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Show ALSACE-LORRAINE. While Chancellor von Hertling ailud-Pd ailud-Pd to Belgium and northern France as "valuable pawns," and showed at least a disposition to trade them off for some advantage to Germany at tie peace conference, he declared the unalterable un-alterable intention of Germany to keep Alsace-Lorraine and raised the old question ques-tion as to whether Alsace and Lorraine are German or French. He spoke as if the provinces once belonged to the German Ger-man empire, and yet tha present German Ger-man empire has existed only since the days when Alsace and Lorraine were conquered by the present Hohenzollern . dynasty; that is to say, the days of the Franco-Prussian war. In a vague way, the two provinces did once owe allegiance alle-giance to the German empire beyond the Khine, but the head of that empire was the Hapsburg dynasty of Austria. Therefore, when Von Hertling, in the name of the Prussian dynasty, speaks of the " dis-annexation " of Alsace and Lorraine, he is resorting to a form of hypocrisy which ha3 become familiar In the Prussian casuists. It would be futile to enter into the complete history of the two provinces, but, en passant, attention may be called lo the fact that Alsace was annexed to France in 164S by the treaties of Westphalia. These treaties the Hohen-ollerns Hohen-ollerns regard as "scraps of paper," And vet they want France to regard the treaty of Frankfort, of May 10, 1S71, by which the new empire of Germany Ger-many acquired Alsace and Lorraine after conquering France, as saered. Despite the fact that Alsace-Lorraine belonged to France and was wrested from her by conquest, France respected the treaty of Frankfort for forty-three years and it was Germany that broke it. By what process of reasoning do the Germans reach the conclusion that the French should regard the treaty of Frankfort as final, when they themselves them-selves refused to recognize the compact of Westphalia as final, although, in 1S71, it had been running for 223 years ? The treaty of Frankfort, even if it was binding on the conquered French, was not broken by them, but by the Germans when they invaded France in 1914. Without question, the contract, even if legal, was abrogated in 1914 by the action of one of the parties to it. If, therefore, the French had a right to Alsace-Lorraine prior to 1871 they have a right to it now, for they lost Alsace-Lorraine by a treaty which the Germans themselves have torn up. This is what might be called the legal aspect of the case. But in these days when men are speaking of the right of "self-definition" of peoples, it is just to inquire whether the people of Alsace and Lorraine are French or German. Ger-man. It is true that the language of Alsace has a German structure, just as the language of the Flemish people of Belgium has a German structure, but so, -too, has the language of a great part of the people of Wisconsin. Lan guage is not a determinant. The real question, aside from the legal question, can be stated thus: "Are the people of Alsace and Lorraine French in spirit ! ' ' The people of these i.vo regions became be-came genuinely French at the time of the revolution. It was then that they underwent a ornplete revolution of spirit. In June, 17CKI, at Strasburg, the national na-tional guards marched to the middle of tho bridgo spanning the Khine, and planted tho tricolor bearing the inscription, in-scription, "Here begins the land of liberty." lib-erty." The most inspiring of all national na-tional anthems, the "Marseillaise," was compo.-cd in Strasburg by Iiougct dc IMslo, who was residing there, and it first was sung at a dinner given by the revolutionary mayor, Dietrich. Many other instances of the spiritual transformation of the people could be cited, but one of the most convincing facts is the failure of the Ilohenzollcrna to "Germanize" tho people in more than forty years of domination. The peopie excnpfirig tliu fcnn.'ui colonists remain for the most part French in sympathy. Von Moltke declared de-clared t,h nt the people would be I'l'-ri'-h for fifty years, nud that aft'r that period they would be. Ger man. But as a prophet he did not compare with the Catholic bishop, Mon-signor Mon-signor Freppel, who said to William I in February, 1S71: "Believe a bifihop who tells you in the presence of God and with his haud upon his heart, 'Alsace 'Al-sace will never belong to you! ' " The bishop was right because he understood un-derstood his own people. He knew that thev had broken with the traditions tradi-tions of autocracy, and that they had been saturated with the principles of liberty. Von Moltke had the same information, in-formation, but ho was convinced that fifty years of the mailed fist would crush out the love of liberty and make the people as docile to the dictates of despotism as the people beyond the Khine. |