U.S. WILL NOT CANCEL ALLIED LOANS
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On April 1, 1921, the cabinet of President Warren G. Harding decided that loans* made to the Allied nations would NOT be cancelled.
A cabinet statement reads...
"The United States will continue to regard her foreign loans as a valued asset."
The interest payment due on April 15, 1921 by France, however, is subject to "any reasonable terms...of payment."
The New York Herald states...
"The Harding Administration expects Germany to assume moral responsibility for the war together with legal responsibility, which is translated in the payment of reparations up to the limit of her ability to pay."
*The sum of $10 billion was often given as the "war debt" although part of that was incurred after the war ended. The Allies wanted the U.S. to 'scale back' or even cancel these debts.
When Calvin Coolidge was asked if the U.S. should cancel the debts, he answered...'They hired the money, didn't they?'
SOURCE
"Cabinet Decides Allied Loans Are Not To Be Waived," The New York Herald, April 2, 1921, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
