* * Suspense in the Saar With little more than
six weeks to run before the Saar plebiscite the atmosphere fortunately is a little calmer. M. Laval is pursuing a conciliatory course as Foreign Minister of France, more in the tradition of M. Briand than of M. Barthou, and technical conversa- tions are proceeding- at Rome between French and German experts regarding the price to be paid for the Saar mines in the event of the territory reverting to Germany. That is satisfactory so far as it goes, though no final agreement has yet been reached. For the Saar is German through and through, and there can be no reasonable doubt that it will vote for return to Gernuiv, even to a Nazi Germany, by a substantial majority. Any other result of the plebiscite would gravely threaten the peace of Europe. As things are; it is all to Germany's interest to avoid disturbances and let the voting take its appointed course. That she seems likely to but the dangerous period will be the time immediately following the plebiscite, if the transfer of the territory has to be carried out. That cannot be the work of a day, and Herr Hitler may reasonably be called on to impose an iron discipline on Germans both inside and outside the Saar in that interval.
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