Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-03-31
FRANCE IMPERILINC PEACE

FALSE to the terms upon which the
= armistce was signed, and false there
fore to her own plighted word and that
of her allies and her enemy, is the
demand of France that the peace treaty
shall authorize her expansion into the
Saar basin.
The eighth of Mr.. Wilson's fourteen
points, which with two exceptions
formed the basis of the truce, expressly
stated that the invaded portions of
France should be restored and that the
wrong inflicted upon her by Prussia sin
the matter of Alsace-Lorraine" should
be righted.
The justice of these claims is incon-
testable, but any further territorial ex-'
panson would be deathblow to the
whole moral fiber of the Paris confer
ence. The Saar Valley, lying just be-
yond the Lorraine frontier, is an i'm
mensely rich coal field and denials that
this is why the region is coveted are
obviously unconvincing.
Justification is sought in the scroll of
history, but such tactics if approved are
guaranteed to throw the whole process
of world reconstruction into hopeless
confusion. 1t is true that portion of
the Saar country, including Saarlouis,
the birthplace of Marshal Ney, was
French from the reign of Louis XIV
until after the battle of Waterloo.
1t is true that France possessed the
town of Saarbruck from 1893 until 1915
and Saarburg from 1927 until 1915. But
it is true also that the Counts of Nassau
Saarbruck and the electors of Treves
were masters of parts of that rich coun-
try before the seventeenth century.
Long previous to that cycle the Roman
eagles were predominant. Before their
sway Celtic and Gothic barbarians had
possession. A statute of limitations in
any case in which the testimony of his
tory is invoked must be recognized if
boundary questions are to be saved from
utter absurdity.
Arguing by analogy, the French
policy would justify the return of the
American colonies to Great Britain or
pursuing the matter still further, il
would give validity to the still earlier
wholesale partitioning of the Americas
between Spain and Portugal.
The principle upon which civilization
was to be revived, when France, with the
rest of the nations that helped to save
| her, agreed to make peace, supposedly
| involved no sympathy for such PERM
cious nonsense. 1t is equally antagonis
tic to such trickery as that by which
France now seeks to grab the Saar basin
1t had no patience with any game t.
keep Poland landlocked. 1t has non,
now, but how can the iniquitous Germa,
maneuvering to prevent the bestowal O.
Justice on Poland be honestly combatec
if France should stain the victory of de
cency and right with selfish aggression
Deviation from the perfectly clear in
tent of the fourteen points regarding
territorial aggrandzement is calculated
to plunge the Peace Conference int,
moral anarchy. France has suffered
cruelty from the war, but any superficial
grandeur she may gain through greet
will be an evil sham, as was Germanys
Moreover, any peace treaty which will
tolerate the scheme now afoot will no
only in the end imperil France, but al
of mankind. A cynical peace with tn,
original high principles ignored. cal
bring naught but breathing spell be
fore another cosmic tragedy. Isl