Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-11-02

that we have sown a new crop. the
first harvest from which is now
Yet. recognizing the measure of
truth in all these arguments, two
things are still manifest-frst. that
II was not less necessary to liberate
the forty millions; whether the re-
suit would lead to general peace or
to new rivalries; second, IL injustice
has been done, the aggregate injus-
tice is far less considerable than that
which has been abolished. Measured
by human beings. the gain for free
dom is still enormous.
Liberated Over Five Million.
To take the case Of Germany. alone.
we have liberated within her old from
tiers between five and six millions Of
Poles. Alsace-Lorrainers and Danes.
By contrast we have, at most given
placed them outside the German from
tiers and under the control of the
league of nations. In the same way
we have placed an equal number Of
Germans under the temporary control
of France, subject to the supervision
of the league of nations. with the
right to vote to return to Germany
fifteen years hence. And IL we have
thus put Germans under alien rule,
against their will. we have left almost
an equal number of Poles under Ger
man rule.
In liberating twenty millions Of
Poles, we have. temporarily, failed to
separate from the new Poland Cali
clan districts which were Polish be-
lore the partitions and contain a Pol
ish minority, along with Ruthenian
majority. but there has been no set
tlement of this issue. and these same
Ruthenians were under alien Austrian
rule before the war, and they have
oir
lions. that is all
We have given Italy. along with
some million of Italian-speaking peo-
pie in the Trentino and Trieste. q
quarter OF a million Of Tyrolese Ger
mans in the upper Adige valley, and
an equal number of Slovenians back
OF Trieste. but as to the Slovenians
they were subjects of German Austria
before the war, and have thus neither
gained nor lost. so far as national 49,
piration Is concerned. The TyrolAae
decision seems to be gross and indie
1ensible blunder. applicable solely as
miiltary measure, to permit Italy to
hold her side of the Alps from Switxer-
land to the Adriatic, but against the
quarter OF million enslaved there in
to be set the million liberated and the
nnal possession by the Italians of the
sally port into the Pc valley. held nv
the Austrians for 80 long and consti.
safety.
Eight Million Freed.
AS to the southern Slavs. we have
given them something less than thew
were entitled to. we have placed no
anen people under their rule and the
new gain to liberty is upward of eight
million. AS to Rumania. the question
Is complicated by one of the most
indescribable tangles Of races to be
found in the world. No boundary line
that could be drawn which did any
thing like justice to Rumania could
| fail to include hundreds of thousands
OF Magyars, who have pushed into
Latin territory during a thousand
years and exercised the rights of a
'conquering race. Yet in Bessarabia
and in Transylvania we have freed
some four millions of Rumanians,
transferred something like half a
million Germans from Magyar to Ru-
manian rule, both equally alien. and
at most placed a million Magyars
under Rumanian control.
Much Is said now about the German
minority in Czechoslovakia. 1t num-
bers 100000, but it lives wholly
within the only frontiers which could
possibly protect the new state. and
rs to a considerable extent mingled
with the ten million Slav majority.
which it has dominated and oppressed
ever since the outbreak of the thirty
years war.
Now. in all the cases which have
Examined, it is plain that despite in
cidental mistakes and injustices. in
the main substantial justice has been
done. a minority which ruled has been
placed under the control of the ma
jority, where the intermingling of
races or the character of the from
tiers made absolute separation inn
possible. And in the case of all three
Slav states and of Rumania, what has
been done has been done, not with the
idea of aggrandising one of the great
ipowers-there has been no repetition
of the division of the spoils at Vienna
but solely with the idea of giving a
small state. newly liberated or re-
Gently enriched by the addition of
fractions OF its own flesh, the chance
to live in safety and prosperity.
Seems Gross Injustice.
The two exceptions to this rule are
in the case of Italy in the upper Adige
and France on the lower Sarre. As
to the Italian case, I have said that
to the French. it is necessary also to
say something. The territory affected
has an area of approximately $50.
square miles and population Of be-
no French element, and the French
claim does not ave the slightest basis
when examined in the light Of the
principle of self-determination.
I french clalm, SO 1ar as IL exists,
must rest upon two things: AS to ap-
proximately half the area, it was once
| French, contentedly French: it was
French n by right of conquest. but
by peaceful acquisition as result of
a bargain with Austria a century and
la half ago. It was taken by Prussia
at the end Of the Napoleon era purely
and simply as a prize Of conquest
without regard to the will of the peo-
pie who have been. after century.
absorbed into the German world. But
this Is q mighty poor claim.
The second claim rests upon the fact
that in the recent war the Germans
willfully and with the direct purpose
Ito paralyze French industry de-
!stroyed all the coal districts in north
ern France, which they had occupied.
The thing was done methodically, ac-
cording to plan, and the documents
outlining the method and the purpose
lare q matter of official record. Unless
France were assured of some other
coal supply, Germany would realize
the gain she sought. and French in
dustry would be crippled and Ger
man industry able to replace it.
Allows People to Decide.
| IT seems to me this warrants
French possession of the Sarre coal
properties and French occupation of