I am forwarding herewith enclosed in copy and translation the reply
of the Rumanian Foreign Office to the above-mentioned Note: a
summary of this reply was transmitted to the Department in this
Legation’s telegram No. 24 of April 1st last.61
Copy of this reply is being forwarded to the Legation at Belgrade for
its strictly confidential information.
[Enclosure—Translation62]
The Rumanian Minister for Foreign
Affairs (Duca) to the American
Minister (Jay)
Bucharest, March 30, 1925.
No. 16163Mr. Minister: We have not failed to
examine with the greatest care your note No. 21 of March 18,
1925.63
Above all, we are anxious to assure the Government of the United
States of America that it was never the intention of the
Rumanian Government to take measures which would tend to favor
other countries to the detriment of American financial
claims.
We could not forget the help that the United States of America
gave us during the war and along with this moral debt of
gratitude we are fully conscious of the interest which the
eventual cooperation of a power like the United States of
America presents in view of our present economic
development.
If we signed at London the arrangement relative to the “relief
bonds,” it was not at our request—as it would appear from your
note of March 18th. On the contrary, in view of our present
difficulties, we would have wished to postpone this arrangement.
But we had finally to consent to it on account of its
international character. Indeed,
[Page 171]
these “relief bonds” represented
essentially relief debts contracted under the auspices of an
international organization with Allied and neutral countries.
(Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland.)
Nevertheless, we did not accept it until it was established that
it did not imply any obligation concerning war debts.
For us, hostilities did not, unfortunately, end on November 11,
1918.
During the whole year of 1919 we had to defend our frontiers
against the Hungarian and Russian Bolshevists.
On the other hand, abandoned in the midst of the struggle by
Russia, we found ourselves completely isolated from our Allies,
so that our real war debts to America were only contracted
during the year 1919.
Under these conditions we think that these debts should not be
assimilated with the “relief bonds,” which were made the object
of the London arrangement.
Rumania, as she has already declared on many occasions, has no
thought of evading her obligations. She asks the Government of
the United States of America simply not to demand of her any
arrangement entailing the settlement of her debts with all her
Allies—which would be, in the present circumstances, beyond her
possibilities and forces.
Besides, the obligation to settle this question now by premature
sacrifices, would hinder to such a point our recovery that the
very people who would have to suffer most would be our
creditors, whose best guarantee is our general financial and
economic consolidation.
For this reason we hope that, far from seeing in our attitude a
lack of good intentions toward the United States—a lack of good
intentions which nothing would justify—the Government of the
United States of America will be good enough to see therein
simply a necessity imposed by our present situation.
With a view to the economic reconstruction of Europe, the United
States of America has lately given its help to various
countries. We cannot believe that it will refuse to Rumania the
pursuit of its work of reconstruction to which she is
consecrating all her efforts for the very purpose of being able
in the future to meet her obligations.
Besides, as he declared to Mr. Kellogg, Mr. Vintila Bratiano, our
Minister of Finance, or one of his authorized representatives,
would like to go to the United States in order to explain to the
American Government our situation and to furnish it the reasons
for the requests above indicated.
Please accept [etc.]
