The Topic of the Week: Will Germany Win the Saar?

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 19959, 17 November 1934, Page 12

The Topic of the Week: Will Germany Win the Saar?

Outcome of Plebiscite Fraught with Q rave Consequences

(By William Teeling in “The Times.”)

The religious question and the patriotic question so eclipse everything else at the moment about the plebiscite which will decide in January whether j the Saar shall revert to Germany that j the economic facts and the problems i resulting from the Treaty of Versailles | receive little attention. In spite of the efforts of the president of the Saar Commission (Mr Knox), no one seems willing to face them, yet they must be faced, either now, peacefully, or, it is to be feared, later, with considerable suffering, if not friction. The question that must be faced at once is how people delivering goods in the Saar Valley to-day are to be repaid. No considerable business, and no production of goods on a large scale expects payment before three or six months. Most of the produce consumed in industrial Saar comes from France, also much machinery. The French are very practical, especially the peasants. I found them already a few months ago unwilling to deliver more goods in the Saar. They argued that they knew not whether they would be paid in French francs or German marks, which might be worth much less next January. I found the French Chamber of Commerce in Saarbrucken in despair about the whole thing. Soon the problem will become much more serious. Lure of the Mines The question of the mines sounds larger, though it is no more vital to the Saar inhabitants and worries them 1 less. The French-run mines were I coveted for long by France, but they were not included in her war aims. Therefore they could not be claimed permanently at Versailles. But it was argued that the northern French mines had been put out of action, so France should have the Saar mines for 15 years. It was recognised that Germany could not own and rule the Saar while France owned the mines. That was the only reason why the Saar was placed under international control until 1935. Some people to-day suggest that if Germany will not pay she can have the Saar, and France will hold the mines. That suggestion was thoroughly threshed out at Versailles, and it was found to be conducive to the worst friction. The mines, then, according to the treaty, must at the end of the 15 years be bought back by Germany. I discussed this point with Chamber of Commerce officials in the Saar, where there is a German Chamber of Commerce and also a French chamber. French Fear Trickary The French began by asking pertinently what will happen, if the Saar ours New Zealanders are showering on Philip Hargave; his youth appeals, and when it is allied to such mastery of the keyboard that this lad possesses in full measure, his conquest of musical lovers is not to be marvelled at. Under Tait management Master Hargrave is making a triumphal progress through the North Island to Wellington, where he commences a season in the Grand Opera House to-night.

goes to Germany, to the French franc notes in circulation in the area. They were estimated a short time ago at a I milliard and a half. The French forsee the Germans confiscating them. These notes are convertible at sight, as France is on the gold standard. The Berlin Reichsbank would then demand the gold—more than is in the German ! central bank to-day. With this gold j the Germans could practically pay France for the mines, and she would in effect, have lost her mines for nothing. But, the French argue cynically, they do not expect that the Germans will pay at all for the mines, yet that they will insist on receiving the gold. After I had discussed the matter with leading Germans, I felt it quite possible that they would be willing to pay. They are convinced that the French have worked the mines until they are worth very little, and that they have scarcely bothered to maintain them. Lastly, they argue that the mines have fully repaid France for what she needed of the Saar, and that in the Treaty Annex it was provided that Germany should be credited with the value of the ceded mines in part payment of the amount due for reparations, and that this has not been done. Therefore Germany claims that she is entitled to a return of the mines without any payment. There is a further stipulation that France is entitled to draw as much coal as she likes from the Saar even after 1935, and that the League of Nations will help her in fair demands. On this point I was struck by the Saar citizens’ lack of knowledge about economic facts. The Saar coal is employed only for the internal industries in the Saar and in one outside market—France. That market, it is true, has been developed since the war, but the main market is the Alsac-Lorraine market, now in France. It was not until 1871, after Alsac-Lorraine went into Germany, that the Saar coal came into its own. It is used for mixture with the iron ore of Lorraine. If the Saar leaves the French Customs Union, she will not gain a great coal market in Germany. The coal products of Westphalia are far better and far more convenient for the Ruhr. To suggest that France would voluntarily claim her right to take coal out also disregards the fact that the mines of 1 Northern France are working again, and are also underproducing. The coal outlook is none too bright for the i Saar. With regard to iron and steel, it is better, as there is a market in ; Southern Germany. When the Saar I German leaders explained to me that for coal and iron alike, Hitler will build a canal through to Ludwigshaven and I the Rhine, and the Commissioners said, ! “But that will take ages, why not start ] it at once,” one begins to doubt. I Especially when the German leaders ; retort, “We shall have free railway t transport until the canal is ready, and we do not want to start until the Saar is definitely ours.” All this, though : they assure you that they are certain of 90 per cent, of the votes at the plebiscite. The truth is surely that j they have not the money to build such a canal. Moreover, Ruhr leaders | assured me they had never been con- i suited on this question vitally affecting j them, and the Saar leaders told me j that that they dealt direct with Berlin, ' and “the Rhur must do what Hitler j says. Patriotism comes before busi- i ness interests.” Problem of Markets When one realises that there are already more than 30,000 unemployed in the Saar, and that if the French markets be closed and no substitute be found, there will be at least 40.000 more directly unemployed, and perhaps I 10,000 indirectly, making one-tenth of the population, then one must wonder what will happen. In spite of this : the Socialist trade unions have for six | months been losing their members j among the young men. The Socialists point out that the mines before the j war always belonged to the two States j of Prussia and Bavaria. Now they : will be handed over to the business men in the Saar who are helping Hitler. Moreover, they point to the suppression of trade unions. But the young men do not care. They are moving into the Catholic unions, which are not : socialistically opposed to the Nazis. This, however, weakens their tradeunion strength. The largest Catholic trade union is in Quebec and other parts of Canada. But its very essence, that it does not strike, makes it less effective. So also must become the j young unionists of the Saar. Some of the older trade unionists suggest 1 that an extension of the present regime I should be allowed. As the plebiscite allows for districts and communes to J vote themselves in or out of any of the ! three suggested regimes, it is possible j that small areas will be left to seek a whole regimue especially for them- 1 selves. The Status of the League The plebiscite does not bind the League. The League has only to be j guided by it in her decision. There may come the most dangerous point of all. Powers may defy the League’s decision, and its prestige, already shaken in the East, may thus be broken in the West. If areas want to remain as they are, they forget that they may not be as well off. To-day they receive artificial preferential treatment both from Germany and from France; both countries wish to humour them. More-over, Germany pays war pensions, insurance, and widows’ pensions. The two nations will certainly not continue to do this if areas vote against them, j Also, the people are free from French j compulsory service or German labour j camp service. Lastly comes the i question of the mark. How long can [

j it hold its present level, and how will i it affect the Saar? ■ All these are the confusing problems I that can make of the Saar such a | danger spot in the next few weeks. [ Responsible men are working hard j to-day in the Saar for a compromise i before the plebiscite. It is provided j tor as a possibility in the Versailles I Treaty, but the French seem unwilling, ( although Hitler and the unbiased Saar industrialists have wanted it. Such a ; compromise would give at least two- ' thirds of the territory to Germany and I leave a small rather vital piece to | France. Socialists and others could | move in here. The reason they are i not strong enough to oppose the Nazi movement is that they have nothing in common with one another, and large ; numbers of their leading supporters are refugees from Germany w'ho will not be entitled to vote, for nobody can vote who was not resident in the Saar on June 28, 1919. These people would be I contented in a small German-speaking i territory. The present arrangemetyt for Customs regulations could easily be arranged. Compromise is essential. It is also economically best for the area. | It seems a thousand pities that present ; German patriotism and French pride ; should postpone the only logical conI elusion. — “LEG-FULL AND MORAL “Sir Herny Wood is revealed as the greatest ‘leg-puller’ for many a long year. * "In brief, Sir Henry has been play- j ing a dual musical role, and his ‘second | self ' —Paul Klenovsky—has now come j to light. “It seems that Sir Henry was not too pleased with the criticism which Bri- | tish composers and musicians usually ! received compared with the lavish j praise so often bestowed on anyone with a foreign-sounding name. “Musical success appeared to depend very largely on having—or assuming—a name ending in, say ‘oski.’ “So in October, 1929, at a Queen’s Hall promenade concert, there was ; performed Bach’s organ toccata and I fogue in D Minor, transcribed for full I orchestra by ‘Paul Klenovsky, a young j man understood to have lived in Mosf cow.’ i “Immediately the work w r as a tre- | mendous success. People wrote to Sir I Henry imploring him to play it again and again. Who was Paul Klenovsky? “In answer to this often-asked question, Sir Henry himself wrote a programme note saying:— “It is a great pity this young man died. His transcription shows the hand of master in every bar.’ “Music-lovers shook their heads sadly over the early death of poor Paul 1 Klenovsky, who, ‘in the. opinion of his teacher, A. Glazounov,’ was one of the ! greatest young masters of orchestra - j tion. “Now it is revealed that poor Paul | and Sir Henry are one and the same Dei’son."—Aberdeen “Press and Journal.”