868.51 War Credits/776: Telegram

The Minister in Greece (MacVeagh) to the Secretary of State

221. My telegram No. 202, August 20, 5 p.m. Following a further conversation with the Premier in which I personally urged the excellent impression which any payment on the Greek debt might be expected to make in America at this particular juncture in Balkan affairs I have received note from the Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs informing me that the sum of $87,168 has been telegraphed to New York to the order of the Secretary of the Treasury. This sum according to the Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs corresponds to the interest payable November 1, 1938 and its payment is intended as an earnest of the Greek Government’s sincerity of intention regarding the fulfillment of its obligations. The rest of the letter contains a reaffirmation of the difficulties facing the Greek Treasury and a [Page 620] statement that budgetary previsions have been entirely upset by the demands of national security in the present emergency.

MacVeagh