The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1935-01-14
COUNT SAAR'S
CONCEDE
NAzI VICTORY
IS Per Cent of 100000 Who
Cast Ballots Believed
for Reich.
TELLERS UNDER GUARD
Fate of 100000 at Stake,
League to Receive
Verdict Tomorrow.

fCCuwrlUlt. 1888. by united Presst
SAARBRUCKEN. Jan. I4.-Tellers
from neutral countries, prisoners
under military guard in the Wart-
burg Hall, counted today the plebis-
cite votes which will decide the fate
OF 100000 persons in the 1873 square
miles Of the rich Saar territory.
The count was delayed seriously
because of confusion in the ballot
boxes and the tellers spent most OF
the day sorting them by districts.
They hoped to complete their count
BY 2 a. m. tomorrow. 1t is % be an
nounced to the world at 8 a. m. to-
morrow 4 a. m. Indianapolis time).
The vote, held yesterday, was alb
solutely secret. Interviews with
voters selected at random and giving
a cross-section of sentiment indi-
Gated that from go to rs per cent
of the electorate, possibly more, cast
their ballots for return to German
nationality.
$4,000 On Vote List
There we're 539, 300 names on the
voting -SaarlanderS and per-
sons who were living in the Saar
when the Versailles Treaty was
signed. Estimates of the proportion
of eligibles who voted ranged as
high as SO per cent. There were
three alternatives for voters to Sc
Iect from-to remain under League
of Nations rule; to become French,
or to return to German nationality.
Most experts predicted that 70
per cent or more of the votes would
be for return to German nationality
They based this estimate on the
supposition that followers of the
anti-Nazi front numbered 100000, or
slightly less than 20 per cent Of the
electorate. and that perhaps as
many as 5 per cent of SaarlanderS
aside from them may have voted
against a return to Germany under
its present Nazi rulers.
All estimates were made With
reservations. The Saar is German,
as it was when under the Versailles
treaty it was allotted to France for
exploitation for Is years, under
League rule, in compensation for
French coal mines destroyed by the
German armies in the World War.
But there was the complication that
now Germany is under Nazi rule.
TelIers Under Guard
A great majority for German ma
tionality will be a victory for NaziSm,
because yesterdays vote was as Sc
cret as impartial foreign experts
could make it.
The neutral tellers worked in re-
laws. Coffee and sandwiches were
provided. They were not permitted
to leave the counting rooms. They
must remain prisoners until the
count is completed and the result
has been telephoned to the League
Council at Geneva.
The building was surrounded all
night and today by SaarlanderS,
giving the Nazi salute and shouting
Hell Hitler"
That the vote was heavily in favor
of German rule no Nazi doubts, and
Nazis and Nazi supporters seemed
predominant.
At nightfall the population maSSed
in the streets of Saarbrucken and
other towns and sang patriotic Ger
man songs and Nazi hymns. Bea-
cons along the frontier blazed in
token that the Saar was German
again.
10000 Exiles Depart
AS the beaconS f1ared, the first of
10000 persons who must leave the
Saar if it goes German-refugees
from Nazi diSpleaSure-crosSed the
border into France. where special
customs posts had been set up to
receive them and route them to
towns which were ready to offer
shelter and work.
The plebiscite itself does not auto
matically fix the Saar'S status. The
League Council must interpret the
vote and make the decision. A close
vote would bring an International
crisis, and statesmen all over Eu-
rope, notably in France. hoped
fervently that there would be a ire
mendouS majority whatever the sem
timent Of voters.
A decision TO do anything but
hand over the rich little territory in
tact 70 Germany would put Europe
nearer the verge of war than it has
been since 1918. If the Saar is
given back TO Germany, it will bring
hope Of friendship and Surer peace.
Months of preparation, the pres
ence of an international police
force and an international army,
had their result in a quiet vote
There was almost no disorder.