Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-12-18
ALL NATURE SMILES
IN UNHAPPY ALSACE
Land of Sunshine and Plenty a
Boiling Caldron of
Bitterness.
Nature Intended Province to Be Ger
man, But Inhabitants Want
to Be French.
Special Correspondence OF The Star.


LONDON. December 4. 1913
frenchmen and Germans are at il
again in that unhappy Alsacc Of theirs
All the details of the familiar old story
-riotous mobs and arrogant soldiers.
threats OF blood. and. of course. the in
evitablc rumors. promptly denied. of Of
fetal intervention by the French govern
ment-are up and boiling once more i'm
that caldron OF bitterness.
/ know this paradoxical Land OF Alsace
have been through il in winter and in
summer. IL is a fair and fruitful land
Among hills and vineyards lie Zabern.
Metzeral. Colmar. Rappoltsweiler and a
score OF other little towns. remote red
tiled museums of antiquity many of
them, IN d state of genuine and I'M
touched dilapidaton guaranteed to de-
light the heart of every good American
tourist searching for the true European
proposition
The dilapidation is only superficial IL
exists because the Alsatian is SO very
rich ia beautiful relics of an ancient past
that he cannot be forever patching at
them all. So the little towns steep with
out clamor. Towering weeds Chamber
freely about the dwelling houses that
have stood there almost untouched since
medieyalism died. and the people quietly
gather wealth. II is beautiful and pros
land more obviously intended by
nature to be happy. And yet its record
is one of the unhappiest in history.
That is the paradox OF Alsace-
Seems Land of Plenty.
few years ago / went on A cycling
tour through Alsace and the whole land
breathed peace. The grapes were ripen-
ing on the vines and under them at m d.
day slept the workers in the vineyard:
it was too hot to think of much but
sleep. Bees hummed in the still air
flowers thronged everywhere: hosts OF
insects and little green lizards baskej
in the sunshine. You would have said
that all life was sleeping itself in an
ancient and eternal repose.
Yet under the surface of life in those
little towns, the white walls OF which
reflected sun blasts SO hot that one
stirred seethed a devils brew of hatred
and rancor.
Zabern, where the present trouble has
its center. is busy place But busy or
remote, in manufacturing town or m
tiny COW hamlet tucked away i'm fold
of the Vosges, the feeling is the same.
The two races that mix but do not min
gle In AlSace present a problem that is
still a European danger They are BIZ
lingual. The people have to speak Ger
man and they treasure their French.
And there seems no prospect ,iiat the
quarrel as to which nation ought to
own this land will ever be anything but
the despair of diplomats and the en-
ploymentof soldiers
One would say that geography ought to
settle the matter. and geography declares
for Germany. 1t is true that after the
collapse of the western Roman empire
Charlemagne annexed il to France. But
then he treated most of Europe in that
manner. From the tenth 10 the seven
teenth century, during which what Glib
bon calls "our great European republic"
WAS gradually crystitl!iZing out of chaos
into its present form. Alsace was Ger
man. Then Louis NV. by his prepos-
ferrous thirty years MAR. upset that
process of nature and made the land
French. And 1t is the French occupation.
that followed that the people of today
cannot forget. They forget that Alsace
was ever German. They think that God
meant 1t for France, and they groan
under officials appointed by the Prus-
slams.