“As to the Point dealing with the abolition of ‘secret diplomacy’ and the introduction of full openness in the negotiations, I have nothing to say.  From my point of view I have no objection to such public negotiations so long as full reciprocity is the basis of the same, though I do entertain considerable doubt as to whether, all things considered, it is the quickest and most practical method of arriving at a result.  Diplomatic negotiations are simply a matter of business.  But it might easily be imagined that in the case, for instance, of commercial treaties between one country and another it would not be advisable to publish incomplete results beforehand to the world.  In such negotiations both parties naturally commence by setting their demands as high as possible in order to climb down gradually, using this or that expressed demand as matter for compensation in other ways until finally an equilibrium of the opposing interests is arrived at, a point which must necessarily be reached if agreement is to be come to at all.  If such negotiations were to be carried on with full publicity, nothing could prevent the general public from passionately defending every separate clause involved, regarding any concession as a defeat, even when such clauses had only been advanced for tactical reasons.  And when the public takes up any such point with particular fervour, ultimate agreement may be thereby rendered impossible or the final agreement may, if arrived at, be regarded as in itself a defeat, possibly by both sides.  And this would not conduce to peaceable relations thereafter; it would, on the contrary, increase the friction between the states concerned.  And as in the case of commercial treaties, so also with political negotiations, which deal with political matters.

“If the abolition of secret diplomacy is to mean that no secret compacts are to be made, that no agreements are to be entered upon without the public knowledge, then I have no objection to the introduction of this principle.  As to how it is to be realised and adherence thereto ensured, I confess I have no idea at all.  Granted that the governments of two countries are agreed, they will always be able to make a secret compact without the public being aware of the fact.  These, however, are minor points.  I am not one to stick by formalities, and a question of more or less formal nature will never prevent me from coming to a sensible arrangement.

“Point 1, then, is one that can be discussed.

“Point 2 is concerned with the freedom of the seas.  In this postulate the President speaks from the hearts of all, and I can here fully and completely share America’s desire, the more so as the President adds the words, ’outside territorial waters’—­that is to say, we are to understand the freedom of the open sea, and there is thus, of course, no question of any interference by force in the sovereign rights of our faithful Turkish Allies.  Their standpoint in this respect will be ours.