DISCIPLINED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 11, 14 January 1935, Page 7

DISCIPLINED.

VOTERS AT BOOTHS.

Nazis Plan to Celebrate Victory.

HOLIDAY FOR TO-MORROW,

(United P.A.—Electric Telegraph—Copyright)

(Received 11 a.m.) SAARBRUCKEN, January 13. Perfect organisation characterised the Saar plebiscite to-day. Quiet orderliness prevailed at the polling booths, and excellent discipline was displayed by voters, contrasting remarkably with fantastic rumours "which had been baselessly circulated. A wide tour of the territory completely discounts tales of brawls and the firing of shots, the most formidable missiles used being snowballs, and the only fighters being children. Trade unions, confidently expecting a pro-Hitler result, have declared a holiday for Tuesday, when the result is to be announced, and they expect to hold the greatest celebration for 15 years. The cost of the plebiscite is estimated to be £660,000. Patience of Voters. People waited patiently in slushy snow to exercise the suffrage, while international troops, except those detailed to guard and transport the voting urns, philosophically remained in their barracks. Queues throughout the Saar lengthened hourly with the arrival of foot passengers and all sorts of vehicular travellers, who were given free passage in trains and postal vans. Fifty per cent of those on the rolls had voted by noon, and 00 per cent by seven o'clock in the evening. Squads of German Front members, equipped with axes and spades, helped motoring voters by clearing snowdrifts from roads, while others supplied information outside the booths. Some bore posters inscribed, "Keep Your Mouths Shut," the result of which was that nobody was disfranchised for saying '"Heil Hitler" or giving the Nazi salute, as occurred on the occasion of the preliminary voting a week ago.-

Opponents Fraternise. Good-humoured laughter between bitter political opponents marked the closing of the poll, at which it is estimated 97 per cent of votes were cast. Lorries, guarded by armed police and soldiers of the East Lancashire Regiment, carrying fixed bayonets, collected the voting urns and deposited them at a Wartburg garage in the custody of the East Lancashires. Trains, which carried other voting urns throughout the night, after collection over the whole of the Saar, were protected by the international troops. The passing of the trains was witnessed by thousands of spectators shouting "Heil Hitler" and singing the Horstwessel song and the Saarland anthem. Many houses displayed rows of lighted candles, and Nazis decorated their windowlcdges after the closing of the booths with red fairy lamps, while searchlights transformed the snowflakes which were falling to drifts of gold. Church Bells Peal. Polling day was ushered in last night picturesquely. Huge bonfires lit up the snow-covered countryside, and church bells on both sides of the German frontier were pealed. A surprise order was issued last night forbidding the publication of any newspaper or the distribution of handbills on polling day. More surprising still for a Continental country is that the Saar until Wednesday has gone semi-dry. Only wine and beer may be served, and then only during certain hours. The sale of spirits is forbidden. A message from Geneva stated that Baron Aloisi's committee was drafting a last-minute appeal from the Council of the League of Nations to the populace of the Saar for the calm and orderly carrying out of the plebiscite. The British Foreign Secretary, Sir John Simon, has urged upon the Council the importance of implementing the plebiscite decision as soon as possible after the result is known. Delegates are assuming an air of deliberate calm which does not altogether hide the atmosphere of suppressed excitement. GIGOLOS BANNED. ACTION IN GERMANY. (Received 1.30 p.m.) BERLIN, January 13. The Nazi Government has banned gigolos as derogatory to masculine dignity.