El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-11-06

solely as a military measure 20 per
NIT Italy TO hold her side Of the Alps
from Switzerland to the Adriatlc, but
against the quarter Of million en-
shaved there is 10 be set the million
liberated and the final possession by
the Italians Of the sally port into the 4
Pc valley held by the Austrians for 1
so long and constituting so grave /
peril TO Italian safety
sIavs Given Less Than Due.
As to the sOuther SlaVs, we have |
given them something less than they I
were entitled TO. we have placed no I
alien people un9et tne.r TUE ~ ne
new gain 20 liberty IS upwards OF ]
5000. 600. AS to Rumania. the ques-
ton is complicated by one OF the ]
most indescriba bic tangles OF races !
TO be found in the world No boundary
/ line that could be drawn which did
anything like justice TO Rumania
could fail 70 include hundreds OF thou |
sands Of Aagyars, who have pushed
into Latin territory during 1000 years
and exercised the rights OF conquer
! ing race. Yet in Bessara 1ia. and IN
TransFlvauia we have freed some
100000 OF Rumanians. transferred
something like half a million Ger
mans. from Magyar to Rumanian rule,
both equally alien, and at most placed
million Magyars under humanian
control
Much IS said now about the German
minority in Czecho-Slovalzia- 1t num-
0
within the only frontiers which could
! possibly protect the new state and Is
: TO a considerable extent mingled with
. the 10000 600 Slav minority which u
3 has dominated and oppressed ever
+ since the outbreak Of the 90 Years
. war
Now in al the eases which
have examined Il q plain that
despite incidental mistakes and
T lufusffecs. in the main sunsflu-
tial justice has been DONE a mi
morffv which ruled has been
3 placed under the control Of the
majority, where the lntermin-
I Cling Of races or the character
Of the frontiers made absolute
! separation impossible. And In
the ease Of ali three Slnv states
and Of Rumaula, what has been
done has been DONE not with the
idea of aEgrandizinE one Of the
great bowers, there has been no
repetition Of the division OF the
spells nj Vienna, but solely with
the idea OF giving a small atntes
newly liberated or recently en-
riched by the addition Of fractions
OF its own flesh. the chance 10 live
] in safety and prosperity.
Z The two exceptions 10 this rule are
in the case OF italy in the upper Adlge
I and France on the lower Saar- As 70
the Italian case. 7 have said that It
seems TO me gross injustice As 70
Z the French. il Is necessary also 20 say
something The territory altected
. has an area Of approx mately 80
square miles and a population OF be
I tween 100000 and 100000 There IS
no French element and the French
: claim does not have the slightest ba-
I sis. when examined IN the light OF
the principle Of self determination.
French claim, so far as % exists,
must rest upon two things; as TO ap-
proXimately half the area it was once
I French contenredly French, u was
] French not by right OF conquest, but
by peaceful acquisition as a result OF
; a bargain with Austria a century ana
I a half ago. II was taken BY Prussia
; at the end Of the Napoleonic era
purely and simply as prize OF con-
. quest without regard 10 the VIII OF
Z the people. who have been. after
. century. absorbed into the German
I world But this is a mighty poor
lain.
Germans TufuIiy Destructive.
The second claim rests upon the
I fact that in the recent war the Ger
mans wilfullv and with the direct
: purpose to paralyze French Industry
{ DESTROYED all the coal districts in
] cupied- The thing was done methodi-
, cally. according TO nlan. and the doc
uments outlining the method and the
purpose are matter or official rec
ord Unless France were assured OF
some other coal supply Germany
I would realize the gain she sought and
! French industry would be crippled
and German Industry able 10 re-
place IT.
IT seems 70 me this warrants French
/ possession OF the Saar coal properties
| and French occupation Of the district,
| since In no other way could the ex-
ploitation OF the mines be assured
| But II certainly does not warrant per
manent annexation and the treaty OF
Versailles prosides that the people
shall be allowed to decide their ale
/ glance IS years hence This Is the
] sole survival Of the old French annbi-
] ton to rebuild the Rhine barrier
/ against German aggression The
] French and some Germans believe
/ that after IS years the people OF the
district VIII prefer 70 remain French
as the people Of Alsace. after less
I than a century Of union with France
] became loyal French subjects There
I IS an obvious DANGER that unfair
methods VIII be pursued By the
/ French 20 insure a favorable pleoes-
! cite, but il seems 70 me the real de-
/ cision viii rest upon two factors. the
] course Of the United States in the
matter OF the treaty ln8urlnE our ala
/ to France. II Germany attacks her
and the attitude Of the new Germany
which viii presently emerge
DnnzIE Is CompromIse.
! It remains 10 say afinal word about
I a third ground OF criticism OF the
] treaty OF Versailles. namely the mat
Z ter or lauIlg- Daull8 rs uul yes loH-
I ably a German city measured by It's
I present population, although Il was
! once almost as completely Polish The
/ people in IL would vote almost unanl-
! mously TO be German. but this would
! mean that Poland. a state OF 10000
Z 600, would be deprived Of any win
] dow on the sea and commercially be
! at the mercy Of the German
l The real argument against the
DanziE settlement. IL seems TO me, Is
I that Il is a compromise. Poland
] claimed all Of Prussia east Of the
/ frontier Of the province Of West
! Prussia such a claim, 20 honOred,
would have placed some 100000
l Germans under Polish rule, but Il
/ would have abolished the situation
I which existed when Frederick the
| Great engineered the first partition,
the situation whiche led him TO plan
l that crime. As it is. we have restored
I the situation and thrust a narrow
neck Of territory, mainly inhabited
D by Poles 81 faht between two blocks