T

HE Berlin to Bagdad railroad is the backbone of Germany's dream of world dominion. M. Paul Claudel, of the French Consular Service, proposed to the Franco-Russian Association in France the Line of the 45th Parallel, a railroad from Bordeaux to Odessa to cross the Berlin-Bagdad line at Belgrade and give Southern Russia, Asia Minor, and the Balkans an open rail line to Italy, France, and the French Atlantic ports.

The Berlin-Bagdad line, as the Germans planned it, meant that Asia Minor and the Balkans were to be the economic slaves of Germany. The Turks and Balkan peoples were to be forced to buy and sell almost exclusively with Germany whether it was to their advantage or not. And this could have been done except on the seacoast, because the control of the one railroad outlet would enable Germany to discriminate against all trade except trade with her. The BerlinBagdad railroad was to bind together all the people from Hamburg to the Persian Gulf and a tariff wall was to keep competing trade from entering at the sides of the long strip of Mittel Europa-and once Mittel Europa was cemented together, organized and drilled by Germany, its 150 million people would be ready to dominate the world. The Germans themselves provide the proof that their intention is to develop the Berlin-Bagdad line in its economic aspects primarily for the purpose of war.

A report on the subject made recently by Herr Sprikerhoff, director of railways, says:

"The present interests of the Central Powers, from the North Sea to the Gulf of Persia, demand the rapid construction of a network of railway lines, the receipts of which would be assured in peace times chiefly because they would embrace Turkey-in-Asia. This would bring our superiority, due to our interior line, over our enemies, separated as they are by the sea, to its maximum, and once in possession of an all-embracing network of railroads, the Central Powers would be in a position to reunite their forces rapidly at any

point; whereas without this system they would finally succumb to the superior strength of the foe. Since it is not possible to construct such a network of railroads for purely military purposes without having an economic basis to assure the funds for its construction, maintenance, and operation, the only way to make sure of success is to secure a freight traffic large enough to render Turkey independent of enemy countries, independent of the sea, and independent of England and of whoever are her aids. The Central Powers, from the North Sea to the Persian Gulf, should be in a position to supply their own needs during both war and peace, so that eventually if the worst comes to the worst they can get along without the use of the sea altogether. Under these circumstances neither an internal crisis due to the war nor a boycott such as that proposed at the Paris Conference could shake us, and every hostile coalition, whether warlike or economic, would fail. Turkey would thus cease to be the apple of discord of the entire world, and a spark to ignite future wars.

"To accomplish this Germany and Austria will only have to strengthen their railway system by installing yards and sidings and paralleling lines in the countries of our allies, and by overhauling considerably existing roads and constructing new lines."

The backbone of the whole grandiose scheme is the Berlin-Bagdad line and its exclusive control of the territory it served.

The Line of the 45th Parallel would end this exclusive control. The Berlin-Bagdad line would be a Teuton line. The Line of the 45th Parallel would be a Latin line. It would be a French and Italian line that would reach into the Balkans, into the rich districts of Southern Russia, and into Asia Minor. Its operations would open to competition the markets of millions of people and free them from the economic monopoly which Germany was fast fixing upon them. The Berlin-Bagdad line would be not only the sign of the economic supremacy of Germany in Mittel Europa, it would be also an economic barrier between Russia and the outside world by which Russian goods

could pass only on terms to which Germany agreed.

The Line of the 45th Parallel from Bordeaux, Lyons, Verona, Venice, Montfalcone, Belgrade, Bucharest, to Odessa, if unobstructed by tariffs would open Southern Russia to the world almost like an outlet on the sea. For the Balkan States and Asia Minor to be able to send their produce north and west either to Italy, France, Austria, or Germany would mean economic freedom for them. For France and Italy the Latin Line of the 45th Parallel would be a great trade advantage. For Southern Russia, the Balkans, Asia Minor, it would mean, as already said, economic freedom-and economic freedom is one of the indispensable requisites of peace.

Even before the war, freight and passengers could go by rail from Bordeaux to Odessa; that is, there was a rail line all the way, but such a journey was so full of obstacles made by different tariffs at the frontiers and by different operation of the many railroad companies which controlled the different parts of the line that there was no such thing as a through service or a practical one for steady and large volumes of commerce. Moreover, to make a through Bordeaux-Odessa line of a modern type would mean some new construction, particularly in the present Austrian provinces between Italy and Serbia, and a great deal of betterment, double tracking, etc., all along the line. But no one has suggested any plan whereby money could be

better expended to produce an economic basis for the peace and prosperity of Europe and the rest of the world.

Moreover, the plan of M. Claudel [described at greater length by M. Chalumeau in the publication New France] for the line of union between Latin and Slav along the 45th parallel, to be effective, presupposes unhampered communication across Rumania, Serbia, Bosnia, Italy, and France. That means a revolution in the mental attitude of Europe. It means a degree of economic freedom, of unhampered transportation hitherto unthought of.

The Line of the 45th Parallel runs through countries which are now united in the conduct of the war and, therefore, in a frame of mind to cooperate except between Montfalcone on the Italian border and Belgrade. Between these two places the line crosses Austrian provinces peopled chiefly by Serbs. If there is a political liberation of small peoples at the end of this war, Austria will not be able to block the Latin-Slav line and the economic emancipation of the Near East by her hold over the Slovanians in the Province of Carniola and the Serbs in Croatia, Slavonia, and Bosnia.

A

FRENCH Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Louis Barthou, has condensed into three words the French terms of peace. "We want," said Mr. Barthou, "Restoration, Reparations, Guarantees."

The restoration naturally implies the return of Alsace-Lorraine to France, as well as the return of the departments of Ardennes and Meuse. Between the territories occupied for forty months and the territories occupied for forty years, there is in the French mind no difference. They belong to France in the same manner; they are dear to France in the same degree. And this is the first thing that one must well understand if he speaks of Alsace-Lorraine.

When France demands Alsace-Lorraine, she does not do so because she will have some more departments in her geographical configuration, but because these territories belonged to France during centuries and centuries, because they were taken from France by force forty-seven years ago, because the people of these territories not only were never consulted, but also protested against Prussian domination-because, in a word, it is a question of right.

Historically speaking, there are in Alsace

Lorraine three parts: there is Lorraine, there is Alsace, and there is the southern part of Alsace including the town of Mulhouse.

As regards the town of Mulhouse, the question is most simple and clear. The town never, at any time, belonged to Germany or to the Germans. It belonged to Switzerland and, at the end of the 18th century, during the French revolution, the town after a referendum decided to become French. A delegation was sent to Paris, to the French Parliament, then called the Conseil des Cinq-Cents, and the delegation expressed publicly, officially, the desire of Mulhouse to be part of the French territory. There was a deliberation, and unanimously the Conseil des Cing-Cents voted a motion couched in the following terms: "The French Republic accepts the vow of the citizens of Mulhouse."

A few weeks later the French authorities, among scenes of unparalleled enthusiasm, made their entry into the town, and the flag of Mulhouse was wrapped up in a tricolor box bearing the inscription: "The Republic of Mulhouse rests in the bosom of the French Republic."

Alsace the rest of Alsace-became French in 1648, more than two centuries before the war of 1870. It became French according to a

treaty. The treaty was signed by the Austrian Emperor, because Alsace belonged to the Austrian Imperial Family. And it is not without interest to quote a sentence of the treaty:

The Emperor cedes to the King of France forever, in perpetuum, without any reserve, with full jurisdiction and sovereignty, all the Alsatian territory. The Austrian Emperor gives it to the King of France in such a way that no other Emperor, in the future, will ever have any power in any time to affirm any right on these territories.

When to-day one reads that treaty, one has the impression that more than two centuries ago the Austrian Emperor had already a sort of apprehension that later on another Emperor would interfere in the matter and create mischief!

Lorraine became French in 1552, more than three centuries before the war of 1870. Lorraine became French not after a war and as the result of a conquest, but according to a treaty signed by all the Protestant Princes of Germany, in which we find the following sentence, which is really worthy of meditation: "We find just that the King of France, the most promptly as possible, takes possession of the towns of Toul, Metz and Verdun, where the German language has never been used." So that the Germans themselves put on the same line the towns of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, and recognized that the town of Metz was not German.

All this is extremely simple and clear. What happened several centuries later is equally clear.

When, in 1871, on February 16th, the deputies of Alsace-Lorraine learned that their provinces would be given up to Germany, they assembled, and in a historical document which was signed by all of them-there were 36-they protested in the following terms:

"Alsace and Lorraine cannot be alienated. To-day, before the whole world, they proclaim that they want to remain French. Europe cannot allow or ratify the annexation of Alsace and Lorraine. Europe cannot allow a people to be seized like a flock of sheep. Europe cannot remain deaf to the protest of a whole population. Therefore, we declare in Therefore, we declare in the name of our population, in the name of our children and of our descendants, that we are considering any treaty which gives us up to a foreign power as a treaty null and void, and we will eternally revindicate the right of disposing of ourselves and of remaining French."

And, three years later, in January, 1874, when for the first time Alsace and Lorraine had to elect deputies, they reiterated the same protest. They elected 15 new deputies; some were Protestants, some were Catholics, one of them was the Bishop of Strassburg, but they unanimously signed a declaration which was read at the Tribune of the German Reichstag. The declaration was the following:

"In the name of all the people of AlsaceLorraine, we protest against the abuse of force of which our country is a victim. Citizens having a soul and an intelligence are nct mere goods that may be sold, or with which you may trade.

"The contract which annexed us to Germany is null and void. A contract is only valid when the two contractants had an entire freedom to sign it. France was not free when she signed such a contract. Therefore our electors want us to say that we consider ourselves as not bound by such a treaty, and they want us to affirm once more our right of disposing of ourselves."

I beg to call the attention of the reader to two sentences of this protestation:

"Europe cannot allow a people to be seized like a flock of sheep," wrote the deputies of 1871. "People are not mere goods which may be sold or with which you may trade," proclaimed the deputies of 1874. Now you will find, nearly word for word, the same thought expressed in the message of President Wilson to Congress, when he wrote: "No right exists anywhere to hand peoples about from sovereignty to sovereignty as if they were property."

That right does not exist, and it is because that right was outrageously violated in 1871 that France wants Alsace-Lorraine to come back to her. It is because, in 1871, Right has been wronged that to-day Right must be reinstated.

Some people have spoken of a referendum. Why a referendum? Was there any referendum in 1871? And how could there be a referendum? referendum? How could you include in this referendum the hundreds of thousands of Alsatians who have fled from German domination? How could you exclude from this referendum the hundreds of thousands of Germans who have come to Alsace?

The referendum was rendered in 1871. It was rendered again in 1874 by the deputics who protested in the Reichstag in Berlin. It

was rendered twenty years ago by the census which was taken by the Germans themselves in Alsace. According to that census, in 1895, notwithstanding the fact that the teaching of French was prohibited in the public schools, there were 160,000 people in Alsace speaking French. And five years later, in 1900, according to another census, there were 200,000 people in Alsace speaking French. And of these 200,000 people, there were more than 52,000 children.

The referendum was also rendered by Alsatians who, before this war, engaged themselves in the French Army, and became officers. According to the official statistics of the French War Department, there were in 1914 in the French Army 20 generals, 145 superior officers, and 400 ordinary officers of Alsatian origin. On the other side, in the German Army in 1914, there were 4 officers of Alsatian origin.

And finally the referendum was rendered only one year before the present war, in 1913, when Herr von Jagow, at the Tribune of the Reichstag, made the following extraordinary declaration: "We Germans are obliged in Alsace to behave ourselves as if we were in an enemy's country. . What bet

ter referendum could you wish than such an admission by a German statesman?

Moreover, the question of Alsace-Lorraine is not only a French question, but also an international question. It is not only France who has sworn to herself to recover AlsaceLorraine-it is all the Allies who have sworn to France that she should recover it.

All the statesmen who have spoken since the beginning of the war in the name of the Allied Powers have attested that this war is not only a struggle for the liberty of nations and the respect due to nationalities, but also an effort toward definite peace. These words only appeared fit for stirring up the enthusiasm of the crowds, and fortifying their will of sacrifice, because they gave expression to their feelings and prayers. If they are forgotten by those who uttered them, they will be remembered by those who heard and treasured them.

In September, 1914, Winston Churchill said: "We want this war to remodel the map of Europe according to the principle of nationalities, and the real wish of the people living in the contested territories. After so much bloodshed we wish for a peace which will free races, and restore the integrity of nations.

Let us have done with the armaments, the

fear of strain, intrigues, and the perpetual threat of the horrible present crisis. Let us make the regulation of European conflicts just and natural." just and natural." The French Republic, of one mind with the Allies, proclaimed through its authorized representatives that this war is a war of deliverance. "France," said the President of the Council, "will not lay down arms before having shattered Prussian militarism, so as to be able to rebuild on a basis of justice a regenerated Europe." And the President of the Chamber continued: "The French are not only defending their soil, their homes, the tombs of their ancestors, their sacred memories, their ideal works of art and faith and all the graceful, just, and beautiful things their genius has lavished forth: they are defending, too, the respect of treaties, the independence of Europe, and human freedom. We want to know if all the effort of conscience during centuries will lead to its slavery, if millions of men are to be taken, given up, herded at the other side of a frontier and condemned to fight for their conquerors and masters against their country, their families, and their brothers. The world wishes to live at last, Europe to breathe, and the nations mean to dispose freely of themselves."

These engagements will be kept. But they will have been kept only when Alsace-Lorraine -the Belgium of 1871, as Rabbi Stephen Wise has called it-has been returned to France. Then, and only then, will there be real peace. Then, and only then, will the "Testament" of Paul Derouléde have been executed:

When our war victorious is o'er,
And our country has won back its rank,
Then with the evils war brings in its train
Will disappear the hatred the conqueror trails.

Then our great France, full of love without spite Sowing fresh springing-corn 'neath her new-born laurels,

Will welcome Work, father of Fortune,
And sing Peace, mother of lengthy deeds.

Then will come Peace, calm, serene and awful
Crushing down arms, but upholding intellect;
For we shall stand out as just-hearted conquerors,
Only taking back what was robbed from us.

And our nation, weary of mournings,
Will soothe the living while praising the dead,
And nevermore will we hear the name of battle,
And our children shall learn to unlearn hate.