The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1917-09-20
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. DEADLOCK,

The question Of Alsace-Loraine =
! stm considered by many leadins
statesmen 20 be the chief obstacle in
1.-The way OF a. peace by negotiation.
/ France seems to he almost unanimous
in her determination to fgh, the war
stn Aisace and Lorraine are redeemed.
Ton the ether hand Germany shows
no signs % returning the annexed
provinces. Even her most violent
radicals. the independents and So
c~ialists. advocate = plebiscite AS a So
luton Of the question. This susges-
ton has met with considerable sup
port in Russia. and even in England.
"The London Tines invited NJ. p. A.
Meimer. n prominent Aisatian lawyer.
10 write a series Of articles on tho
future OF Alsace- Lorraine. N. Mel
mer ends his review OF the Alsa,ian
problem with the following interesting
conclusions.
The allies are agreed hat the
question OF deciding to what state a
population should belong can only be
raised by the population themselves
The people OF Aisace-Lorraine have
never shown ths slightest wish to he
separated from France. Their spirit
has not chnnged. Among Die nativss
% the country, the Germans would
not find three hundred favorable TO
Ithtn. the rest would demand to re-
turn TO the French motherland. That
Is why Germany has never dared 10
I~appsal to the will OF the annexed in
!haDiants. She now seeks 10 put for
ward the reasons OF >racc. language
and history. which Bismarck treated
with contempt in 1871.
"Alsacc is united to France. with
whom she has always had moral, in
%tellectual and artistic affinity. by a
historical development of many cen
turtles. At the end Of the middle ages
the Aisatians sought the protection
lof a state that could assure to them
order at home n safety against me
mics from outside. France UNDER
took this work. and respected the Gus
toms. the traditions and the language
OF this praVince. Thus the union with
Figuce ook place with fun popular
consent. Alsace belonged to France
while the umderu ideas Of %pa,riotisin
and nationality were taking shape,
The Departments OF the Rhine had q
glorious share 1 nthe wars that ca
liked the idea or the French patrie,
Nothing Is more false than the Ger
imam assertion that Alsaee was stolen.
froin Germany during a period OF
Germau weakness.
THE language question Is it'll,
understood by those who do not know
Alsuce. The dialect OF GermaniS
origin spoken by the people is no
good German. When the government
decreed that German must be spoken
in the Strassburg Diet, and severa
doTuties wished to speak Alsatian, III,
members % the government and tn,
Herman immigrants refused them thi'
fright. declaring hat 1t was impossibl,
To- understand what was said. Amoni
themselves, Alsatians never speai
German. For them II is a foreign Ian.
guage They use either French o
Alsatian.
"pn he question % race II Is use
less To insist. Scientific proofs. 90.
what theS are worth, nave lous con
futed the German thesis. But tn
real point tx hat neither languag.
nor history, nor race, provides a con
elusive argument against the clear,
expressed viii OF a people.
What then, is the task Of the al
lies; II h not 70 solve a question
but to offace an act Of violence an
, Injustice ana to reestablish the statu
quo ante. Who, IN such case. can tai.
OF a plebisclte? Germany has ren
4 derel impossible any regular and i'm
r partial pieblscite. on the morrow q
r her occupation she expelled an thos
4 who desired 10 retain French nation
. ality by Introducing compulsory mi
itary service Tor Alsatians IN the Prus
% sian army from 1879 onward "a
e compelled the youth OF Alsnoe f,
y many years 10 leave the country Thos
70 ~emigrunts who are profoundly al
% tichcd to their little fatheriand. lo.
10 only m The hope OF returning whc
h Alsace should again be French The
,flcould not A. excluded from an
DO plcbiscite.
Moreover. since the outbreak
, the present war. Germany has dor
her best to render Impossible amy %
81 peal To the people. After ha,ir
.e forced "a great number of the u
By a bitants 10 nec from arrest and In
-prisoumcnt without trial she declar,
b them % have forfeited Alsatttn-Lo
raine nationality That fate bofelI a
1000 men who tool refuge ln Franc
IS Switzerland ana England. withol