Great Wealth in Alsace.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 24 April 1915, Page 4

Great Wealth in Alsace.

WELLS THAT WOULD PAY FRANCE'S WAR BILL.

The Tliami correspondent of the "Liberte" says that near Steinbach, in the wood of Nonnenbruch, where numerous German batteries are known to be hidden there are very rich potash deposits worth several injiljjkto) pounds, and it is for this reason that the enemy is so desperately fighting north-west and south in its defence. The Paris "Journal," discussing the French situation in Upper Alsace, says: —"Our pressure is being exercised in a slanting line on the forest of Nonnen briich. Cavalry patrols have already explored the outskirts of this forest, known in France as the Taillis des Nonnes. This is not because it is the direct road to Mulhouse. Its strategic importance to great, but there are other interests that make it desirable. It encloses, in point of fact, one of the richest tracts in the world. In 1904 deposits of potassium salts were discovered. Thirteen wells have already been sunk, and these permit an estimate to be made of the value of the salts in the district of at least sixty milliards of francs. Now. this immense wealth does not belong to Alsace-Lorraine, but is in the hands of 'German capitalists, and notably the Reichsbank. By taking possession of the Mulhouae well or, more exactly, the salt mines which extend beyond Illzacn with a perimeter of about sixty kilometers, France, without injuring residents in Alsace Lorraine, would obtain possession of capital which would enable it practically to cover all the expenses of the war, and would become the owner of a guarantee far exceeding in value all war levies past or present, and the stroke of the military master would be redoubled. An excellent affair!