724.34119/45: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Argentina (Weddell)
104. For Gibson. Your 135, July 16, 9 p.m. If any proposal is advanced in the Conference by Dr. Saavedra Lamas, or even if any intimation is made, for the United States to undertake to extend financial assistance for the rehabilitation of the belligerent countries, it would in my judgment be well for the matter to be quashed emphatically at the outset. It might be desirable for you to say that you are authorized to state that the members of the Conference must of course appreciate that no loans can be made by the Government of the United States without the authorization of the Congress and that you are sure it will be readily understood that at the time when the United States is recovering from the most severe depression it has ever known and when all of the efforts and the resources of this Government are being directed towards relieving distress and towards expediting recovery within the United States, it would not be conceivable that the [Page 101] American Congress would authorize the extension of credits by this Government towards rehabilitation outside of the borders of the United States.
It would seem, however, desirable to avoid if possible the bringing up of any such proposals in the Conference itself and I would therefore suggest that you express the point of view above indicated to Dr. Saavedra Lamas informally before tomorrow’s session of the Conference.