THE SAAR

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18595, 4 January 1935, Page 7

THE SAAR

STRONG GERMAN FEELING .VIOLENCE FEARED LONDON, Dec. 22. Now that the hist British troops have gone to the Saar, the whole nation is watching events in that troublous territory with entirely new interest, realising that England has embarked upon one of the most delicate enterprises in her history. Most newspapers have sent representatives to Snarbrucken, but they cannot be said on the whole to he making the situation easier, either for the Government or the Saar Commission, the general tendency being to color the reports with sensationalism. It is reported that hints of dangers to international feeling likely to be aroused by despatches of this nature have been dropped from an influential quarter at Westminster. Jt is clear that as the date of tho plebiscite approaches, party feeling in the Saar is becoming more bitter, and there is a real fear here that before January 13 this may develop into actual violence, involving the intervention of the international military police force. The Nazi party is said to be exploiting to the full the, presence pf foreign troops, which is obviously offensive to patriotic Germans, and to be gaining increased support. Matz Braun, the National Socialist leader, has issued a message that only by. gaining a substantial majority will Hitler be able to justify his regime in the eyes of the Fatherland. For Braun and his supporters the verdict of the Saar will be a verdict of Germans on Hitler. FEARS OF HITLER

It is a remarkable feature of the situation that there is such pronounced diversity of opinion in the Saar, for practically the whole of the population is anxious to return to German rule. They are divided only by the fear of what Hitler will do to non-Nazi elements. Already, Jews are leaving the territory rather than take chances, and Socialists will undoubtedly follow if the plebiscite goes against them. A former official of one of the antiHitler groups, now in London, said yesterday that even the Catholic vote would be badly split, and that, in any case, many thousands of the Saarlanders would not definitely make up their minds until the last minute. So long as there was a conviction that they might be able at some future time, under more favorable political conditions, to decide upon return to the Fatherland, they would be inclined to vote in large numbers on this occasion for the status quo. Nazi interests are so nervous of the outcome that they have made every effort to. secure a postponement of the plebiscite. Hitler even going to the length of instructing the German Ambassador in Paris to bring pressure on the League of Nations through the late M. Barthou. The real tragedy of the position, stated the informant, was that Germans were pitted against Germans in a spirit of hate and suspicion.