would be a deep disappointment to his Government and would not be particularly well received in Finland.
[See also Department of State, Press Releases, July 14, 1934, page 39; ibid., December 15, 1934, page 354.]