New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-02-07
GERMANY TO HOLD
ALSACE-L0RRAINE
Will Give Up Provinces
Only In Case of Ma
tional Disaster.
EARLY ENTHUSIASM
HAS BEGUN TO WANE
Kaiser's Subjects Fail to See
What They Are to Gain
Even II Victorious.
n. GORDON GORpON.sMITH.

made by tDe EituN'l wv = n 80,
/ Alsace, and also to the orders OF yen ue"-
/ eral Gaede, commanding INC Us. -, "
for all subjects OF neutral s'"''' "
leave. o.io, o,d
| General Gaede has tried TO attenuate
/ its effect by announcing that IN speclAi
4 rases demands to continue in residence
/ Nv neutra!s will receive individual con-
/ sideration. but there has been no can :
! calling OF the general disposition OF
/ the decree.
/ | talked with q large number OF such
refugees who had just left Germany as
/ 10 the state Of public opinion III 'h@V
! country. They are all unanimous IN
| saving that a change is gradually ian
ing place. The warlike eXaitauoh tha'
marked the beginning Of the war, WHeH
the entire nation was convinced thaU
/ Germany would gain a crushing VIC
/ tory, no longer exists. The government
! 70 leaving no stone unturned 10 nam
/ tain the warlike enthusiasm. but inc
| fact that the army is moblllzed ooth OF,
the eastern and western frontier ana
| that no one can tell how long the war
will last, everywhere gives 1000 4or
serious reflection.
This does not mean that the German
people have in the least degree loSt
/ their confidence in a tnal victory Ut
arms, but they begin to fear that thlS
victory will cost so dearly that DER
many will gain nothing By the war
Germany Loses if She Wins.
ave will reap nothing from IT," Is
the way in which the man IN tne street
In Germany now sums up the situation.
From this point Of view the war IS bad
business, as the working expenses are
TOO high. but it would be idle TO smut
ones ewes to the fund of patience, res
Ignation and tenacity which the Ger
man people possess. The effort Wnich
thew have put forth against the Allies
can only be described in their own
favorite expression, "Kolossal.'
The unanimity in all ranks and con
ditions. the activity and orderly meth.
DDS which govern 1t, and the, spirit OF
sacrifice which animates all classes
civil and military, make Germany the
most formidable Of enemies. nave
nowhere been able to hear any con,
Armetion of the pretended proposal
made through indirect channels by
Germany to France that the latter
country should receive Alsace-Lorralne
if she would consent TO abandon Eng
The question of Alsace-Lorralne IS
one on which the public opinion OF
Germany is unanimous. She Will never
give up the provinces she conquered III
1870 unless they are torn from her by
force after a complete and crushing
defeat Since 1870 neTe has been q
perfect avalanche of literature on that
campaign. There is no single German
who is not convinced that the supreme
result of that war was the constilu-
ton Of national unity and the recoV-
erv of q German province unduly heId
bv France. For German professors
who iuggle with the centuries, the de-
sires and aspirations of the actual IN
babitants Of Alsace-Lorralne were and
are of no account, and the claims OF
Germany, dating from the time OF
Louis XIV, are still as much a living
force in 1915 as they were two cen
turtles ago.
Hold TO Alsace-Lorraine.
But in the modern professors his
tory the Treitschkes and Bernhardls
ore the educators Of latter-day Ger
many. As a consequence every Ger
man. without distinction, class OF
creed. considers that the surrender OF
Asace-Lorraine would be the mora
bankruptcy of the German Empire
This could only be imposed on Ger
many by complete national disaster
and this has certainly not yet been IN
flicted by the Allies.
"Our military situation" the Ter
mans say, still seems TO US TO be IN
tact. We are waglng war IN the en-
emies' country TO the east as well as
the west. We have put up the sollo
barriers os an admirable organization
Our railways enable us rapidly 10
transport our forces from one from
to the other and to choose the POM
where we desire 10 give the MAXIMUM
of our effort by the military. There
fore our situation is not so desperate
that II could Justify the cession OF ter
ritorv. and we have still powerful re-
serves which we can mobilize IN the
spring"
Germans Are Well Fed.
There remains, however, the eco
monte war by which the Allies hope to
reduce Germany. OF this II is more
difficult TO appreciate the results. "
TO the present, from all | hear from
the other side of the frontier, there
has been no actual scarcity Of PROV
sions. The people one meets IN the
streets Of German towns and villages
| was told by Swiss who have had oc-
casion to travel much in Germany
since the beginning of the war, LOOK
as prosperous and well fed as ever II
is true that they must be sparing in
their consumption of bread, but this
is no great hardship TO the Germans,
as, unlike the French, they are not
great bread eaters.
The most minute precautions have
been taken by the government TO pre-
vent the waste Of cereals. The pro
portion OF wheat -four and potato -four
has been regulated by decree. In order
TO facilitate the surveillance of bak-
cries bread can only be baked between
7 o'clock in the morning and Z in the
evening.
Cakes and pastry must not contain
more than so per cent OF -four, and IN
some localities they are only allowed
20 be baked three times week. The
recent letter from the Minister OF the
Interior 10 Professor Sernig was really
an open letter addressed 10 German
housewiyes. The Minister implored
them TO exercise the strlctest economy
He entered into the most familiar de-
, tails OF household economy. House
| wives must not throw away the re-
mains Of meals, but utilize them with
care.
In fact. the government, after mob
ilizing the men of the country is now
mobilizing the "Oeutsche Hausfrauen'
The Minister Of the Interior made II Q
matter Of conscience for them TO serve
their country in the kitchens as the
sons and husbands serve 1t IN the
trenches. IL.
"Whoever," he said. docs not desire
a prescription issued for national an
mentation commits crime against the
~. .,.l..l % ,rnnld soldiers who