Alsace-Lorraine since 18:0. By Barry Cerf. (Macmillan. S1•fi0.)—Mr. Cerf gives
a plain, straightforward account of the relations of Germany to Alsace-Lorraine. He sets forth the four chief grounds on which Germany took the Provinces from
France in 1870-1871—(1) former possession ; (2) natural boundary ; (3) race ; and (4) language—and shows that all the claims were unjustifiable:' Out of Germany's own mouth he proves that she was actuated solely by strategic reasons. There have been arguments, mainly inspired by German propaganda, that for economic reasons it would be bad policy to return Alsace-Lorraine to France. Mr. Cerf, while admitting that the Provinces have increased in wealth, maintains that the wealth, chiefly derived from the Lorraine iron-mines, has not gone into the pockets of the inhabitants, but into those of Germany, and particularly of Prussia. " Alsace and Lorraine.proapered before 1870 under French rule ; they have not prospered and they have been wretched under German rule." Economic reasons combined with those of justice and sentiment to demand that the Provinces should be restored to France.
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