The Dominion. SATURDAY, OCTOBER. 12, 1918. GERMANY MUST DISGORGE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 15, 12 October 1918, Page 6

The Dominion. SATURDAY, OCTOBER. 12, 1918. GERMANY MUST DISGORGE

While Puiscb Maximilian is speaking smooth words of peace in the car of President Wilson the Kaiser -is declaring before High Heaven that the Germans will defend to the lust drop of their blood tho provinces of Alsace ' and Lorraine, "which the Almighty has en- . trusted to them to administer as His stewards." The idea of being compelled to restore this,-stolen property to Franco is making the PanGermans squirm. It is their hit-, tercst pill; but they will have to gulp it down., About this'condition of peace there .can be no compromise and no bargaining. Tho Allies must insist inexorably upon its full and unqualified acceptance. The Kaiser evidently did not contemplate the giving back of Alsace-Lor-raine when he announced his intention, of making a "liberal" peace offer. Ho asserts with characteristic bombast that . Germany holds theso stolen provinces for the* benefit of their inhabitants and the glory of God; but all such blasphemous jargon will prove futile. _ The thief will have to make restitution, however painful the experience, may be. Some time ago the Germans tried hard to sow distrust among the Allies by suggesting that Britain was doubting whether it was worth while to continue the war merely for tho gratification of French national sentiment. In October of last year von Kuhhiann, who was then Foreign Secretary, stated that go long as.the Germans were able to fight their grip on Alsace-Lorraine would never be relinquished. "The territory handed down to us as a glorious inheritance by our forefathers can never be the object of negotiations or. concessions." - Me. Lloyd George's reply to this truculent ranting made Britain's position perfectly clear. "However long the war lasts," he said, "England intends to stand by her gallant Ally, France, until she redeems hcr ; oppressed children from tho degradation of a foreign yoke." President Wilson is equally emphatic in his demand that the -wrong done to France in the matter of Alsace-Lor-raine shall be righted. This is one of,the fourteen points which, in his opinion, form the essential conditions of a settlement based on impartial/justice. In reply to Germany's latest peace manoeuvres he has asked for an unequivocal statement as to whether Germany is prepared to agree' to the terms ho has laid down. No argument-! is wanted. It is not a time for "ifs" and "but's." The acceptance of the President's terms practically means unconditional surrender, and possibly the downfall of the Hohekzollern dynasty.. No settlement will be impartially just which, docs not hand AlsaceLorraine back to France unconditionally. To abate our demands on' this point by one jot or tittle would lie a betrayal of France, whose riiagnificent courage and steadfast endurance have been the wonder .of the world. A .French statesman has told us—and no one but a German will i doubt his words—that France is fighting "to defend her own liberty, her independence, and at tho same time the liberty and independence of, the world. Her claims are those of right. They arc even independent of the issue of battles. She proclaimed them solemnly in 1871 when she was beaten. . 'She proclaims them to-day when she is making the aggressor feel the weight of her arms." In 1871 the deputies elected for Alsace-Lorraine passionately protested against annexation to Germany. "We proclaim for ever inviolable," they declared, "the the Alsatians and Lorrainevs to remain members of the French nation, and we,.swear for ourselves and our constituents, our children and their children, for ever and by all incans to claim it against all usurpers.". , Nearly half.a centuryhas elapsed since that solemn pro-' test was uttered, but the people kt'/e never been reconciled to the German yoke. ■ Through those, weary .years of' exile they have" waited for. the-■day-of'redemption, and it is ,un'imagihable- that the Allies- would fail to: insist upon the full; realisation of that long-cherished hope of' l'b'eration. • -The future of Alsace-' Lorraine cannot.be decided by.'- .a plebiscite, because a fair plebiscite cannot be taken., Dr.' Holland Rose , points out that even by 1876 ; haif v a- million of, natives'. qT. those, provinces had emigrated or refused to.return owing to Prussian brutality, and that number has - by now greatly while Germany has poured in soldiers, officials, and State-paid workmen to the 'number of nearly. 400,000. Aud during the war Germany has adopted a policy of .deportations. In these circumstances it is doubtful whether the will of the Alsatian's and Lorraihers could he correctly ascertained' by /"means of ,'a plebiscite. Civilised mankind _ will agree with the conclusion arrived at. by Dif. Holland Rose that.''reunion; with France seems' the._ only .• practical solution of a question which, if, left unsolved, may once more . delugo Europe with.blood." But it;will' not be left unsolved.,

■ It- is of vital importance, to the whole, world as well as to France that Germany shall be made to.disgorge v Alsace-Lorraine. '.■■■-Major Hai.dane' Macfail gives convincing reasons why there can. he no compromise with the enemy on this crucial point.'

It so happens (he- writes) that the Germans need twenty-eight hundred million tons of iron, and that.-French Lorraine yields twenty-one hundred million tons of that iron! Or, if it 1)0 easier to. grasp' it so, Lorraine holds,three out of every four tons of Germany's steel.

; . . Germany can make a paper peneo and sigh paper treaties galore thai; will satisfy everybody; but she can—anil will —tear up treaties as "scraps of paper.'!No statesmanship can prevent (his. Rut if Germany needs twenty-eidit hundred millions of tons of iron before she can carry on a world war, or any war on a great scale such as'modern life, compete to be fought, and if Germany can omy get seven hundred million lons of iron, shi! cannot make war. 'Major Haldanb MacfaLi, asserts most emphatically that if France signs a peace, with the German flag still flying in Alsace-Lorraine she will have signed her own death warrant; and if Alsace-Lorraine remains German all peace talk, all peace treaties, are futile and a sham. The return to France of her lost provinces would be a shattering blow to Germany's dream of world dominion. The moment that Germany consents to get out of Alsace-Lorraine, that moment the whole world will.know for certain that sho has bean beaten to her

knees. But, she will use every wile of diplomacy, and she will resort to every possible form of deception, to find'some way of escape. PiiESidext Wilson has acted wisely in compelling.her to show her hand; but the Allies would make a huge blunder if they conscntcd_ to take part in a general discussion or to listen, to any bargaining proposals. The less they talk about peace the sooner peace will come. The Germans know that they have lost the war, and when they find they cannot talk or bluff the Allies out of the fruits of victory they will swallow their pride_and sue for peace, find pay the price, however high it may be.