Evening star., 1934-11-04

What the actual desires of the in
| habitantS of the Saar are is really
matter of little consequence. The
whole trouble turns round the fact
| that France does not want the Ger
mans back in that rich valley and the
Germans want to get back at all cost.
The French story can be told in
teiD 1Uords. The Sdar Valley mines
haze been producing in the last
tetO years no less than 5000, 900
tons of coal and COKE Before the
French took oper these mines to
replace the damage done BY the
German armies to the French
mines in the Pas de Calais q good
percentage OF that coal and coke
,Uhich the Sdar is producing notD
had to be bought from England
and Germany.
The return Of the Saar district to
the Reich would make France again
dependent on foreign coal for her
heavy industries.
Saar Always German.
To the Germans the Saar has be-
come the outstanding national prob
lem. The territory has always been
German; the overwhelming majority
of the population is German. Until
recently the sympathies of the pop
ulation were with Germany. There
have been some defections lately,
especially among the working classes,
because of their fear of Hitler.
But the paramount point is that
Hitler cannot afford to lose the
Sadr tDithout losing all his prestige
1Dithin the Reich, and that may
mean the doUntaH OF his regime.
He has sacrificed the Polish cor
ridor for the present and has
sloUed doUn on AnschlusS tDith
Austria merely to concentrate all
his attention on regdining the Saar
district-and he really means to
fight for it.
He went so far as to suggest to the
French any arrangement they may
want on the other political problems,
! provided the Saar was returned to
Germany ahead of the plebiscite time.
The French refused.
Vote in January.
The population of that storm GEN.
ter will vote in January and the vote
will decide the fate of that country.
Until recently it had been taken
for GRANTED that the inhabitants
of the SaGr pould be in tdDor OF a
return to Germany. Recently, hoU-
ever, there hdue been doubts as to
the result of the Dote and political
observers maintain there is pos
sibility the inhabitants tUill demand
to continue under jurisdiction OF
the League OF Nations. 1t is dit
fcult to forecast ,DHtGt ,oiU happen.
X X X X
But both France and Germany have
taken positions to protect their IN
terests.' If the Germans feel there
is the slightest likelihood that the
popular vote will be in favor OF q
status quo, there seems to be no doubt
that they will attempt putsch. This
at least seems to be the prevalent
opinion in Paris, based on the reports
from Geoffrey Knox, the League OF
Nations high commissioner OF the
Saar.
Hold Putsch Unnecessary.
The Germans retort that they dc
! not need to organize a putsch, since
the population will vote in favor OF
Germany. But the story OF the putsch
Berlin says, comes from French
sources to justify a military occupa-
ton of the Saar and force an election
| to the taste of the French govern
ment. The French and the Germans
are already hurting at each other &C.
cusations of bad faith.
The fact is that the French are
preparing for any "eDentuality.
The army corps at Meta and at
Nancy haze received instructions to
be ready for police duty" in the
Sddr at q moments notice. At the
slightest disorder the League UiH
call on France and the troops are
ready to march in.
According to the Versailles treaty
the high commissioner can ask for q
reinforcement Of the local police If he
foresees trouble during the plebiscite.
This has been done and a force OF
some 1000 policemen from neutral
countries have been enrolled In the
Saar police. Should that force be
unable to cope with the situation, the
League Of Nations has the power to