The New York herald., 1921-12-25

on the same basis. Germany as result
can sell her products in the Sarre for less
than it costs the Sarre factories to produce
the same articles. The French capitalists
to-day have gigantic steel factories on tSe:-
hands, they cannot sell their products to
the Germans and cannot sell their prod
ucts to the French, because with the Lor-
raine industries added to France the
French have a surplus of steel products
which they in turn cannot sell in the Sarre
or in Germany.
ut is the most complicated situation
which exists in the world" said r. ID.
Waugh, the Canadian member of the Sarre
Government who is the Finance Minister
of this queer State. "As fast as we get out
of one dilemma we run into another. The
commission Is not to blame. We could not
stop the French Government from paying
it's miners in francs and we cannot stop
the German Government from Initiating
and pushing down the mark. Take away
the francs from the Sarre and you would
perhaps have revolt on the part of those
who get them. Push out the marks and
you undeniably put the industries here in
worse position than they are in COM
peting with the German market We have
got our budget on sound basis despite
this confusion, but the money problem is
still unsettled"
1--WE do not demand that the wages shall
all be paid in marks again." said DR.. Jacob.
head of the Chamber of Commerce. I'VE
know that this might lead to trouble. We
merely ask that the franc invasion be
stopped where it is. Otherwise we are
heading into an economic catastrophe. The
French have pursued the wrong policy,
which will ruin them and ourselves as well.
We have asked the League Council to- help
us and save us from ruin before 1t is too
late 1t is up to them"
The French believe all this will adjust
itself at the end Of two years, when the
Sarre comes completely under the French
customs ring Up till then German goods
can enter the Sarre free, which to some
extent accounts for the present conditions.
Including the Sarre in the French customs,
the French believe, will tie 1t up economi
cally to France, drive out the marks and
influence vitally the ultimate plebiscite.
A majority Of the Sarreoise fear things
will then be worse than better. Already
they see the cost of things rising, and with
practically all business ended with Ger
many they fear they will be left without
customers.
Every French engineer and superinten
dent in the mines and factories taken over
from the Germans is of course mission
ary in the French cause. The French have
no authority beyond the management of
the industries, but undeniably this will per-
nit them to exercise In the next twelve
years a powerful influence. The French
have even introduced schools of their own
in some Of the towns, but the total attend
ance is less than 1900. Outside of the
French officials virtually nobody in the
Sarre knows word of French, and there
Us no keenness shown to acquire it.
Just how this queer state of things is
going to end nobody knows. One finds in
the Sarre not only the franc but the French
army. This army is there not because the
Sarre is occupied territory under the treaty
because, not having its own army, the
league invited the French to come in and
preserve order at the time the new regime
started. And it has stayed ever since. In
October part of the troops in the Sarre
towns were Moroccans. Many of the Sar-
reoise do not take kindly to this
The Sarre Commission holds to the view
that it is cheaper for the Sarre to have
the French army than to have its own army.
But even francs and the French troops can
not make the Sarre French against its will
To-day, three years after the peace it gives
every indication of remaining solidly Ger
man. prosperity or no prosperity.