The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-07-21

Alsaee-Lorraine on the same basis as
that of the rest of the empire, has
caused the airing of many speculative
opinions. AT last" these say, has the
"Reichsland become worthy of its new
German name"
Very different is the view of those
eXiles of the two lost provinces Of
France, who, to the number of some
40'OO0, form a colony in and around
New York.
There is no Reichsland," they say,
but there is still Alsace- Lorraine And
We've are still sons of France"
today interviewed M. Gillaume
Nalz, prominent and prosperous
business man in the French quarter
here. Well known among and popular
with his eXpatriated fellow country
men, enjoying their confidence and re-
Spect, NJ. Walz has peculiarly excel
lent facilities for knowing the true
temper of those of his people who en-
lgrated after 1870, and those who yet
remain at home.
The German emperor, said NJ.
Walz, has, through the legislation he
inspired in the reichstag, withdrawn,
or course, the autocratic powers hith-
erto reposed in the governor of Alsace-
Lorraine, by this act practically con-
ferring on the people of the provinces
what one usually calls constitutional
nights That is about it. But that
does not make the Reichsland-as they
call my old home nova German
country where the German spirit pre-
walls over the old French spirit of the
people.
Resume of the Situation.
Your editors here all concluded, off,
hand that we Alsatians have all be-
come RefchSlandeTs. Your editors
they are all wrong, let me tell you. I
know how we feel-we, the Alsatians
IN America and in Alsace- Lorraine"
NJ. Walz then gave me a very inter-
estIng resume of the whole situation
up to date. He said:
annexation of the two provinces
was followed not merely by the wave
or anu-German sentiment that swept
lhem, but by migration into France
and emigration to the United States of
great numbers of my compatriots who
refused TO be anything but Frenchmen.
i myself came from BfschWeiler.
twenty kilometers distant from Stras-
burg, in Alsace- 1 did not come to
America until 1884. AS a boy l can re-
call many of the stirring scenes Incl
dent to the great siege of Strasburg in
1870. Yes, l have many memories of
the war-but-you want to know about
something else.
AT Bischweiler there were then
ll6f0) six large factories producing
line black cloth When the French flag
was lowered, the owners of these fac
tories at once removed them to Ell
boeuf, Chalons and Sedan, on French
SOIL Wen, of course, with the factories
went their large force of employees and
their families
what did Germany do, you ask.
when she annexed Alsace- Lorraine?
Everyone was given the alternative
of elecung to be either a French or a
German citizen. Those who declared
for France were obliged to leave the
provinces n Nf civ
after which they We're free to return
ana become residents as foreigners
Can't Acquire Realty.
No foreigners, however, could ac-
quire real estate; those who possessed
any at the time of annexation were
permitted to retain it.
There was at first an almost gem
era exodus of the young men, as they
were anxious to escape being drawn as
conscripts for the German army
But, you know, Germany had been
clever when she made the treaty of
peace with France under which Alsace-
Lorraine became part of the new
German empire. The treaty prohibited
France from accepting in her Or1i-
nary regiments of the line, any re-
CruitS from AlSace-Lorraine who hav-
ing left there while minors, were in
consequence not qualified to make legal
declaration of their choice of a nation
atty. 1t was, you see, the fathers of
families who declared for their sons
who were under legal age. These lat
ter, then, were given a chance, on
reaching their majority, of revising
their parents verdict, if they pleased,
and becoming French or German citi-
Zens, as their inclination might lead
them.
well, these young exiIes-they en-
listed in the French foreign legion for
n in ro,rfo
trouble had then broken out as a re-
suit of the withdrawal of the French
troops to serve against Germany in
the war at home a year or so before
Afterwards, think-of it-these young
soldiers of France, returning to the
old home in the French uniform, were
impressed into the German service as
conscripts. Fate is ironical, is it moi?
Population of the Province.
and this is how the Communication
of AlSace-Lorraine went on Within
the first few years of German soVer-
eighty about 900 Germans came
into Alsace-Lorraine, but these settled
exclusively in the cities, going into
business there, or else became en-
ployes of some department of the local
government. The two provinces have
now, between them, I estimate, 3OO-
900 to 400, 900 native born Germans in
their population, and this number is
constantly increasing; but all these
migrating Germans have and do be-
come dwellers in the cities only On
the other hand, in the rural districts
chiefly, the two provinces have a pop
ulation of about 100000, who speak
the old native dialect, as we'll as mod
ern French, bring up their children to
speak both, and to be, like their par
Gnts, absolutely French in sentiment
and sympathy.
Twill Alsace-Lorraine ever become
really German, you say? That seems to
depend on the native-born Germans
who settle there ultimately exceeding,
with their descendants, the old French
population and it's posteritY. We see
that after a period extending over
thirty years the purely German ele-
;nent barely exceeds one-fifth of the
total population, which in 1870 was
about 100000, and has since increas-
cd by about 100000. The loss to the
old French element by emigration I
estimate at 100000, so that this de-
ficiency seems to have been more than
supplied by the German immigrants,
while the former. rs represented by its
demonstrating 100000 has apparent
" Just held its own"
NJ WalZ lifted a cup of black coffee
to his lips and murmured:
"Vive La France!"
And. I Ventured, "Win AlSatian-Lor-
raine ever be the Reichsland'-in fact
as we'll as in name?"
Forever and forever" came the re-
ply, while in the speakers dark eyes
cleaned an enthusiastic fire, "Will
AIsace-Lerraine be a country with two
distinct peoples, two in sentiment and
tradition and tongue, without regard
20 religion Even here in America, here
in New York, YOU will hear the young