Here is the rest of the answers we received:

Edouard Aude
Curator of the Méjanes
"To the question you are kind enough to ask me, I answer yes, and if I do not add any comment to this answer, it is because I would only be repeating what you say so well, with such precision and authority. I can, if you wish, send you the support of all the artists, of all the intelligent tourists that my duties as librarian of the Méjanes make me see every day and who deplore like you that we are thinking of making disappear, for the sake of pure commercialism, one of the most lively, most colorful, most Provençal corners of Marseille.

Valère Bernard
"I wholeheartedly join your campaign against the project to fill in the Canal de la Douane. If this project were to come to fruition, it would be, after so many others, alas! the disappearance of one of the most picturesque and characteristic corners of our old Marseille. It would also be, as a knock-on effect, the disappearance of this lively, bustling and colourful shellfish market from the surrounding streets.
“More and more, our city is threatened by brutal transformations that would turn it into a caravanserai of mercantile traders from which all beauty would be excluded.
“You can therefore include me among all those who protest and are indignant at the progressive disfigurement of our city.

Joseph Frégier & Louis Audibert Artists-Painters
“We fully support your idea. We must by all means prevent the harmful work of the demolishers of the picturesque, especially when the question of utility and hygiene does not come into play. “We wish your initiative every success.

Vivès Apy Artist-Painter
“No, no, no, with the greatest energy. We must not melt and fill in the Canal de la Douane. It is a charming and very pleasant corner. The source of infection? There is, around, much more intellectually infected, and let's not talk about chasing it away. So, let's leave us alone! Why systematically demolish Marseille. Just recently, I spent a nice evening under the moon, on the banks of the Canal de la Douane, with Manguin. We were talking art, it was delightful to find these old wooden bridges that you know well and to wander among the boats pulled ashore.

Marcel Arnaud Artist-Painter
Director of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts d'Aix
"With you against the filling in of the Canal de la Douane, with all my heart.
"Already in 1913, Coulanges had gathered in the "Marches de Provence", the protests of a large number of artists (and you were with us), this made the vandals retreat.
"The reasons that motivated their evil designs had to be not very... good. I don't think they are any better now.

Roger Beraud Artist-Painter
"Marseille is wrongly considered to be a city of trade. It is also a city of art..." These are more or less the words that end all official speeches, whether they are to honor Puget, Daumier or Monticelli. And this is why our elected officials will build a "market" on the site of an old canal on the banks of which painters and poets came to dream.
"Marseille, certainly, is not a city of trade."

Auguste Bréal Artist-Painter
"I agree with you and I would deplore the removal of the canal, so pretty to look at. I hope that you will succeed in making the authors of this unfortunate project think and stop their destructive fury. I therefore very willingly support your attempt in favor of the fine arts of Marseille.
"But four years of living in Marseille have led me to think that the people of Marseille are indifferent to the kind of question you are asking today. If the people of Marseille were not indifferent, they would not support the progressive disfigurement of a city that could have so much charm and still has some, despite those who have erected a white marble carnival on Place Castellane, despite those who adorn the Cannebière with altered banks and cinemas, despite those who are preparing future inaugurations and future abominations for us... But they don't care."

David Dellepiane Artist-Painter
I wholeheartedly applaud your legitimate protest about the filling of the canal of the Rive-Neuve quay.

Eugène Dufour Artist-Painter
"You want to ask me to formulate my opinion on the suicide project that abominable scoundrels in a vein of bribes would like to carry out. "To the question you ask me about the undeniable picturesqueness that the appearance of our quays presents, I would answer yes.
"The quay of the canal especially at certain times is an enchantment, especially at the time of the twilight mystery.
"Everything, the bridges, the layout of the architecture, the contours of the quays, the arabesques of certain lines and the tones and the atmosphere on all that! ... And this marvel of Maison Ventrue! ... And so! the sliding and the rocking of its old boats with the most unexpected shapes. And this music in the evening and these lights, at night.
"If this were attempted, it would not be a revolt, but a revolution.
"Please accept, dear sir, with the assurance of my distinguished feelings, my most complete support for any league against the madmen who would want to perpetrate such a crime of lèse-beauté.

Eugène Giraud Artist-Painter
"The Canal de la Douane and its old port form a whole that is most picturesque and most characteristic of the old city. It would be regrettable if this effect were destroyed by the layout of the Canal de la Douane.
"Ah! these businessmen! Also, how much I am with you wholeheartedly and hope that your courageous campaign will stop their appetites.

Pierre Humbourg "Why destroy the old canal, when we respect all of old Marseille, tottering and rotten behind the town hall. Is it more unhealthy than a certain old street that runs alongside the Hôtel Dieu? No! ... So let's leave the canal to us! It seems that the old port gives the city its arm, and then it remains only for the pleasure that the two drawbridges that straddle it give me. Little Venice, democratic and a little dirty but so rich, so vibrant in the sun. And they want to replace the old canal with a market where candy apples and watermelons will be sold. Oh no, let us have our sunny moat. "

C.-J. Montel Director of the Galerie d'Art Moderne "You do me the honor of asking my opinion on the project to remove the canal. This fine feat would simply be an act of vandalism. "I know the unanimous wish of all the artists, but will it be granted? "I join my protest to that of the comrades and congratulate you on your initiative.

Jean Peské Artist-Painter
"The old port of Marseille.

"In my long career as a landscaper, I have never seen a landscape created by man so perfect in its Unity. This is where the characteristic of Latin genius leaps out at you. The happy proportions make the immense expanses, the enormous constructions, seem small so well proportioned are the volumes.

"In general, the partisans of the suppression of old corners put forward reasons of hygiene and utility. Sometimes, their audacity goes so far as to speak to us of an "other beauty" which will replace the one which will be demolished. The other beauty, I know it! "To speak only of Marseille, the ferry and the fish market are there, we only have to see them. So, what? Demolish for the sake of demolishing, for the sake of change, to satisfy a few artisans of the ugly or the merchants who see speculation everywhere? a handful of people, in short. It is up to the majority sensitive to beauty to come together and not let the others triumph. Again, if the interest of a large city were at stake! But the old port and the canal have been there for centuries and their existence has not prevented Marseille from prospering; it shows its need for expansion by kilometers of docks and dikes and the transformation of its suburbs."

Carlo Rim Cartoonist
"The Customs Canal is as adorable as the little Dutch landscapes painted in cormaïeu that decorate the Delft dishes... "Our city officials who are decidedly neither in the taste of Theocritus nor in that of Virgil! want to put a lid on this beautiful dish... Judged from the picturesque point of view alone, such a decision is, in itself, an act of lèse-sérénité and vandalism.

To get the full meaning out of it, let's start by summarizing the answers that the best artists in Marseille were kind enough to give to my question. First, there is a cry of stupor: "Is it possible that one can, with impunity, touch the canal!" says Mr. Louis Brauquier. "It is unacceptable for people of taste!" exclaims Mr. Henri Dobler.
The Old Port: "In my long career as a landscaper," Mr. Jean Peské tells us, "I have never seen a landscape created by man, so perfect in its unity." "The quay of the canal is an enchantment..." states Mr. Eugène Dufour.
The indignation is general. I am indignant and protest at the thought that Vandals, alas! very powerful, are thinking of filling in the canal, exclaims
Mr. Henri Guibert. Vandalism! Vandalism!, MM. Jules Olive, Carlo Rim, François Berthet, Jean Roque. But why this project? "The only argument in favor of the disappearance of the canal, hygiene, has no value. Frequent cleaning is sufficient," believes Mr. Fernand Rambert. "There is, around, much more intellectually filthy, and let's not talk about chasing it away!" remarks Mr. Vivès Apy. Hygiene would therefore only be a pretext.
"The filling in of the Customs Canal is a despicable financial operation, carried out under the cover of hygiene," declares Mr. Louis Brauquier. "Pure mercantilism notes Mr. Edouard Aude.

"Projects of abominable scoundrels in search of bribes," exclaims Mr. Dufour violently. "Demolish for the sake of demolishing, to satisfy a few artisans of the ugly or mercantile, who see speculation everywhere. Even if the interest of a large city were at stake!" observes Mr. Jean Peské.

"Our city is increasingly threatened by brutal transformations that would turn it into a caravanserai of mercantiles from which all beauty would be excluded" observes Valère Bernard. "Why systematically demolish Marseille?" asks Mr. Vivès Apy. "We must by all means prevent the harmful work of the demolishers of the picturesque" decide Messrs. Frégier and Louis Audibert. "If this were attempted, it would not be a revolt, but a revolution" exclaims Mr. Dufour. That is the tone. The artists are unanimous and this new attack on the beauty of Marseille deeply moves them.

The Municipal Council would be completely wrong to disdain this indignation. It will only increase. It will gain ground step by step. Didn't Mr. Marsac reveal to us that the buildings on the Quai Rive-Neuve were already to be demolished before the war? So they did not hesitate to lay hands on one of the most beautiful architectural ensembles in Marseille! For what purpose? For what interests? This operation was linked, as it is today, to the filling in of the Canal de la Douane, which, as the Director of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts d'Aix reminds us, was aborted by a campaign in the Marches de Provence. "The reasons were not good then, I don't think they are any better now," he observes. Ah! the businessmen! exclaims Mr. Eugène Giraud, how I hope that our campaign will stop their appetites! However, on October 10, in a session, this question of filling in the canal was discussed at the Municipal Council of Marseille. Mr. Flaissières explained "the advantages that could result from the declassification of the canal and its filling. The Council unanimously voted in favor of the principle of declassification. A Commission of five members, responsible for studying the question, will be appointed at a future session."

We see that it is time to act. A Committee of resolute men must be formed in Marseilles. We must first open the eyes of Mr. Flaissières, who is deceived, who, I am sure, does not suspect where he is being led, of Mr. Flaissières who loves Marseilles. I cannot forget that, not long ago, he ardently defended the Old Port. Speculation must be unmasked. We must by all means prevent the harmful work of the demolitionists. Otherwise, from the streets that border the canal, instead of the Dutch bridges, one will discover dreamy water and picturesque old boats, one will discover the zinc roof of a market, or the palm trees of the Place Victor-Gelu, of which Mr. François Berthet speaks, or the flowerbeds with designs and beautiful white urns at the four corners, like the Place de la Bourse (Gontran-Porten), the trams will crisscross the Quai Rive-Neuve, the shell merchants will have lived and in place of the beautiful old houses, monumental, patinated by the centuries, some hideous palace will rise. The most abominable thing we know in modern existence will invade this corner, until then wonderfully preserved. We must explain to the people of Marseille that we want to massacre their port, steal from them what belongs so closely to them and is so dear to them: their Sunday pleasures, drive away the merchants of esques, overturn the benches of the sellers of sea urchins, mussels and violets, because the upheaval of the Rive-Neuve quay is an inevitable consequence of the filling in of the canal. Come on! goodbye to the beautiful mornings in the sun on the Old Port, the shandies and the white wine. Make way for the cosmopolitans of all the blue trains and make way for the merchants of all stripes who exploit them. Deign to think about it, Mr. Flaissières. You will realize what we want from you. There are already no more cannebière. That's enough for now!

Come on, quickly, in Marseille a Committee of resistance and defense! Propaganda is easy. Purely oral. In the absence of a few public meetings, it is enough to spread out in the cafes, in the bars and to talk. The people of Marseille will understand right away. I don't think, like Auguste Bréal, that they are indifferent to this kind of question. But they are not informed. The leaders of this affair do not believe in the indifference of their fellow citizens either. Otherwise they would not have conducted it like this, in the shadows and mystery.