ALSACE AND LORRAINE.

Taihape Daily Times, 16 January 1918, Page 5

ALSACE AND LORRAINE.

German newspaper comments con-

cerning Alsace-Lorraine, published in 1870, deserve to b? recalled at this moment, whta the -same and other Germans newspapers deciaro iluu the restoration of Alsa to France would be an ao itsdcu m?nt of German soil, and can never be countenaced. The Frakfurter Zeitung, in its issue of August 17, 1870, said: "The annexation of Alsace-Lorraine

is shrilly demanded by a section of National Liberals and National Demo-

crats. The powder acts as an intoxi-' : cant on the democratic parties. They' ' invoke the brutal right of conquest and hardly trouble to dissimulate* ' their claims. They do not ask 'What do the Alsatians and Lorrainers say? Do they wish to become German or remain French?'" The Rhc-inische-Westfaelische Zeitung, en the same date, said: "The question of a French cession of territory is very difficult if we do not merely wish tc asr.ert the right of conquest" The Zukunft, on September 18, 1870, said:—"They tell us that Alsace-Lorraine must be tak-

en from France.

There is no surer

way cf turning the coming peace into an armistice until the moment when France will have recovered sufficient strength to claim the restitution of

the territory which we are taking. The most jingoistic Teuton will not dare to pretend that Alsatians and Lorrainers are yearning for the joys of German rule." v