Norwich bulletin., 1919-04-03
FACTS AND COMMENT

Nearly three weeks have elapsed since President Wilson arrived in France and the peace treaty that was confidently expected is nowhere in sight. The chief stumbling blocks are Fiume, nanzig and the valley of the Saar. Plume, the important Adri- atic port of Hungary. is demanded by toth Jugo- -Slavs and ItaI:ars. The city itself is largely Italian but geo. graphically It is the outlet for a great Slavic hinterland and thus the new state of" Jugo- Slavia denies the jus tice of Italy's claim. A suggested solution is Italian possession with Slavic trade rights. but no decision has yet been reached.
 r Danzig on the Baltic sea, though earlier Polish port, has been Prus- sian since 1923, have for T short time during the Napoleon era This city is demanded by Poland not only as just reparation of what was once wI'ested. from her. but also in accord anee with the thirteenth of President
 Wilson's fourteen essentials tc a last ing peace, namely free and secure ac-
 cess to the sea. The city of Danzig has. however, been largely Prussian-
 i:ed, and were it assigned to Poland.
 It would be against the wishes of many of it's inha bitants. Furthermore a considerable strip of German terri
 tory. would nave to be assigned to Po-
 land so as to afford access to her new
 ly restored port, and this strip would cut off East Prussia from the rest of Germany. The Poles, however,
 claim that Danzig is not so German as tie Germans would have it thought; that under German repression many Foies have concealed their nationaH- ty in order rot to be entirely cut off from trade and social privileges: and that if the chance were s.iXssl to ex- press their real preference the great majority of the people would declare for annexation to the new Polish re- public. As il the case of Plume the suggested solution is German posses sion with Polish trade rights, but the Poles are un2ompromising in their de-
 mand for outright ownersnil.
 A third obstacle to peace $ the val ley of the Saar. The question of the
 Franco German border lad been ap- barently settled, when Clsmenceau up- set all the arrangements with the de- mand that the whole Saar valley be given to France i'll reconapa panse for her mines t<at ll1e Germans have ruined The river Saar is a tributary Of the 1 Nfoselle, fifty miles cast of Metz, and the valley contains one of the greatest ccal fields of Europe. France is in desperate need of coal and the mines along the Belgian border were so ut terly destroyed by the Germans that 1 they will produce nothing for several | years. The demand for the cession 1 of the Saar coal field is thus under i stGndable but none the, less it vio- lates the principle of self-determina- l ton. Should France take this region | { German crime of 1871. and another Al 1 sace-L Lorraine problem would remain 1 az a cause ft.1- future wars. Nevertle- 1 less it is manifest that France must | rot be left at the mercy of Germany ] in the matter of her coal supply and
 tl.is question remains IS one of the un-
 solved difficulties of inc peace con
 ference.
 Though President Niiscn returned
 to Europe determined that the con
 stitution of the league of nations
 should not be altered. two months and
 a half of criticism both friendly and l rcstile has caused him to alter his views. The documer. Will be great | ly altered before it is again presented and it may be made palatabte even for Senators Borah and Reed. Certainly 1 there Will be found in the new draft
 a provision making possible the with | G'awal of any nation after sufficient notice, G-~1 another compromising the substance. even if nor mentioning the nanaa, of the Monroe Doctrine. Japan 1 is no longer insisting On the inclu
 sion of an article for5idGing racial discrimination and it isquite likely that
 the regulation of immigration will be l explicitly set down as q matter with which the league of nations is not to lneddle. Thus altered the proposa, will have an excellent chance of get ting by the United States senate | Though the president has been harsh ly criticized 10th here and abroad fol l delaying the peace treatF in order that tine league of nations agreement may bn incorporated herewith, 1t Is becom. ing more anu more clear to the world
 at large that territoria! adjustments
 arc the real cause of the unfortuna 1t
 delay.
 In the same hall in wi;ich the trait
 or Bolo faced his accusers and NIme
 Caillau& obtained her acauittaI 0
 Guilt for the shooting of NJ. Calrnette
 the editor Of figaro Senator Humber is being tried by a cour+ martial or
 the charge Nf conducting negotiation
 with the enctuy. It will be remember
 cd that in the year 1917 the spirit o
 defeat was spreading through France and that in the face Of reaI success Ol
 the part of the French armies. It wa suspected by the government that Ger
 man intrigue was at the bottom 0
 tnis and the army intelligence servic traced the advcnturer Bolo Pash I through two continents. until, assist cd by Attorney General Lewis of tn state of New York, 1t sLcured the ey idcnce on which he was convicted an
 icondenlned to face a firing squad. Bo 10 had secured BernstorffE sanc'N1 for 8 sSGhem; to buy up certain infuen l tial papers With German money an
 thus debauch public opinion and [ spread the idea that Germany wa invincible and that 1t was the best wa out to make peace with lcr. Tn greater part of two million dollar
 was paid to Bolo by the Berlin foreig , office through a succession of bank in order to hide the trail, and a sub , stantial sum was transferred throug
 the Morgan firm to the account ( Senator Hunbert of Paris. The in :, fucncial Paris Journal was Senate tI!us sbert's property at the time, an this paper took 9 prominent part
 the spread of BoIoisn, as the spirit ( 5 defeEtism was called. The chain ( 1 evidence indicating Humbert's gui1 [ appears pretty complete. Many gres :. names are connected with the plo
 inciuding that of the famous ez
 Premier Cainaux. and Paris is ev : dently to be treated to q sensation; 5 trial that will keep everybcdy on u cui vive for days to come.
 f Vixen the government assumed cor ' trol of telegraph, telephone and cable :, last year in accordance with the Tor u cherished hopes of Postmaster Ger t era] BurlesGn. the statement wa
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