It is worth noting that monetary austerity in Britain could aff ect the amount of the Italian loan. On June 16, 1920, the Italian chargé d'aff aires, Gabriele Preziosi, wrote in a preoccupied tone to Chancellor Neville Chamberlain: "When the agreement of 8th of August 1919 was negotiated the bank rate had kept steady for a long time at 5 percent. Aft erwards it rose to 6 percent and recently to 7 percent, causing a considerably larger increase of the debt of the Italian Treasury" (T 160/10/12, fol. 3). Th e British government consented to fi x a uniform rate at 5 percent interest for all renewals of Italian bills.

Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, loc. 1720