Evening star., 1919-10-12

Finally, she was drawn. largely
through her alliance with Austria.
into a fatal revival of the age-long
hostility between the Slav and the
Teuton. The old Polish issue, silenced
only while the three states which
had partitioned Poland, remained
friendly was reopened. with deadly
consequence, when the war had ac-
tually been lost.
But for the Russian revolution. this
coalition of France. Britain and Rus
STA. aided by Italy, would have de-
feated Germany. When Russia fell
America took the place vacated by
the Slav and restored the fatal odds
against the Teuton. 1t was the n estab-
lished patiently that Germany could
not hope. even at the most favorable
moment. to conquer the Slav, the
Latin and the Anglo Saxon.
Now. the war over, German policy
must some time begin to pick up til
loose threads. 1t will find itself
the presence of certain facts. Doubt
less German sentiment will for a long
time protest against the loss of AL
SAGE Lorraine, but any attempt to re-
conquer these provinces would not
alone insure immediate war with
France. but also with Great Britain
and even, conceivably. with the United
States.
British Policy Muddled in 1871.
The reason is plain British policy
was hopelessly muddled in 1871, when
Germany was permitted to crush
France and mutilate her, without
British protest. The consequence was
TO bring Germany within striking
distance of the channel. to give her
precisely the military situation which
made the opening campaign of 1914
possible. Never has Great Britain
consented that continental power
should menace her from Belgium, but
possession of Alsace-Lorraine made
the invasion of Belgium possible and
1T has cost the British nearly a mill
lion lives to restore the old condition
of safety
IT Germany undertakes to come west
again nothing seems more certain
than that she will have to face Brit
ain as well as France. Nor can she.
to defeat France-a doubtful military
venture now. given the return Of Al
to France-since the
frontier is now re-
str1cted to the narrow gap between
the Rhine and the Moselle An ef-
Lorraine, then, would be to re-estab-
!ish an Anglo French combination,
invite a new blockade, risk all the
old perils of 1914-1s. Further, if the
american Senate accepts tAe Anglo
French British treaty of insurance
there would be an American opposi-
ton to reckon with, also. In so far as
is concerned, there
fore. l cannot believe that the new
German policy will initiate the old.
Renewed Challenge Unlikely.
Nor is it even as likely that the
Germans will renew. their challenge
to Britain. Their feet is gone, their
commercial navy has been taken over
oy their victorious enemies They
have neither colonies nor naval sta
lions. To begin commercial existence
again they must give bonds to the
British for good behavior Nor can l
see any basis for German hope that
what they did not accomplish in the last
war. when they had many advantages
now lost, could be won in any later
struggle: France, after the wars Of
Louis XIV and Napoleon, was com
PEELED to accept British supremacy
on the seas; that Germany must make
the same sacrifice seems to me equally
plain.
AS to the Sarre basin. here we touch
upon one of the contested questions.
so-calied liberals in the United States
and England proclaim that this part
OF the peace treaty is a fatal defect,
ihsuring future war But it seems to
me this Is gross exaggeration. Ger
talnly 1orcible annexation, disguised
or open, OF the Inhabitants Of this
olstrlct would be in direct conflict
with one Of the fourteen points and
would be to repeat the action of Ger
many with respect of Alsace-Lorraine
6ut the circumstances are totally diff
aeren aer Inc Germans wantonly de-
deliberately sought to N. r,I,,.o
French Industry. Moreover. hS1e thex iu
their turn. forcibly annexed nearly
half OF this territory, which had long
ugen French. and contentedly such,
Has Not Historic Past.
But the sarre basin is not a consid-
eraole area; 1t is little more than -
per cent OF the aree of Alsace-I,or-
raine; 1t has no such history as bound
Metz and Strasbourg to France. More
over. French annexation is predicated
upon favorable plebiscite fifteen
years hence and, if the vote went
French and German relations hadjme
proved, as I feel sure they may. the
whole difficulty might be compro-
missed. To attack France as a great
power. However productive of dis
Putes in the future. the Sarre basin
likely to become the basis for a war
between Germany and France. since
the stake itself is out of all propor-
ton to the risks of war and the pos 0
sfbtlities of a peaceful and satisfac-
tory adjustment are by no means non
existent.
There remains the whole set of
problems growing out of the disputes
between the Slavs and the Teutons
and expressed today in the new phase
OF the Polish question. 1t is here that
it seems to me the possibility of Ger
man compliance with the treaty of
Versailles breaks down. 1t is not Diff
hcult to imagine that the complete
ness OF German defeat and the alb
sence of all basis for hopeful resump-
tion of an Anglo-German contest for
sea supremacy will in due course lead
the Germans to resign both their old
ambitions and their ancient colonies
as did the French a century ago,
Nor is 1T less easy to believe that
given the inextricable intermingling
of British and French interests.
which make British defense of France
and of Belgium essential to British
security. Germany will accept the
restoration of Alsace Lorraine to
France and seek through peaceful
rather than warlike means to arrive
at some settlement of the Sarre basin
issue, an issue applicable, not as a
circumstance in any French imperi-
alistic sentiment. but as a detail in
the reparation, justly demanded of
the Germans. for their crimes in
northern France.