§ 2. Sir John Mellorasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has any further information to give with regard to the suspension of the service of the external loans of the Brazilian Government which were subscribed in the United Kingdom?
§ Mr. EdenThe Brazilian Minister of Finance has been authorised to enter into negotiations with the local representative of the bondholders as regards the resumption of payment on the debt, but I regret to state that despite repeated representations by His Majesty's Ambassador and by the local representative of the Council of Foreign Bondholders no offer for the resumption of payments has yet been made, nor has it yet been possible to fix any date for the opening of negotiations.
§ Mr. KirkwoodI would like to ask the Foreign Secretary why this differentiation of treatment to the Brazilian Government, which is refusing to foot the bill, to meet the demands of the investors of this country? Why is it that the Government can to-day allow the Brazilian Government to get away, as they have got away for years, on those lines, and why is there different treatment from that meted out to Russia when she was being pressed along the same lines?
§ Mr. EdenI am afraid that it has been our experience with a number of countries, including Russia, that payments have not been made. That is not a satisfactory situation, and we do our best to remedy it in all cases.