More Police for the Saar By a majority the Saar
Governing Commission has asked the Council of the League of Nations to give them powers to raise the numbers of the Saar police force from 1,000 to 3,000 men. It is a big increase, but there will be few outside Germany who will not think it justified if the pledge both of the Soar Commission and of the League to secure "the liberty, secrecy and sincerity" of the plebiscite in January is to be honoured. There is, unhappily, no evidence to support the views of the Saarlander member who dissociates himself from his colleagues in this request for increased forces on the ground that order can best be maintained "by co- operation with political organizations in the Saar." The "German Front" which claims to represent the overwhelming majority of Saarlanders is in bitter opposi- tion to the Governing Commission and has already a bad record of intimidation of opponents and corruption of officials. The suggestion of the Commission that the additional police should be recruited from German- speaking countries should remove one of the root grievances of the Saarlanders to the presence of foreigners. But obviously the situation until the taking of the plebiscite is one of great difficulty- and anxiety. Herr Hitler, who has called off the campaign against Austria, has it in his power by a word to discourage the forces of 'disorder in the Saar. After all there is little doubt about the result of the coming plebiscite. It is only if Germany is really uneasy about it that a policy of intimidation is intelligible.
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