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Show FRANCE IS ASKED TO PAHCC0UN1 CLOSE CHECK BEING MADE Of DEBT SETTLEMENT; ITALY GIVEN HINT U S. Demands Are Made With Defin iteness By Officials At Washington Washing-ton And Response Is Being Closely Watched Washington.-The Washington gov ernment is awaiting with interest some word of the reception accorded in the nine European debtor nations to the news that this country desires to arrange funding settlements without with-out undue delay. Meanwhile there is speculation as to which will be the first to submit a proposal. France, whose debt to the United States is the largest of the lot, is regarded re-garded as the hub of the situation and it is known that officials would welcome an opening move from that quarter. If the means of conveying this government's gov-ernment's desires to the foreign capitals cap-itals have been varied they have lacked lack-ed nothing in force and definiteness. :i every case the debtor nation has been given to understand in an unmistakable un-mistakable way that Washington believes be-lieves funding arangements should not be further delayed. In view oi that fact, the statement of the French foreign office that no "note" on the subject has been received from Washington, Wash-ington, is regarded here merely as the stock diplomatic denial, based on a technicality. Paris. The action of the United States requesting refunding propos als from its European debtors was forseen in France and answered in advance, it is said in official circles by the ministerial declaration made after a cabinet meeting recently This was to the effect that Finance Minister Caillaux and Foreign Minister Minis-ter Briand had been charged with the task of studying the interallied debt question with a view to its settlement. set-tlement. The Quai d'Orsay received a cablegram cable-gram from M. Daeschner, the French ambassador in Washington giving full particulars of the American decision, de-cision, but this is said to have contained con-tained no information that might cause the French government to precipitate pre-cipitate negotiations other than those decided upon. These preliminary negotiations will take the form of conversations or a joint meeting of two groups of experts, ex-perts, both financial and political, from the ministers of finance and foreign for-eign affairs. The foreign office says it has no knowledge of any note coming from Washington. |