Great Falls daily tribune., 1920-04-05
PROBLEM N FRANCE
IS A[sACE LORRAINE;
RECOVERED PROVINCE
Officials Required to Exercise
All Their Tact and Diplom-
acy in Government.
BY 4 STAFF CORRESPONDENT.

BY A STAFF CORRESPONDENT.
Chicago Tribune Foreign News Service.
Strassbourg, March 10. (By Mail.)-
Alsace Lorraine, after 40 years under
German control, presents to the mother
country, France, q most difficult prob
lem in administering the government.
Since the armistice France has had to
employ the keenest tact and diplomacy
in governing her recovered province.
There are two strong opposing fac
tions-the Catholics and the Socialists
in the country. The Socialists claim
that they have been the one element
here which has been loyal and friendly
to the allied cause throughout the war,
and that now France has adopted pol
icy fav0ring the clericals, which is the
stronger party politically.
The Socialists are daily becoming
stronger, the trades unions having in
creased in membership from 25.OOO be-
fore the war to 10000 now. Whether
this faction will eventually gain enough
to hange the present French policy of
government is the question now facing
the Millerand cabinet.
Maringer Is Recalled.
Frances pro-dlerical policy already
has encountered so much opposition that
she had to recall her first high com
missioner of Alsace Lorraine, n. Mar
niger, who had become most unpopular
with the Socialists. He was succeeded
in May, 1918, by NJ. Alexander Miller
and, who resigned last January to be-
come premier of France.
But Millerand and his successor. his
former secretary general, followed in
the steps of NJ. Maringer. The Socialists
complained that reforms were promised
but that nothing has been changed.
Millerands administration unquestion-
ably favored the clericals and it issued
decree submitting to a special
regime" the inhabitants Of Alsace Lor-
raine as suspected of holding "subversive
views" 1t also permitted the Catholic
Royalist paper, the "Action Franchise"
to put up posters advocating a French
nonarchial restoration.
Alsace Lorraine has been divided into
the same administrative departments
that existed IN 1871 under Napoleon III,
namely, the departments Of the Upper
Rhine, the Lower Rhine and the Mosele,
all under the special regime of high
commissioner
Want office Abolished.
Declaring the high commissionship is
udlAtdiHeV only 10 render possible the
persecution of the Democratic elements.
the Socialists are clamoring for the
abolition Of the office and for the treat
ment of their three provinces along the
lines similar to that accorded the other
departments of France.
The Socialists also demand the
Of the railways and the
rich potash. iron ore and petroleum
mines in Alsace Lorraine. This can never
be accomplished they complain, under
the present French po,1cy Of favorine
the clericals.
The potash deposits Of Upper Alsacc
spread over 100000 square kilometers
and have potential yield Of 3OO. .OOO,-
OOO tons of pure potash. In 1912, Alsace
Lorraine produced 1880 tons of salt: |
in 1911 she exported 10000 tons Of |
carbonate of soda; in 1913 she produced |
= .136, ,285 tons Of iron ore and 1885,
a32 tons of coal.
The recovery Of Alsace Lorraine
means for France an increase of los |
per cent in the production Of iron ore:
81 per cent in the production Of cast
IRON. and 90 per cent in the production
Of steel.