THE PROBLEM OF THE RHINEGOLD

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2922, 7 November 1916, Page 8

THE PROBLEM OF THE RHINEGOLD

LORRAINE'S IRON AND COAL A QUESTION FOR THE ENTENTE (By I'hilippo Millet, in tlio "Observer") Thcio is a problem of the Rhinegold,' and fjlio French industrial world has given it a good deal of thought since the beginning of tho war It has been discussed for soveral months in the French reviews and daily papers A member- of tho French Chamber' who is also a distinguishcl economist. M. I'ernand' Engerand, lias devoted to tV » Br tllG fcitl ° "L'AHemagne ot le Fer,. a remarkable book. Qucorly enough, tho British public does not seem to have realised yet that- this problem concerns Great Britain nearly as much as France. I o>'on believe very few thinking Englishmen are aware that such a problem exists at all.

iho question of Alsace-Lorraine has two sides. From tho point of view of sentiment it is entirely a French quostion. • I need not emphasise that the w-holo of the nation, including the Socialists, is uuanimoue in its will to reconquer the two provinces which were stolen in 1871, and have sinco then remained French at heart.

But thero is also an industrial side of tho question. That part of Lorraine which Germany captured 1 in 1871 contains the largest deposits of iron ore in Central Europe. The littlo, valley of the Sarre, which spreads out on the northern border of Lorraine, is an important coal field. Such is the treasure which Nature has ominously placed at the doors «jf the Prussian Nibohmg. It is only by keeping this fact well in view that history, past and recent, becomes quite clear. The whole of tho treasure was French in 1814. A year after, at the Vienna Congress of 1815, Prussia availed herself of Napoleon's second downfall to lay heT hand's on the Sarro valley. Then.came tho war of 1870-71. This time Prussia |

took hold of what she thought- was the whole of tho industrial wealth cf Lorraine. She would havo asked for Briey as well had she known thou that Western Lorraine also contained important deposits. However, what sho took in 1871 was sufficiently important to become the foundation stone of tho whole of her industrial imperialism. This is not a moro metaphor. German Dependence on Lorraine. Every Englishman ought to know tho_ following _ figures:—Out of 28.6 million tons of iron ore which Germany extracted from her soil in 1933, 21 millions came from Lorraine. Out c f 2800 million tons, representing the iron deposits of Germany, the German engineers admitted that Lorraine alone contained 2100 million. /

What docs this mean? It means I that tho Lorraine treasure has, for tho last forty-five years, been the main source from which Germany metallurgy has derived its strength. But German metallurgy is not only tho most important of all German industries; it is the very key tp the whole of German industrial development, for it was hy using their supremacy in steel that the Germans tried and began to dominate tho markets of the world. Moreover, Germany owes it to Lorraine that she has been able to supply her'armies with an enormous amount of shells in spite of the blockade. The Germans have said so themselves. "If the output of the 'minette' (iron ore) of Lorraino were- to ho disturbed," said a manifesto issued in September, 1915, by some of their industrial associations, "the war would bo as good as lost." Indeed, if Prussia had not possessed Lorraine sho would very likely n °t have dared to go to war at all. The primary interest of Britain in the matter is therefore quite obvious, rho Lorraino treasure has been in the hands of Prussia the main weapon with which she has tried for years to striko at her great industrial rival, tho British Empiro. There will be no industrial peace for tho British Empirenay, there will bo no peaco in the common sense of the word—until Lorraino has returned to its' legitimate possessor. This restitution, however, does not suffice in itself, not even if the Sarro V alley, which is Lorraine's natural dependency, is givea back to France. For even then Germany's position remains, a threatening one unless England comes to the rescue. France's Need of Coal,

Roughly Speaking, the position will be -this. Already before tho war l'ranco suffered from a shortage of coal, and was importing 21 million tons out of 62. Now, the coal output of tho Sarre fields would make up for that deficiency, did not tho mere contiguity of German Lorraine to tho present I'rench iron deposits increase tho future needs in coal of the French industry to a very high'figure, which, according to the best experts, would leave a new deficiency of 3G million tons. If the general conditions of shipping and railway freights wTiich obtained before the war are not altered almost the whole of this extra supply will have fto bo got from Germany, for it will bo impossible for British coal -to compete iu Lorraine with Westphalian coal. Ilns would lead to an obvious danger. Of course, Franco would be in position to deprive Germany of her iron supply in case of another impending war. But from a mero industrial point of view such a state of things would completely tie I'rench motallurgy'to German metallurgy. It would make French industry

as a whole more or dependent upon the goodwill of tho Germans. Tho Khincgold would work against tho economic alliance of Franco and England Besides, Great Britain would havo no say -in the most vital question of Central Europe—a question which concerns her futuro welfare, and which already has caused, moro or less directly, so many of her sons to lay down 'their lives. The Way Out. It is not for a layman to say what can bo done' in order to solve such a technical problem as this. Tho best thing he can do is to point out the difficulties and ask all far-seeing Englishmen to think about the best way of meeting them. v

■lhere is, however, one practical point which, I think, no Englislinian will dispute. When peaco comes, Great Britain must insist that'tho Hhino should be made an international waterway, with all the adjoining rivers and canals. The day when, a British barge will be allowed to take a load of coal from Newcastle to Lorraine and tako back a corresponding load of iron ore, that day the Bhinegold problem will cease to leave France I'aco to face with Germany. Why I Herr Thysson has been good enough to show us tho way. His ships took Westphalian coko over to Caen, in Normandy, and brought back iron ore. Thefo is no reason why England should not do tho samo ouco she has secured freo access by water to Cchtral Europe. It can bo done. It ought to bo done. Only.tho problem is an intricate one, and must be faced without delay.