Religious Strife

In Paris, as in many other parts of France, particularly in Alsace and Lorraine, the religious question (TIME, Sept. 8) is a favorite topic for conversation. Men, and sometimes women, gather at their favorite cafe and after a preliminary garc,on, une fine champagne, or un bock, s'il vous plait, they lean forward over their tables and start the conversation with: Qu'est-ce que se passe en Alsace Lorraine; qu'est-ce que se passera? Herriot, que va-t-il faire l`a-bas?

What is happening in the two "long-lost daughters of France"--Alsace and Lorraine?

Premier Herriot when he came into office last May saw in those provinces what his predecessors had seen, but, unlike them he did not approve. Here were two provinces being governed by German laws when they ought to be governed by French laws like the rest of France. The German laws permitted the Catholic religion to be taught in the public schools, which the French laws did not. And at the suggestion (by Herriot) of abolishing the German laws and substituting those of France, there was a hue and cry raised throughout Alsace and Lorraine.

There has been trouble, then, for Herriot; and the Alsace-Lorraine side of the case may be stated: "In these two provinces, the general opinion is that, having been faithful to France through the German occupation (1870-1918), the people have a moral right to the free exercise of their religion, both in their Churches and in their schools." Last week, mayors of the Canton of Sarreguemines (Lorraine, near the Saar Valley) telegraphed Premier Edouard Herriot, protested against proposed changes in the laws of the provinces insofar as they affect Religion and religious teaching. They also re- quested the Premier to maintain the French Embassy at the Vatican. Premier Herriot replied courteously, thanked the mayors for their frank telegram, told them that their chief objection was founded on a misunderstanding of the Government's intentions which, said he, do not interfere with the free exercise of Religion, but rather support religious liberty and national concord.* (He tactfully avoided the other issues.)

Another cause of dissatisfaction in Alsace and Lorraine is contained in the story of Les Soeurs de Ribeauville:

"From 1871 to 1918, Les Soeurs de Ribeauville, a society of Catholic Sisters, remained behind the cloistered walls of their convent in Alsace. They were French and French they remained throughout the German occupation. They also saw to it that the girls they taught were inculcated with French culture. It was due to their 47 years of ceaseless devotion to their country that a group of little girls caused France to weep by singing the Marseillaise as the first French soldiers into Strasbourg in 1918.

In Alsace and Lorraine, these religious societies have received the protection of the law; but now the anticlerical Herriot Government is firmly resolved to enforce the laws of congregations not only in France but progressively in Alsace and Lorraine (TIME, Sept. 8). This means that Les Soeurs de Ribeauville must hie them to foreign soil . Is such to be the reward of 47 years of magnificent patriotism? "No!" cry the Alsatians, the Lorrainers,

*There is a nice distinction: "religious liberty and national concord" connote separation of State and Church and, more important, abolition of religious teaching in public schools, banishment of religious orders. This is precisely what does not suit Alsace and Lorraine.