The Manchester Guardian of Tuesday published an account of the
conditions in the Saar. The Saar Valley, as everybody knows, is nominally administered by the League of Nations, but in practice the commission which represents the League is dominated by France. This accounts for the repressive decrees which have lately been issued. It has become, for instance, an offence, punishable with heavy-fines and imprisonment, to criticize the League of Nations or the Treaty of Versailles. Further than that, nobody may criticize any official of the Saar Administration without becoming liable to five years' imprisonment and a fine of ten thousand francs. The methods of the French in the Ruhr have, in fact, overflowed into the Saar, and the worst of it is that the League of Nations, which is nominally responsible, suffers great discredit as a result. There may be an answer to all these assertions. We hope at lea ct that they are exaggerated. But as the British Government professes to be a strong supporter of the League of Nations it would be well that the whole matter should be cleared up as quickly as possible.
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