ALSACE REGAINED.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 May 1916, Page 7

ALSACE REGAINED.

NINETY COMMUNES NOW IN FRENCH HANDS. If. Paul Deschanel, President of the Chamber of Deputies, who was recently the companion of President Poincare on a visit to the French front in Alsace has given the following account of his impressions:—

"We paid a visit to the troops who had just taken part in the fighting 011 Hartmannsweilerkopf. So long- as I live I shall never forget the look in the eyes of those young men, the look that was a reflection of their collective soul, of the same all-pervading inspiration. One felt their indexible resolution, their pride, their - absolute detachment from everything that was not connected with victory; one felt that they were living a higher life. What moral splendour! I cannot think about it without the tears starting to my eyes. ■ I would like .he whole of France to see what we have seen.

"We occupy in Alsace the extent of one of our big arrondissements: !)0 communes, 90,000 inhabitants, 10,000 school children. Everywhere the enthusiasm for France is the same, although Jiere, as everywhere else, the aspect of men and things varies according to the place —mountain or plain, wood or meadow agriculture or industry, "In one industrial town, for instance, in a quarter which has suffered considerably from bombardments, we had an enthusiastic, an ardent welcome. Its population of workera celebrates not merely the return to France; it joyfully shakes off the yoke of military feudalism and Prussian oppressors. "Elsewhere, in little country towns and villages, repeatedly taken, lost and re-taken, we find quiet, concentrated resolution and energetic declarations. These brave people are in the very centre of the drama—the pathetic grandeur of which grips the heart; "The whole of the re-conquered territory is administered by officials of high reputation. The schools are under masters representing the elite of their class. 111 one town boys of 10 to 14 years are taught by a. professor from one of the Paris Lyeecs. His explanations were so clear ami easy, lie had such a clever way of stimulating these young minds, that I could not help e.vclaiming to him with sincerity: "Really, sir, 1 should like to be in your class myself V "These children who a year and a half ago did not know a word of French now speak and write it with fluency and fase—especially the little girls, always quicker and brighter than the boys. And how moving it was to hear such a dialogue as this between teacher and pupil: What is the name of your country ?—France. Why do you love France? —Because my grandfather was a Frenchman. Because .

''And you may imagine all the other answers! All our glorious souvenirs related by these little lips which, but yesterday, could speak only German. "Before the war I used, to make pilgrimages to Alsace-Lorraine and visit the battlefields of 1870, and I was often pained to think how few we were who did so. After the war we must all send our young people there as often as possible."