U.S. Delegation Working Paper
[Babelsberg, July 25 (?), 1945]
Draft Statement for President
When we are discussing matters which are appropriate for inclusion in the peace treaties, I am sure it is understood that these treaties under our Constitution must be made with the advice and consent of the Senate of the United States. Of course when I indicate my support of a proposal, I shall use my best endeavors to secure its acceptance. That naturally does not guarantee its acceptance. Nor should it preclude my coming back and informing you when I find that political sentiment at home on a proposition is such that I cannot continue to press its acceptance without endangering our common interests in the peace.
I make this statement, not to change the basis of my discussions with you or the bases of President Roosevelt’s discussions with you, but only so that there will be no misunderstanding of my constitutional authority or any question of my exceeding it.
740.00119 (Potsdam)/7-2545
U.S. Delegation Working Paper
Berlin Conference, July 25, 1945
Subject: FREE AND UNRESTRICTED NAVIGATION OF INTERNATIONAL INLAND WATERWAYS
The USA, the UK and the USSR are in accord that there should be free and unrestricted navigation of such inland waterways as border on two or more states, the Kiel Canal, and the Straits of the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmora and the Bosphorus, which are comprised under the general term “Straits”. The navigation on these waterways should be regulated by international authorities representative of all nations directly interested in navigation on the waterways concerned.
As an initial step there should be set up as soon as possible interim navigation agencies for the Danube and the Rhine. The functions of the interim navigation agencies should be the restoration and development of navigation facilities on the river concerned, the supervision of river activities in the interest of equal treatment for various nationalities and the establishment of uniform regulations concerning use of facilities, rules of navigation, customs and sanitation formalities, and other similar questions. Membership on these agencies should include the United States, the United Kingdom, the USSR, France, and the sovereign riparian states recognized by these Governments.
With respect to the Kiel Canal, it is likewise suggested that an interim navigation agency be established with functions similar to those for the Danube and the Rhine rivers. For the time being, membership on this interim navigation agency for the Kiel Canal should be restricted to the UK, USSR, USA and France, as the occupying powers of Germany. Consultation with other nations directly interested in the Kiel Canal could be subsequently arranged.
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