Evening star., 1927-04-24
BY FRANK II. sIMONDs.

Y y AS France lost Alsace again?
II Have less than nine years of
actual possession Of the lands
4 4 forcibly taken by Germany in
1871 sufficed to accomplish what
nearly half a century of German rule
| failed in doing, namely, alternating Alsa-
| tion affection for France? No question
| is at the moment more frequently
and poignantly raised for the French
people, to whom the frightful sacrifice
Of n, arly million and a half of lives
| for the liberation Of their brethren
across the Vosges is coming to seem
the supreme illusion of that war which
| had so many illusions.
! In America no single issue OF the
war aroused more sympathy for the
allied cause than that which grew out
of what President Wilson himself de-
scribed as ''the wrong" of 1871. ALI
| the world saw that despite the long
German rule in the Reichsland the
people of Alsace were not reconciled.
| When at last the victory was won
and the French armies entered Stras-
| bourg, Colmar and Mulhouse, the vel.
come which they received was deliri-
Gus. This is the plebiscite," said
| Poincare, and no one who saw even
| the smallest bit of the explosion of
Alsatian sentiment at that moment
| could mistake the feeling then. Even
for millions Of Germans the episode
was establishment of almost in
deScribable extent.
Change Is Recognized.
Nine years later, however, one is
bound to recognize the change. Last
Autumn / spent a week in .Alsace,
which had not visited since the
months Immediately following the
| liberation. The contrast between the
two visits was almost indescribable.
| Since that time a senatorial election
| has indicated to Frenchmen the extent
| of the peril which the present condi-
| tion now constitutes, and even later
incidents have raised the issue again
In examining the problem it is
necessary at once to appreciate the
| fact that it is not a question of
AIsace-Lorraine. The Lorrainers,
across the Vosgess have returned to
france. Nearly half of the people
OF annexed Lorraine were French by
race. Between them and the Alsa.
tians there is little resemblance and
| less sympathy. Not Metz, but Stras-
bourg, Colmar and to less extent
Mulhouse are the centers of the new
agitation.
But as to Alsace, not even the most
patriotic Frenchman can longer dis
simulate the truth. Every dav the
sentiment of dissatisfaction and un-
rest develops. The prestige of France
diminishes. To be sure, the new
state of mind does not openly ex.
press itself as pro-German. On the
contrary, 1t is autonomy, not reunion
with Germany, which the mass of
Alsatians now favor. The watch
word of the moment is: "Alsace did
not want to be German: it did not
want to become French again; it
wants to be an independent Alsace. -
Sentiment Is Old.
OF course, there is nothing new in
this sentiment. For four decades the
Alsatians fought German rule on the
| basis OF autonomy. 1t was impossi-
bic to continue the agitation in favor
of France, which led to the election
of a wholly thizing
delegation to the German Reichstag,
following the annexation. Little by lit
tie the Alsatians sought to create
within the German Empire a separate
state having its own local and partic-
ular character, but still within the
German frontiers. Autonomy was
| the watchword then.
Always. however, this desire was
denied by Germany. 1t was only in
1918, when the Germans felt that the
war was lost and Alsace with IT,
that they sought to prevent a re-
union of the province with France
| by bestowing upon the Alsatians a
| parliament of their own and a wholly
Alsatian administration. With the
armistice the treaty OF Frankfort
was abolished and Alsace became
| French again.
I For FRO Is %I,a
| opportunity. The enthusiasm Of the
moment passed all limits. But while
| the Alsatians were glad to escape the
| German yoke, they no longer knew
| France. They regarded the re.entry
into the French republic as admission
| to Paradise. The functionaries ex.
| pected to receive the best jobs occu-
pied by Germans. The people expected
that their taxes would be reduced.
Every wrong was to be righted. every
| abuse abolished.
Particularist Spirit Grows.
But. in reality. the Alsatians had
developed particularist spirit of
their own. They had not become
| German but they had ceased to be
| French. Their state of mind was pro-
| foundly Irish. They were now by
| instinct "agin the government"
| Inevitably illusions were destroyed.
| The Alsatian functionaries did not
| know French. The lawyers, mag.
! istrates, clerks OF the courts were
| unfamiliar alike with the language
and the law of the republic. They
| saw themselves at a disadvantage in
| the face of those who came from the
| interior of France Finally, the
young clergy born since the
| German annexation and thoroughly
impregnated with the German spirit
were mostly hostile to France. All
the clergy were ignorant Of the
French language: all naturally feared
that il the children learned French
their influence would be dissipated.
They became the defenders of the
German language, and the incalcu-
liable power Of the church was rallied
against French influence and for
autonomy. Oddly enough, too. 1t had
been the older clergy which had
similarly resisted German rule gen.
Grafton before.
DoI~Soxn