New-York tribune., 1917-08-12
Referendum fof
Alsace- e-Lorraine
NEW development in the A.
Lorraine question has ari,r -,

appears to be giving seriou -,
some pause. From various quarter -
come suggestions to the effect tA,t ~
whole troubled issue ought to 4. -.
mitted to referendum in Alsace-lo,,.,
itself. Ernest Dimnet, writing IN ~.
New Witness" observes:
Zone might feel inclined to di,n,.. a.,
proposal with indignation or irony, r,,.,N-.
the heartrending appeal Of the Alsa,i,,.
France not to be delivered up to Pru.,,
asking why such referendum wa, r...:.
mentioned by those who now suggest !, =.
tween 1871 and 1914. II seemed .ns,.,-
reasonable apparently that the Alsatiap, -,
Danes or the Poles, who loudly pro.s,,.,
when they were annexed by Prussia ,h,n,,
remain Prussians, but now that thers !.
chance for these peoples to 60 back vb.,.
they originally belonged referendur I,
suggested. However, indignation or iro,.
may go hand in hand with truth, but .h.,
seldom accompany persuasiyeness. and II 4.
of the highest Importance that in this i,.r.
people should be convinced that they ar.
wrong rather than that they are absurd a,
cowardly; so we had better consider h.,,
proposal with all the sympathy we can eor.
mand
"To an immense majority in Frsnee. 4,
England and in America the French but, a.
guerre solemnly stated by NJ. Ribot seem
reasonable: it seems in perfect accordance
with the highest principles Of mOral,-no,
of politics alone-that the wrongs caused In
1870 and 1871 by war brought about by an
impudent lie (the garbling of tn. En-.
dispatch by Bismarck) should be r.dress.d,
and that the damages to France Belgium.
Serbia and Russia during the present x.r
should be repaired by those who preferred
war to a conference or TO peaceful proceed.
ings before the Hague tribunal.
"But a small minority think differently.
. In France portion of the Socisls.
party defends the referendum, and quite re.
Gently the Socialist Minister Albert Thomas,
returning from Petrograd, told the editor Of
L'Guvre,' NJ. Tery, that he, too, inclined
toward a referendum, but thought Its resll.
zation of the greatest difficulty
"What prompts these people to nsis, on
the population of Alssce-Lorraine stating
before the whole world what its desires are,
Is it because they hope that the referendum
will be in favor of Germany? It may 10
true of some, for before the war il was Gus.
tomary for Socialists TO hint that owing to
various causes-among which they were
wrong never to mention the religious pens.
cutions in France - Alsace Lorraine vas
growing used to her situation. Yet ! should
rather think that they hope for the opposite;
they would like Alsace-Lorraine TO beeors
French again, but without any appesrsne.d u
annexation likely to give offence to the Ra,-
sian feeling we now know well, and hg
persuade themselves that if the AlsahM
decision were thus given at an hsiorissl
moment when the right of nations TO dspo"
of themselves is universally proclaimed tbs
would preclude the possibility of another
war on the same issue
"The desire to see the durable establish
ment of justice and of peace in the word
ought not to be derided even il il is re.
garded as utopian, for the moral progress Of
the world is attached TO the wish to m
such a Utopia come true. But the notion
that referendum in the case Of Alss''
Lorraine might prevent a future war oust'
not to be encouraged.
"As fer future war being made impo'H'
bic by decision gathered from majonV
of votes, if this means anything it means
that in the case-eXceedingly probaole-~
the majority declaring itself for France
Germany would resign herself to abide "
this decision forever.
"But why should we imagine that Germany
should do now what she has not done h'
fore? Will she not, on the contrary, 90 'a
best to nullify the significance Of the re's''
endum? At the present moment she is nav
ing referendum in Alsace-Lorraine: tn" F"
habitants are asked TO state which GerHia
territory they would like to be incorpoSNa
in-whether it is Prussia, Baden or BaVsnI
Will she not insist that this vote is the olp
uninhuenced one? Will not German ooso'
macy and lack of sympathy always oehos
if the referendum only takes place when W
French flag streams again in every Alssu..
village, that the consultation was fslslhsa.
Will not the all-ruling feeling remain: Az
ii we could only have kept Alsaee tweh'
years longer she would have loved u.s.
"The solution of the Alssce-Lorrsne qae'
tion is not in Asace-Lorraine; It is enuHy
and exclusively in change in the spir'"'
outlook of Germany"