Evening star., 1922-12-03
WILSON'S THREAT
kept SARRE FREE
France Fought to End for
Territory League
Now Rules.
TOOK CONTROL IN 1920
Tleaty Provided Use of Both
Franc and Mark, But French
Coin Soon Predominated.
TOOK CONTROL IN 1920
BY sTEPHANE LAuxAyNn.
Editor-in-Chief Of lie Matin.

sn.IaleK OF LIE MAtln.
Especial Gable to The Star and New York
Tribune. Copyright. le22.)
PARIS. December 2.-There IL per-
maps at the present moment no more
interesting country to visit than the
territory of the Sarre. for the terri
tory OF the Sarre 10 the only country
Of Europe and the first country in the
world that has no distinct SOW
erefgnty and which is ruled by the
league Of nations. There. in that
small province. inclosed between the
French Lorraine. the German Rhine
land the the Bavarlan palatinate.
one OF the most curious experiments
OF modern history is being tried.
have just been studying 1t during one
week on the spot.
The territory Of the sarre is an
American creation. or. rather. Wilson
territory during the peace conference,
owing to the fact that it belonged to
France until 1916. and as q compen-
sation for the destruction of their
coal mines. President Wilson op-
posed the French claim. owing to tho
ton was distinctly German. The
French insisted. But President VIII
son refused to comply with their do
mand and threatened to leave the
conference. He even ordered his ship
TO be held in readiness for his sailing.
two days and one night the treaty
organizing the form Of government
Of the Sarre was drawn up by a small
committee. comprising three Ameri.
can experts. three English experts
and three French experts.
Opened Doors to Franc.
The treaty opened wide the doors Of
the Sarre to the French franc. But 1t
did not close them to the mark And
was to give rise to tho most extrava-
CANT results which q human brain
can imagine.
This began on July 1. 1920. in the
mines. The Demesnial administra-
tion decided on that day to pay their
work. workmen hencetorth in francs. They
effected wild jumps every morning.
rendering the determination Of fixed
salaries impossible. And. further.
more. the Demesnial administration.
which is French. could not have two
budgets. the one in francs, the other
in marks.
All Demand Francs.
Therefore. dating from July !. 1920.
the workmen of the underground re-
ceived % francs a day and the work
the franc being worth about four
marks at that time. this made 4 mini
mum salary Of so marks day. 1t
was almost 4 fortune. In the shops.
on the market. the most expensive
articles were only accessible to the
wives Of the miners.
But then the metallurGtst workmen
protested: their salary had to be paid
to them in francs. Then followed the
protests Of the railroad men and Of
in francs. Then the ofhcials protest.
ed; they requested to be paid in
francs.
Doesn't Eat Every Day.
Finally. nearly every one today in
the Sarre is paid in francs. The
small German bourgeoisie alone. the
pensIoned off Germans, are still being
paid in marks. and those are literally
Take for example the case Of the
whose husband left an income Of
100000 marks. Before the war she
was one Of the richest women in the
town. The other day the income tax
collector called on her and said:
Can you not pay the tax: You have
100, 900 marks income?" This is quite
true" said the unfortunate woman:
"I have an income Of l00, 900 marks.
but do not eat every day"
She has. in fact. according to the
present rate of exchange, an income
Of SIS per annum. How can one live
with SIG year?
Plebiseite in 1895.
So the population Of the Sarre now
asks that the system Of the two cur
rencies be abolished: 1t will only have
one single money. and it goes without
saying that 1t naturally demands the
franc. The government Of the five
consent. but the supergovernment,
that of the league OF nations. must
also consent to 1t.
In 1885. according to the treaty.
a plebiscite will take place. The pop
alton will have the right to choose
either to be reincorporated into Ger
many or to continue being governed
by the league of nations or to be
again connected with France.