Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-11-15
IN ALSACE.LORRAINE

On. Sunday Field Marshal Foch. President Poincare
and Premier Georges Clemenceau Of France will solemn
ly enter the territory OF Alsace-Lorraine. the provinces
lost and regained; they will be there to Officially pro-
claim that the former German "reichsland' has reverted
to its rightful possessors. the French people.
There have already been indications Of the depth
and genuineness Of feeling with which the nation receive
ed the news of a victory that meant the fulfnlment OF
hopes and dreams Of Al years. On the day when Presi-
dent Wilson read to the joint congress the terms of the
German arnistice, one silent man sat behind the cabi-
net members and the judges Of the. supreme court, and
while every one was cheering as: the president read the
terms, this man averted his face from the scene Of jubi-
lation and wept-wept for joy. 1t was Jusserand, the
French ambassados. who. yielded to an impulse the most
natural Of all, even for a diplomat. :
The next day Clemenceau told the French chamber
Of deputies Of the restoration of Alsace-Lorraine. and in
the name of the republic he extended the heartiest pos
.sible welcome to that part OF the nation which had been,
under Prussian domination and remained enthusiastic
ally French throughout all its struggles and difficulties.
The sentiments of the population of Alsace-Lorra,ne
have once more demonstrated to the world the supreme
incompetence of the Prussians for governing conquered
soil. There. as in Posen and slesVig- Holster, every at
tempt to Prussianize the people has been decisively frus-
trated, and even such subtle methods as those employed
for the purpose Of buying farms from the original own
eIS dHu place III II nduQS II nave utter.
ly failed. Prussianism became a very literal terror in
these provinces and the system adopted for their Ger
|manization was SO abhorrent and repulsive as to deepen
the hatred of the people for their oppressors.
1t marks an epoch in the history Of France that her
highest dignitaries will take possession Of Alsace-Ior-
raine now that victory has been won. Time was when
long railroad trains moved into the station of Frankfort
on-the-Main filled with French gold from top to bottom
gold wrung from the savings Of French men, women
and children who were intent on renting the huge In
demnity which victorious Prussia had imposed upon
them. No one thought at that time that France was in
a position I'd so splendidly respond to the DEGREES of fate
and the exorbitant demands of a characterized Ger
many. But she did.
And Bismarck carefully put all the gold in large
Golfers at spandau for certain uses. 1t soon became evil
dent what the indemnity money wa to be expended for:
German military railroads. Miles and miles of tracks
were laid down everywhere in the German empire so as
to insure the swift movements Of troops when der Tag
would dawn upon a well prepared military nation. It
was a pieceSof foresight which would have been admir-
liable had the purposes been different-and now things
have turned out so queerly that the organization whose
work was facilitated by stolen French capital, has been
|crushingly defeated. and that Alsace Lorraine is French
and free once more.
Political considerations in connection with the Al
sace-Lorraine problem have always been Of importance,
but aside .therefroh. the dual province has become a
symbol of the valiant Gallo spirit which may for just
one brief moment be respondent but which, resurrected
and refrigerated, compels the admiration ofsfriends and
the modification or foes
The heart Of the French nation is Alsace-Lorraine,
and today the blood courses through it more swiftly than
ever before during the past half century or so. Alsace-
Lorraine restored rises out of the red mists of the war
as the eternal Installation of a people whose soul can
not be crushed even by brutal Prussian iron fists-and
an entire world thankfully and jubilantly. pays homage
to that people whose faith and courage acted on every
one like a fiery inspiration. ~