THE COUNCIL OF FOUR


ADMIRAL BENSON said that nothing could suit the enemy better than
to get ships into the Canal in the event of war, and then to block them
in there.
M. CLEMENCEAU said that Admiral De Bon's point was that such
arrangements ought to be made that if we could not use the Kiel Canal
in time of war, neither should Germany be able to.
PRESIDENT WILSON pointed out that the Kiel Canal was entirely with-
in German territory and sovereignty. This was not true of the Suez
Canal, which was not in the body of any single country.
ADMIRAL BENSON said that his feeling was very strong that it was a
mistake to touch the Kiel Canal at all. It established a precedent
of a very dubious character. If it was regarded as a purely punitive
measure, then he would have nothing to say. But to go into a country
and make special provision for a Canal was very similar to going in
and taking its railways. The Kiel Canal had been a German national
enterprise, and was no concern of the outside world.
ADMIRAL HOPE pointed out that we had Bismarck's declaration that
the Kiel Canal had been built solely for strategic purposes. It was
for this reason that Admiral de Bon went so far as to say it ought to
be destroyed. In these provisions, however, Germany had been treated
more leniently.
PRESIDENT WILSON said the Canal had some commercial importance.
ADMIRAL HOPE said that this was not great. The greatest distance
saved between the nearest Dutch port and the nearest Baltic port was
only 200 miles as compared with the route through the Belts.
ADMIRAL DE BON pointed out a certain inconsistency between our
attitude with regard to the Kiel Canal and the other provisions that
had been made for internationalising the course of the Elbe and many
other waterways. If these waterways were to be internationalised,
why not the Kiel Canal also ? Surely it ought to be on the same basis I
(It was decided to omit Article 8.)
MR. LLOYD GEORGE asked whether it was worth while setting up
an International Commission to control a purely German Canal.
This Canal had no very great value from a commer-
cial point of view. Most ships would still prefer to
use the Belts, and only a few ships trafficking between Dutch and
Baltic ports were likely to use the Canal. The reason for this was
that there were no dues in the Belts, and there must be dues in the
Canal. He asked if it was worth while to hurt German pride and
add to our own difficulties for so small a matter.
M. CLEMENCEAU agreed that it was not, and withdrew the French
draft of Article 7.


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