BRITISH OFFERED 25 YEARS TO PAY OFF WAR DEBT BY WILSON ADMINISTRATION
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On July 20, 1921, Secretary of Treasury Andrew Mellon*, appearing before the Senate Finance Committee, testified that the Wilson administration had negotiated an agreement with Great Britain which would have allowed 25 years to pay off a debt of $4,277,000,000.
The terms negotiated, although never accepted by the British, astonished the members of the committee. Secretary Mellon's testimony was supported by Assistant Secretary of Treasury Eliot Wadsworth.
Negotiations in behalf of the Wilson administration had been under the direction of Albert Rathbone, Assistant Secretary of Treasury.
Secretary Mellon said...
"Representations were made by...my predecessor (which) I might feel morally, or even legally, obligated by."
*Andrew William Mellon (1855-1937) was born in Pittsburgh, PA. AWM served as Secretary of Treasury 1921-1932 & as US Ambassador to Great Britain 1932-1933.
SOURCE
"Wilson Gave Britain 25 Years To Pay," The New York Tribune, July 21, 1921, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
