Great Falls daily tribune., 1919-01-04
FRENCH TERRITORIAL CLAIMS.

The French prime minister, CieHieHcedu, dAooi
considerable barking by socialists in the frencn
assembly, was induced to make answer TO gooo
many questions as to his views about peace, ana
he defined these views with more clearness ana
frankness of detail than any other entente states
man has done up to date. This article has TO 40
only with his statement about the terrltorlai
claims of France. On that topic he SAID tnaI
France demanded no territory from de1eateo
Germany as right except their own lost pro-
vinces of Alsace- Lorraine. But he added most
Significantly that France reserved the right to
discuss what constituted the boundaries Of the
province Of Lorraine. So far as the boundaries
Of the province Of Lorraine in 1871 when 1t was
seized by Germany is concerned, there IS no
room for any dispute. It is returned 20 france
by the terms of the armistlce. But the pouiu-
aries of Lorraine have changed many times IN
history First it was German and then FRENCH
and then part of the dominions OF the KING OF
Poland, of the house of Austria, OF the arch
bishop of Cologne and perhaps other magnates
that we have forgotten. It has been alternate
" French and German for the last few centuries
The upper part of the old historical duchy OIL
Lorraine has been German speaking and preoom-
inately of German blood for century now On
the principle of self determination it would
doubtless wish to be German still. When Ma
poleon III declared war on Germany in 1870 one
of his aims was to extend the boundaries OIL
Tranch northward along the Rhine by taking
over all Of German Lorraine. He lost the 1lgnt
and Germany took French Lorraine and Alsace
also for good measure. It was not very gooo
investment for it made another war IN the Iu-
ture certain and the inhabitants OF the conquer
cd provinces were never loyal to their new mas
ters. One would think the French would have
fully learned the lesson of the folly Of annexlng
and governing hostile races from German exper-
ience, but it seems they did not, for among the
secret diplomatic documents published at st.
Petersburg by the bolsheviH when they came
into power recently, was an official note from
the French foreign minister at Paris, which ne
sent in February, 1917, to the French ambas-
sador at Petrograd In defining 'fthe terms OF
peace which will be offered to Germany he
stated
The boundaries will be extended at least to
the limits of the former prlnclpallty OF Lorraine,
and will be fixed by the French government
At the same time strategic demands must be
taken into consideration so as to include within
French territory the whole Of the industrial iron
basin of Lorraine and the whole Of the industrial
coal basin Of the valley Of the Saar.
Other territories located on the left bank OF
the Rhine and not included in the German en-
pire will be completely separated from Germany
and freed from all political and economic depend
ence on her.
The territory on the left bank of the Rhine
not included in French territory shall form an
autonomous and neutral government and shall
be occupied by French armies until such time as
the enemy governments completely fulfill all the
conditions and guarantees mentioned In the
treaty of peace.
This diplomatic document shows that early in
1917 more than two years after the war COM
menced. France cherished the design OF doing
to Germany just what Germany did to her in
1870. in case Of victory-that is, taking slice
Of German soil inhabited by Germans and an,
nexinp it because it contained valuable minera
resources which it coveted
The bolshevik government OF the world did al
least one good service to the world when they
nublished all the secret treaties and understand
ings and bargains the entente allies had made
with Russia as result Of the war. The Ger
man secret intrigues with Russia were not pub
lished, but all the allied documents that coult
expose their selfish purposes were given to the
world. It was the only good thing the bolshevil
government ever did, for the entente govern
ments were forced to come out in the open ano
repudiate these bargains as no longer binding or
them under the circumstances. There is, how
ever. still desire on the part of some OF them tt
realize these old ambitions for loot of defeated
foes and annexation of enemy's territory. France