Evening star., 1934-09-12
BY DOROTHY THOMPSON.

SAARBRUCKEN, Saar Territory,
September IL (N.A.NA).-The vote
In the Saar next January will be
vote for or against Hitler
If the Saarlander votes to stay under
League of Nations protection, he votes
'faute de mieux" (for want of some
thing better. The League Council
knows this. France knows 1t, and,
above all, Hitler knows it.
Every vote in the Saar against union
with Germany is a blow to Hitler's
prestige. The failure of the ''putsch"
In Austria, followed by the election in
Germany August 19, which doubled
the number of votes against Hitler
polled in the previous plebiscite in
May, gave him a shock. If more than
10 per cent of the population vote
against him here next January, it
will be reeling blow.
II Hitler loses the Saar, he may lose
his head. No preceding German gov
ernment would have lost this vote, and
that all Germany knows. Therefore
the work of the national Socialists
to win the Saar has reached prodigious
proportions. Money is being spent in
enormous amounts. In the last few
months tax of 10 cents month has
been levied exclusively for the Saar
fight on every member of the Ger
man workers front, with 100000
members. 1t must be said. incidentally,
that the expenditure of money has
been enormous for years and under
preceding governments, but under the
Me 1fG a. ha rooPhnd ifc UoY1ifh
80 Newspapers in Saar.
There are SO daily newspapers in
the Saar territory, which has a popu-
lation the size of Boston's. Not a
single one of these papers exists for
the dissemination of news. All are
propaganda organs. Until Hitler
came into power these newspapers,
with single exception, were financed
by the German government, largely
through the so-called Heimatdienst,
which had its center in Cologne,
under a man named Waterman.
This center not only supported the
newspapers but had control through
money of singing vereins (societies or
clubs) for sport. singing, war veterans,
etc.
1t used to be said that not a bill
lard ball rolled in the Saar except
aS propelled by Waterman money.
The subsidized press belonged to
all parties. from Communists to Nazis,
and all the papers worked for the
return of the Saar to the fatherland.
Hitler simply swallowed this mechan-
ism whole.
Hitler has a valuable heritage from
this propaganda, which in years gone
by agitated against French "exploi-
tation" of the coal miners in the So
cialist press and kept awake in all
classes the horror of separatism and
q passionate affection for Germany.
To this form of influencing public
opinion the Nazis have added their
own-the staging of a superb mass
demonstration across the border, the
use of the radio day and night, and a
special refinement Of pressure which
allows no one to escape.
81 Per Cent Enrolled in Front.
Ninety-seven per cent Of the whole
population of the Saar are enrolled
in the German front, which means
they have promised to vote for union
with Germany. One must not under
estimate the genuine plan of the
Hitler government. especially among
youth, nor the desires of union with
Germany which animate thousands
who dislike the Nazi government. But
the Nazis leave nothing to chance
and good will. Those who hesitated
to enroll in the German front found
their shops boycotted, their jobs en-
dangered and aid refused from the
funds Of the workers front, which.
incidentally, got its treasury from the
confiscated Golfers of the trade
unions.
The swastika unquestionably covers
multitude of rebellious breasts. How
many status quo votes can cost Hit
Ter the Saar? Nobody knows, and
here lie the delicacy and danger of
the whole situation. There is nothing
in the Treaty of Versailles which