462.00 R 294/279: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Great Britain (Harvey)
289. The American Chargé in France has telegraphed the Department that he has been informed by a member of the British Embassy at Paris that he had received new instructions, but that now a complication had arisen by reason of claim put forward by the United States for a share in Bulgarian reparation payments. It was the opinion of the Chargé’s informant that any such claim involved interpretation of the agreement of May 25, and he intimated that [Page 189] bis instructions were that this matter had to be settled satisfactorily before he would be able to concur in notifying the agreement to the Reparation Commission by the Conference of Ambassadors. He indicated as his view that such notification would in effect be approval, and that before according approval the scope of the agreement should be settled. He indicated confidentially that on this point the British member of the Reparation Commission had to be satisfied.
You will please take the first opportunity to give the substance of the foregoing to Lord Curzon and to say to him that the Government of the United States has not presented a claim to share in the Bulgarian payments although, now that the question has arisen, this Government must of course fully reserve its position in the event that a share should not be accorded it. You will state that this Government is at this time merely requesting that the agreement be notified to the commission as soon as this can be done, and indicate that under the circumstances it would clearly be unreasonable if notification were to be held up. The Government of the United States is loath to believe that the Governments by whom the United States was invited to confer on the reimbursement of its admittedly just claim for army costs are now disposed, by raising technical points, to stop the proposed notification. The Government of the United States hopes that the position which has been reported to it does not represent correctly the views of the British Government, and that the British representative at Paris will be appropriately instructed to give his support to prompt notification of the agreement to the commission and the opening of a separate account.
Repeat to Embassy, Paris, as Department’s no. 387, and keep it and Department advised.