Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, MONDAY, OCT. 16, 1916. THE PROBLEM OF THE RHINEGOLD.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 14124, 17 October 1916, Page 2

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, MONDAY, OCT. 16, 1916. THE PROBLEM OF THE RHINEGOLD.

Occasionally we are told of artilleryactivity m the Vosges, but little is nowadays related of the military operations on this section of the Western front. Yet there are good reasons for advising our readers to keep their eyes upon the map of the eastern comer of France and to be prepared for striking develop-

.. v - ments some day m that sector. An American war correspondent, m an article republished m another column has lifted the veil a little and shown us the great preparations that France is making for the liberation of her lost provinces, which must ever be the main object of her warfare. An article by M. Philippe Millet m the London Observer shows us that there is something more than a sentimental reason why France desires the recovery of those provinces, with their French speaking population still loyal to the tricolor. There .is a problem* the RHinegold, he writes, and. the French industrial world has given it a good deal of thought since the beginning of the war, ,It has been discussed for several months.; in the Fi-ench reviews' and daily 'papers. A member of tHe French Chamber; who is ifll&o a distinguished economist, M. Ferhand Engerand' ( has devoted to it, under the title "L'Ailemagne et c Fer," a remarkable book. Queerly enough, the British public does, not seem to have realised yet that this problem concerns Great Britain nearly ; as much as France. Very few Englishmen are aware that such a problem exists at all. The question of Alsace-Lorfaine, the, writer goes on to point but, has two sides. From the point of view of sentiment it is entirely a French question. The whole of the nation, including, the Socialists, is unanimous m its wifl to reconquer the I two provinces whioh were stolen m 1871 and have since then remained French at heart. But there is also an industrial .side of the question. That part of Lorraine, which Germany captured m 1871 contains the largest deposits of iron ore m Central Europe. The little valley of the Sarre, which spreads out on the northern border' >of Lorraine, is an im-. iportant coal field. . 'Such is the treasure which Nature had ' ominously placed at the doors of , the Prussian Nibelung. It is only _ by. keeping this fact well ii)||yiew that history, past,^ahd. .recent,' becomes quite clear. The whole of the treasure was French in' 1814. A year after, at the Vienna. Congress,, 00h.1815,_ h . 1815, ..Prussia availed herself, ,,,of J^apbleon's , second downfall to k>y .her : Hands, on^ the , Sarre valley. Then came the war of 1870-71. This time Prussia, i took' hold of .- whai she. thought was the .w,japle. qf tho. industrial: wealth of Lorraine. S3He would have asked • for "* Briey as well' Had she known, then, that Western Lorraine also contained important deposits.',' However, what she took m 1871 was sufficiently important to become the' foundation stone of the whole of her industrial imperialism. This is not a mere metaphor. Out of 28.6 million tons ol iron ore which Germany extracted from her soil m 1913, 21 millions came from Lorraine. Out of 2800 milHom tons, representing the iron deposits of Germany, the German engineers admitted that Lorraine alone contained 2,100 million. What does this mean It means that the Lorraine treasure has, for the last 45 years, been the _maiii source from which German metallurgy has derived its strength. But German metallurgy is not only the most important of all German industries ; it is the very key to the whole . of Germain - mdustrial development, for it was by using their supremacy m steel that the Germans tried and began to dominate the markets of thejworld. Moreover, Germany owes it to Lorraine that she has been able to supply her armies with an enormous amount of shells m spite of the blockade. The Germans have said so themselves. "If the output of the.minette (iron Tore) of Xorraine were to be,disturbed," said a manifesto issued m September, 1915, by some of /their industrial associations, "the war would ,be as good as lost." Indeed, if Prussia had. not possessed Lorraine she would very likely not: have dared to go to war at all. The primary interest of Pritain m the matter is therefore quite obvious. The" Lorraiii'e treasure haa been m the Hands of Prussia the main weapon with which she has tried for years to strike at Her great industrial 7 rival, the British Empire. There will be" no industrial peace for the British Empire — nay, there will be no peace m the common sense of the'word; — until Lorraine has returned to its legitimate possessor. This restitution, however, does not. suffice m itself, not even if the Sarre valley, which is Lorraine's natural dependency, is given back to France. Fo_ even then -Germany's positioni remains a threatening one unless England comes to the rescue. Roughly speaking, the '. position will be this. Already before. the war France , suffered from a shortage of coal and was importing 21 million tons out of 62: Now, tbe coal output of the Sarre fields would make up for that deficiency,. did noLthe •mere contiguity^ of German Lorraine tc the present French iron deposits increase the future needs m, coal of the French industry "to a' very Ihigh 'figure,- which, according to the best experts, would leave a new deficiency of 36 million tons. If the general conditions .of shipping and railway freights which obtain before the war are not altered almost the whole of this extra supply will -have to be, got from Germany, for it t wi,ll be 'impossible for British coal to compete m. Lorraine with Westphalian cbai. This would lead to an obvious danger. Of course, France would be m a position to deprive Germany of her iron supply m case of another impending war... But from a mere industrial point of view such a state of things would completely tie. French metallurgy to German, metallurgy. It would make French industry as a whole more or less dependent upon, the goodwill of the Germans. The Rhinegold would work against the.econpmic alliance, of France amd 1 England. .Besides, Greqt Britain would have no, say m the most vital _ question of Central, \. Europe — a question which concerns , .her ' future welfare, and which al^ea^y, ,]bas.' caused, more or less 4h' ec W"y',' so matny ber sons to lay down their lives. The Ereneh writer urges Englishmen to think of this , problem and to assist France to find a way out. "Whenv peace comes," He 'writes, "Great Britain must insist that the Rhine should be niade an an international, waterway, with all ihe adjoining rivers and _ canals. The day when a British barge will be allowed to take*-, load , of coal from N>-wcastJe to Lorraine and- take back 'a'corresponding lbad of ' iron ore, -that' day the Rhinegold problem will cease to leave France face to face with Germany. ' Why ! Herr Thyssens has been, good enough to show us the way. His ships took Westphaliaii coke over to <_aen, iru Normaaidy, and brought: back . iron ore. There is no reason why England should riot do the same once she has secured free access by water to Central Europe. .It can be done. It ought to be done. Only the "problem -is an intricate one, and must be faced without delay."