Terms for Britain

After twelve weeks of horsetrading, the U.S. this week set out solid terms for a loan to Britain. Washington thought the British, anxious for dollars with which to reconvert their economy to peace, would accept. The terms:

P: The U.S. would make Britain a 55-year $3,750,000,000 loan at 2%, the interest to be waived in any year in which Britain proved that she could not pay.

P: Britain would get another $672,000,000 to help wind up Lend-Lease.

P: Britain would try to reduce her -L-3 to -L-4 billion debt to sterling bloc countries.

P: Britain would promise to back a multilateral trade program at next summer's international conference; but Britain would not be pledged to any immediate revision of her Empire preference policies.

Strong opposition to the loan remained in Britain. U.S. negotiators feared that in Congress there might be even stronger opposition.

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