trade will not be hampered by Germany through unfair dues. We can ask the international commission to compel Germany to deepen the Elbe channel so that thousand ton ships could go up to Prague. We shall also get a share of the river boats according to a favorable quota, namely export statistics of our cities. As the greatest export was from Ústí (Aussig), we get thus a considerable advantage. In Hamburg we shall have our own port, our own docks, equipment and employees so that the transfer of merchandise from ocean ships to river boats will be altogether in our hands.
Courtesy of the Czechoslovak Information Bureau.
Dr. Kramář accompanied by Premier Tusar.
We were equally successful in the Danube questions. The internationalization of the Danube is of great importance for us, because our commercial relations with the states south of us will be very strong. If we can manage to have the Danube navigable up to Komarno for two thousand ton boats, we can sail on the Black Sea. I agreed to have internationalization of the Morava River as far as the mouth of the Dyje, because we lost the right bank of the Morava. By its internationalization we get the same advantage as on the Danube; Austria will not be permitted to block the regulation of the channel. I consider it one of our foremost tasks to make Morava navigable for the sake of our commerce with the East, and the projected canal from Přerov to Pardubice has become a pressing question. But we do not only need water ways; we must take steps to secure ships. If we want raw materials from other parts of the world, we must not hesitate to invest money in ships; the expense may be staggering, but it will pay.
As far as the railroads are concerned, we have also gained our point. I regret that we have not been successful in securing the corridor connecting us with Jugoslavia. France alone favored it, but England helped us to get a substitute for it. We have gained the rights to build a secondary railroad from Bratislava to Great Kanizsa in Jugoslavia, a two track road that will give us connection with Belgrade and Trieste, with our own trains and our own railroad men. We have also gained special rights on Alpine railroads, over which we can send our own trains. Through the efforts of Lloyd George we were given the right to build a short connection from Náchod to Prussian Silesia in the interest of our coal imports. Beside that express trains, now going through Vienna, will pass through Prague. In a very short time a train de luxe will run from Strassburg to Warsaw via Prague. In short we
