Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-11-22
ALSkCE-LORRl|NE BACK
.BJkE Of GERM VEAL TIL
Vast Storehouses of Wealth and
Power: Bigger Than State
of Minnesota.

1t is indtstrially and economcaiiv
that Alsace-Lorraine will truly ma IT.
self People have long talked about thS
Importance of returning tins conlscatcd
territory to France. Their views were
based on emotion rather than knoWleuRe
oi facts. | am.not oversteppng the marx
very much when | say that, had II not
becn fo the possession of Alsacc- Lorraine,
the Germans could never have held out
as long rs thev did Alsace-lorralne Is
storehorISc of over and wealth y snort
time before the war broke out Germany
published its annual series OF statlstcS ot
industrial wealth OF the twenty-SeNei
million toms of ircn mined. twcnty~onc
million were taken out Of Alsace-Lorralnc.
Thai means that more than threc-quar-
Tor of the IRON used i'll Germany all
thcet, wears and especially IN the war
CAM. out of this territory. The district
of Losrainc IS the biggest iron field IN the
world, bigger even than that oi your
State of Minnesota.
..That is not ALL In close proximity
TO the iron cldS. in the district ot Saar,
we have one OF the biggest coal deposits.
The combination OF these two, the coal
and the iron. IS what made Germany the
industrial power that she became during
the last i;ftv wears Anything from an
iron nail to a locomotive was manu-
featured at the lowest cost and with the
greatest efficiency efficiency OF Ger
man brains, but efficiency due 10 the
wealth and position OF natural resources.
In the large majority OF eases II was the
AlsatianS who controlled the property.
The wealth of it went to the country ny
which hey were governed 1t was the
Alsatians, however, who were the BRAINS
OF the Industries.
The Germans were aware OF TINS.
Wherever possible they tried 70 overrule
the industrial growth Of the people II
was not to their advantage TO decrease
the Outnut of the coal and IRON neidS.
Therefore. they mined them to capacity.
In the question of potash. however, they
were not 50 greatly dependent upon
Alsarc. Alsacc possesses the largest
potash fields in existence. The Germans
objected to the mining OF tins product
in regions outside their own immcdIat"
confines. This proves that they never
really thought AlSace belonged to them.
In order tu cut of the output OF the
AlSatian mines = syndicate was organized.
with the approval Of the ReIchstag-
whose purpose WAS to regulate potash nln-
ing One Of the most conspicuous clauses
in that syndicate provided that the mines
OF AISaCc he worked - not IloiC til'iAi
10 per cent Of their capacity.
tone Of the greatest things that Ger
many has been noted for is lis pCrtcc-
tion 81 aniline dyes The situation i
ircmic to say the least. IN MulhauScn.
a city in the territory Of Alsace, IS the
most famous chemical college in the
world supported by French Alsatians
and attended by the younger pcope q
AlSacc and Lorraine II Is 10 the work
of this college that Germany owes rs
superiority in the dye industry.
Much along the same lines can hc
said of other industries. Before 1870
Alulhauscn was a most important indus
trial centre OF France. When the Ger
mans took possession Of Alsacc the city
still held its position Of importance, hut
only III 50 far as it did not interfere with
the progress OF industries which were al
ready organized in Gcrmarv proper. In
every way possible tile Germans dis
couraged industrial growth there Il
spite ii this Mulhausen, Colmar, Mctz.
Stra>Sburg, and several OF her equally
well known cities steadily rose II lm-
Iortance.
An tli- leads 10 one conclusion:
What Alsace-L1rralnc was not allowed