Evening star., 1922-11-19
RETAKEN ALSACE
WORRY TORRANCE
Shifting Allegiance Makes
Administration Difficult in
Twin Provinces.
BY WILLIAM Z. NASH.
Ry Cable to The Star and Chicago Daily New
COnYright. lAnc

BY WILLIAM L. NASH.
Ry Cable to The Star and Chicago Daily News.
Copyright. 1872
METZ. France. November 1S.-
France. like Germany. seems to be
having difficulties in the administra-
tion of Alsace-Lorraine. though 1t
cannot be denied that she has a
stronger hold on the sympathies Of
the people. Some acts of the French
government are severely criticized in
the local newspapers. Deportations.
for instance. like those organized by
Premier Poincare last August. are
still going on in way that aggra-
Yates the population, according to as
. scrtion in Germanlanguage news
papers here.
Only last week workman who had
lived twenty years in the village OF
StSring Wendell. near the Sarre bor-
der. was thrown out Of the country
without indemniticat ton. says the
Metzen Freies Journal.
This was not an isolated case. but
common occurrence" proclaius the
Journal. such measures are GER
tainly i'll calculated to win for France
the affection OF our German speaking
population. Deportations at times
may be justified. that We do not deny.
Before the government has recourse
to them. however. we believe that
each case should be brought before a
special neutral tribunal, Independent
| of petty local passions"
Not Like Other Frenchmen.
Furthermore. according to the
| Lothringisher Volk4eitung. attempts
are being made to break up the unity
between Alsace and Lorraine by
gerrymandering them into prosaic
| French :: departments. which sup
posedly will offend the dignity Of the
! two reconquered provinces. 1t Is a
perience. that people here feel them
selves different from other French
, men. More than one has spoken to
| me in the course of the conversation
about the frontier over west Of
| Metz" as II a demarcation line still
Officially the reconquered provinces
are under a so-called "transitory re-
gime." to soften the harshness of
their transfer from one allegiance to
another. A people that has been
under German rule for fifty years
| Despite statements to the contrary
| from propaganda sources, the ma
| jority of people, even in Metz and
other cities near the old French bor-
der. continue to speak German or
dialect of German as their native
l
school teachers imported from old
France are likely to be impatient
with this custom. Street names are
| given in French alone, without their
German equivalent. although they
might easily be made bilingual, as
in Belgium or Switzerland. Shop
| signs also have been turned into
French. There is talk of suppress
ing German as the alternative Ian
| guage in schools, courts and news
papers.
Many Earlier Transitions.
Signs Of the transitory regime un-
! der which the land is living can be
seen at every turn. For example
| priests take a large part in local
life. They run newspapers. admins
ter schools and take part in politics;
in fact, they form part Of an oficia,
religion subsidized by the authorities
| though the church has been sepa-
rated from the state for fifteen years
in other parts Of France.
This is not the first period of transi-
ton that Alsace-Lorraine has under
gone. In Metz. for instance. the
architecture of buildings bears mute
evidence of historic changes. The
] cathedral and the porte serpenoise
| (old town gate) show evidence OF
German rule in medieval times. the
courthouse and the municipal theater
|
teenth century. and the ugly modern
! railway station Of "kaiserliche" taste
! in the period since 1870. Statues OF
Bismarck and Gen. Prince Frederick
! Charles. which were torn down on
Armistice day, have been replaced by
monuments to Marshal Ney. 1.-The
bravest Of the brave" born in Saar-
louis. and to Gen. Lafayette. who left
his post Of aide on the staff Of the
governor general of Metx to fight fol
liberty in America. Finally, at the
| entrance to the spacious esplanade, q
statue has gone up to the latest hero
Of all, the French poilu.
Still a. Great Fortress.
| Now, as in 1914. the city Of Metz is q
first-class fortress. the garrison num-
bers $4,000 men or more. The streets
are filled with uniforms. Forts can be
seen on every hilltop. One Of the bar
racks among the many which adorn
the town is filled with yellow. coffee
colored brown soldiers from North
| tions which exasperate the Germans
A school Of artillery tactics was es-
| tablished recently. and its fame is SO
great that 1t attracts students from
J all parts of the world. Last year
American forces at coblenx to attend
It. This year Maj. A. NJ. Watson and
Maj. Jarmon have been delegated by
the United States to follow its de-
velopments. A Japanese prince. q
Czechoslovak general. . Dutch gem
eral, a Swiss colonel, a Chinese
colonel, two Japanese majors and q
great grandson Of Lafayette can be
picked out at random among the other
students present. French generals OF
the highest rank come here to give
| lectures, Artillery il reckoned as the
most efficient element in the French
| army.
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