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Show GREAT PEACE PLAN. -uiviv lonr stcn Has taken iu the liivoctio: o: nnivors:;? pence when ni'uut one-third ot' the member of the K-eiu'h an .1 German pnrliaments met :tt l-iasle. Switzerland, wi'h the avowed ehv'-t n:" immovine Fn.ni'o-Gerniau reunion:-. Ku-.on "Ksourne!:es do ton-:-t;iu; a''d i o':ra 1 Uni.s:;;am leaders w lb-' 'I' !e:iions from the two country. coun-try. Imve n '.idert:) ken a work whiob ennnot fai! te. atrraet the attention n!' t'le rivi!:"'ed world and inspire hope in the Ivenst of tnrr.v hristrnj- man an i v.om.'in. ' le;- sM-'-e tb". FiM3'T-Fr!i.:ar war of lsn the two eountries ba-."o n.ain-t.iM'ed n.ain-t.iM'ed inpi-OTise sTnnd;nt7 arTni?s in or-lie- to be prepared tor the next scrng--hieh has always bepn regarded a iititab!e. and whirh hrss been nenr-!- l.rei-ipitated tw-o or three times in the l?-t fortv rears. The stinc of defeat de-feat nrd the loss of Alsaee-Lorraine lun e krrt the spark of animosity alivp in th-- oreads of the I'atriotU' Kreneh-teen. Kreneh-teen. and the Germans, of eour?e. have 1. .-omi elled to be eonstantly on the wat-dl to preent surprise. li' the memory of that brief but inhu'ii'nt '-an-paiT ean be effaced at Ba le ma;.- re-iilt in lriL.2ui- ' 'l' peofde of the two eountrie to a d--h-nite nndrrstandin ar.d pae the v. av for a partial disarmament ard a l'h-:--enin;' of the tares. lor arm;.' and i;a". ' purposes with whieh ail riurofe '.s bur-de-,:e.l at the present tim.e. Marshu! Mefahon tried to iciii.-e I'rim-e Bismarck Bis-marck to ae-.-ept a i-ash indemnity at the Hose of the war of 171, but the Iron Ghaimellor was obdurate and not oi ly exaeted two millions in i-ash. but all of Alsai-e and about one-tliird of Lorraine as well, thus providing a bone of .'intention for future generation:-. Some i-pfereime to tin' history of this eoveted strip of territory will not be amiss. In the .fourth and lir'lh i-en-turies Alsaee-Lorraine was liroueht under un-der the control of I he German tnbes. Later it passed to the Franks, but was regained In- the Germans iu the tenth eentury. In the sixteenth century it aain eame under the control of the Frown, and at the pea.-o of West phal in, in feUS, the HapsburKS ceded their territory ter-ritory in Alsace to Fram-e. Louis XIV seized the free cities of IStrassbur' and Kolmar and his riglit was confirmed by the treaty of Ryswiek iu fl97. It -will be feen that the .territory has been alternately 1'Tauk and Ger man for about !oU0 years, so that Prince Bismarck had some justification for its seizure. The, inhabitants of Alsace-Lorraine were almost universally opposed to becoming German subjects. So strong did the opposition become that the local government ms almost at a standstill, as those elected to office of-fice refused to take the oath .of allegiance alle-giance to the German emperor. Tho year following the war the emperor compelled the inhabitants to declare themselves French or German citizens, and about one-third of the loUiOO who declared for Franco removed to French territory'- The bitter feeling was allayed al-layed to some extent, but Alsace-Lorraine remains French at heart in spite of all efforts to Germanize it and will be the chief obstacle to the fulfillment of the plans of the French and German Ger-man delegates at Basle. However remote tho chances for permanent per-manent peace the effort being made is worthy of the highest commendation. The declaration issued, "recognizing the great and difficult task, of bringing about a definite and certain peace between be-tween the two ' peoplesy which, during their glorious and sorrowful histories, have so often come into conflict," shows that the delegates from both countries realize the difficulties of the situation to the utmost extent at the outset of their deliberations. That they are hopeful of the ultimate outcome is evidenced by the fact that after referring re-ferring to the difficulties in the way, the declaration says that "the interparliamentary interpar-liamentary conference undertakes to assist in the immense effort of education educa-tion toward reciprocal good will necessary neces-sary in this task, which is not beyond the genius of the two peoples." f France and' German can "clasp-hands "clasp-hands over the bloody chasm," there does not seem to be the shadow of au excuse for any other nations to go to war. Much has been said about permanent perma-nent peace in the last few years and there have teen conferences, without number on the subject. The meeting at Basle is probably the result of tho awakening awak-ening of sentimeut and the quickening quicken-ing of conscience brought about by agitation agi-tation of the subject. Whether this be true or not, the fact remains that as a result of the conference confer-ence in the Swiss city, permanent committees com-mittees from France and Germany will be organized for the purpose of carrying carry-ing on the work aimed at 3nd counteracting coun-teracting misleading information and prejudiced comment. Progress" of these committees will be well worth watch-icK- . |