THE REVIEWER.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12325, 23 May 1918, Page 8

THE REVIEWER.

' PUBLICATIONS REOIIVID. “The True.Story of ;• Alsace-Lorraine,” . by,' Ernest Alfred Vizetelly. (London ; Cbatto and Windus). " Some more or Jess indistinct recollections of ; the oldtime popular song, “ The Blue Alsatian Mountains.” and'a.' genera!' idea that Alsace-Lorraine, is' and has long.been a bone'of contention between France and her big neighbour* are about the sum of the information' possessed by many people on' a question' that is recognised by authority as being of-the first importance in the eventual negotiations' for . the peace of Europe. The task'set himself by Mr .Vizetelly, who; knows . the district -.thoroughly, knows the history of France', he fs the' author of several valuable hooks’dealing -with portions of that history, and' has been able to obtain a great deal of statistical information regarding the conditions of life in Alsace and Lorraine, is to explain the 'circumstances in- which -tliese two provinces- became a part of the Trench Empire, and those in which, after, the Tranco-Frussian War-of 1870 the provinces were Torn from France, He gives a thorough and' accurate survey of a vexed, .question! And he makes no secret. of; his. sympathies-; Alsace-Lorraine. should he^.lnside the French boundary and the French are determined that this must be recognised- Germany-, without a colour of right, is apparently equally determined -to hold to its ill-gotten and ill-held-gains.'-,-, .(Mon .Kuhlmann stated the-question of Alsace-Lorraine'- Was the’ only obstacle to peace). That the Gorman administration finds regular and strong opposition may he gathered from the contents of a cable dated April *2B, referring to happenings in the Reichstag. Herr Groebtr, a member Of the Centre Party, expressed dissatisfaction on behalf of-Alsace-Lorraine soldiers, who were badly treated- Genera! Wrisberg admitted that strictness with the, latter was necessary, because so many of them-were traitorous.”' That is-to- say -the' sympathies. qf.;AlsaceS-Lor-rainers cqmpell'edVto. servehirthe-Gar-man army are with their own countrw, France It- ‘is .officially, estimated that at an early stage in . the present gigantic .-struggle,-though more.than forty years ■had elapsed sipcs, .the severance of 187-1, .thirty thousand Alsatians were already serving wit-lr. the French colours; and a score of French general officers were connected by .parentage with the lost territory. Mr Viptelly .first gives facts as to the configuration, characteristics, .and resources of .the so-called Reicbsland (Alsace-Lorraiqe)’,'a.s they were-at the time ’of The.annexation,in 1871 and as • they hud'become .when war broke out in, 1914. Then.he recounts, in de-rail,-because-upon ancient history the. Germans base their-.claim,.'the'ancient history of the annexed country, the cir-cumstances-’attending and immediately following the annexation, and the chief, incidents of German rule from 1871 to 19] i ; • " The early.■..his-tofy-. of Alsace begins' with-the. advent'of'the Romans, and! down through the '.ages, it has been ’anarena of strife.--Fanda'ls, Alans, desperadoes of some of the disbanded so-called. Great Companie employed, by Edward' HI. and the Black . Prince, Austrians, Anabaptists, Swedes, .Germans', have alldone;- their.-best: to. turn, it Into a wa'Ets.i By the Treaty of Westphalia-, 1648, the entire Hapsburg 'suzerainty' over ' Al'sac3 passed to the . Crown of France-, and, although Strasshurg was exceptea v . authority over the Bishop was not.' and in course of-time Strasbourg and Mulhouse followed-the example of the rest of‘the-province. All-the facts clearly indicate the'willingness of the bulk of. the Alsafions to . become definitely united to France: Germany wanted N.eufchatel; France opposed the claim. 'Any nation opposing" Germany should look out for trouble and be ready. As .Bismarck said long afterwards, “Napoleon ITI.' would not; .let-us have Neufchatek' W0!1,.-we have taken Alsace. quid pro quo.” Germany--has always wanted Alsace and there is no shadow of a doubt that' directly Bismarck had squared account with Austria ho-prepared for war with-France to get it. "With regard to Lorraine, whereas in .1871 the Germans annexed' all .Alsace they .on.lv took- a portion of Lorraine, and th; motives for the appropriation were not.tbe-sarne as those.which they alleged in the case, cf , Alsace.. Strategical and industrial considerations swayed them in regard, to Lothnringia (Lorraine) . and the Pan-Gcrmamc claims hire .would provide a pretext tor the seizure "of much territory- beldngirie to 'other countries-besides France. "Starting as a portion of Charlemagne's kingdom Lorraine had many fluctuations of rule. .According to the relative powers of the French , and the German suzerains the Dukes of ' Lorraine were French or German, but- from the nine if the ' Capets down to about I COO French Princes- ruled, and the tendency especially .in'the sixteenth century was' to shake off ns far as possible nil connection with Germany. But- the League War semi-religions and ' semi-nolicira] opened up •■seventy years of disaster, and in 1690 French military reverses; pave the Germanic Empire a hold under Duke Leopold. If,'evidence-be required of the manner in which ]r.gh and mighty princes then disposed not only of territories but of their inhabitants, whose' wishes were deemed too contemptible to bo consulted, it can be found in the history of these provinces French to the core.' Lorraine' rose when in the time of the' Revolution the. Prussians and Austrians invaded France, and the patriotic fervor continued unabated under Napoleon. When Ney was tried for high treason to Louis XVIII. his.counsel wished to argue that Ney’s birthplace. Sarrelouis, bsmng been

transferred to Prussia,- Ney owed no allegiance to the • French.'Cr,own- Ney interrupted his counsel violently—‘‘No. 'No. I accept, hone. of that. I am a- Frenchman, -a-hd , I will .die one.” _ , Air Vizotelly deals with racial and’ linguistic - questions mailing these matters plain. He shows how, unfair would be a referendum of the people' in the provinces to decide!the fate of the .country. ■ Bismarck .could not get Belfort from Thiers, though he Differed to.forgo the entry into Paris, if the' French gave the fortress up, but 'be ■did all he could to eradicate French influence, and his successors have followed closely iu his footsteps. ■ Ger-* man rule has been one- long dirty scandal; the Zaherne affair is a recent instance. A- strong force has for many years past been necessary" to impose the German will on a people that obeyed it with regret, and’” 17 communication with France was.rendered practically impossible.”.- France- insists- rightly upon the return of ’ -the provinces . and if peace ds' to be kept' in, Europe the Entente' must see that Alsace-Lorraine, like other lands, is ‘■'.finally and fully delivered-from the odious yoke of the modern . Hun ’’ • t-There is a map illustrating this particularly interesting story. "■ “Flames in the Wind,’ 1 by Helen -,- Hudson. (London; >Hddder' and Stoughton.) The opening, paragraph-is -promising —“My God! Oh —my God!- The white man lifted his stricken face to the fires. The wanderlust had fallen upon him, and his feet had strayed too far from his own people, The flames of the great fires' were like blood-oolouded arabesques painted on the grey background of reeking smoko. "Three stalwart warriors of the Gnanje moved forward carrying- a bound man. and with wild shouts of fury-throw him like a log into the flames. It was a. white man. And there was another—trussed up so that almost all semblance of a human being , was lost. He, too. awaited his horrible fate. The rushing roar of the fire drowned the - dreadful' cries which broke from the rnau in the toils of the flames; and os suddenly ended, when -lie crumpled up like a' broken leal in;the- crimson' heart of-hhetfire.,” ■ It was ■ Ludwig Leiohardt, the famous explorer, who, after witnessing the sacred mysteries ot the Bora- and the terrible doom of his companions, Was cast forth blinded to meet; his fate inf he heart, of the, .Australian desert, How he was found and succoured by the Ghost Woman. “ a- flame ip the wind,” the natives called her ; .how, they; wandered through the wilderness; how Cable, the. Prussian with the sinister eyes, persuaded Murdoch.and a young friend O’nne. to join: an. expedition in search, of the lost explorer,-'and what was the-outcome—this is what- Mrs (oris it Miss?) Hudson tells,; . The story is plentifully sprinkled with native words, would, in fact, serve fairly well as a sort of introductory’ primer to the study of aboriginese. For instance;— “In the dark scrub's—blotted'into-xh-.liyion by tire murk of smoke—Ohoniki .(the turkey) crouches with cuntham(native companion), and.carhoon (the Tyro bird) shivers beside. Ipm ”. .But it: was not. ingoon (the sun) , '. ; ' ■ ri'. a flock of loochwooh (scrub turkeys)■v . ■ many tuldurra.'. (kangaroos) ■- •■ . This method of supplying information tends to detract somewhat from the activity cf the story; also there is ■something unconvincing. ah out remarks, ■of the type of—These wild'tribes are, fierce and -merciless'.”' .Murdoch ’said. . u They are cannibals' also,' and; if they, caught us they would roast us in their fires, and eat-.our flesh- . MM. would be pwerless—a little handful of; strange white men among hundreds' of cruel black ones, whose .very hearts ...and thoughts are like the for.est .fires, when the wind stirs them,”, or.'such. a.description of a fight ns is given ofLeicbardt's ■struggle with the Gnanje- war party. However, there is a, great deal of vivid imaginative work, -and.-.there are several love-veins m the.drama, including that of Cable for Murdoch's wife- And Whnt in the States is -termed- .“-sob stuff. - ' is not- absent-.' And the Bunyip meets a deserved fate.'