NEWS OF THE WEEK
BY Sunday night the fate of the Saar will in effect be decided. The result of the plebiscite poll will not be known to the world in general till Monday night, and even after that the League of Nations Council will have to give the formal adjudication. But unless the vote is much closer than at present seems likely the territory will go back intact—or with the exception of a small region adjoining,France—to Germany. There is not much profit in prediction at this stage, but the general impression to be gathered from the reports of a variety of observers is that the vote for reunion with Germany will probably, be neither much more than 80 per cent. nor much less than 70 per cent. A mere 60 per cent. majority would present the League of Nations with anotlier problem like Upper Silesia, and nothing could be more dangerous to the peace of Europe than that. Union with the Germany of today is not an altogether enviable fate for the Saar. Its Nazi element as well as its anti-Nazi will in many respects be worse off than they are at present. But pledges against victimization have been given by Herr Hitler, and in enthusiasm over the return of the terra irredenta impulses to personal ven- geance may be submerged. But at the best the next few weeks, while the delicate business of the transfer of the territory is in progress, will still be a time of some anxiety.
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