820     THE PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE, 1 9 1 9, VOLUME V
practical, on account of conditions of communication, to use as com-
pensation only coal from the Sarre which, till now, has found its
natural outlets in other directions, it seems indispensable to give to
the country of the Ruhr a share in the deliveries of coal, because the
damaged districts need the products of the Ruhr region as much as
they do those of the Sarre.
The German Delegation feels sure that it would not be difficult
to make on the subject of this delivery of coal an arrangement which
would satisfy all the legitimate claims of France, provided only that
the experts of the two parties enter into direct relations and work
out the conditions of delivery on a commercial basis.
As regards Belgium, Germany is ready to repair to the full extent
the damage inflicted on her. Germany therefore does not see why
she should be forced to cede Prussian Moresnet and the circles of
Eupen and Malmedy. It is impossible to furnish proof that these
circles are inhabited by an undoubtedly non-German population.
The plebiscite by means of which it is proposed to give to the pop-
ulation the apparent right to participate in the settlement of its own
fate has therefore no basis in the agreed principles of the Peace.
But according to the Draft Treaty of Peace the plebiscite will not
even be decisive, but rather an appeal in which Germany would
take no part and which decides arbitrarily the future of a territory
even if the population expressed the wish to remain under German
sovereignty. This provision is unjust in itself and in contradiction
with the principle that no national aspiration should be satisfied if
its satisfaction would create new discord and conflict.
The German Delegation reserves the right to express later in a
special note its opinion on the provisions concerning the territorial
changes in the East of Germany.
Accept [etc.]                           BROCKDORFF-RANTZAU
Appendix III to CF-23
SAAR BASIN
Letter From Herr Brockdorff-Rantzau to M. Clemenceau
(Translation)                       GERMAN PEACE DELEGATION,
VERSAILTus, May 16, 1919.
SIR: In my Note, dated 13th, inst.,6 on the territorial provisions
of the Peace Draft relating to the West of Germany I pointed out,
in the name of the German Delegation, that the guarantees which
'Appendix II, supra.